Ideal hardware?

[Brywalker]

Now that there have been a couple of builds since 10.4.1, is there an ideal hardware config still? I am ready to take the plunge to make a dedicated machine for it, and was wondering of the 915G was still the way to go. I would LOVE to do an X2 system, but I want max compatibility.

 

Any insight at all would be excellent. I don't plan on gaming (haha) on it at all, but I want something that would run just about everything else.

 

TIA!

[crazymonkeypants]

Obvious enough that it hardly bears saying:

 

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...1cIn6quk/2.?p=0

[Brywalker]

Wow. That was clever. You win the thread.

 

 

Anyone without a smart ass answer?

[matix]

The 945 G chipsets are probably better now. Get an intel one with sigma 9220 audio and Intel brand LAN. That is what i suggest.

 

I use a ASUS 945G p5ld2-vM, which is good, but doesn't have efi support, like the intel 945's are supposed to get.

[ozzie123]

I got a notebook with 915GM chipset with GMA 900 PCIe. It works out of the box... The problem is (isolated to laptop) I can't boot without external monitor!

[Wallbanger]

I got a notebook with 915GM chipset with GMA 900 PCIe. It works out of the box... The problem is (isolated to laptop) I can't boot without external monitor!

 

 

I have the same setup, build and use a SVideo Dongle to boot without a monitor hooked up. Search the forums for the guide, it's very cheap and easy to build ($4.00 for parts at Radio Shack...)

[alextait]

I am considering buying a new mobo and chip...

Does anyone have any recomendations of the best motherboard ?

 

A product code would be great!!

 

thanks

 

Alex

 

[Olivier]

My signature tell everything.

 

But it will never run the 10.4.4, so maybe consider...to buy a Mac.

 

I spend 600 US$ for this PC, without monitor. So, if you do not have a 20 " TFT monitor, it can be a good plan to buy an Imac.

 

What is funny, is that after you will spend your nights to try to install Windows XP on it ;>))

 

This is human beeing -> Never satisfied !

 

Anyway, I already ordered a Mac, and I have to wait few weeks. (No delay)

 

Best regards,

[Malketh]

My signature tell everything.

 

But it will never run the 10.4.4, so maybe consider...to buy a Mac.

 

I spend 600 US$ for this PC, without monitor. So, if you do not have a 20 " TFT monitor, it can be a good plan to buy an Imac.

 

What is funny, is that after you will spend your nights to try to install Windows XP on it ;>))

 

This is human beeing -> Never satisfied !

 

Anyway, I already ordered a Mac, and I have to wait few weeks. (No delay)

 

Best regards,

 

Did you get the optical out working on that board?

[tattoo99]

I think the "buy a mac" response makes a lot of sense, both technically and morally, in terms of what's available for most segments right now. For example, even at the higher prices for a Mini, this still a great deal for what you get compared to what you would get building a box from scratch (especially form factor wise).

 

I'm curious though what hardware people would recommend, with an unlimited budget, to build the most powerful possible x86-based OSX box? We are probably many months away from an X86-based PowerMac, so if you want to run OSX on x86 hardware at the high end (workstation class), you don't have much choice but hackintosh.

 

What is the best processor/mobo combination in terms of power/compatibility (not cost) right now? Have people had much luck putting together working dual dual-core solutions?

[Bearcat]

I think the "buy a mac" response makes a lot of sense, both technically and morally, in terms of what's available for most segments right now. For example, even at the higher prices for a Mini, this still a great deal for what you get compared to what you would get building a box from scratch (especially form factor wise).

 

I'm curious though what hardware people would recommend, with an unlimited budget, to build the most powerful possible x86-based OSX box? We are probably many months away from an X86-based PowerMac, so if you want to run OSX on x86 hardware at the high end (workstation class), you don't have much choice but hackintosh.

 

What is the best processor/mobo combination in terms of power/compatibility (not cost) right now? Have people had much luck putting together working dual dual-core solutions?

 

This is the best thread I've found for this type of box, in the Genius Bar

 

http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?sh...=7393&hl=bofors

 

I modelled my own box after this, and have been very happy.

[tattoo99]

Thanks Bearcat -- that is a very helpful thread.

 

I'd still like to know if there's any compatible dual dual-core mobos out there.

[Bearcat]

I'd still like to know if there's any compatible dual dual-core mobos out there.

 

Sorry, I missed the "dual dual-core" part.

 

I may be wrong, but I don't think so, at least not in the LGA775 socket Pentium 4 and D series. These procs don't work in multi-chip arrangements.

 

Maybe when the Xeons come out in dual-core.

 

For now, I think 1 dual-core is all that's available or multi-proc Xeon motherboards, but I suspect there will be other issues running on those (your mileage may vary).

[tattoo99]

I may be wrong, but I don't think so, at least not in the LGA775 socket Pentium 4 and D series. These procs don't work in multi-chip arrangements.

 

Maybe when the Xeons come out in dual-core.

 

For now, I think 1 dual-core is all that's available or multi-proc Xeon motherboards, but I suspect there will be other issues running on those (your mileage may vary).

 

I think you're right. Are there any quad or dual CPU motherboards for Athlon or Athlon X2?

