mbrannon47 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I'm brand new to these forums but I've spent some time searching for the answer before I considered posting this question. Sorry if it's been answered before. Is it possible to build a unit from an actual Mac Pro motherboard? In other words, if I can grab one and get two of the same quad chips from Newegg as well as some ram, an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT, and a standard DVD+RW, will I need to hack anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0rs Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure you'd need a Mac compatible video card to use in a mac mainboard. Probably can get a PC video card working with it though if you dig around for ATI drivers for OSX86. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 Thanks for the response; however, isn't the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT the card that ships with the Mac Pros? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyfob Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 OK, #1 The new 8 core mac pros use if im not mistaken an Intel Skulltrail mobo. #2 The only processors that work in that mobo are socket LGA771 and it takes 2 of them ranging in price from $500 - $2,000 CDN. No where have i seen Apple actually state what mobo they use for there new 8 core pros but it doesnt take an expert to know there isnt too many mobos that have 4 pci-e graphics card slots and use FB DIMM memory and 2 LGA771 sockets, actually i think there is just 1 and this is the skulltrail. Please correct me if im wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realityiswhere Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I have the skulltrail (D5400XS) not yet set up, but I've helped someone to set it up, and yes it does take FB-DIMM, and cheaper processors that are not on the intel website *will* for a fact work with it, the E5410 Xeons (Harpertown) will work with it. Also, that motherboard is not specifically the one used with Mac Pros. It does not have EFI and it has two nVidia (nForce) MCP chips, but it's possible to run the vanilla kernel on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 So are we saying that a D5400XS with a compatible Harpertown would run OSX without any modifications to the kernel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
22HERTZ Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 I have been thinking this same thing. What exactly is it that allows Apple hardware to work with zero modification that keeps other hardware from working correctly? Is it some kind of hardware EFI on Apple MB's? If so what would keep someone from buying a Mac Pro MB, buying the other other hardware cheaper and having a legit, zero modification real Mac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 Exactly. I'd love to set out and do this but I'd like to confirm this before I put out the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
22HERTZ Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 Well then what's stopping us from just getting a replacement Mac Pro mobo that has the EFI onboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 ^is that just a copy and paste of the original post?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturzo Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 It is easy to build a Mac that is functionally very similar to a real Mac Pro, although not with the actual Mac Pro mobo. At the moment I am running an 8-core home built machine with 8 gigs of memory using a Supermicro dual 771 server board with a 5000X chipset. After just a few kinks in the building process, its as stable and fast as I could possibly want it to be. That being said, I made a few attempts to build a mac pro using an Asus Z7S mobo with the 5400 chipset but for the life of me could not manage to even get the installer [any version] to boot the machine. I tried every BIOS configuration imaginable yet to no avail, although i must be overlooking a key element somewhere. Case in point, I think saving your money and buying cheaper components to achieve near identical results is what this project is all about. Why blow the money and potentially waste the time to buy the exact components that Apple uses? Why not simply go buy a REAL Mac Pro at that point? Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrannon47 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 The advantage to me is the lack of hassle in installing updates etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
22HERTZ Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Because a real Mac Pro is super expensive. If a Mac Pro MB is all that is needed to have full support with zero modification and 100% compatibility and function including software update for the life of the hardware I would pay the price Apple wants because I could have a real Mac Pro for much less. I think the key here is no modification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturzo Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 The advantage to me is the lack of hassle in installing updates etc. I don't experience any sort of hassle when installing updates, adding components, etc. By "functionally very similar" to a Mac Pro, I meant behaviorally as well. At the moment I am running a retail version of Leopard 10.5.4 with a few adjustments to the extensions folder. The only reason that I have not updated to 10.5.5 is because of Pro Tools and it being notorious for its inability to play well with any updates--Digidesign is always one step behind in that sense. (On a side note, the Mbox2 Pro works flawlessly as a sound device directly out of box with any installation method, be it hack or retail.) The only inconvenience, if you could call it that, is having to use osx86 Tools to backup my Extensions folder prior to updating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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