Gymnae Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hello all, after watching the Hackint0sh development for quite some time I decided to go ahead and build my own System. Especially the fact that with the correct and carefully selected Hardware the Administration of such a System is as hastle free as an original Mac, I'm sure the time is right to go ahead and build now. I got myself a Quad Core Q6600 G0 stepping together with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3l on ebay, said combination is used in this forum by some people so I think there shouldn't be a big problem. As a cooler I might go for an Austrian EKL Großglockner, which is a cheap, silent tower cooler or a more expensive cooler from Austria, a Noctua NH-U12P . Now I am thinking about which GPU to go for. After some reading I know now that the Nvidia 9800 GT uses the same GPU as the 8800 GT, but recently Nvidia shrank die dye, processing it now in 55nm, making it cooler and consuming less power. Such cards are well available on the market now and provide a good deal. But after some more research I read that, at least in Windows, the Radeon 4850 kicks the 9800 GT in the butt in almost every discipline. Downturns are more heat and no drivers for Leopard. In some Benchmarks the HD 3870 kicks the 8800 GT ass in Core Image disciplines, which will be my major focus (I do a lot of picture editing in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop). But I also love to play 3D Games, where the Radeon is better again, at least in OpenGL in native OS X Games like the recently ported Call of Duty 4. But, do Hackint0sh PCs use the same Drivers as the Radeons official designated for Macs by Apple? Those drivers appear to be highly optimized, do "we" have a advantage from that? Also I don't know about power consumption, it appears that the Nvidia cards consume less power, which is really important as I would love to keep my beloved Tagan 350 watt PSU. So basically it boils down to this: Go for a 55nm 9800GT now or buy a Radeon HD 4850 and wait (and hope) for Snow Leopard, which supposedly brings support for the 4xxxx series. As for RAM I will go for G.Skill 4Gb 5-5-5-15. Cheap and compatible. On a sidenote: Currently I am in Canda, where Graphic cards are rather cheap but RAM is expensive, I live in Germany and there RAM is so much cheaper, I guess I will chose and pick my components from all over the world Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/148994-building-with-a-ga-p35-ds3l-and-q6600/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaap Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If the 4850 doesn't support QE/CI, then I wouldn't go near it with a 10ft pole. Stick with what works and is fully supported. Unfortunately, Hackintosh isn't the platform for bleeding edge graphic card performance. Being stuck with no hardware acceleration and no resolution switching= pure {censored}. And waiting around for the mere hope of Snow Leopard fixing unsupported hardware is a really bad idea. As for the mobo and CPU- perfect. Set it up with a retail install and it's one of the best ever specs for a super-reliable Hackintosh. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/148994-building-with-a-ga-p35-ds3l-and-q6600/#findComment-1055056 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 The 9800GT is slower in Core Image, but you're hardly likely to notice. Except if you are rendering effects in Motion, a LOT. Anyway, Lightroom + Photoshop don't use Core Image. Aperture does. And Aperture is basically "instant" in all it's effects on my 7600GT. The 4850 doesn't have support and you may end up waiting months and months for it! Don't go for it. So get a 9800GT if you want a decent gaming card, or get a 3870 if you want a great all round performer at a lower price. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/148994-building-with-a-ga-p35-ds3l-and-q6600/#findComment-1055379 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gymnae Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thank you for your helpful insight. I was kinda tending towards the 9800, it also supposedly has a lower power consumption. Is there any particular card from a manufacturer that you could recommend? Otherwise I will look for Powercolor, XFX greetings and have a good sunday Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/148994-building-with-a-ga-p35-ds3l-and-q6600/#findComment-1055738 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Pleasure - about the cards - I dunno. I usually just check Newegg reviews. But I don't think there's too much difference between the brands...I also like cards with nicer coolers - EG some of the Asus models have "Glaciator" coolers - some of the Gigabyte & other manufacters have Zalmans... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/148994-building-with-a-ga-p35-ds3l-and-q6600/#findComment-1055941 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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