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First time Hackintosh: Final Cut pro box (Lifehacker build)

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letsgetsilly
letsgetsilly
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Hello everyone,

 

I have been building my own Windows PCs for quite some time, and now I would like to attempt to put together a Hackintosh for my brother. This will be my first attempt at a Hackintosh, so I am looking for any help and criticism from the community here. Thank you in advance!

 

Update: I've completed this build. You can view my post-build thread here.

 

Update: I plan on going with an i7 config. The hardware is updated, the references to lifehacker are not relevant.

 

Requirements

 

Here are my goals / requirements for this build:

  • Runs Final Cut Pro very fast
  • Uses the most compatible / least difficult hardware to get working
  • Uses the latest version of OSX (this is Snow Leopard I believe)
  • As painless as possible / quick to get up and running
  • Completed by November 29th 2009

Hardware

 

Here is a list of hardware that I have chosen to purchase for this build. I have been following a guide from Lifehacker.com to follow, and I'm hoping I can receive additional guidance here. The main reason I am following this lifehacker guide is because of the "dead simple" GUI installer that supposedly works with this hardware build.

 

Here is a link to the article:

http://lifehacker.com/5360150/install-snow...acking-required

 

Motherboard:

 

  • GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard (i7 build)

Video Card (updated [again]):

Processor (purchased already):

Memory

Hard Drive(s):

  • 1 TB Samsung/WD NON-GREEN hard drive. I would like to do a RAID if it is not difficult, but I imagine this will complicate things.
    • Any good deals on hard drives appreciated!

DVD

NIC

  • I guess I don't need one with the above mentioned motherboard?

PSU

Research

 

I have been reading through another user who posted a thread regarding a very similar build, but I cannot determine what his hardware conclusions were because he has linked to an outdated newegg wishlist. His thread is located here:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=175941

 

A thread here at insanelymac dedicated to the lifehacker build:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=187440

 

Concerns

 

  • I have no experience with OSX of any type, so adding kexts and performing terminal work will all be a new experience for me, so I'm trying to minimize this type of work as much as possible. I will have a friend's macbook to perform and pre-terminal work that is necessary
  • I would love to dual boot this to windows/OSX, but seeing as how I am a complete newb regarding mac, this might be too much to ask
  • I know video editing requires using large files, so implementing a RAID configuration would be ideal
  • My brother knows nothing of computers other than how to use them. If this system crashes I will not be able to fix it for him because I do not live in the same state. I plan on making two hard drives with the same image so that if his original drive fails he will have a backup.

Any help or advice is appreciated. Do you think I'm taking the right approach for a good Final Cut Pro build? Any links on how to go about building a dual boot system?

 

Thanks again!

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LogicalUser
LogicalUser
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First off, the video card.

 

I know Final Cut Pro can take advantage of a GPU for processing, but have no firsthand experience with it. It certainly seems like the direction things are going tho, what with Apple's OpenCL and Grand Central Dispatch.

 

I would say a Nvidia card similar to that one would be a good choice for power/price/ease of setup, just not that specific one. The 9800GTX+ has recently been rebranded and is now the GTS 250, you'll find far more availability & slightly cheaper prices on it.

 

Nvidia just loves to reintroduce the same GPU repeatedly with only minor tweaks. Other than clock speeds, the 9800GTX+ was just a 55nm die-shrunk 9800GTX, which was just a fully tweaked 8800GT with beefier cooling. The 9800GT fits in there as the 55nm die-shrink of the 8800GT, all running the same G92 core & feature set, similar drivers, compatibility, etc...

You could likely save around $30 by going with a 9800GT instead of GTS 250, for a performance hit between 20-30%, but hardly seems worth it IMO

 

 

Oh, for the motherboard, if going for a Core 2/LGA775 based system I would suggest the EP45-UD3R instead of the UD3P, you'll save $15-20, gain a 3rd PCI slot, and only lose SLI support (useless on OSX) & the second onboard ethernet (which your bypassing anyways with a PCI card). The boards are otherwise identical so install should be the same. Either way, both boards are quite popular around here & have guides specific to them.

 

 

Plus, at that price range you might want to consider looking at an i7 1366 based system.

When considering sales an i7-920 + X58 mobo + DDR3 combo could likely be had for cheaper than a Q9650 + P45 + DDR2 (MicroCenter has been selling i7-920 as cheap as $200 recently) and for a machine that is faster & using a more modern architecture. Oh, and Intel will be releasing 6-core processors for the LGA1366 socket next year, so there is some future proofing there as opposed to the older LGA775 setup.

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letsgetsilly
letsgetsilly
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Plus, at that price range you might want to consider looking at an i7 1366 based system.

