- Joined
- Aug 3, 2010
- Messages
- 1,105
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z68
- CPU
- i7-2660k
- Graphics
- GTX 560Ti
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
I think this is being made more complicated than it really is. I hope I can offer some value to this thread. However, I am on board with Vienna here, these comments/thoughts are my own, and derived from reading many posts on this board, as well as my own personal experience assembling two hackintoshes.
Some thoughts/suggestions:
-Thanks to the brilliant work of some people in the community (namely Tonymac, Macman, Lnx2Mac, etc.), most of the stuff you desire will work OOB. If not, it will work with a simple check of a box in Multibeast. You just need to be diligent in your research and pick the appropriate parts. Hopefully I can give you some guidance in this area.
-In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to go with an i5 and then upgrade to an i7 down the road. I think the most logical paths would be to either start with an i3 and then upgrade to an i7 when prices bottom out, or go with an i5 and stick with it until newer technology is available. The reason I say this is because the prices between the i5 and i7, especially when considering performance gain, is quite negligible. This is especially true if you know someone who lives near a MicroCenter, because they sell the i7 for dirt cheap (sub $200). I think the i7 is great, but the performance gain over the i5 seems quite small if you're considering going from a $200 i5 to a $200+ i7. Just personally doesn't make sense. But, to get your feet wet with an i3, and then later upgrade to an i7 (then recycling the i3 to another machine) seems to make more sense.
-There are lots of tricks for getting rid of noise, so I would pick your parts based on performance/reliability/compatibility, and then worry about noise later.
-I would go witha Gigabyte board. They're easily the best supported (around here), and they're solid boards. Look around at the most compatible boards and pick the one that suits your needs most. I'd recommend the P55-USB3, or the H55M-USB3. The P55/H55 refers to the chipset, and the difference between the P55/H55 is that the H55 has onboard video (which you can't use, but that's okay because it still works the same as a P55 aside from the onboard video). The letter following the P55/H55 (ex. H55M) pretty much refers to the size of the board, which may mean different features (more PCI slots, etc.). The last section (ex. USB3) refers to the line of board, with the UD series (ex. P55-UD2, P55-UD3, etc.) being the Ultra Durable, and the USB3 having USB 3.0 ports. That's a basic rundown, anyways. Again, I'd recommend the P55 or H55 USB3.
-For RAM, go with 4GB (or 8GB) of DDR3 1600. I'd recommend these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231277
I really like the G.Skill Ecos as well, but they seem to be about $10 more. Can't go wrong with either.
-For the PSU, it seems you could get this one for cheaper after MIR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005
I don't typically recommend PSU with larger wattage than needed, but 650W isn't terribly overkill, and it gives you room to expand to a better GPU later should you want to.
-As far as the GPU goes, I would recommend starting with something like the GT 240. Look at tonymac and MacMan's posts about the GT 240, or see which they are using, and which are recommended. Seems to be a really good entry level card. I personally dig my 9800GT, but I'm not sure it's powerful enough for the editing you'll be doing. I would really recommend staying away from the Fermi cards right now, because many people seem to be having issues with them (Fermi Freeze). The highest end GPU I'd consider would be the 5870/5770. Think about it, the 5870 is the best card you can get in the Mac Pro right now from Apple. On a side note, I think the best card for pure editing on a Mac would be one of the workstation Quadro. I could be completely wrong, of course.
-When it comes to noise, you'll probably want to quiet the GPU, and make sure to get quiet case fans. Also, there are cases built for silence, so you may want to eventually go with a quality case for noise suppression. Here's a dream case
:
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=53
Some other things that help are silencing the HDD as well by getting a 5.25" bay to 3.5" converter for the HDD. Something like this (it's what I use):
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3041/ ... 7c113s1182
-Your main concern seems to be OOB. I can tell you that Firewire 400 (can't speak for the firewire card you mentioned, but I know there are cards that definitely work easily), USB, Gigabit, Audio, and DVI work quite easily. HDMI is a tricky one (at least from this 9800GT), and the audio may or may not do what you want. At worst, you can go with a sound card to improve your quality and options. I'm using just 2 channel computer speakers and it works great, but maybe you need more?
-For wifi, this is the best way to go IMO:
http://x86wifi.blogspot.com/2010/04/how ... -card.html
I know that was long winded, but I hope it helps ease your concerns. I can attest to all of the parts I mentioned working really well (except the DIY wifi, although I've read great success). The mobo, ram, dvd drive, cpu cooler, hdd, case, psu, firewire card, sound card (if needed), are really no big deal IMO; it's just the GPU that may be hit or miss with performance/ease of use. The mobo is a big one as well, but there are a few that are just known to be very solid.
