i7 10.5 build advice requested

[antareus]

I'm looking at building an i7 system with the following parts. It will be used for audio work, as a media server for my house, software development, and a little bit of gaming. I'd really like to get OS X running on this machine to at least play around with it. I'm looking to buy components that will last and be the least amount of hassle when installing OS X. I'd like to run with the absolute fewest number of hacked/non-Apple kext's as possible.

 

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model

Video card - ?

Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB SATA MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM

Burner - ?

 

So far this all comes out to about $1,100, which is pretty damn good IMO.

 

And now for the questions:

1. Can I buy a Bluray SATA combo drive and use it OK in OS X? I know I won't be able to view BR in OS X (yet?) but that is fine, this will be a dual boot machine.

 

2. Will a SSD pose any sort of problem to OS X installation? It is mainly a boot/applications drive.

 

3. What is the best Nvidia card that is well-supported by OS X? I suppose I'm thinking the 9xxx series cards because I don't need an uber card. Specific brand/model advice is welcome! I have looked at the HCL for 10.5.6 and I see several, but I'm not sure which one will be the least hassle.

 

4. Finally, if anyone has any recommendations for great, quiet PSUs, I'm all ears.

 

Thanks for reading.

[TomCom]

Hi and welcome,

 

For BRD, you'll be able to burn, not to watch movies as far as Apple doesn't have implemented the DRM in Mac OS – supposedly in Snow Leopard.

 

SSD will work like a normal SATA device, but i think an OCZ Vertex would be a better choice, since the Intel model is aimed for a server use, and the OCZ more for PCs. It's a better value too.

 

Best silent PSUs on the market are Enermax Modu+. A 625W model would be perfect, but they are very expensive. Corsair are very good too.

 

If you like silence, you'll need a good heatsink for your CPU. The best ones are:

• Scythe Mugen 2 (PWM fan included)

and more expensive:

• Thermalright IFX14 + 1 or 2 fans (I'd recommend Scythe Slipstream (1200RPM at least) or Noctua NF-P12)

• Prolimatech Megahalems + 1 or 2 fans

[noNix]

For more information on quiet / silent heatsinks and power supplies, SilentPCReview is a great resource.

[TomCom]

You're right. For fans too.

[sven11]

For point 2:

Probably SSDs will give no problems because some Mac laptops have them.

 

For point 3:

I have had good results with Corsair HX series modular power supplies. They're very quiet when not pushed close to capacity. Get at least 620 watts.

 

For point 4:

I use ASUS silent 9600 GT for video on a DFI Core 2 Quad system. Supported fully with an EFI string. Solid as a rock with a vanilla kernel and Chameleon 1.0.12. Haven't gotten my ECS i7 system fully working yet, but I imagine that the 9600 GT can be made to work with i7.

 

At the moment, i7 is very bleeding edge. It will be much better supported once 10.5.7 is officially released. Right now, you have to graft a new kernel/system.kext onto a 10.5.6 retail DVD for a minimally hacked OS, or install with a Voodoo kernel. Either process is tricky, and that's just for starters. I am slowly making progress, but my motherboard is ECS and most others are using Gigabyte. So you may want to wait for 10.5.7 or be prepared to do a good bit of OS work.