First Hackintosh Build

I am thinking about building my first Hackintosh as I want a PC on which I can game and work with FCPX without having too spend 4k.

I did some research (based on pastrychef's Golden Build) and I came up with the following components:

• MB: Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E Gaming
• CPU: i7-8700K
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 SC (EVGA)
• RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT (16GB)
• Cooler: Corsair H60 (Water)
• PSU: Corsair RM650x
• Drive: Samsung 860 EVO 500 Gb
• Case: Fractal Design Define C TG

Do you think this would be a good build or do you have any recommendations for changes?
Does it make sense to build this now or should I wait till October/November for the new 9th gen CPU and new GPUs?

Thanks so much!

A few things to consider:

I would consider a bigger cooler for the 8700k.
I would look into a 240mm AIO (Corsair or NZXT) or something like beQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 or Noctua nh-d14 (Air cooler | make sure to check if they fit in your case)

AMD GPUs are optimised for FCPX, so depending what your priorities are (FCPX or gaming) I would look into AMD GPUs too.
They also work out of the box with High Sierra.

Did you look into NVME SSDs? The 250GB Samsung 970 EVO are quite cheap at the moment and they are significantly faster than the SATA SSDs. I use a NVME M.2 SSD as boot drive and have a SATA SSD as scratch disk and drive for my current projects. Finished projects are then getting backed up to a HDD.

It all depends a bit on your budget, but look into it and check if it fits your workflow.

Does it make sense to build this now or should I wait till October/November for the new 9th gen CPU and new GPUs?

Click to expand...

Nvidia is having a GeForce event on August 20th. So I would wait and see what they will reveal there. If they announce new gaming graphic cards it will probably lower prices a bit more for the current GPUs.
Not sure though if I would wait and get the next gen GPUs, because you might have to wait a bit for new Nvidia Drivers.
9th Gen CPUs have been announced already but with no release date yet. As it looks for the moment they will work on most z370 motherboards too (check manufacturers website if they recently released a BIOS update for the new CPUs), so you could always upgrade in the future to a 9th Gen CPU.

thanks for the advice!
Do you think the GPU is sufficient? Calculation software gives this one as a recommendation but I see that some builds use a larger one.

tstals said:

thanks for the advice!
Do you think the GPU is sufficient? Calculation software gives this one as a recommendation but I see that some builds use a larger one.

Click to expand...

The GTX 1080, you selected, is a very powerful GPU.
AMD GPUs seem to work a bit better with FCPX, so if this your main reason for this build, then maybe have a look at the AMD Vega GPUs.
It all depends on your budget. The RX580 are a bit cheaper than the GTX 1080 but perform a littler faster with FCPX. The Vega56 & 64 are more in the same range as the 1080 & 1080ti.

Should I increase the wattage from my PSU? I currently aim for 650 but I assume that overdimensioning it to e.g. 850 is also a possibility. Are there any other things I need to take into account then besides higher purchase cost?

tstals said:

Should I increase the wattage from my PSU? I currently aim for 650 but I assume that overdimensioning it to e.g. 850 is also a possibility. Are there any other things I need to take into account then besides higher purchase cost?

Click to expand...

I have a 750w PSU (Seasonic), but a 650w should do the job too.
If you replace the GTX1080 with a Radeon RX580 (8GB) you'll save about 150-200€. The prices for a Vega56 or Vega64 are similar to the GTX1080.
If you want to stick with a 1080 wait a week, cause tomorrow Nvidia will announce the new Geforce GPUs and that will make the older 1080s more affordable.