Hackintosh stability?

[dgm]

Hey there!

 

I was thinking of saving up some money and building a relatively high-end PC, mainly for gaming purposes. However, I also rely on Mac OS X heavily because of my use of Mac-only music software like Logic for my music production projects.

 

I was hoping that via the Hackintosh, or OSx86 technology, I'd be able to have one dual-boot PC for gaming and work. However, I don't want to do this if Hackintosh is something that I'm going to have to constantly "pamper" with hacky driver fixes and other nonsense. I'm hoping that once I get through the installation, I can easily work with whatever Mac software I please, free of problems (like Boot Camp seems to work).

 

If this is NOT the case, then I'm wondering if a Mac Pro, maybe with an upgraded video card, will act as a decent gaming PC with boot camp?

 

Thanks a lot for any replies!

 

Peace...

[diptenkrom]

i would buy the mac and run boot camp with whatever windows you want. the mac hardware seems to run windows well, but imho hacks are not free of the quirks even once set up. and updating is a problem with most systems.

 

i do not use mine full time. i use ubuntu more than anything else. and my hackintosh is more of a toy/experiment than anything else.

[bonfilio]

Hey there!

 

I was thinking of saving up some money and building a relatively high-end PC, mainly for gaming purposes. However, I also rely on Mac OS X heavily because of my use of Mac-only music software like Logic for my music production projects.

 

I was hoping that via the Hackintosh, or OSx86 technology, I'd be able to have one dual-boot PC for gaming and work. However, I don't want to do this if Hackintosh is something that I'm going to have to constantly "pamper" with hacky driver fixes and other nonsense. I'm hoping that once I get through the installation, I can easily work with whatever Mac software I please, free of problems (like Boot Camp seems to work).

 

If this is NOT the case, then I'm wondering if a Mac Pro, maybe with an upgraded video card, will act as a decent gaming PC with boot camp?

 

Thanks a lot for any replies!

 

Peace...

 

Mine is rock solid for media production (see sig for specs). I use exactly 3 kexts (Disabler, Decrypt and Restart), 2 efi strings (GFX and Net (for time machine) and Chameleon 2.0 (adds a few non-critical AHCI kexts). I've gone through a few PPC Macs as well as 1 Intel Mac and my hack is as stable as anything officially sanctioned.

 

If you do go the hack route, get something as compatible as possible (again, see sig) and do expect to do a bit of tinkering at the beginning to really learn how a hack is built/operated. Once you've got the ins and outs, you can easily handle any issue that may come up. My original hack attempt was an AMD SLI 750a rig, and while it worked kinda, it was messy and I found myself in the pampering mode. I ebay'd most of it, kept the ram and a 9800gt and built the new hack system based on recommendations here.

 

If you're already a music guy, chances are you have audio devices already.. but if you don't have one already, budget yourself a simple USB audio device. Completely bypass all of the onboard audio headaches. Even when you do manage to get onboard audio working, the fidelity isn't reliable enough for audio work (inconsistent stuttering, noise, crackles, etc). I'm using a USB Behringer UCA202 ($25ish) - works out of the box with 2 ins, 2 outs and 0 headaches. When I'm recording, I have both a Firepod and an io26 - both OSX supported.

[mr_christer]

same here. i'm a media designer and for my diploma i switched completely over to osx. I built a system for a friend of mine who was more than happy with his hackintosh and hes a hardcore maya and adobe cs3/cs4 user. he leaves his computer on for days without crashes.

so after hearing that i just bought the same system i had researched for him. His testing left me no doubt that this setup will be much better than my old amd hackintosh that i had random crashes with!

and ... what can i say, it works wonderfully. for a freelnace project i recently worked on an 8core mac pro and there was not much difference to my system. of course rendertime was less on the 8core. but some cinema4d projects started faster on my system probably due to the 8gb of ram in my machine opposing to the 6gb in the mac pro. my machine was rendering in a mac network hub together with three mac pros for 2 days. the {censored} just behaved like one of them

 

i use logic from time to time but didn't do some real stability testing. but from my experience with other cpu intensive mac software i expect it to work without problems. I'm using logic together with a emu 0404 and it's recognized fine! I played around with some plugins (ivory, orange vocoder) and they worked as they should...

updating osx is a problem! this is sometimes a drawback!

but i can just say i'm really happy with my setup! system price was 700 euros (i wouldnt recommend my gfx card though and maybe ocz ram instead of g.skill if you think about overclocking)

[meteo]

I did hesitate to buy a mac around april. I love mac os x, but I want also to be able to play the last game with good video quality.

 

I finally ordered my computer parts separatly on the internet, and then I assembled them. I know have a powerful computer for gaming ( 6Go Corsair, i920@3.0hz*, Noctua, Golden Sample 4870 1 Go ) and it costed me about 1200€, including a good 24" screen 1920x1200, with the crystal aspect.

 

My choose was rather hardware than software, buy Mac Os X, I'll miss you. But, a week ago, I discovered iAtkos and Kalyways and it changed everything.

 

Now, I can play my windows games full details in 1920x1200, but, most of the time, I'm under mac os x to do all the other computer stuff : internet, mail, ical, iphoto, imovie; itunes etc....

 

The sync with my iphone is really natural, and honestly, the osx86 is a really impressive product, and I can assure you that my nehalem and my 6Go of ram rock hell under mac os x.

 

But, keep one thing in mind, it is not really easy to get a fully functionnal PC configuration under mac os x. But once it's done, you don't need to changes things or each update available, and you will keep a good working configuration.

