Componets for VFX/CGI Hackintosh

[Drake Welsh]

Hello everyone,

 

I've been researching the bits and pieces that I need to make a very powerful Hackintosh to replace my '06 Intel iMac. The main priority is render speed in 3D software and 2D compositors, along with real time color grading/correction. Film editing is also very important as well (editing on Primere CS6). Gaming would be nice as I'm dying to get my hands on Battlefield 3 but not as significant.

 

So this is what I have for the tower components thus far:

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Processor

GPU: GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD6870 1GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/2x Mini DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB DDR3 1600MHz PC3 12800 Quad Channel 240 Pin Desktop Memory

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Internal Desktop Hard Drive

SDD: OCZ 120GB Agility 3 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5-Inch Midrange Performance Solid State Drive (SSD

MOBO: Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2133 LGA 1155 Motherboards

CASE: Corsair CC800DW Obsidian 800D Black Aluminum Full Tower ATX Enthusiast Case

POWER: Corsair HX Professional Series 850-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i7 and Core i5

COOLER: Corsair Cooling Hydro-Series All-in-One High-Performanc​e Liquid CPU Cooler

 

Additional Componets:

Optical Media: LG WH12LS30 12X SATA BLU-RAY BURNER - BULK, DRIVE ONLY

WIFI: ASUS (USB-N13) Wireless-N USB Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Tooth: Targus USB Bluetooth® Adapter - Class 2 ACB10US

 

I'm aiming for no more then $2000 for the tower, and about $500 for the perprhals (Monitor(s),Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, ect.)

 

I'm open to any recomendations and/or replacements for any of the above componets. I want to make absotly sure that this machine will be stable enough to run OSX along with surving several days of intense renderding. I'm aiming for at least 3 year lifespan before I further upgrade, longer would be nice.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Foxic]

All sounds good but I wouldn't go for one of those corsair all in one coolers, they're not exactly the best.

 

You'd be much better getting 2 240mm Black Ice rads (these are really slim), dedicated water blocks for CPU, North bridge, South bridge, MOSFETs, GFX card and going all out. Or just buy a good heatsink and fan.

 

Those corsair coolers are about as good as the stock cooler, they only have a 120mm rad!

 

For bluetooth you're much better making your own from a genuine apple part and a 5v-3.3v adapter which is available from eBay for a few £/€/$.

This allows you to wake the pc from sleep under OS X using your (I assume) magic mouse and/or bluetooth keyboard, most dongles don't do this.

[Drake Welsh]

Thanks for the feedback, a couple questions.

 

So ditch the Corsair cooler; how much would going all out on cooling cost me? I'm planing on overclocking from 3.4GHZ to 4GHZ.

If watercooling isn't nescary, any fans you would recomend?

 

Yep, I am planning on on using the apple keyboard; I fiqured I would have to build one, I was really trying to avoid that one.

[Foxic]

Building your own bluetooth is easy. There is a guide on here somewhere. I did mine in about 10 minutes, its 4 wires, 2 of which (+ & -) go through the 5v-3.3v converter.

 

As for watercooling, I spent (approx in £)

cpu block - 60

Motherboard Nb Sb MOSFET - 100

480GTX full block - 80

Pump - 40

Res - 15

Rad - 60 (black ice stealth, really thin but has the cooling performance of a full thickness rad, can get cheaper if you like)

Pipe - 10

Anti kink coil - 20

20 1/4" compression barbs - 30 (i have a few spare still)

Coolant - 10

 

I don't really know much about air cooling...im a H2O junkie...but i would guess a big one with a big high speed fan or 2 strapped to it for good measure.

[Drake Welsh]

Building your own bluetooth is easy. There is a guide on here somewhere. I did mine in about 10 minutes, its 4 wires, 2 of which (+ & -) go through the 5v-3.3v converter.

 

As for watercooling, I spent (approx in £)

cpu block - 60

Motherboard Nb Sb MOSFET - 100

480GTX full block - 80

Pump - 40

Res - 15

Rad - 60 (black ice stealth, really thin but has the cooling performance of a full thickness rad, can get cheaper if you like)

Pipe - 10

Anti kink coil - 20

20 1/4" compression barbs - 30 (i have a few spare still)

Coolant - 10

 

I don't really know much about air cooling...im a H2O junkie...but i would guess a big one with a big high speed fan or 2 strapped to it for good measure.

 

That's around $500, a bit too much for me. Anything within the Cosair price range? I think I can do up to $200 on cooling, lower would be fantastic.

Also should I perhaps upgrade the motherboard to allow an eventual upgrade to 64GB of RAM?

[Foxic]

It really is up to you but if I were on a budget like that I would just go for a good heatsink and fan.

Why go for a bottom of the range water cooling setup when you can get a top of the range air cooling setup?

 

Motherboard wise, it is up to you but I would wait a while and get an Ivy bridge Motherboard with Thunderbold from Gigabyte when they come out. A good rule of thumb is to buy the best you can afford.

[HazMatt]

Motherboard wise, it is up to you but I would wait a while and get an Ivy bridge Motherboard with Thunderbold from Gigabyte when they come out. A good rule of thumb is to buy the best you can afford.

 

I'm actually considering downgrading from the GA-Z77X-UP5 TH to the GA-Z77X-UD5H to save some cash. I saw on HacksByAlfa that the ThunderBolt ports are not hot-swappable, and if I can't have my hot-swappable TB ports, that loses some of the appeal for me. That, and I have yet to find a use for TB.

 

BTW, the tooth formatting made me laugh.