Workstation/Gamer

[dragonblade]

Ok i have my new case it's a Lian-Li V2000 and I am building a new workstation/gamer and I want to run leopard and vista (mostly leopard will probably just access Vista through paralells/boot camp) are there any Dual Xeon boards that work with OSx86?

Or am I better off looking at a new single processor board and running a QX9650 or similar? I was thinking about going with the new 780i chipset from Nvidia but I'll assume it will be quite some time till i can run OSx86 on that board and SLI will probably never be supported.

 

The other thing is graphics I am in two minds at the moment whether to go with a Saphire 3870/Saphire HD2900XT (possibly 4 in Quad crossfire) or a Gainward 8800GT 1Gb GS (obviously 3 for Tri-SLI). Same cards on the server/workstation board but only 1 of

 

Also are there any raid cards that have OSX support? I have been looking at the 3ware 9550SXU 12 port PCI-X to run 12 x WD10EACS in raid 5, and also a couple of 3x4 hotswaps to hold 8 x WD Caviar SE16 500Gb's in raid 10 OS's would be on single raptors.

 

Any help or advise on this would be greatly appreciated. An yes i would really like it to be this fast.

[~pcwiz]

There are some Dual Xeon boards that work, I remember DaxTsurugi mentioned one in a thread but I think you are better off going with a Core 2 Quad or Extreme single processor. QX9650 is WAY overkill for even heavy gaming. Current programs can't even make use of its total immense processing power. Instead, go for a Q6600 or a QX6700. Both are great performers and anything you want to do, they'll do.

 

Do not go for a motherboard with an nVidia chipset. People are having enough trouble getting their nForce4 and nForce 680i motherboards to work, and you can't use SLI either. For help regarding choosing a motherboard, you may want to see my OSx86 motherboard buying guide. Instead, go for a 975X Express motherboard like the Intel Bad Axe 2, or if you want the new tech developments and 45nm processor support, a P35 Express motherboard like the Gigabyte GA-P35 series.

 

For video cards, I am not sure even if the 3870 is supported, but the 2900XT is supported. However, you are way better off going with a GeForce 8800GTS or maybe even a GTX (not confirmed if its working). Support for the 8800GT has recently arrived in some kexts and frameworks from the upcoming 10.5.2 update (read about getting the 8800GT to work here). So basically, the 8800GTS is confirmed working (and maybe the GTX, not sure) but GT support is still in its early stages so you may just want to go with a 8800GTS. Double-check compatibility information for video cards in the 10.5 HCL here.

 

I'm not sure about RAID cards, but with a Q6600 or QX6700 and a 8800 series card, you will have enough power and performance to do ANYTHING

 

Hope this helps

pcwiz

[strangedaze]

Neither of those video cards supported. The best GFX card you can get for the ox86 is a single 8800gtx. Your honestly crazy if you think 4 2900xt's or 3 8800gt's are what you need for games. FYI almost all games that I know of have dont support tri sli most or even normal sli. and Same situation with crossfire. IMO the best thing you can do it buy the new second from cheapest penryn quad thats coming out for 315usd and buy a 8800GTX superclocked or something, and then upgrade when you equip can't play a handful of games your interested in. BTW are you new to computer building ?

[~pcwiz]

I do recall seing the HD2900XT in the HCL listed as working with a BIOS flash.

[Synaesthesia]

I would say get a P35-DS4 and a Q9650, with a new 8800GTS 512mb. It's the best/fastest OSX and gaming setup you can get. SLI/Crossfire won't work like the others say.

[dragonblade]

Ok I have decided to build a new workstation and just upgrade my lan case as my new gamer.

 

All i need to know now is does anyone know what specific dual xeon boards are supported by OSx86?

 

Gamer won't be able to run OSx86 as will be on a new XFX 780i board.

 

Strange daze no I'm not new to system building I am relatively new to MAC, but a long time user of Linux.

 

Current System:

e6600 @ 3.6Ghz @ 1.5v and -28 degrees C (Vapochill Cooled)

Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6

2 x Gainward 8600GTS GS's at 913-1475-2400 mhz

4 x 1gb Patriot SLI ram @1066 2-2-2-4

2 x WD Raptor 150Gb Gamer Edition Drives in Raid 0

4 x WD3200AAKS in Raid 10 on a highpoint rocketraid card

 

 

cards and mobo and ram will go to missus when i get new sys, also raid cards and drives will go to new sys

[Megamixman]

Keep everything in your current Sys, drop the 8600GT's and drop in an 8800GTX and you're good to go for gaming. Mac doesn't have Crysis I don't believe, so you don't have to worry about Quad 8800GTX SLI or something to run it.

[dragonblade]

I can game with the current system the missus wants an upgrade so i'm getting one too...

 

Current sys run's crysis on medium/high detail at about 45-60fps @ 1680x1050, i know that doesn't need an upgrade but it's a year old next week.

 

Lan case is similar setup with

 

e6600 (stock)

GA-945GME-DS2

2 x 2Gb DDR2 667 (Generic)

1 x 8600GTS (same as above)

1 x Raptor 76gb

2 x 500gb

 

will get new parts for mine strip what i want from those two and put the best leftovers into the other halves pc

remainder of parts will be used for one thing or another (possibly lan game server or something)

 

Still waiting to see if anyone knows of a definite dual xeon board that is hackintosh capable?

[Synaesthesia]

You can run dual-xeon, there are compatible boards, but what's the point, unless you really want 8 cores? It costs more and uses fb-dimms. I'd rather use a regular LGA775 motherboard and go quad core.

[gamergh0st]

First for CPU I say go cheap core 2 and save money for nehalem _____ drool octa cores

[djXtreme]

dude if your going to spend that much on one system, why not build a good gaming machine (maybe one not as high spec as originally posted), and a imac / mac pro?