Jump to content

Component Check for Kalyway


11 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Can someone confirm my hardware is suitable for OSx86 before I spend a weekend downloading and trying to get it working when it was never going to happen! A simple yes/no for each component would be great. I'm looking at the kalyway_leo_10.5.1 release.

 

CPU: E4300 C2D 1.8MHz overclocked to 3.2GHz

Motherboard: Asus P5N-E SLI (nVidia 650i chipset)

Sound: onboard, Realtek ALC883

Network: onboard, Marvell Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express - 88E1116 PHY

HDD: SATA or PATA connected to onboard controller

DVD: PATA connected to onboard controller

Graphics: ATI x1950PRO PCI Express

 

If all this hardware is supported I'll invest the weekend trying to make it work - if there are some known showstoppers I won't waste my time and I'll consider buying some new bits.

 

How am I looking?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After spending some more time on the forum it seems that:

 

CPU: fine

Motherboard: some issues

Sound: some examles of sucess

Network: nope, people buy a new PCI LAN card

HDD: PATA fine, SATA no

DVD: PATA fine

Graphics: fine

 

One observation about this whole OSx86 thing though. I wish there was some stock HW that worked PERFECTLY. I have case, optical, HDD, PSU, RAM etc. kicking around. So if someone could suggest a perfect motherboard - where the SATA/PATA controller, LAN and audio worked, I'd be happy to buy it and be able to throw together a MacPro-like system for a small fraction of the cost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems like the nVidia based P5N-E SLI isn't a suitable starting point. So I'm thinking to buy some new bits.

 

This is what I already have *spare*.

 

Good ATX case

Good 450W PSU

PATA and SATA HDDs

PATA Optical drive

 

So I need to buy:

CPU

Motherboard

RAM

Graphics

 

I'm thinking of these:

CPU: Pentium e2160 ~£50 (overclock to ~3GHz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 ~£65

RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) ~£30

Graphics: Gigabyte ATI 2400 XT Silent Fanless 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI ~£35

 

Total cost ~£180

 

Will this leave me with a perfectly working OS X system?

Can anyone conform that Intel based P35 based board is perfect for OS X? Is there a better chose, the RAM, graphics and CPU seem obvious – it all comes down to the motherboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me again mate,

 

Looks good though you might want to go for 6400 ram for better o/c options. Mobo is good, v similar to mine so you should be OK.

 

I can recommend iAtkos DVD as it worked for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems like the nVidia based P5N-E SLI isn't a suitable starting point. So I'm thinking to buy some new bits.

 

This is what I already have *spare*.

 

Good ATX case

Good 450W PSU

PATA and SATA HDDs

PATA Optical drive

 

So I need to buy:

CPU

Motherboard

RAM

Graphics

 

I'm thinking of these:

CPU: Pentium e2160 ~£50 (overclock to ~3GHz)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 ~£65

RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) ~£30

Graphics: Gigabyte ATI 2400 XT Silent Fanless 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI ~£35

 

Total cost ~£180

 

Will this leave me with a perfectly working OS X system?

Can anyone conform that Intel based P35 based board is perfect for OS X? Is there a better chose, the RAM, graphics and CPU seem obvious – it all comes down to the motherboard.

 

The configuration you're listing is almost exactly the one I'm using - except I've got an e2180 processor clocked to 3.18 and a GeForce 7300 graphics card. The iAtkos installer worked perfectly for me from an SATA dvdrom (installing onto an old ide drive). Do be aware this motherboard can be picky about ram - I tried to put in 4 gigs but it won't play nice with the 2 additional sticks of the corsair xms 2 (which tested fine in another MB) - some people recommend Geil ram for better compatibilty (www.overclockers.co.uk). Note that the Corsair ram overclocked nicely to 800 speeds (and press control-f1 at the bios screen to change the latency to 4-4-4-12).

 

I've also installed a firewire PCI board which has given me three fw ports, and for sound I'm using a cheap (3 quid from ebuyer.com) usb sound card/internet 'phone which works perfectly (without drivers) powering a couple of speakers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been reading these forums for a couple of days now and last night tried to install Kalyway on my existing system, spec in first post, on an external USB drive. Didn't work - managed to format the drive but the install just froze on "Time Remaining: Calculating" and would go no further.

 

Also after reading lots I'm now not convinced by the whole Osx86 project. Can one really build a system, install OSX and have it working perfectly? Robustly? As good as a real Mac such that it can be used 10 hours a day as your main computer the work/entertainment?

 

I'm attracted to OSx86 as the MacMini isn't powerful enough and the MacPro is too expensive - I thought OSx86 would give me a decent, fully speced system... now I'm not so sure.

 

So what's the deal? If I buy some new HW (as detailed above) is it realistic to expect to make a "perfect" Mac that I can use as my main computer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

clv101 - Check my signature for the specs on my Hackintosh.

I'm using it as my main computer. I'm considering building another Hack

once the new 45nm Quad core CPUs come out & I'll also be using a

8800GTS 512MB vid card - only thing right now with those vid cards is

that they seem to be benchmarking slow - could be faster under upcoming

10.5.2 update. I'm waiting to hear reviews on this before I decide to build

another Hack or get one of the new Mac Pros.

 

I'm very happy with my Hack - practically 0 problems - acts/feels like a real Mac.

I'm VERY happy with Kalyway 10.5.1 - it's a great distro. Only thing I can't do

it boot the Hack with the "C" key when there's a OS X disc in the DVD drive and

can't set the start-up disc under system prefs (no HDDs show up there) otherwise

it's perfect.

 

The main thing to keep in mind - Get good, compatible hardware & a good distro

(I recommend Kalyway). I'm running EFI vanilla kernel, so I should be able to

just use software update when 10.5.2 comes out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have now all but finalised my Hackintosh components:

 

I'm reusing an old PATA DVD and not so old but spare SATA HDD.

 

That leaves me needing the rest for the system unit. This is what I have in mind:

 

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) (£17.61)

Intel Core 2 Duo E2160 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.80GHz (800FSB) - Retail (£49.34)

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£65.79)

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) (£32.89)

Asus GeForce EN7300GT-HTD Silent 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (£41.11)

Antec NSK 4480B Mini Tower Case (Black) - 380W Earth Watts PSU (£46.99)

 

Total with shipping, £266.60

 

Is that MB/CPU/RAM the best bang per buck? I want to use a P35 board. I could save a little by getting the 1.6GHz CPU but will that make >3GHz just a bit harder?

 

I'm very tempted by the new Wolfdale, 45nm chips and may well swap for a quad core in the future. Can the board manage the power demands as it doesn't have 6-phase voltage regulation and only a 4-wire power connector?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went for this lot in the end:

 

Asus 7300GT Silent 256MB DDR2 DVI HDTV PCI-E Graphics Card

Intel E2160 Socket 775 Pentium Dual Core 2x1.8Ghz 800FSB Retail Boxed Processor

Antec Black NSK4480B ATX/MATX Mini Tower - With 380W EarthWatts PSU

Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

4GB: 2x OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)

 

£285 including delivery.

 

The RAM was cheap so I got 4GB and I went for the DS3R in the end. Only a little bit more and the better power and more features can only be a good thing.

 

I'll report back on Hackintosh success after the weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...