$2000 Hackintosh Build, Thoughts?

[ArthurL]

~$2000 Hackintosh Build, Thoughts?

I'm currently trying to build a Hackintosh with a $2000 budget. I followed the CustoMac 2012 Buye Guide to guide me through my research. I used online message boards such as HardForum to guide me as well.

Part	Brand	Model	Price	Status	Website	Rebate
Monitor	Dell	(2) Ultrasharp U2412M	$639.98	Purchased	Newegg
CPU	Intel	i7 3770K	$300.14	Purchased	Microcenter
Video Card	eVGA	GeForce GTX 660 Ti	$299.99	Purchased	NCIX	Yes
Hard Drive	Samsung	830 Series 256GB	$169.99	Purchased	New
Motherboard	Gigabyte	GA-Z77X-UD5H	$134.54	Purchased	Microcenter
PSU	Corsair	HX650	$109.99	Need to Purchase	Newegg	Yes
Case	Fractal Design	Define R4 w/ Window	$109.99	Need to Purchase	Newegg
CPU Cooler	Noctua	NH-D14	$84.32	Need to Purchase	Amazon
Mouse	Logitech	G700	$74.99	Need to Purchase	Amazon
Keyboard	Coolermaster	CM Storm Quickfire	$63.85	Need to Purchase	Neutronexpress
Ram	Samsung	(2) MV-3V4G3D/US 4GB	$44.99	Need to Purchase	Newegg
Wireless Card	TP-Link	TL-WDN4800	$42.99	Need to Purchase	Newegg
Optical	Asus	DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS	$24.98	Need to Purchase	Newegg
Thermal Compound	Noctua	NT-H1	$9.99	Need to Purchase	Newegg

I tried my best to find deals whenever I could. Please let me know if you guys think this is build is good for the money. Thanks!

 

[subaro0o]

I dont know if I would buy samsung ram. I would recommend corsair or Gskill.

For optical you're gonna want to get a sony optiarc drive, as that is the drive that is compatible with OS X.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=4902415&SID=


Another thing, it is kinda preference, but for the price of that Noctua cooler you could get a nice water cool system such as the Antec Kuhler, or Corsair H series.

Everything else is good!

 

[ArthurL]

The Samsung RAM modules are actually pretty good for the money because they can overclock fairly easy without any problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096

Thanks for the tip about the optical drive.

I'm wondering if I should return the 3770K and pick up a 3570K as I don't really use any CPU intensive programs. Do you guys think it's worth $100 more?

 

[Going Bald]

I'm wondering if I should return the 3770K and pick up a 3570K as I don't really use any CPU intensive programs. Do you guys think it's worth $100 more?

If you don't have any cpu intensive apps or any apps that take advantage of hyperthreading, then go with the 3570K.

 

[subaro0o]

Yeah, didnt mean that samsung ram was bad or anything, just don't see it being used too much, but they make the best SSD so I'm sure it's good.

3570K is a beast, I have one and I love it

 

[ArthurL]

Okay, think I made up my mind.. I'm going to go with the 3570K. I heard it overclocks better and generates less heat as well. The extra money I saved by going with the 3570K, I'm going to bump my video card up to a GeForce GTX670.

For the CPU cooler, I've decided to go with a Corsair H80 H20 cooler. Would've gone with the H100 but it doesn't fit in the Fractal R4.

Will my Corsair HX650 PSU be good enough to power the system now that it has a GTX 670 and the Corsairs H80 watercooling system? If it does, will there be sufficient power to add another GTX670 in SLI later down the road?

My monitors and my Samsung SSD came in today.. I'm pretty excited to build this rig.

 

[samisnake]

not to make the decision even more drawn out for you, but the d14 outperforms the h80.
youll need to bump up to the h100 to match the d14's performance.

for looks, nothing beats the Hxx coolers imo, but for hard figures, the d14 is the better buy (especially as its cheaper than the h80 or h100).
another factor to consider is noise

 

[ArthurL]

Great, I just swapped it back with the D14.. I searched around the web and it looks like you're right. The H80 does not match up to the D14.

Thanks!