CanadianSushi Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Hey all, I just got an e-mail from a friend. I helped him build a Hackintosh some time ago, but recently it bit the dust. I haven't seen it yet but from the description it sounds like either the mobo is fried or at the very least, the on-board vid card. Anyway, my own (H)ac croaked recently too (for very different reasons) so I've gone completely legit and just bought all (M)ac hardware... Very happy with that. As for my friend, he PREFERS Mac, but at the end of the day, all he cares about is that the computer does what he wants it to do. He is asking me for a computer that can handle: downloading & playing video simultaneously, plus be able to handle HD video that has been recorded in 60+ fps... He is not a game player (at all). He mainly uses his computer for watching videos & listening to music. But he does like to multi-task a lot. E.g. Be downloading 3-4 large files while watching a movie. One option is that I build him a new machine and (Hac) it for him... But that's a pile of work... His budget is probably fairly low... The last computer I made for him (the one that died) was under $1000... I'm going to assume that he wants to stay at or below that amount for a replacement... Therefore.... If he got himself a Mac Mini (price/budget constraints), do you figure there's enough processing power to handle everything, and will the NVIDIA 9400 be good enough for watching the double framerate content? Or, would a better option be to have him buy a Dell or something, and screw the (H)ac idea altogether and just run Win7 or something? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202220-looking-for-a-recommend-what-to-buy/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 do you recall what basic setup his dead hack is? what parts? I'm thinking worst case scenario he's fried a component or two, unless it was very outdated he should have +70% of a computer worth of parts that still work, just replace whatever's dead? No sense ditching the case, PSU, RAM, drives, DVDR, CPU, etc... if they're still functional A new LGA775 socket board is $60-120, and a compatible dedicated video card can be had for $25-50. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202220-looking-for-a-recommend-what-to-buy/#findComment-1358638 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSushi Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 Well, at this point I won't rule anything out but all components would be at least 3-4 yrs old, which is pretty ancient the way things are going these days. I had him running on a Distro 10.5.2 that I got running by the skin of my teeth. I will still look at his old PC sometime during the Christmas/New Years holidays, because you're right -- lots of components may still be OK. In the mean time though, it would be also good to know what kind of new/replacement option there would be if he does want to "upgrade" and go all newer stuff.. Hmm. As a second thought, let me see what he has... I did post it up some time back.... Ahh. Here we go. MB: AsRock 2Core 1333DVI-2.66G P1.10 (BIOS v. 02.58) Proc: Intel 2.4 Ghz 64Bit 2Core HD: OEM SATA 250Ghz SATA Opt: LG Super Multi DVD-R SATA RAM: 1Ghz DDRII533 Using: m-board's on-board LAN, audio, video. And to get it running I used Kaly 10.5.2 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202220-looking-for-a-recommend-what-to-buy/#findComment-1358645 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 In that case, yeah... He's gonna need a lot of new parts, if not a whole new machine the drives are definitely both still usable, DVDRs havent changed much in +5yrs the CPU.. hmmm, maybe? depends on exactly which model it is, it could be viable in a new mobo. then again, its value is under $50 (new E5200 2.5ghz) im just steppin away, will get to actual suggestions a lil later tonight Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/202220-looking-for-a-recommend-what-to-buy/#findComment-1358698 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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