*New Board, likelyhood it will work?* OSx86 compliant motherboard

[Grama]

I am thinking of building a sysytem as a Xmas gift, and I want to make sure that the system will be able to run OSx86. The system needs to be relatively inexpensive, but also should have a quad core (as the user is both a developer and a media junkie). I have had lots of experience with osx86, and while I would not consider myself to be a 'guru', I would call myself capable of solving problems and able (It doesn't hurt that I am very competent in Linux). I also live in Canada, so I will likely be ordering through ncix (and using the price matching to knock as much money off as possible ).

 

I was going to use the Q6600 as I can get that for about $220. The question for me right now is what mobo should I use? My basic requirements are:

 

-Must be able to run quad core processors (Including 45NM)

-Must be able to either have everything working OOB or have easily installable patches.

-Must have atleast PCI-E 1.1, not sure whether or not PCI-E 2.0 is worth it??? (I am thinking I will get a HD4850 eventually, and yes I am aware that the card does not currently have any osx86 support).

-I would like it to be able to handle 8GB's of RAM, (4Slots) but I would consider something that can only handle 4 (two slots). DDR2 is fine.

-Supports IDE, maybe even floppy

-Supports all USB, firewire, E-SATA not necessary.

-Only needs to support one GPU. It maybe should have some form of supported onboard video, not sure what the cost of a cheap PCI-E card is these days

-MUST be less than $100CAD. Something in the $70-$80 range would be perfect.

 

I am a software guy, not so much hardware, which is why I am asking for your help. I did look at the HCL, but found lots of boards I was interested in were not listed. I was hoping for a little bit more insight I would very much appreciate anything which you guys can do to help me make a choice. Thanks a million!

[MaaseyRacer]

Newegg has a ton of stuff on their site. You an do a power search a find a lot of open box (full manufacturers warranty, no cables, no drivers, no back plate). You can also find brand new sealed box stuff as well. It all depends on what you are looking for. Go with ASUS, Intel, or Gigabyte for the least amount of hassle with your install.

[Grama]

ok well I have done a little more research and it looks like a lot of the Gygabyte Mobo's are really decent. I was looking at the ep43-ds3l, I like what it has but I have noticed that even tho there is an audio patch some people are still having issues. The price is slightly higher than I wanted to pay but I would be willing to pay that for a better board. I would just just like to know that everything on that board will work, I thought I read somewhere that it was having audio issues in 10.5.5? Still open to suggestions....

[MaaseyRacer]

For ~10 dollars more (less with rebate) you can get the GA-EP45-DS3L, which seems to have a ton more support and on going discussion about the set up. Another option for not much more is the GA-EP45-UD3 which has very similar specs to the DS3R (i have not seen any posts on it though, should work).

I think the P45 is a better option than the P43. Best of luck.

[Grama]

Thanks for the input, I didn't know that Newegg had recently offered a Canadian site! Prices are phenomenal. I priced out a decent system for just over $700, including shipping/taxes.

 

My only question is, does Newegg have price matching?

 

EDIT: They dont.

[Grama]

I was just given a mATX Case which only needs a fan, so I need to buy an mATX Motherboard..... what works well? Any help would be appreciated!

 

 

****** EDIT newegg.ca has a two ECS boards I was looking at, one a g43 and one a g45.

 

here are the links:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813135099

ECS G43T-M

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813135098

ECS G45T-M2

 

again any thoughts on these boards would be fanstastic!

[Zaap]

ECS makes me weary for Hackintosh. They seem to have knack for making boards that seem like perfect candidates for Hackintosh, but then fail miserably when tried. (I know nobody updates the HCL Wiki anymore, but it's notable that even when it was in fashion, ECS has a very small showing of compatible boards.) Shame- because the second in particular is a very nice looking board. Unless you can find a good guide for it, and people using it successfully, I wouldn't recommend it for a gift Hackintosh- unless you want to be the guinea pig for compatibility.

 

The two mATX boards that I've used that I know work well are the Intel DG31PR and the Gigabyte G31M-S2L. The newer GA-EG31M-S2 is supposed to work too (I haven't built with one personally).