Some thoughts/suggestions:
-Thanks to the brilliant work of some people in the community (namely Tonymac, Macman, Lnx2Mac, etc.), most of the stuff you desire will work OOB. If not, it will work with a simple check of a box in Multibeast. You just need to be diligent in your research and pick the appropriate parts. Hopefully I can give you some guidance in this area.
-In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to go with an i5 and then upgrade to an i7 down the road. I think the most logical paths would be to either start with an i3 and then upgrade to an i7 when prices bottom out, or go with an i5 and stick with it until newer technology is available. The reason I say this is because the prices between the i5 and i7, especially when considering performance gain, is quite negligible. This is especially true if you know someone who lives near a MicroCenter, because they sell the i7 for dirt cheap (sub $200). I think the i7 is great, but the performance gain over the i5 seems quite small if you're considering going from a $200 i5 to a $200+ i7. Just personally doesn't make sense. But, to get your feet wet with an i3, and then later upgrade to an i7 (then recycling the i3 to another machine) seems to make more sense.
-There are lots of tricks for getting rid of noise, so I would pick your parts based on performance/reliability/compatibility, and then worry about noise later.
-I would go witha Gigabyte board. They're easily the best supported (around here), and they're solid boards. Look around at the most compatible boards and pick the one that suits your needs most. I'd recommend the P55-USB3, or the H55M-USB3. The P55/H55 refers to the chipset, and the difference between the P55/H55 is that the H55 has onboard video (which you can't use, but that's okay because it still works the same as a P55 aside from the onboard video). The letter following the P55/H55 (ex. H55M) pretty much refers to the size of the board, which may mean different features (more PCI slots, etc.). The last section (ex. USB3) refers to the line of board, with the UD series (ex. P55-UD2, P55-UD3, etc.) being the Ultra Durable, and the USB3 having USB 3.0 ports. That's a basic rundown, anyways. Again, I'd recommend the P55 or H55 USB3.
-For RAM, go with 4GB (or 8GB) of DDR3 1600. I'd recommend these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231277
I really like the G.Skill Ecos as well, but they seem to be about $10 more. Can't go wrong with either.
-For the PSU, it seems you could get this one for cheaper after MIR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005
I don't typically recommend PSU with larger wattage than needed, but 650W isn't terribly overkill, and it gives you room to expand to a better GPU later should you want to.
-As far as the GPU goes, I would recommend starting with something like the GT 240. Look at tonymac and MacMan's posts about the GT 240, or see which they are using, and which are recommended. Seems to be a really good entry level card. I personally dig my 9800GT, but I'm not sure it's powerful enough for the editing you'll be doing. I would really recommend staying away from the Fermi cards right now, because many people seem to be having issues with them (Fermi Freeze). The highest end GPU I'd consider would be the 5870/5770. Think about it, the 5870 is the best card you can get in the Mac Pro right now from Apple. On a side note, I think the best card for pure editing on a Mac would be one of the workstation Quadro. I could be completely wrong, of course.
-When it comes to noise, you'll probably want to quiet the GPU, and make sure to get quiet case fans. Also, there are cases built for silence, so you may want to eventually go with a quality case for noise suppression. Here's a dream case
:http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=53
Some other things that help are silencing the HDD as well by getting a 5.25" bay to 3.5" converter for the HDD. Something like this (it's what I use):
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3041/ ... 7c113s1182
-Your main concern seems to be OOB. I can tell you that Firewire 400 (can't speak for the firewire card you mentioned, but I know there are cards that definitely work easily), USB, Gigabit, Audio, and DVI work quite easily. HDMI is a tricky one (at least from this 9800GT), and the audio may or may not do what you want. At worst, you can go with a sound card to improve your quality and options. I'm using just 2 channel computer speakers and it works great, but maybe you need more?
-For wifi, this is the best way to go IMO:
http://x86wifi.blogspot.com/2010/04/how ... -card.html
I know that was long winded, but I hope it helps ease your concerns. I can attest to all of the parts I mentioned working really well (except the DIY wifi, although I've read great success). The mobo, ram, dvd drive, cpu cooler, hdd, case, psu, firewire card, sound card (if needed), are really no big deal IMO; it's just the GPU that may be hit or miss with performance/ease of use. The mobo is a big one as well, but there are a few that are just known to be very solid.