 

So the conclusion seems to be that for the moment, there is no quad x86 processor arrangement that will support OSX? If this is true, it is a good thing for Apple since (at least for now) it means that if you want this type of arrangement you need a quad powermac (which I have). I also have two 30 inch displays, which is another arrangement unavailable in the hackintosh world -- indeed, I don't think I've read anywhere about someone driving a 30-inch at native resolution on a hackintosh.

 

Anyone know off-hand which hackintosh-compatible x86 notebook comes closest to the specifications of the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro (15.4 screen, 1440x900 rez, 2.16 dual core, gigabit lan, dvi-based second display)? I am not aware of any configuration (desktop or notebook) that supports a second display through DVI, but I could be wrong about that.

 

For the moment, it seems that while OSX86 has been successfully hacked, there is still a signficiant gap between the systems you can achieve in the hackintosh context versus Apple hardware. Would love to be a fly on the wall at Apple's strategy sessions around these issues.

[Bearcat]

As usual when I start a sentence with "I could be wrong", I usually am, hehe

 

Anyways looking at the Intel site, I see that Xeons are available in Dual Core, they are called Xeon MP Processores

 

http://intel.com/business/bss/products/server/dual-core.htm

 

And coupled with one of the Intel server boards, probably a SE725 you can get a 4 processor system

 

Whether you can run OSX 86 on it, is another question I cannot answer.

 

On the DVI topic, with a G945 board with integrated GMA950, you can add an ADD2-N card to the PCIe slot for DVI-D output from the GMA950 integrated graphics.

 

 

For notebooks, there are some other forums, where people are trying the Acer 4202 and the Acer 8204, because of similar hardware.

 

They have had good luck, but not with all components.

[MacApprentice]

I think a hackintosh equiped with a GMA900/950 + ADD2-N could drive a 30" Apple screen @ native res. those chips are fully supported by OSX

[tattoo99]

Good suggestion on the ADD2-N, however I've searched and although I see dual link DVI described as being one possible implementation using the ADD2-N enhancement to GMA950, I was unable to find an actual card on the market that implements it. All ADD2-N cards I found on the market were limited to 1600x1200, which is either a factor of them not implementing dual-link or simply a limitation of their chipset -- presumably a ADD2-N can utilize system memory, so memory should not be a limiting factor in achieving 2560x1600.

 

So while ADD2-N can theoretically do this, I couldn't find a ADD2-N product on the market that does.

 

Bearcat: Note, DVI-D is not sufficient to drive a 30 inch display at native resolution, since the "D" does not refer to a dual-link DVI connector, but merely a connector that is pure digital (DVI-A and DVI-I implement analog signals to analog devices).

 

Haven't heard any definitive reports on Acer 8204 compatibility, but I will watch reports -- thanks for pointing out that machine, which does seem to match up with the Macbook Pro pretty closely (and surpases it on screen rez). It's be very interesting to see how many of the features, like built in CAM and external DVI, folks are able to get working. Of course, pricing is pretty close to the Macbook Pro, which reflects great on what Apple is achieving in terms of price parity.

 

Acer 4204 seems like a great value and to have pretty good compatibility, but falls somewhat short on the specs. I suspect it's price/performance/spec relationship will be pretty close to the Macbook when it is released.

 

Someone implied to me recently that they would not seriously consider using a non-SSE3 hackintosh in any kind of production context, since while it may install and work reasonably well, it will not have long term stability (it is a hacked OS after all). Do people agree with this view? Are there reports on this site that reflect on a stability gap between SSE2 and SSE3?

 

There seems to be a relative dearth of stability reports over the long-term on these forums, and I tend to think the HCL's reflect only a cursory examination of stability/compatibility. It would be great if there was a QA-style test harness that could be run on hackintoshes that executed some benchmark behaviors that would expose key faults.

[MacApprentice]

I agree with the SSE3 idea, I bough a P4D 920 on purpose. Imho it's far more stable and reliable with SSE3 than with any emulator...

[tattoo99]

Just found this comparison of Macbook Pro with some comperable other machines:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2725

 

See especially the table at the bottom of the page.

[Bearcat]

Bearcat: Note, DVI-D is not sufficient to drive a 30 inch display at native resolution, since the "D" does not refer to a dual-link DVI connector, but merely a connector that is pure digital (DVI-A and DVI-I implement analog signals to analog devices).

 

I don't think I implied that. I am aware that the D is digital, and not dual-link.

 

Someone implied to me recently that they would not seriously consider using a non-SSE3 hackintosh in any kind of production context, since while it may install and work reasonably well, it will not have long term stability (it is a hacked OS after all). Do people agree with this view? Are there reports on this site that reflect on a stability gap between SSE2 and SSE3?

 

There seems to be a relative dearth of stability reports over the long-term on these forums, and I tend to think the HCL's reflect only a cursory examination of stability/compatibility. It would be great if there was a QA-style test harness that could be run on hackintoshes that executed some benchmark behaviors that would expose key faults.

 

On the SSE3-SSE2 emulation. When an SSE2 processor encounters an SSE3 instruction it issues an invalid opcode fault. This is trapped, and the equivalent SSE2 instructions are used to emulate the SSE3 instruction.

 

Now the emulation may not be perfect, but I have not noticed any instability in my T40 Thinkpad using this approach. I would suspect there are more issues to incompatible hardware then there are for the SSE3 emulation.