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The Best Micro ATX Board for OSX86

Joe90k
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Joe90k
Joe90k
Posted
Posted

As above if you have a Micro ATX board and are successfully running OSX86 can you list it here so that I and others can see which one is the best. Also if you have any comments about the board or overclocking etc that would be great.

 

Thanks

Joe

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Crypticus
Crypticus
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I concur. Please list, if you have a Good micro ATX board to recommend.

 

The Wiki is VERY limiting in the information it gives. No information of the Form Factor at all. Not to mention the Limited number of boards entered.

 

Forum search is a very time consuming task. Would be great if some more of the information here would make it into the wiki, especially the drivers

 

for the different components.

 

Thanks in advance!

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abscheele
abscheele
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Posted

Try this

Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2 about 50-60 US dollars on ebay

totally compatable and onetrack has a perfect guide for installation :)

 

btw, guys please dont just tell someone to look at the wiki if you have some info or could recomend something dont be a prick :wacko:

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thespottedelf
thespottedelf
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sorry... but i don't see a reason for this topic... its very simple... go to newegg... search for micro atx... select the mother board section... then look through the list and check to see whats on the hcl.... not that hard... just takes a bit of time... so don't be lazy and make other poeple do the work....

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  • 3 months later...
marklar2u
marklar2u
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sorry... but i don't see a reason for this topic... its very simple... go to newegg... search for micro atx... select the mother board section... then look through the list and check to see whats on the hcl.... not that hard... just takes a bit of time... so don't be lazy and make other poeple do the work....

 

"I don't see a need" well, why not have everyone re-invent the wheel. Your answer illustrated the point: first go here, then, go there, then look to see if it works well, then....and all it takes is time. Well, when you live in your mommas basement and come home from school with lots of time to waste, that's great.

 

The component database in the wiki doesn't list form factors. The time involved is considerable given that people that have success may share it: THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMUNITY - TO ORGANIZE AND SHARE INFO.

 

Hopefully subsequent versions of the component database will have the info, for now it doesn't.

 

Nobody's being lazy, if you don't have something positive to add then F off, you condescending twit. Obviously the above posters knew the process, identified the lack in the database, but wondered in an appropriate place what some people had success with.

 

It's a great thread, there's alot of folks who would like a small mini / cube form factor to do HTPC, traveling moderate game machine, etc..

 

Anyone with current stories to share would be well appreciated, THANKS.

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Zaap
Zaap
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For a budget build where 4GB of DDR800 is plenty of RAM, the Intel DG31PR is a solid mATX choice. All the components work, and setup a breeze. For those that persist with the myths that a Hackintosh can't stack up to the real thing, I've built several mission-critical, rack-mounted workhorses with this board that run Leopard for production work (on the fly title generation) and they're 100% reliable day in, day out. Basically, a $700 build that beats most 'real' Macs for the work being done with it.

 

I've also had great experiences with the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L board. It's just as stable and easy to set up as the DG31PR, just the ALC662 sound isn't quite as good as the Intel's ALC888.

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marklar2u
marklar2u
Posted
Posted

Thank you both for contributing to the thread.

 

Had been leaning toward the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L board, but the HCL listed a LAN issue (that may well be solved at this point). The intel board looks quite good.

 

I've been thinking about this a few months, but just really gotten the bug of late, and am excited to get started.

 

Thanks!

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  • 3 weeks later...
poolvibe
poolvibe
Posted
Posted
For a budget build where 4GB of DDR800 is plenty of RAM, the Intel DG31PR is a solid mATX choice. All the components work, and setup a breeze. For those that persist with the myths that a Hackintosh can't stack up to the real thing, I've built several mission-critical, rack-mounted workhorses with this board that run Leopard for production work (on the fly title generation) and they're 100% reliable day in, day out. Basically, a $700 build that beats most 'real' Macs for the work being done with it.

 

I've also had great experiences with the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L board. It's just as stable and easy to set up as the DG31PR, just the ALC662 sound isn't quite as good as the Intel's ALC888.

 

 

Zapp can you elaborate on what install you used w/ this MOBO.

 

Thanks

 

"I don't see a need" well, why not have everyone re-invent the wheel. Your answer illustrated the point: first go here, then, go there, then look to see if it works well, then....and all it takes is time. Well, when you live in your mommas basement and come home from school with lots of time to waste, that's great.

 

The component database in the wiki doesn't list form factors. The time involved is considerable given that people that have success may share it: THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMUNITY - TO ORGANIZE AND SHARE INFO.

 

Hopefully subsequent versions of the component database will have the info, for now it doesn't.

 

Nobody's being lazy, if you don't have something positive to add then F off, you condescending twit. Obviously the above posters knew the process, identified the lack in the database, but wondered in an appropriate place what some people had success with.

