Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2 or GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L hackintosh?

[lukey2k10]

hello!

 

im stuck on what components to use to build my first hackintosh, i prefer an easy, quick ( well, quicker then more complex high proformane machines ) , hacintosh.

just a personal pc for standard use.

 

im looking at the GIGABYTE GA-945GCMX-S2L on ebay for £45 or the GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L at pc world for a mere £40

 

and then im stuck on what processor ? will any core 2 dou processor over 2ghz work?

i have a 512mb ddr3 ATI radeon X1600 graphics card from 7 years back if that would work.

 

any thoughts?

[irrational John]

im stuck on what components to use to build my first hackintosh, i prefer an easy, quick (well, quicker then more complex high performance machines) , hackintosh. just a personal pc for standard use.

I've haven't really much experience with building actual Hackintoshs so I probably should keep quiet. But I'm not bright enough to do that. Just remember to get (at least) a second opinion and it should all be fine.

 

FWIW, I actually picked up a GIGABYTE GA-945GCMX-S2 from US ebay at the end of March for ~£36 shipped.

 

It's a pretty basic board and I usually wouldn't recommend it. The advantage it has, which I was focusing on at the time I bought it, is that it is one of the few mobos with integrated video which OS X can use. (Some of the Intel Macs used the GMA950 video which this mobo uses. The early Intel versions of the Mac Mini, for example.)

 

Supposedly the GA-945GCMX-S2 can use a FSB 13333 MHz Intel processor, but you would have to overclock the mobo to do it. The BIOS only officially supports a max of FSB 1066 MHz. If you go with this board be sure to look at the CPU compatibility list Gigabyte provides for this mobo and make sure whatever you pick is on it.

 

I would recommend just going with a FSB 1066 CPU just to be safe and to avoid the hassle of futzing with the clock. Something in the Intel E6000 series (Pentium/Wolfdale 45nm, not the earlier Core 2 Duo/Conroe 65nm processors) should be excellent for everyday use. I would advise avoiding anything that runs at 800 MHz FSB. IMO the 1066 FSB just feels "zippier".

 

(Hmmm. It seems that only the Pentium Dual-Core (aka Pentium Desktop Processor) E6500 & E6300 are listed in the GA-945GCMX-S2 CPU compatibility table. Well, it is an older board ... )

 

or the GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L at pc world for a mere £40

I would suggest, if possible, to

• Avoid any board with integrated graphics other than the previously mentioned GMA950. The reason being that you're not going to be able to get OS X to use it. So why get it?
  
• If you are looking at socket 775 and DDR2 mobos, then go with either a P43 or P45 chipset board. Avoid the G31,P31,G41, & P41 mobos. While you can hack the latter, the original standard "go-to" Hackintosh mobo was some version of GA-EP45-xxxx (or GA-EP43-xxxx).
  

IIRC, using P43 or P45 pretty much gives you PCIe v2.0 for the display adapter slot(s). (Only for those though. The 1x slots are still PCIe v1.1). But it also means you'll get ICH10 for the southbridge which guarantees you'll get AHCI support which is a good thing to have enabled when you're looking to bring up a Hackintosh.

 

You also won't have to worry about which CPU you get. So long as it's socket LGA 775 and either Core 2 Duo or Pentium Dual Core, it should be supported if the mobo has it's most recent BIOS.

 

i have a 512mb ddr3 ATI radeon X1600 graphics card from 7 years back if that would work.

I don't know. It would seem it is likely to work since some of the early Intel MacBook Pros used X1600 graphics. Usually when I want to look for info on a specific piece of hardware I Google for it and add the search term +Hackintosh. So, for example, googling GDDR3 radeon +X1600 +Hackintosh may turn up something useful.

 

You also might find this post in another group of interest.

 

Hope this helps,