When considering sales an i7-920 + X58 mobo + DDR3 combo could likely be had for cheaper than a Q9650 + P45 + DDR2 (MicroCenter has been selling i7-920 as cheap as $200 recently) and for a machine that is faster & using a more modern architecture. Oh, and Intel will be releasing 6-core processors for the LGA1366 socket next year, so there is some future proofing there as opposed to the older LGA775 setup.

 

First off, thank you for your thorough reply.

 

Today I was browsing the forum and saw someone put together what seemed to be a pretty comprehensive i7 setup guide, but unless it is a very thorough guide it is difficult to have a high confidence. Here is a link to the thread that I like the most:

 

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=194264

 

 

Thank you for the tips on the GPU, that's very helpful. From your description it looks like going with the GTS 250 makes the most sense.

 

To continue along the topic of an i7 system, I would love to take any suggestions on i7 setups or links to guides that can help a newcommer like myself.

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brokenjack
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I'm basically trying to do the same thing as you:

 

Here's my initial post

 

My advice probably isn't worth the screen real estate, but I think if you are going to run Final Cut Studio and are planning to use Motion(which is the greatest unstable motion graphics app out there IMHO) I think the ATI cards are better suited for it. Seems like people running Motion on a retail Mac have had better experience with the ATI cards.

 

It might be my gut feeling as well since Motion seemed to run better on my older iMac with the ATI x1600 than my MBP with the nVidia 8600M GT.

 

Just some thoughts. Wanna hear about the progress, and thanks for those links to the other topics.

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Zaap
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Gotta disagree about the ATI card.

 

If the OP wants as "painless as possible" as stated, then do yourself a big favor and stick with nVidia. ATI cards are much more hassle to set up on Hackintoshes than nVidia- at least that's been my experience.

 

FCP most definitely will benefit from a better video card. The unlimited RT (Real Time) capabilities for multiple clips, filters and effects are tied to graphic card performance. A good card means the difference between having to render the timeline constantly which slows down editing tremendously, vs. breezing through an edit able to preview just about everything in real time. Once you've seen the difference, you'll swear by as power a graphic card as you can get. A 9800GTX / GTS 250) is plenty of firepower for FCP, and easy to setup in SL.

 

Also, given the similarity in price these days, I'd go with at least 4GB (2x 2GB) of DDR2-1066 RAM with good timings vs. any old DDR2 800. For example, this G.SKILL 1066 RAM at 5-5-5-15 and 2.1 V is practically tailor made for the UD3P board.

 

Many people will say it doesn't matter that much, but in my own personal experience, the RAM timings, voltage, and latency ratings are more important than the mHz- so if you go with DDR2-800, I'd recommend similar timings for best performance.

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letsgetsilly
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I've updated my original post with some of the hardware recommendations i've received here.

 

I'm getting close to buying here. My main concern is whether to go with i7 or go with Core2. Unless someone here has some protests about a novice like myself going towards an i7 setup, then I think I will go for it.

 

Thoughts?

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Generic George
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It might be my gut feeling as well since Motion seemed to run better on my older iMac with the ATI x1900 than my MBP with the nVidia 8800GT.

 

First unless you are using a hackintosh notebook, there are no 8800 chips used in MBP. They had 8600s and 9600s which is a significant step down from the 8800s. Likewise there was never an iMac with an x1900, they used the x1600. If you had a G5 or MP with one, the x1900 was apparently very fast with Motion, much faster than the 8800s, though it is a much slower chip over all. Also notebook graphics chips while they might have the same names as the desktop parts, they are not the same and don't perform as well as the desktop parts.

 

I've updated my original post with some of the hardware recommendations i've received here.

 

I'm getting close to buying here. My main concern is whether to go with i7 or go with Core2. Unless someone here has some protests about a novice like myself going towards an i7 setup, then I think I will go for it.

 

If you want power there's no question that an i7 will kick the core2's butt in performance, especially for anything processor/memory intensive like video editing.

 

I found this guide for the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 to be virtually painless and simple to follow. It's not a cheap MB, but it works great.

 

MicroCenter is selling the core i7 920 for $200 which is about $80 cheaper than anywhere else I've seen it, which might help soften the blow a bit..

 

The memory you have selected is a bit on the pricey side. From all the tests I've seen paying for really fast memory is a waste of money. You should be able to get something in the $130 range that will work just fine.

 

You shouldn't need the ethernet card with the UD5. The ports on the MB work fine (both of them I think).

 

I'd look at a third party CPU cooler. They aren't that expensive and work significantly better + quieter than the stock intel cooler. Just google for some tests, there's a bunch out there. The 920s are supposed to be good overclockers if you want to experiment with that.

