drOwl Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 After reading up over the last couple days, I think I'm ready to get a good mid-range system, but would like to hear your opinion before I hit the buy button. CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 mobo: ASRock 775i945GZ RAM: pqi POWER Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) gfx: MSI RX1600PRO-TD256E HD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s DVD: Pioneer DVR-111D case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW PSU: Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W - is this enough? does it have all the right connections? I'm thinking that: 1) the HD will run at full SATAII during and after install, 2) both CPU cores will be used (and won't have to be disabled during install), 3) onboard sound (out only, after patch) and lan will work, and 4) without messing with OCing, it'll be faster than a stock iMac[EDIT] comparable to a Yonah-based Mini at WoW, photoshop and h.263 encoding. Is this right? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/29511-imac-killer-for-500/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Nope, get an iMac, i just got one and it canes the {censored} out of anything i own (and i own 2 core 2 duos), basically the kernel still rocks wen its new and COre 2 duo will leave your 805 crying Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/29511-imac-killer-for-500/#findComment-203389 Share on other sites More sharing options...
boo50 Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 iMac killer... hmhmmmmmm you can't be faster than a stock iMac because of 1) slower processor, i have it and it's really can't compare to core2duo... D805 is the cheapest low-end processor of dual core processors at the moment. 2) main point is the kernel... what is optimised for the specific processor in real Macs - it's sure mean better perfomance. 3) slower bus speed and Ram. i have the similar config as you wish to buy. all wokring good... just good.... but if you wanna do Photoshop work or encoding it's not enought powerfull... as i think..... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/29511-imac-killer-for-500/#findComment-203409 Share on other sites More sharing options...
drOwl Posted October 6, 2006 Author Share Posted October 6, 2006 Doing a bit more reading, I grok that current homebrew macs are essentially using the 10.4.4 kernel which has been optimized for Yonah/Merom and running anything else will incur some handicap. So, calling this system a iMac killer is a bit of an exaggeration... But since I don't have the $$ for an iMac - and I'm hoping to build this budget system as much to run Vista as for OSX - would it be fair to say that this system can hold its own against the current Minis? And will the ASRock 775i945GZ / Pentium D 805 combo make for a smooth install? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/29511-imac-killer-for-500/#findComment-203514 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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