Need advice for a desktop system

[msingh]

I have been playing with hackintoshes for about 1.5 years now. In this period of time, I have used OSX (Leopard and Snow Leopard, depending on the machine) on a Dell Latitude 830, Optiplex 745 (problematic one, but worked), Mini 9 and Mini 10v.

 

My experiences with laptops have been more trouble free.

 

I am now looking to buy/build a desktop system to install OSX Snow Leopard on. I want (as much as is possible) ease of using Apple upgrades, and of course retail install.

 

I have never built a desktop on my own, but count my skill with electronics to be above average given my lab experience.

 

What is a good choice - is there a desktop version of Dell Mini 10v out there that just works ? Or does everyone buy components to build a machine ?

 

NB: I am not looking for a laptop. I want the power and ease of use of a desktop with the larger screen and full keyboard and the works.

[wangerman]

I have been playing with hackintoshes for about 1.5 years now. In this period of time, I have used OSX (Leopard and Snow Leopard, depending on the machine) on a Dell Latitude 830, Optiplex 745 (problematic one, but worked), Mini 9 and Mini 10v.

 

My experiences with laptops have been more trouble free.

 

I am now looking to buy/build a desktop system to install OSX Snow Leopard on. I want (as much as is possible) ease of using Apple upgrades, and of course retail install.

 

I have never built a desktop on my own, but count my skill with electronics to be above average given my lab experience.

 

What is a good choice - is there a desktop version of Dell Mini 10v out there that just works ? Or does everyone buy components to build a machine ?

 

NB: I am not looking for a laptop. I want the power and ease of use of a desktop with the larger screen and full keyboard and the works.

 

If you really want it easy just do exactly as stated here http://lifehacker.com/5360150/install-snow...acking-required

[msingh]

If you really want it easy just do exactly as stated here http://lifehacker.com/5360150/install-snow...acking-required

 

Thanks.

 

Well, that article lists supported hardware components. Its not something (esp. motherboards) that is stated upfront if you go to, say, Dell to configure one.

 

I have seen this article, and consider it more of a do-it-yourself with components guide.

[wangerman]

The catch is you need to know what components work with a hackintosh,

 

I doubt you can configure a pre-built system to this level when buying off of the likes of Dell.

 

If you want to take a chance buy a system you like and hope for the best.

 

If you want an easier time and as your first post states you do then build your own machine using known working components.

 

you could of course phone up every manufacturer and ask them the build of their machines in detail but I am sure you don't want to do that

[geiman]

Yeah when I read your first post it sounded like you wanted to build your own desktop, but I take it thats not what you meant? Buying a pre-built machine is mainly going to be luck of the draw as to whether or not it will run OS X very well. If you can use a Philips head screw driver, and push connectors into/onto slots, then I think you can build a PC, its not that hard. Make it easy on yourself by finding a guide for a hackintosh that is as well supported as you wish, then use their hardware list as a basis to go off of.

[msingh]

Yeah when I read your first post it sounded like you wanted to build your own desktop, but I take it thats not what you meant? Buying a pre-built machine is mainly going to be luck of the draw as to whether or not it will run OS X very well. If you can use a Philips head screw driver, and push connectors into/onto slots, then I think you can build a PC, its not that hard. Make it easy on yourself by finding a guide for a hackintosh that is as well supported as you wish, then use their hardware list as a basis to go off of.

 

Ok. You convinced me. I am going to do this build myself.

 

Now, I found this ASUS P7P55D-E + Intel Core i7-860 combo deal on newegg.

 

Is the motherboard a good choice for Snow Leopard ? I am assuming that i7 will work since that is what is listed on Apple's macpro page.

[msingh]

you could of course phone up every manufacturer and ask them the build of their machines in detail but I am sure you don't want to do that

 

Of course not !

[geiman]

Ok. You convinced me. I am going to do this build myself.

 

Now, I found this ASUS P7P55D-E + Intel Core i7-860 combo deal on newegg.

 

Is the motherboard a good choice for Snow Leopard ? I am assuming that i7 will work since that is what is listed on Apple's macpro page.

 

 

At first glance it looks to be a good board. You can find references to successful installs all over insanelymac so thats always a good sign. You can check out here:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...155&st=1520

 

Fatshenanigans talks about how his board is setup, how well it works, etc... Only you can decide the best, most perfect board that fits your needs, but it looks like a very nice board to me; especially with the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 for the future. Fatshenanigans is also using the 870 i7 so I would say your 860 would be good to go as well.

 

Good job on doing some research, its nice to see someone who actually puts forth effort to help themselves.

 

Note: A little tip many people don't realize (or don't use). Searching this board blows with the built-in search. Nothing useful is found. If you want to search insanelymac, use Google like so:

 

P7P55D-E site:www.insanelymac.com

 

You can search most any site by putting the "site:<name of site>" after whatever your searching for. You probably already knew that, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case you didn't.

 

EDIT: Another guide I found where the same processor you are looking at is used:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=199411

[msingh]

At first glance it looks to be a good board. You can find references to successful installs all over insanelymac so thats always a good sign. You can check out here:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...155&st=1520

 

Fatshenanigans talks about how his board is setup, how well it works, etc... Only you can decide the best, most perfect board that fits your needs, but it looks like a very nice board to me; especially with the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 for the future. Fatshenanigans is also using the 870 i7 so I would say your 860 would be good to go as well.

 

Good job on doing some research, its nice to see someone who actually puts forth effort to help themselves.

 

Note: A little tip many people don't realize (or don't use). Searching this board blows with the built-in search. Nothing useful is found. If you want to search insanelymac, use Google like so:

 

P7P55D-E site:www.insanelymac.com

 

You can search most any site by putting the "site:<name of site>" after whatever your searching for. You probably already knew that, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case you didn't.

 

EDIT: Another guide I found where the same processor you are looking at is used:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=199411

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Yesterday, I did a bit of in-depth research on this board and found references to people being unable to activate the on-board audio.

 

I will take a look at fatshenanigans' posts (I have seen only one of them so far) to see if he fixed that.

 

As to the 6GB/s and USB3, I am also considering Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD3. People have issues with the USB3 part because OSX does not yet support it, but having 6GB/s would be sweet, given the monstrous speed of the CPU. My computer organization teacher from my undergrad would probably blanch at me saying that since the speeds are different orders of magnitude, but its always nicer to have faster components.

 

I was looking at Core i7-920 as well, but found multiple reports of people having to flash their motherboards *before* installing the processor - a chicken and egg story if there was ever one, if you had only one processor to start with.

 

That is why I chose the slightly less hot Core i7-860. Newegg reviews claim that with HT, its throughput bests Core i7-920.