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brokenjack
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First unless you are using a hackintosh notebook, there are no 8800 chips used in MBP. They had 8600s and 9600s which is a significant step down from the 8800s. Likewise there was never an iMac with an x1900, they used the x1600. If you had a G5 or MP with one, the x1900 was apparently very fast with Motion, much faster than the 8800s, though it is a much slower chip over all. Also notebook graphics chips while they might have the same names as the desktop parts, they are not the same and don't perform as well as the desktop parts.

 

 

Sorry about that...I was typing before thinking. Yes I have the GeForce 8600M GT in the MBP. And I think I just got my 6 flipped upside down in regards to the iMac. Gee it's gonna be fun at the command line!

 

I can't seem to find the deal for the i7 on microcenter. Has it gone away?

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LogicalUser
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I've updated my original post with some of the hardware recommendations i've received here.

 

I'm getting close to buying here. My main concern is whether to go with i7 or go with Core2. Unless someone here has some protests about a novice like myself going towards an i7 setup, then I think I will go for it.

 

Thoughts?

 

http://redirectingat.com/?id=292X457&u...55f%252dProduct

 

Pick a different GTS 250?

You are far better off from an ease-of-setup & OSX compatibility standpoint going with a dual-DVI based graphics card instead of that DVI/VGA/HDMI hybrid. Complaints about setup & dual monitor support are common with the hybrid port cards & OSX. If HDMI output is desirable to you your far better off using a DVI-HDMI adaptor & the SPDIF wire to the mobo for the audio.

 

Up until the recent displayport cards Apple has been using dual-dvi cards exclusively for the better part of the past decade, and there has not been a card with VGA onboard in even longer.

 

I for one am partial to the dual-slot MSI card with the heatpipes & big beefy cooling setup, but really all the dual-dvi cards should be similar. I've got a MSI 9800 GT with the same style heatpipes/cooler that stays far cooler than the reference design. Oh, a word of warning, the EVGA cards do not include the HDMI adaptor & SPDIF wire for audio passthrough that all of the other vendors do.

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letsgetsilly
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I purchased an i7 at Microcenter for $215 after tax. I figured that it was a good deal that I didn't want to pass up. I am heavily leaning towards following the guide listed above.

 

Thanks again for all of the suggestions, I think I'll be putting in a full order tomorrow at newegg for an i7 build.

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letsgetsilly
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I've update my original post with the hardware selection that I've chosen based on the recommendations here for an i7 build. It includes an updated video card, PSU and processor.

 

I am not certain which type of memory I will get. I don't really know if I should pay attention to brands or timing here.

Here's what I'm thinking right now for memory:

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail

 

I will probably not purchase an after market cooler for the i7 in order to keep costs down. I do not plan on overclocking unless I have additional time.

 

I would like to know if there are any tips on how to dual boot with Windows 7. So far it is my understanding that it requires two separate hard drives, but that is all I know about the process.

 

Once again, thank you!

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Zaap
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I would like to know if there are any tips on how to dual boot with Windows 7. So far it is my understanding that it requires two separate hard drives, but that is all I know about the process.

Two separate drives is always best. I also recommend removing your OSX drive from power or SATA before installing Windows. That just makes certain that Windows will only install its bootloader to its own drive and not screw with your OSX drive. Just think of it as if it were two separate computers, one hard drive each, one with Windows, one with OSX.

 

Once both OS's are installed, hook both drives up and Chameleon (installed on the OSX drive) should allow you to select booting into either OSX or Windows.

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Generic George
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I am not certain which type of memory I will get. I don't really know if I should pay attention to brands or timing here.

Here's what I'm thinking right now for memory:

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail

 

This is only a dual channel ram kit, not a triple channel. Pretty much all the benefits from multi channel memory come from dual not triple and you can use just a pair of dimms, but it isn't that much more money for a triple channel kit and video processing will benefit from as much ram as you can get.

 

I will probably not purchase an after market cooler for the i7 in order to keep costs down. I do not plan on overclocking unless I have additional time.

 

It's not just overclocking, they're quieter as well. It's only $20-$30 for a cooler that is significantly better/quieter, so it's a fairly minimal expense.

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letsgetsilly
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This is only a dual channel ram kit, not a triple channel. Pretty much all the benefits from multi channel memory come from dual not triple and you can use just a pair of dimms, but it isn't that much more money for a triple channel kit and video processing will benefit from as much ram as you can get.

 

 

 

It's not just overclocking, they're quieter as well. It's only $20-$30 for a cooler that is significantly better/quieter, so it's a fairly minimal expense.

 

Ok, I'll upgrade the ram to triple channel.

