To Core 2 Duo or not to Core 2 Duo?

[joe307]

Hello everyone,

 

It has been over 4 years since my last build *gulp*. I use a hackintosh at work (web design & programming) and really love it, so here I am! I have been doing a lot of reading on the forums and the osx86project wiki over the last several weeks and I would like to say thanks to the community for the wealth of information, it has been a great help!

 

I am itching to go ahead and order everything, but I keep going back and forth between a shiny new (well, I guess they're not that new anymore) i7 920 or a Core 2 Duo. The i7 would be nice on the rare occasion when I find myself encoding video or something, but I'm not sure if I can justify it so I keep coming back to the Core 2 Duo. I haven't had time for gaming lately, but I will probably dabble a bit once I get the new machine up and running.

 

Usage:

• Dual boot Snow Leopard + Windows 7
  
• Working from home: Photoshop + Fireworks + Aptana + tons of browser windows and miscellaneous apps in the background
  
• Some gaming
  
• Multimedia
  

 

 

Parts List (all prices from newegg):

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz

Socket: LGA 775

Power: 65W

FSB: 1333MHz

$167.99

 

MOBO: MSI P43-C51 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX

Supports DDR3 1600

Northbridge: Intel P43

Southbridge: Intel ICH10

$69.99

 

PSU: CORSAIR 750W

Dedicated 12V Rail

10A input

Ample connectors

$109.99 before $20 MIR

 

GPU: EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit DDR3

Core Clock: 738MHz

Shader Clock: 1836MHz

Memory Clock: 2200MHz

I like this over the

1GB 9800GT

but am open to advice. I can't keep up with all the new hardware!

$129.99 before $30 MIR

 

RAM: G.SKILL PI 8GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

CAS Latency: 6

Timing: 6-8-6-24

$269.99

 

SSD for OS: OCZ Vertex Series 30GB SATA II MLC Internal SSD

Sequential Read: Up to 230 MB/s

Sequential Write: Up to 135MB/s

Sustained Write: Up to 80MB/s

$129.99 before $20 MIR

 

 

Up in the air:

CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1

I haven't made up my mind about this beauty yet. I may just go with a Zalman

$79.99

 

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX

Not really necessary, I may end up using my old Lian Li brushed aluminum case

$99.99 before $10 MIR

 

 

Total without Hydro cooler or new case: $877.94 - $70 in mail-in rebates

Total with Hydro cooler and new case: $1057.92 - $80 in mail-in rebates

 

 

I think this system will overclock nicely, but then again my i7 920 with GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R wish list isn't toooooo much more money... What to do?

[Zaap]

Over a grand for a C2D build? That's WAY overbloated.

 

What's the deal with that MSI mobo? Is that even hackable? Is there a guide? It's known to work? One of the biggest Hackintosh blunders is to assume just any old mobo will work. Most don't, so unless you're 100% positive...

 

750W PSU for a C2D is insane overkill. You also don't need the Corsair CPU cooler- for a C2D? Why? Even OC'd to the moon you don't need that for that CPU.

 

RAM prices must have gone stupid-expensive all of a sudden. What the hell? Almost $300 for 8GB? Eeesh.

 

For the type of money you're looking at, either go for an i7 (and cut down on the needless extras for that as well) or look into a working i5 build. That budget for a 775 based machine today, is like stepping into a timewarp back to late 2007 or something.

[Mackilroy]

Agreed, I wouldn't spend a grand for the C2D – I spent less than $900 on my i7 hackintosh.

[ne0shell]

I'm looking into mobos for a LGA775 core duo system also but only because I'm rebuilding an existing system with a blown mobo (lightning strike).

 

I just built a tonymac based P55 / Gigabyte system and the performance difference is substantial.

 

I'd say build a core i5 750 but you can get an i7 CPU for the same price right now at a couple of retailers. Pick the right P55 mobo, Nvidia graphics card and you'll get a very close to vanilla setup that flies, especially if you add a CPU cooler and overclock it. (The core i CPUs are stable at 3.5 GHz and even higher).

 

As for my core2 rebuild, it's all about picking the right mobo - from what I've read there's a few Intel mobos that accomplish very vanilla hacks, now I just need to find out which one(s).

[dutchiee (=]

ne0shell,

 

based on ur signature, is everything working well for ur setup? im planning on building a new pc, primarily for media so am having a hard time finding a good board i can get where i am (perth, australia) thats cheap and is supported by osx.

 

thnx

[ne0shell]

ne0shell,

 

based on ur signature, is everything working well for ur setup? im planning on building a new pc, primarily for media so am having a hard time finding a good board i can get where i am (perth, australia) thats cheap and is supported by osx.

 

thnx

 

My core i5-750 system runs sweet. It's hands down the fastest computer I've ever owned. I have iStat installed and I never see the four cores load up past 50 percent. I can encode h264 on one space, watch one on another and have unison running full bore all at the same time and it's effortless.

 

My Macbook just wore me out on apple hardware (at least the hardware I can afford right now). I got tired of every video stuttering and spending most of my time watching the beachball spin around. My cooling fan for the CPU finally died on it so I'm using my hack full time with no issues.

 

I could probably update to 10.6.3 but right now it's a rough upgrade. I have everything working including my digital inputs and outputs for the ALC 888. If I update I have to replace around 4 system kext files to fix sleep, USB and audio. Right now my system is vanilla with just 3 kexts in my /Extra folder. Sleep, speedstep, iTunes, iPhone and netflix all work. I just don't see the point in pushing it for little or no gain.

 

When the new Mac Pros come out we expect another point update that will add even more vanilla compatibility for this type of setup - I can wait till then. I'm hoping we'll have some DSDT edits by then and maybe a couple of kext files that can go in /Extra so I can keep my system/Library/Extensions folder pure.

 

I really need some help picking a mobo to rebuild my core2 system though. (My wife and kids used the old one so they have to use the windoze POS downstairs for now. There's at least one Intel mobo configuration that works 100 percent vanilla and I'd like to find out which one so I can find the LGA775 version of it. I don't want to start a new thread for that so if anyone knows please reply.

 

Oh - if you're going to use the tonymac [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] install method or one of the other "retail" OSX techniques get p55 Gigabyte or one of the Asus mobos that use the p55 chipset. The Gigabyte p55 - UD4 seems to be the most compatible from what I'm seeing on tonymac's forum.

[Zaap]

I really need some help picking a mobo to rebuild my core2 system though. (My wife and kids used the old one so they have to use the windoze POS downstairs for now. There's at least one Intel mobo configuration that works 100 percent vanilla and I'd like to find out which one so I can find the LGA775 version of it. I don't want to start a new thread for that so if anyone knows please reply.

For 775, I highly recommend getting the ATX Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. They can still be found on Amazon and ebay. Yeah, the UD3P is a little pricey, but for my money, well worth it. I've built a lot of 775-based Hacks with a bunch of different boards, and by far, the UD3P makes for the most stable, most trouble free systems. It's very easy to set up, using a number of good guides, the best of which is the LifeHacker 'no hacks required' guide.

 

Otherwise, maybe look into a mATX Gigabyte G41M-ES2L. It's a sweet little board, very stable, not as easy to set up as the UD3P but still not bad. My biggest 'issue' with it has been to replace the onboard sound with a $10 USB sound stick, as the on board is a little tricky. USB sounds better anyway.