 

It's a great thread, there's alot of folks who would like a small mini / cube form factor to do HTPC, traveling moderate game machine, etc..

 

Anyone with current stories to share would be well appreciated, THANKS.

 

This post made my day. Keep us posted on your build please... :P

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PeterHaas
PeterHaas
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"I've also had great experiences with the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L board. It's just as stable and easy to set up as the DG31PR, just the ALC662 sound isn't quite as good as the Intel's ALC888."

 

Agreed ... the two are very competitive with each another until one looks at the audio, then the ALC888-equipped Intel gets the nod.

 

Still, I have not been displeased with my ALC662-equipped Gigabyte.

 

It's just that when I went to buy additional units, the ALC888-equipped Shuttle was my first choice.

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MaaseyRacer
MaaseyRacer
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"I've also had great experiences with the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L board. It's just as stable and easy to set up as the DG31PR, just the ALC662 sound isn't quite as good as the Intel's ALC888."

 

Agreed ... the two are very competitive with each another until one looks at the audio, then the ALC888-equipped Intel gets the nod.

 

Still, I have not been displeased with my ALC662-equipped Gigabyte.

 

It's just that when I went to buy additional units, the ALC888-equipped Shuttle was my first choice.

 

Peter can you clarify what you mean by the sound is not as good? Is it just audio quality or, does it only support 2.1 sound, etc.

 

Thanks.

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BlackCH
BlackCH
Posted
Posted

Best choice ASUS P5K-VM: Sound (analog+spdif), Network, ICH9 SATA, Jmicron ATA, up to 8GB ram. All is working. Is an exellent board...

Second best choice Intel DG31PR...

On both boards the integrated graphics doesnt work. An extra pci-e GPU is needed

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poolvibe
poolvibe
Posted
Posted
Best choice ASUS P5K-VM: Sound (analog+spdif), Network, ICH9 SATA, Jmicron ATA, up to 8GB ram. All is working. Is an exellent board...

Second best choice Intel DG31PR...

On both boards the integrated graphics doesnt work. An extra pci-e GPU is needed

 

I don't see this board on the Wiki??? Just the "Deluxe" version???

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PeterHaas
PeterHaas
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Posted
Peter can you clarify what you mean by the sound is not as good? Is it just audio quality or, does it only support 2.1 sound, etc.

 

Perhaps that was an unfair criticism, as I only support two stage channels, anyway: two Altec-Lansing A7-500 "Voice of the Theater" speakers.

 

After putting the two ALC888-equipped Shuttles into service, I went back to Gigabyte and to the ALC662 for its five PCI slot GA-P35-S3G motherboard, truly an overclocker's dream come true.

 

There is an exceptionally good guide to bringing up the GA-P35-xxx family via Kalyway 10.5.2 all the way to 10.5.4 with the vanilla kernel and every fix available from Software Update, and the only required deviation was to use the ALC662 codec dump instead of the ALC888 dump.

 

Worked the first time, and has worked well ever since at 2.8 GHz from a hand-me-down E4500. 170 on XBench.

 

The five PCI slots were immediately useful, with one taken by a generic RTL8169 gigabit LAN card, to overcome the limitation of the on-mobo RTL1000 gigabit LAN and its dependence on Psystar's improved kext, and another taken by a generic Firewire/USB 2.0 card (VIA chip sets), thereby leaving me with four free slots.

 

A Si I 3132 PCI-E card is coming, and will provide two additional SATA ports, either internal or external, jumper selectable.

 

So, the way I am using them, it matters little whether ALC888 or ALC662.

 

Well it does matter, somewhat, as there has been much more effort put into the three PCI slot GA-[E]P35-xxx (ALC888) models and a lot less into the five PCI slot GA-P35-S3G (ALC882) model.

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MaaseyRacer
MaaseyRacer
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It seems to me that most of the Asus and Gigabyte micro atx boards are dated. Don't get me wrong I just bought a P5K-VM, because it has 4 DIMM slots, Firewire, and supports DDR2 1066 RAM.

Most of the Gigabyte boards use DDR2 800, and several of them only have 2 DIMM slots. I have not seen too many folks recommend the GA-EG45M-DS2H, however the price is kinda high. The Asus ASUS P5Q-EM and ASUS P5E-VM seem to be good platforms, but I am not seeing much on out of the box compatibility for these boards.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
ben10
ben10
Posted
Posted
asus p7n5a-vm

newer apple like mcp97a chipset.. fsb 1333.. full osx compatible.. bios modded

 

dsdt fixed.. less kext .. perfect

 

Hey, I am interested...but I cannot find that mother board anywhere..nor can I find it on the BIOS mod site in that link...any more info on this one? where did you pick yours up?

 

EDIT: do you mean the p5n7a?

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