 

EDT : *just 3.0Ghz because it's largely enough to run full details all my games, no need today for more power. My Cpu is cooler at 3.0Ghz with the noctua than at 2.67Ghz with stock radiator.

[dgm]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I think I'll wait to sell my iMac, build a PC, and if OSx86 is stable enough, sell the Mac and move my music production studio to the PC.

 

One question - if I have two nVidia gfx cards in an SLI configuration, will that cause problems in OSx86? I don't think Macs support SLI (yet)...

[genetixa]

Hey there!

 

I was thinking of saving up some money and building a relatively high-end PC, mainly for gaming purposes. However, I also rely on Mac OS X heavily because of my use of Mac-only music software like Logic for my music production projects.

 

I was hoping that via the Hackintosh, or OSx86 technology, I'd be able to have one dual-boot PC for gaming and work. However, I don't want to do this if Hackintosh is something that I'm going to have to constantly "pamper" with hacky driver fixes and other nonsense. I'm hoping that once I get through the installation, I can easily work with whatever Mac software I please, free of problems (like Boot Camp seems to work).

 

If this is NOT the case, then I'm wondering if a Mac Pro, maybe with an upgraded video card, will act as a decent gaming PC with boot camp?

 

Thanks a lot for any replies!

 

Peace...

 

I used to be a PC guy since my first computer I bought long time ago....now I have a 4Ghz watercooled and overcloaked Core2 that was running Vista 64...It's now running OSX 10.5.7, I still have Vista on a separate disk but I barrely use it anymore.

 

Like you I do music, mainly Ableton Live and all my outboard gear have been replaced by software synth. I have a Motu 896Mk3 for audio.

 

The OSX is extremely stable and reliable and it's under a lot of computation with all the plugins running, however it's way more snappier in OSX than in Vista. No audio glitch and I don't know why but even cicking on a note and manipulating anything seem to be better in Live OSX version. I had 1 kernel panic since installation versus 2 to 5 bluescreen per week in Vista..mostly related to memory adressing.

 

My switch to OSX is purelly accidental...if there was no Hack I would probably had never tried it. Now I'll never go back to windows for my home computers. I'am a computer professionnal and I've seen all windows versions since 3.1 and I do not like windows 7 that I tried and deleted....it's too web based for my taste. I feel right at home with the Unix under the hood of OSX since I used to work with SGI workstations.

 

However my PC is for sale as well as my laptop (both are running OSX). They are both running fine but Hackintosh are unpredictable in the long run. You never know if you install a driver, if the system will brick on you. You cannot do system update directly (possible via updated hack) and there is some stange behaviors in appletalk network.

 

I will be getting a MacPro and I will have Vista on a separate disk for games. A regular PC may cost less than a Mac but if you put the same quality parts and the quality of constructions there is not much of a difference pricewise. My PC cost me almost 3000$ two years ago..(all top componement) and it was very hot then and it's still hot today.

 

MacPro have the same graphics possibilities of a PC. Check Nvidia or Ati sites, they have their highend card for both PC and Mac. You will have no problem running games in a Vista partition on a MacPro.

 

To have fun with OSX.... it's perfectly allright to have an hackintosh but if you do serious work and are paid for your work, don't take the change to loose your data because you (or your girlfried!!) push the wrong button. Get a Real Mac.

 

It's like what would you choose between an 800HP turbo Civic and a Ferrari ?, maybee the Civic is faster but it's way cooler to drive around in a Ferrari.

 

That's my advise....

 

Best Regards.

 

Seb.

 

(waiting to change my 800Hp civic for a ferrari.....)

[bonfilio]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I think I'll wait to sell my iMac, build a PC, and if OSx86 is stable enough, sell the Mac and move my music production studio to the PC.

 

One question - if I have two nVidia gfx cards in an SLI configuration, will that cause problems in OSx86? I don't think Macs support SLI (yet)...

 

No problems at all, but yeah - doesn't support SLI. You'll get a few extra monitor ports you could drive if you wanted.

[Googon]

After about an hour or two you should have Mac OS X working just fine on most any computer. It was a bit harder for me because I have a Quad core processor, and brand new GTX 260 Black Edition. Everything is working 100@, except sometimes my front audio ports don't work but I NEVER use them.

 

I have the specs of a 5,000 dollar mac pro, but this computer cost about 400 dollars. (Monitor was 200, but once it is calibrated there is almost no difference. It just isn't all glossy and glory, which I LIKE.

 

IMO it is better to save 4,500 dollars and buy a PC and install Mac OS X on it, and have to occasionally repair permissions/reload drivers. I love apple, don't get me wrong, but I just don't want to spend a {censored} load on their computers when I can get them for so much cheaper. Besides, a Mac Pro is the only computer you can actually imitate (it has a tower and monitor), all of their other computers are... awesome looking. I own a MacBook and an iPhone, and if I am going to buy another computer from them, it will be a huge iMac.

[mr_christer]

googon, i'm with you there! my friends all have macpro's and for all the good things they offer, they are quite noisy and not that much faster than my hackintosh! so spending so much more cash on, well i don't see a reason! if I had the cash I would happily buy a 8 core Mac Pro for shure!

 

but atm i couldn't be happier with my system. i was doing tutorials, media production, media center (plex) and some gaming.

no crash, no panic whatsoever and i didnt reboot for more than a week. and i would consider myself being a professional (starting with MS DOS 5 in 93) and now doing 3D, After Effects Motion Graphics Animation and Audio Production!

the computer just goes to sleep and wakes up the next morning. it just takes 5 seconds until i can start working again!