Bob LLama Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Hi all, Posted yesterday asking about off-the-shelf hackintosh options, starting to realize homebrew might be my best bet. I'm moderately familiar with the PC world, but having been a Mac guy my whole life, I have absolutely no familiarity with current hardware options. There's a lot of stuff out there, and I have no idea what I'm looking for. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm looking to put together a media center for networked iTunes music (pulling from my desktop in another room), watching Hulu/Netflix/DVDs on 46" 1080p LCD TV and am curious about putting in a blu-ray player so I have one less thing cluttering my shelves. Speaking of which, my shelves are only 1' deep x 1' tall, so that's one more constraint. I'm thinking a Core 2 Duo at 2.6 at the lowest, but I'll never be using this for anything other than media, so it's doesn't need to be some monstrous rig. I know nothing whatsoever about cases, power supplies, motherboards and all that {censored}... Help! Tell me I'm not forced to plunk down $600 for a new mini PLUS another $100 for ram. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/206103-in-over-my-head-need-advice/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 so long as you don't expect to come anywhere near close to the size of the Mac Mini, you definitely can replicate one in a mATX form factor for several hundred dollars cheaper, and likely come out with more performance too. I mean, $600 would build a mATX P55M based quad core i5 system w 4gb ram, which... likely would be total overkill for a HTPC, but loads of fun nonetheless I've built many hacks for between $325 and $800, and while I've yet to make a mATX build, its just a matter of picking a smaller mobo/case and making sure the rest of your parts fit the case the mobo is easy, at your pricerange in mATX I'd say gigabyte's G41 boards would be your best bet. Cases.... well.... do some looking? check newegg, ideally find yourself a mATX case that accepts standard sized ATX power supplies and full height video cards to give yourself the most options in terms of parts, otherwise you'll end up paying through the nose for a quality micro PSU & half-height video card. Oh, PSUs... quick rule of thumb, anything 80PLUS certified is modern & high quality, and you don't need more than 400w, not even for that uber i5 build I mentioned. Shop the deals, $25-45 on sale is common. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/206103-in-over-my-head-need-advice/#findComment-1378648 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob LLama Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 You overestimate my familiarity with the hardware, unfortunately. First off, thanks for the mobo rec, that's one of the biggest hurdles. But even when it comes to cpus I'm not even sure what to be looking for. Is this something that would work with a Wolfdale? Or am I way off? Beyond that, I have no idea if I need a fan, if putting in the bluray is going to be an f-ing nightmare as far as getting it recognized/working, what video card to get... I'm really clueless on all this stuff. Not hopeless, just horribly uninformed and not sure where to find out the info I need. As far as cases, I'm seeing mentions of mobo ATX sizes, but nothing about power supply/vid card. Is that what I'm supposed to be going by? Because if so, I'm screwed - there are no full-size ATX accommodating cases that fit in my 13" high x 12" deep shelf. It's either too tall or will stick out. :/ Looks like the mini might be my only option after all... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/206103-in-over-my-head-need-advice/#findComment-1378671 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 just take your time and read through reviews & the experiences of others, everyone has to start somewhere. Read this forum, check out ppl's builds (I know I've done this spiel a dozen times before) & google for some build a computer for cheap/ build a htpc guides, just to get the feel of it. It all seems amazingly complicated at first, but a complete machine is less than 10 individual components, and stuff like the DVD & hard drives, RAM, fan, etc... are no brainers once you have the rest down, just read the specs for what's supported Yes, Gigabyte G41 based boards are Intel socket 775, so Core 2 Duos/Quads. A wolfdale 45nm CPU would be great, at your price likely the E5200/5300, E6300 or E7200. the mATX form factor definitely includes cases smaller than 13"x12"x?" technically, mATX is the mobo size, and mATX cases vary in size/shape. As such, many mATX cases will fit a standard sized power supply & regular full height video cards, but some of the thinner/smaller cases need specialty htpc-style PSUs & such. Look through reviews on cases, people should be posting their specs, check what parts they've fit in it, or if they're cursing & swearing at it for being 1/2" too small for their card Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/206103-in-over-my-head-need-advice/#findComment-1378695 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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