 

What cooler would you go with? I haven't seen a cooler roundup article recently so I'm a bit out of the loop.

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Generic George
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Ok, I'll upgrade the ram to triple channel.

 

What cooler would you go with? I haven't seen a cooler roundup article recently so I'm a bit out of the loop.

 

This one seems to be your best bet at about $33

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835186134

 

This seems to be a pretty good round up of coolers, but it is for higher end models. Just google "CPU heatsink comparisons" and you'll turn up a bunch.

 

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...1&Itemid=62

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LogicalUser
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If your going for a 1366-based i7 920 build triple channel RAM seems like an obvious choice.

 

I mean... the platform is designed for triple channel RAM, its arguably the largest difference between the Bloomfield & Lynnfield platforms, and makes up a significant chunk of the performance differences between the two platforms.

 

Plus, in general its actually cheaper per GB for triple channel DDR3 than double channel DDR3

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letsgetsilly
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If your going for a 1366-based i7 920 build triple channel RAM seems like an obvious choice.

 

I mean... the platform is designed for triple channel RAM, its arguably the largest difference between the Bloomfield & Lynnfield platforms, and makes up a significant chunk of the performance differences between the two platforms.

 

Plus, in general its actually cheaper per GB for triple channel DDR3 than double channel DDR3

 

 

Here's what I'm going for

 

 

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3

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voxelized
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Motherboard:

 

  • GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard (i7 build)

Video Card (updated [again]):

Processor (purchased already):

Memory

Hard Drive(s):

  • 1 TB Samsung/WD NON-GREEN hard drive. I would like to do a RAID if it is not difficult, but I imagine this will complicate things.
    • Any good deals on hard drives appreciated!

DVD

NIC

  • I guess I don't need one with the above mentioned motherboard?

PSU

 

This setup should work. I have similar parts (same CPU + memory + wattage), but with one major difference the video card (GTX 260 + ATI 4870 2GB). Final Cut works well and the system is very stable.

 

One big negative about the UD5 board is the kext related to network MAC addresses is busted. FlexLM does not work with the psystar(?) networking Kext and hence I can't use Maya - of which I own a legal copy of and can't get Autodesk to generate a license without a MAC address.

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letsgetsilly
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I spoke to my brother last night, and apparently he now decides to tell me that he will need up to 3 firewire ports running at the same time. Why he *needs* this, I am not sure. Regardless, I am now in the hunt for a firewire add on card.

 

Can anyone give recommendations on a type of card and/or kexts that could be used to enable a firewire addon card? This is just the type of wrench in the gears I was fearing, because I don't know where to start with this one.

 

Thanks in advance.

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Zaap
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I spoke to my brother last night, and apparently he now decides to tell me that he will need up to 3 firewire ports running at the same time. Why he *needs* this, I am not sure. Regardless, I am now in the hunt for a firewire add on card.

 

Can anyone give recommendations on a type of card and/or kexts that could be used to enable a firewire addon card? This is just the type of wrench in the gears I was fearing, because I don't know where to start with this one.

 

Thanks in advance.

Find out if he wants Firewire 800 (1394b) or Firewire 400 (1394a) or both. He could either be needing FW for external storage or multiple video capture with FCP, or both.

 

There are plenty of FW 400 PCI cards around that work in OSX, and most are cheap. FW 800 is a little harder to find, but there are also cards, either PCI or PCIe that work. There are even a few hybrid cards with both 800 and 400 ports on the same card.

 

Here should be most of newegg's offerings. Just look for the type needed, number of ports, and OSX compatibility. (Unfortunately, the later is not always listed even on cards that do work for OSX)

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letsgetsilly
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Find out if he wants Firewire 800 (1394b) or Firewire 400 (1394a) or both. He could either be needing FW for external storage or multiple video capture with FCP, or both.

 

There are plenty of FW 400 PCI cards around that work in OSX, and most are cheap. FW 800 is a little harder to find, but there are also cards, either PCI or PCIe that work. There are even a few hybrid cards with both 800 and 400 ports on the same card.

 

Here should be most of newegg's offerings. Just look for the type needed, number of ports, and OSX compatibility. (Unfortunately, the later is not always listed even on cards that do work for OSX)

 

Thank you for the quick response. I've passed on your message to him. When we decide on the product to purchase, I will post it here.

 

Thank you.

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letsgetsilly
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This setup should work. I have similar parts (same CPU + memory + wattage), but with one major difference the video card (GTX 260 + ATI 4870 2GB). Final Cut works well and the system is very stable.

 

Are you saying that you have both the GTX and the ATI cards? Why the dual cards may I ask?

 

Also, can you verify whether or not your motherboard firewire port is working? I believe it is a 1394a.

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