The Lobe Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Hello all, longtime reader, not-too-often poster. I'm planning on building a hackintosh since my iMac has seen better days. I'm looking for longevity and upgradeability, the two things Apple refuses to provide. I've never built a PC before, but I'm comfortable working inside of one. So, I'm expecting this to be a learning experience the whole way through. As with any other noob postings, I'd like if someone who's done this before can run their eyes over this hardware and let me know if anything jumps out at them as incompatible, slow, buggy, anything bad. I'm doing my best to stay UNDER $500, while still having a semi-decent machine. I know 2gb of RAM is considered inferior these days, but I plan on upgrading in the future. My grand-master plan is to have 2 hard drives in the machine, one with a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 install and one with OSX 10.6.2. As far as I know I won't need any wild bootloaders, since I should just be able to pick which drive to boot from in the BIOS. I don't want either drive interacting with the other. here's the goods from newegg: LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM LOGISYS Computer Area 51 CS51WBK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply - Retail TRENDnet TEG-PCITXR 10/ 100/ 1000/ 2000Mbps PCI Copper Gigabit Network Adapter - Retail Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA80A - Retail GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q8400 - Retail and as far as the video card goes, I don't need anything intense, so I found this one ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready ... - Retail ..but I have no idea if it's compatible. I understand video can be the most difficult component of a hackintosh. I'm pretty sure I have a brand new card sitting in my desk drawer at work (a pretty damn good one too, just don't remember the model), but I believe it's AGP, and I'd need a different board for that, if anyone has any recommendations? I appreciate any help!! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 One thing to consider is that right now is kinda the worst time to build a system from scratch around Core 2 Quad CPU in terms of price/performance/longevity. Intel will not be releasing anything truly "new" for the 775 socket, at best we'll get re-binned & renamed existing CPU tech. It'll stick around another year or two at the ultra low end of the market, but that's about it. Unless you already have a used LGA775 CPU, motherboard or DDR2 RAM you want to use, I see no reason to go quad core on LGA775. The CPU & related parts simply cost too much for what you get in terms of performance compared to the rest of intel's lineup. Q8400 vs i5 750 : http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=89&p2=109 With retailers still trying to sell Core 2 Quads for $140-300, the brand new i5 750 @ 2.66 w turbo boost for $200 is a steal based on performance alone, not to mention the modern architecture with future upgradability and cheaper prices on related components (more/better sales!) DDR2 RAM prices have more than doubled over the past year, so you can pick up a full 2x2GB pair of DDR3 for just $15-$20 more than that 2x1GB of DDR2 a similar gigabyte P55/P55M board to match the i5 can be had for between $20 less and $15 more than the EP45-UD3P depending on size & port selection you want. (P55M-UD2, P55-UD3L, P55-UD3R, etc...) The PCI network card is likely unneeded, for the most part the bonjour issues that used to plague onboard ethernet on gigabyte boards have been solved. I have the same case myself, however the PSU included is garbage. Weighs like nothing, feels flimsy, label says 330w max with only 17 amp on single 12v rail, only 1 SATA. I would highly recommend you spend the extra few bucks needed for a quality PSU, ideally one with 80+ certification. Newegg has well known brands on sale starting at $30 with free ship. IMO I'd go with the corsair 400w http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....ue=4097%3A30089 If you really want to squeeze every $, sell the logisys 480w PSU for $15-20 on a local online classifieds site, when I did so I had dozen emails inside a week. An ATI 4350 will work, however ideally you'd be better off with a Dual-DVI based card, as some people have issues with onboard HDMI out while DVI to HDMI adaptors work flawlessly. Newegg has 9500GTs for $35-45 with free ship. Oh, and chameleon is very well polished, no sense using BIOS to switch OSes when there is a bootcamp-esque solution available that will handle your 2 drive setup effortlessly Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/#findComment-1357837 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lobe Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 LogicalUser, Thanks for your extremely informative and insightful answer !! I'm going to guess based on your enthusiasm towards the i5 that you are using it on an osx86 machine with no issues?? I wasn't aware of this processor and the savings on the RAM would definitely make up for the price difference. Taking your word and went ahead and switched for the i5-750 and a compatible Gigabyte board, as well as the DDR3 RAM. Found this 9500GT, though not familiar with the brand... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/#findComment-1357873 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 My new P55 & i5 rig is still waiting on the motherboard to arrive, am lookin at tuesday or wednesday. This'll be my... 6th or so hackmac I've done plenty of research, and have been watching the P55 thread closely, now that 10.6.2 is out with the new kernel everything appears to be great. I've seen a few install guides thus far for a fully working system Zotac is well known for their mini-ATX motherboards & HTPC related products. Hence the passive cooling on that card Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/#findComment-1357904 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lobe Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 LogicalUser, Can't thank you enough! Will probably order this stuff in a week or two and commence the project... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/#findComment-1358158 Share on other sites More sharing options...
olav Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 An ATI 4350 will work, however ideally you'd be better off with a Dual-DVI based card, as some people have issues with onboard HDMI out while DVI to HDMI adaptors work flawlessly. Newegg has 9500GTs for $35-45 with free ship. I've read that it should be possible to get the 4350 working with 10.6.2 according to netkas http://netkas.org/?p=315 but I've not seen any user that succeeded yet, can you confirm that it works? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202059-first-build-ideas/#findComment-1366217 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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