 

Sort of what MaaseyRacer said, the brands that seem to make the best Hacks are Gigabyte, Intel, Asus and DFI- so maybe try searching for mATX among those brands, and then what is known to work best for Hackintosh.

[Grama]

^^ Thanks for the reply, those boards are ok except I want a board that will support up to 8GB's of RAM.

 

I have done some more research, I have found a few boards that I m looking at on newegg.ca. I would consider any of them.

 

Here are the four I have seen:

 

Intel BOXDG35EC

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813121336

 

MSI G45M-FD

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813130209

 

ASRock G43Twins-FullHD

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813157137

 

GIGABYTE GA-Q35M-S2

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813128355

 

No info on these boards in the HCL, and no info on these boards thourgh google. The search function seems to be broken on these forums too.

 

Anybody have any insight?

[Zaap]

Just curious- are you certain you really need 8GB of RAM? (and if so, why not consider it'll be a lot easier to just get a cheap ATX case- free mATX case or not- and a fully-compatible ATX board with > 8GB RAM capacity.

 

Otherwise, I hope you can find a board that's mATX, 8GB, known Mac-compatible (seems to be the biggie) and non-discontinued.

[Grama]

I mentioned it in my last post, the MSI G45M-FD. G45 Chipset, ICH10 (I will not be using the X4500 graphics), Realtek ALC888 Audio, Realtek 8111C LAN. Seems like it should work. Anybody have any reasons why it won't?

 

My Build Is Shaping Up to look something like:

 

MSI G45M-FD

Q6600

WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS

G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

Asus EN8400GS Silent?HTP/256M

LiteON iHAS-120-04

AntecEarthWatts 500Watt PSU

 

Are the parts I have chosen ok? As far as I know the parts should be A-OK except the mobo which has not been tried yet.

 

Any blantant reasons why that motherboard won't work?

[Zaap]

Any blantant reasons why that motherboard won't work?

 

The fact that there aren't any G45 based systems on the HCL, or many I can find mentioned around the web, is a fairly good indicator.

 

Unfortunately with OSx86, the reasons why something that "seems like it should work" might not, often are subtle, more than blatant.

 

I'm not saying it won't work, just you never know. With some boards that look in every way likely to work, there are problems like the BIOS won't allow OSX to run unless the CPU only runs with one core- a huge waste of a quad, for certain. Sometimes you're just stuck until someone comes out with a BIOS or driver hack. Other times, the drive controller just won't work. Or a board that appears to work, may be prone to kernel panics, random lockups, root device errors, etc. etc. etc. Really often, the board works, just key components don't work, like LAN and audio. (Luckily, both easily replaced with add-ons).

 

You can always give it a try on that board if you don't mind yourself or the recepient being the guinea pig. If you do give it a try, it would be REAL helpful if you'd update the wiki with your findings. Chances are, you're going through this fun and productive guessing game, because someone else before you couldn't be bothered.

 

By the way, you might try looking for G33 based mATX boards. They support 8GB of RAM. I know there are a few that work well from Gigabyte and Asus.

[Grama]

Zaap, I appreciate all of your points and really agree with you. There are no G45 boards on the HCL, I did look that up. However I thought I had read somewhere that G45 boards work, but not the video cards.

 

Nontheless, I suppose there are other routes. I could splurge a little and buy a p5e-vm, seem to be all working with patches. At that point I suppose it might be worth revisiting buying a cheap ATX case, tho the shipping would probably put me over budget.

 

I have until just after December to make a choice, and whatever I decide, I will certainly put in all the appropriate info on the HCL. If anybody has any suggestions, please make them! The 8GB requirement for me is just becuase this machine will have to last for 3-5 years, and I am sure that in that time 4GB of RAM will somehow not be enough anymore.

 

I will keep doing research, but please do say something if somebody has a good suggestion.

[REVENGE]

Not to disqualify any points being made, but I wouldn't "rely" on the HCL wiki for compatibility related information anymore. That said, I haven't found any posts on the forum reporting an attempt to install OS X on the G45, probably since Apple won't be migrating any of their products to that chipset anymore.