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I have fianlly came up with the rig I want to use as my first and only Hac. Rather than a pic, I'll list the stuff. I would like to know your thoughts on this stuff and whether it will work. If it will not work, PLEASE say so. I plan to use Retail 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD and Chameleon 2 (RC or when Final comes out, that) P.S. I am a Linux user, and I build my own machines... just an FYI.

 

Ok... from the top.

Case : Logisys w/ 480W PSU. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811148044

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128357

Video: XFX GeForce 8400 GS 512MB PCIe16 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150355

Sound: SYBA USB Stereo Audio Adapter http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16812186035

Network: HP 5184-4725 PCI Network Adapter, I have this already.

Bluetooth: USB Bluetooth 2.0+EDR Adapter, also have this.

DVD: Lite-On SATA CD/DVD Burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827106289

HDD: Western Digital 500GB SATA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073

RAM: One Stick - 2GB DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820220279

CPU: Intel Celeron E3300 (Wolfdale, LGA775, Dual Core) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819116264

Misc: IOGEAR USB KVM Switch w/ Remote http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817399032

Misc: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835100007

 

Also, I have the SATA data connectors, a Molex (4-pin) to SATA power adapter, an Ethernet cable, a Power Cable, a DVI-I and VGA cable, monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, Guitar Hero Guitar and webcam all at home. And the Snow Leopard disk wont be hard to come by.

 

GRAND TOTAL AS OF NOW: $343.90

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Two things. First, I'd seriously consider going with the E5200 over the E3300. It may not seem like it, but the extra 1MB of L2 cache makes a big difference in performance of many tasks. And the cost difference is a whopping $5. Intel's 'low end' Celerons are nothing but cache-downgraded versions of the same chips, that mostly only exist due to yield issues.

 

Save the $5 to upgrade the CPU by dropping the completely un-needed Arctic Silver. Yes, it's great stuff. But for the rig you're building it will make absolutely no difference vs. the included thermal material on the heatsink, which actually performs quite well.

 

Secondly, I'd ditch the 8400GS video card. It simply hasn't been a good performer for OSx86, and I believe Apple's dropped support for it anyway. Invest a few extra bucks on a solidly supported 9400GT or 9500GT.

 

At the first chance, I would upgrade to 4GB of RAM. (DDR2 prices have skyrocketed lately! One used to get the full 4GB for less than the price of 2GB now.)

 

Otherwise, it should make for a textbook Hackintosh.

I would have to agree on the CPU unless you need that. I do virtualization, without the support. Just slightly different. Only thing I don't like is I have a difficult time virtualizing in mac at times, but oh well. Most works however. I do run on 2 GB's of ram very well, and never had a single speed issue in Snow Leo, and do programming, and have used photoshop and dreamweaver CS4 without any noticeable slow downs. My CPU however did not come with thermal compound, so I'd grab the actic silver :( Thanks Zaap, i wasn't aware about the GFX card!

My CPU however did not come with thermal compound, so I'd grab the actic silver :( Thanks Zaap, i wasn't aware about the GFX card!

 

Remember with a boxed CPU, the thermal compound should be a pad on the bottom of the stock heatsink:

 

cpu_cooler_charts_2008_part_iii___inel_box_tim.jpg

 

Nothing wrong with arctic silver, and it is a good idea to buy it to have on hand if one upgrades the heatsink. But I wouldn't recommend using it together with the stock thermal material. Use one or the other. Use a lint-free cloth and some isopropyl alcohol to completely remove the stock compound if you're going to use the arctic silver.

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