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How to build a PC

wanna_buy
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wanna_buy
wanna_buy
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Hi folks.

 

 

 

I am going to buy a new PC that has to be compatible with Mac OS X.

 

 

 

I think about these parts:

 

 

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400

 

MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5Q (As far as I know, there is a BIOS mod available for this model, so I can install MAC OS X from the retail disc)  

 

MEMORY: I am going to use 2x2GB (Total 4GB)  DDR2-800 Kingston chips from my old PC.

 

GRAPHICS: I am not a great fan of games, but I think of buying nvidia 9 Series card, which has the full compability with Mac OS X.  It will be appreciated if it could fully work without patching. Is Asus EN9800 GT 1GB great or maybe I would pick Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512 MB?

 

 

 

HDD: 1TB Samsung SATA-II drive and WDC 320 GB from my old PC.

 

DVD Recorder: LG 22x

 

Any help would be appreciated.

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Bug
Bug
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I've got the P5Q-SE, it'll work fine. I think a reason to go with these parts is that they're cheap and work. And I'm still happy with the speed of this rig a year after I built it, and the next upgrade I'm making is picking up a Q9400 or Q9450.

 

I think I replied to you in another post, but definitely go with a 8GB USB stick instead of the DVD. Use the custom BIOS & search for a post on the p5q install here, there are a couple threads that lay it out.

 

And I'd go with a NVidia card, I originally had a 9600GT and just recently upgraded to the GTS250. Both work great.

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Zaap
Zaap
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Personally, I wouldn't bother with any board that requires a BIOS hack to work with OSX.

 

If you must stick with a socket 775-based system, look into the Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I've built a lot of hacks, and for my money, this is simply the most stable, most forgiving, and easiest of all 775-based motherboards to set up. Even though my sig system works great, had I known at the time, I'd have bought a UD3P board instead.

 

That said: if your build comes anywhere near close to $500 or more, stop and consider that you'll be much better future-proofed with an i5 or i7 build.

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Here's a post on how to install on the P5Q board;

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...=213336&hl=

 

Yea, I agree - Even thought my system is working perfectly, using one of those Gigabyte boards seems to be the easiest way to do it. I saw a couple threads with pre-packaged drivers specifically made for those boards making installation a snap.

 

However, if you already have a p5q board, the link above should be enough to get you functional in X.

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wanna_buy
wanna_buy
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Thanks for replying.

 

I don't live in USA, so in my country there is not such variety of computer parts for purchasing available. Here Core i7 costs as much as two Core 2 Quad Q9400 chips together.

 

What about Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512 MB? OSx86 says it works.

 

Here's a post on how to install on the P5Q board;

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...=213336&hl=

 

Yea, I agree - Even thought my system is working perfectly, using one of those Gigabyte boards seems to be the easiest way to do it. I saw a couple threads with pre-packaged drivers specifically made for those boards making installation a snap.

 

However, if you already have a p5q board, the link above should be enough to get you functional in X.

Here it says about logging in working Leopard machine... What if I don't have any? :ninja: 

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Mackilroy
Mackilroy
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You shouldn't need a kext. I've read of a lot of people using nothing but graphicsenabler=yes in their smbios.plist.

 

When I had an NVIDIA card I didn't even do that - it worked without a hitch (though I used Kakewalk for my installation).

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wanna_buy
wanna_buy
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You shouldn't need a kext. I've read of a lot of people using nothing but graphicsenabler=yes in their smbios.plist.

 

When I had an NVIDIA card I didn't even do that - it worked without a hitch (though I used Kakewalk for my installation).

 

What card did you have? Please write the brand that produced it and the model. 

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wanna_buy
wanna_buy
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I don't know who produced it - it's an generic 8800 GT that I ordered from Apple's website in 2008.

I didn't know that one can purchase videocards from Apple's website. Can you give me the link to that section of Store on Apple.com where you can order videocards? 

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Bug
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I didn't know that one can purchase videocards from Apple's website. Can you give me the link to that section of Store on Apple.com where you can order videocards? 

 

Apple seems to charge a premium for video cards, I imagine the volume of mac-specific cards they sell must be low. Anyway, I got both NVidia cards working with just the GraphicsEnabler=Yes. I also seem to have accelerated H.264 QT and CUDA support, although I'm not sure why QT has HW acceleration since it's not a 9400, 320M, or 330M. But it works :D

 

As for the OP's question about not having a Mac running 10.5: I think you can use a Ubuntu Boot-CD to boot up in Ubuntu and do the same things, or can use the steps in this guide that utilizes Windows;

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=137296

 

Let me know if you get stuck anywhere

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Mackilroy
Mackilroy
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I didn't know that one can purchase videocards from Apple's website. Can you give me the link to that section of Store on Apple.com where you can order videocards?

They don't offer much of a selection – all that's available right now are the GT 120 (for $149), the 4870 (for $349) and the GTX 285 for $449. Standard Apple tax, in other words. They haven't offered the 8800 GT in some time.

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Milanche78
Milanche78
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Thanks for replying.

 

I don't live in USA, so in my country there is not such variety of computer parts for purchasing available. Here Core i7 costs as much as two Core 2 Quad Q9400 chips together.

 

What about Sapphire Radeon HD4850 512 MB? OSx86 says it works.

 

 

Here it says about logging in working Leopard machine... What if I don't have any? :thumbsdown_anim:

I do not live (nor work) in US too, and have the same problem as you do, prices going up, but I would try to get an i5-750 CPU with GA-P55-UD2 or better GA-P55A-UD3R motherboard, the rest is not that important and is up to you and your preferences, but I would go with 2x2 gigs of Ram@1333 and Samsung spinpoint F3 1tb harddisk, if you can find get the corsair PSu (CX400W is great if you wont OC and if you are not going to buy a highend graphic card, but if you will, than you can ger Corsair VX550W)

If you're still short with the money, and just want to run SL , than I would buy an E6300(6500) with GA-EP45-UD3R. That's what I'm considering

 

'

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