Please review this build and offer suggestions

[pkarza]

I'm a Mac user and own two 'branded' mac machines - and iMac and macbook. I've always wanted a mac pro and could never justify nor afford it.

 

After hearing of 'hackintosh' boxes and believing they don't work, I have been converted to the point of spending HOURS reading through the HCL and choosing these components for my "Pro".

 

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA 3.0 gb/s

ATI X1900XTX PCIe 512 mb

Antec Sonata 500w ps

I-Rocks I-mini piano black x-slim keyboard

Logitech MX500 5 button mouse

 

.... Haven't yet decided on a monitor - suggestions please

 

I've read through the forums, and I think I'm going to use iAtkos 4.1 for 10.5.4 - and then upgrade to 10.5.5

 

If what I have read is right, I should be able to upgrade directly as this should be a fully compatible system that will not require any patching....

 

Am I right?

 

Any help and comments gratefully appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Generic George]

I'm a Mac user and own two 'branded' mac machines - and iMac and macbook. I've always wanted a mac pro and could never justify nor afford it.

 

After hearing of 'hackintosh' boxes and believing they don't work, I have been converted to the point of spending HOURS reading through the HCL and choosing these components for my "Pro".

 

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA 3.0 gb/s

ATI X1900XTX PCIe 512 mb

Antec Sonata 500w ps

I-Rocks I-mini piano black x-slim keyboard

Logitech MX500 5 button mouse

 

.... Haven't yet decided on a monitor - suggestions please

 

I've read through the forums, and I think I'm going to use iAtkos 4.1 for 10.5.4 - and then upgrade to 10.5.5

 

If what I have read is right, I should be able to upgrade directly as this should be a fully compatible system that will not require any patching....

 

Am I right?

 

Any help and comments gratefully appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Unless you are getting this for video or picture editing, you might be better off with one of the fast dual cores rather than a quad core chip. Other than video/3d modeling/picture editing, most software doesn't really take much advantage of multiple cores and you can get a chip with about a 1/3rd higher base clockspeed for the same price.

 

You might want to look at an nvidia 8800gt/9800gt (both are essentially the same card). It's something on the order of 50% powerful than an x1900 xt (for games at least) and quite possibly less expensive. Compatibility seems to be very good as well.

[Zaap]

.... Haven't yet decided on a monitor - suggestions please

 

I've read through the forums, and I think I'm going to use iAtkos 4.1 for 10.5.4 - and then upgrade to 10.5.5

 

If what I have read is right, I should be able to upgrade directly as this should be a fully compatible system that will not require any patching....

 

Am I right?

 

Any help and comments gratefully appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Monitor- I really like Samsung monitors. Whatever you get, if it's 22" or bigger, make sure it has horizontal and vertical viewing angles of 160 degrees or higher- especially if you plan on doing accurate color work.

 

If you really want the least amount of patching and upgrade issues, I'd highly recommend a retail install. Kaido over on anandtech's Apple forum has a great guide for building a retail system with a USB stick Boot-132 method that makes for an easy to build, yet nearly bulletproof system (provided you use the hardware he recommends). All the 'hacks' remain on the USB stick so updates don't overwrite them. Plus he writes really good guides and updated things regularly. I highly recommend you check it out.

 

Otherwise, you can certainly get a system running via a hacked 'distro' without doing a whole lot of excessive patching, but it's certainly not without its pitfalls- not the least of which is System Updates without crossing your fingers.