roybotnik Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 Hi everyone, I just recently acquired a B&W G3 Tower, which I intended to use to run OS X. I purchased a 500mhz G4 upgrade, and 512mb of SDRAM at a cost of about $170 total, only to find that OS X still doesn't run all that fast since this thing doesn't support Quartz Extreme. I guess I wasn't thinking about OSX on x86 when I bought all of the stuff, but now I'm looking to build a cheap ~$200 system to run OSX and sell the stuff I bought. All that I plan on doing with it is webbrowsing, wordprocessing, and garageband stuff. Basically, I'm trying to figure out what kind of motherboard would have fully supported sound, video, and networking, and here are some of the candidates: MSI 915GLM-V: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813130518 EPoX EP-5EGMI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813123253 MSI 915GVM3-V: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813130532 ASUS P5GV-MX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E16813131586R To go with this cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16819112205 Does anyone notice anything on those that would make any of the motherboards incompatible? I can't seem to get the HCL page to check. I'm looking for something that would be mostly 100% compatible without much hacking needed to get things to work. If I'm looking in the wrong direction maybe you could point me in the right one. Any suggestions would be great. Also, do you guys think this would be worthwhile, or do you think I would be better off getting a cheap used G4 mac motherboard off ebay that has an AGP slot for QE? I'm sure the mactel system would perform better, but would it be all that reliable and usable as more than just a novelty? Thanks. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
ced1610 Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 lesson, if you're looking for my signature, you'll see that i know what kind of stuff you must have inside your mactel. Motherboard : buy an asus p5ld2-vm motherboard (it's easy to OverClock p4) processor : Pentium 4 is the best, i have 3 Mactels, the most powerfull is the one who have the P4 3Ghz (530) with 1 mo cache 800Mhz fsb (OC to 1024 Mhz !!!) it include NXbit, PAE, SSe3...and the os with HyperTreading see 2 Processors (and the apps like Altivec Fractal Carbon see 2 Altivec too) Ram : 1 Go Mini DDR2 Hard disk : a Sata disk, those first prices are ok. Video : integrated in motherboard GMA950, witch is fast and have the best (with GMA900) support by apple. at this time, OSX 10.4.3 8f1111g is the best for me... you cant see differences between a real mac and my Mactel... ilife is fully working (themes also). i have done the software update for ilife via the apple menu...like another Mac... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/#findComment-58193 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ced1610 Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 in 10.4.3 8F1111g all is working with this motherboard. Serial ATA ok ATA ok Video ok (QE & CI supported) (1 small command line in terminal to x2 speed !!!) 1 Gb ethernet ok USB 1 & 2 ok Sound output ok (input ok in 8f1099, but no altivec...) (need a small patch, easy to apply) apple Kbd and mouse ok the poor Pioneer 110D is recognised like a superdrive (works great with Idvd without patch) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/#findComment-58199 Share on other sites More sharing options...
roybotnik Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 I would get a P4, but right now it's a little bit outside my price range. That motherboad looks like its pretty nice though. Do celeron Ds have PAE? I know they have SSE3 and NX-bit. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/#findComment-58290 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ced1610 Posted February 19, 2006 Share Posted February 19, 2006 new celerons (330) have sse3, nx-bit, PAE (was already on pentium 2 !!!!) and 64-bit instructions. only mobile celerons haven't sse3. i have 2 mactel with 3 ghz celeron 330 they are about 60 in Xbench (you b/w g3 is about 11...) this mobo need only 2 patch for all running very well. the p4 : with HyperTreading activated, there is about 20-30% ( !!!!!) benefit with rosetta, it seem to be a cool stuff for futur (don't forget that new apples are DUALcore...) (i have done the test with AltivecFractal Carbon PPC) with Xbench, the p4 OC to 3,9 Ghz is about new imac Dualcore... i have OC (3Ghz to 3,9 Ghz) it about 3 month : no problems. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/#findComment-58503 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranSport Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 By all means ditch the g4 500 upgraded B&W. I used to have one just like that. It was a stable machine but, that RAM it uses isn really ancient and sounds like you are gargling SCOPE mouthwash during boot up or just about always. Also the Bus speed is almost non-existant. Let's not forget the high pitch hum of the powermac's fan. That drove me nuts. The new RAM chips are soo much more quiter and more responsive. The secrets are all in the xbench scores. The Celeron D is a good choice on a budget w/ a quick bus speed. The only thing I miss on a "hacintel" is the sleep function is gone in 10.4.3, used to have it in 10.4.1? Also miss that Ebay and Limewire are in Java and have some issues. Maybe be fixed in 10.4.4? I have been on Mac's only for since '99. I haven't been happier since I built my own. I am now open to dual booting XP and have access to some Windows stuff that is light years ahead. That alone is worth it for me. Besides that it crashes less than my g4 500 ziff upgraded B&W. If youa re stuck on Mac the Emac and Mini are the best deals when buying used. I have seen some 1 gig Emacs sell for as low as $400. That is a useable machine. Good luck.... Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/9349-selling-my-mac-to-make-a-mactel/#findComment-58705 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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