craigolio Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I am pulling the trigger. I am building a new desktop for Leopard (cause it rocks on my laptop!) I want to build a serious machine - one that I can use to do some pretty major video editing with, and one that my son can play his flight simulator and other graphic intensive (in windows) on. So I am thinking of a quad-core Q6600 processor, 4gb ram, and a couple of 500gb sata hard drives. For video, I am partial to nVidia cards, and I would like to be able to take advantage of sli. Since I understand that support for the 8800 cards is still limited, i am thinking about buying two 7950's. I could use the two 7950's in SLI mode in windows, and I hear they work pretty well in OSX (well, I mean that ONE of them would work in OSX). The question is - what mobo would you all recommend for such a setup?? FWIW, I'd like to be able to use raid for the two 500's, and I care nothing about having a wireless AP built into a motherboard. Many thanks! Craigolio Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 How about a Quad core QX6850? Its the best processor Intel has right now. Other than that, the other specs look good. Flashy LED lights and water cooling anyone? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-497963 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Rather buy one 8800gts than two 7950's, in my opinion. It's still really fast for games Also raid won't work, unfortunately... The qx6850 isn't worth the extra cash over the q6600 also, IMO, it's too expensive! It costs 4x more and it's like 30-40% faster... The Q6600 is the best value for money definitely. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-498162 Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigolio Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Thanks for the advice on the vid card. I really would prefer to get an 8800. I will read more, I think I saw a thread where someone has made the 8800 work with OSX. And, sheyahhh, I don't see the value in the qx6850. I am building a nice system, but I am not nuts!! Anybody have any ideas on a good SLI mobo? I plan on clicking ORDER today (and I am excited about it!) Thanks again, Craigolio Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-498502 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 There was a thread on how to get 8800 to work with os x. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-498815 Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigolio Posted November 11, 2007 Author Share Posted November 11, 2007 Well - I couldn't get enough feedback, so I just went ahead and ordered the following items. I will keep everyone posted as to how it works out, especially in light of the news regarding Netkas's work on the new EFI bootloader. ( I hope it works on NVidia 680i architecture!!) Case: Antec Sonata III w/ 500watt PSU: $118.60 (no tax, no shipping) Mobo: BFG Technologies BFGRINF680iS $255.35 (no tax, no shipping) Video Card: BFG Technologies GeForce 8800 GT OC, PCIe 2.0, 512MB GDDR3 $294.96 (w/tax - from local store) Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 Retail $269.00 no tax, no shipping Memory: 4GB (4x1GB) of G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800mhz (PC2 6400) -- $120.15 (with tax) a 500GB SATA2 Hard drive:Western Digital WD5000AAKS SATA2 16MB 7200RPM $105.99 (with shipping) Note: This is coming with a free (after rebate) external enclosure with a USB 2.0 connection. and a DVD drive with Lightscribe: Samsung SH-S203B $37.13 (with tax) So my total, all in, is $1207. If anybody has any advice as to what I should change, I would really appreciate it. In either case, I will post my results upon receiving the parts and making a successful build/install. Many thanks to this community!! Craigolio Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-503109 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azurael Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 8800GT doesn't work at all at the moment due to the new GPU (G92) - you need one of the older 8800GTX or GTS (G80) cards for OS X compatibility. And be prepared for a rough ride if you're determined to have SLi, since NVidia chipsets are not well supported in OS X. SATA will (at the moment) be slow and CPU hogging at best, data corrupting at worst, and nobody's reported if the new bootloader works on 680i/650i - I suspect there might be problems as NVidia's HPET is very dodgy in my experience. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-503113 Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 3 key rules for buying OS X parts: 1) Stray away from nForce chipsets 2) Do not buy an AMD processor 3) Don't buy the latest and greatest video card thats been released It seems you have broken 2 of them Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-503152 Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigolio Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 Hmmm . . . good advice on the vid card. Luckily I had not picked it up at the store yet since I only ordered all the other parts today. I'll switch to a 8800gts w/ 640mb ram. I guess I'll just have to try the mobo when it arrives. I had seen some posts from folks saying that the 680i was working, but was not aware of the sata problems. If only I had asked for advice on working SLI boards before I ordered. Seriously though, thanks for the advice. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/70199-any-sli-mobos-that-work-well-w-leo/#findComment-503277 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts