High-end Mac Pro Killer - If you could pick any parts you wanted...?

[Ponkass]

After talking to a family friend during the holidays about the new Mac Pro, and how disappointed he was with the design of it, I told him that I built my own Hackintosh a while back and that I'm super pleased with the results. So now he's asked me to build him one as well to replace his 2006 MacPro. He's 60+ years old and was actually the one who introduced me to the Mac back in 1992 (a 14Mhz LCII to be precise). Even though I'm pretty sure he'll mainly use this new computer for surfing the web, some casual gaming and Photoshop -work, he was very resolut with his request to me that he wants it to be "super fast", and that I basically have unlimited funds to use (he's fairly wealthy) within reasonable limits. I told him I'll be able to build him a Mac Pro Killer for between 2000-3000 euro. He said "go for it".

So, here are the parts I picked that I think will give him the most bang for his buck, with little to no compromise. My main goals are speed in everyday use and reliability.

be quiet! Silent Base 800 BG001 ATX
​http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00PK3TW3I/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

His main concern with the Mac Pro is the lack of expandability. So I'm thinking this case will suit his needs, and do it quietly.

Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00CUYOSP2/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

I was first thinking about going with a Z97 -board, but after doing a little bit of research I find that a Z87 -board might be a bit more stable and reliable in the end, with little to no difference in usability for him. I built my own cMP with a Z87 which will keep things familiar to me while setting it up as well.

Is this reasoning valid, or are there some core arguments that says I really should go for a Z97 board?

Intel i7-4790K
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KPRWAX8/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

My thoughts here is to get as good single-core performance as possible. As he won't be doing any super-calculations or heavy graphical work, more cores than 4 won't really make much sense as I see it.

be quiet! BK019 Dark Rock Pro 3
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00HPX7J4K/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Why not?

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980 OC 4096MB
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00NZRCHJM/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Looks like this now has full support in Yosemite, right? As you can see further down my plan is to have this drive a 4K display at 60Hz.

Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB (x3)
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B009LI7CTY/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

x2 to drive the OS X Boot drive in RAID 0, and one for Windows 8.1 for dual boot.

Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001, 3TB 7200RPM
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B006KCX0UE/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00CWR3ILC/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Corsair AX760 Watt
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B009Z53CG0/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Optiarc DVD Burner
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0086ZU8XK/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

TP-Link TL-WDN4800 N900 WLAN
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B007GMPZ0A/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Bluetooth 4.0 USB
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B007ZT2AXE/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

Delock PCI Express Karte - FireWire 400/800
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B000RMOC5A/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

ACER B326HK
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00ODRR3T2/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

He loves his Apple 30" cinema display, so I need this to top that one I think It should be able to drive at 4K 60Hz with DP1.2, right?


Would be very grateful if you'd like to comment on this build and let me know if I should change anything, etc. Cheers!

 

[spballer]

Looks like a very nice build. z97 boards are really quite fine now if you wanted to opt for that as originally desired. There is a link in my profile to my build with a z97 and similar components. I LOVE my hack, its a beast and handles anything I've thrown at it without breaking a sweat.

Looks like you have some fun ahead of you

 

[at0z]

You may want to dig deeper and ask if your friend is attached to things like iMessage or Handoff or Continuity - some of these are not yet possible on a Hackintosh in a reliable way and others need the Apple Bluetooth/Wireless PCI card rather than the USB option.

It's not always about the benchmarks, sometimes you just want it to work, especially if later releases of Yosemite implement more security around iCloud and iOS/Mac OS integration.

It would be a shame to spend so much time and money on a killer build technically but which leaves the end user wanting...

 

[spballer]

The above is a superb point. I have everything but iMessage working, and it's a trade I'm willing to make, but this should certainly be a part of the thought process

 

[trs96]

Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00CUYOSP2/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

I was first thinking about going with a Z97 -board, but after doing a little bit of research I find that a Z87 -board might be a bit more stable and reliable in the end, with little to no difference in usability for him. I built my own cMP with a Z87 which will keep things familiar to me while setting it up as well.

Is this reasoning valid, or are there some core arguments that says I really should go for a Z97 board?

Intel i7-4790K
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KPRWAX8/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

My thoughts here is to get as good single-core performance as possible. As he won't be doing any super-calculations or heavy graphical work, more cores than 4 won't really make much sense as I see it.

Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00CWR3ILC/?tag=tonymacx8603-21

He loves his Apple 30" cinema display, so I need this to top that one I think It should be able to drive at 4K 60Hz with DP1.2, right?


Would be very grateful if you'd like to comment on this build and let me know if I should change anything, etc. Cheers!

I would go with the Z97X version of the GA motherboard. There have been numerous reports of
problems using 32 GB of ram with that board. Just search with the words Z87X and freezing or
freeze and see what comes up. Intel fixed many problems with Z97 and besides the Haswell
refresh processor was made for a Z97 motherboard. Doing this will save you many headaches.

Here's an example of one thread: http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-h...s-freeze-when-using-4-healthy-sticks-ram.html

 

[Ponkass]

Looks like a very nice build. z97 boards are really quite fine now if you wanted to opt for that as originally desired. There is a link in my profile to my build with a z97 and similar components. I LOVE my hack, its a beast and handles anything I've thrown at it without breaking a sweat.

Looks like you have some fun ahead of you

I would go with the Z97X version of the GA motherboard. There have been numerous reports of
problems using 32 GB of ram with that board. Just search with the words Z87X and freezing or
freeze and see what comes up. Intel fixed many problems with Z97 and besides the Haswell
refresh processor was made for a Z97 motherboard. Doing this will save you many headaches.

Cheers for these comments! I think I'll have a look at your build @spballer and go with a Z97 board.

You may want to dig deeper and ask if your friend is attached to things like iMessage or Handoff or Continuity - some of these are not yet possible on a Hackintosh in a reliable way and others need the Apple Bluetooth/Wireless PCI card rather than the USB option.

It's not always about the benchmarks, sometimes you just want it to work, especially if later releases of Yosemite implement more security around iCloud and iOS/Mac OS integration.

It would be a shame to spend so much time and money on a killer build technically but which leaves the end user wanting...

I have considered this and I'm pretty sure he will not be using iMessage or any other iCloud features for that matter. He has a Samsung phone (he's not a big fan of mobile phones at all) and he doesn't own an iPad, so Handoff or Continuity won't be an issue either.


Thanks again for the comments!