Allround Mac Pro - Opinions

[droid-mac]

Hello.

After years of building PCs I have worked with a Macbook Pro (3,1) for the last 5 years. Now it's time to build my first hackintosh.

Goals:

- Extendable
- Not too loud (as silent as it is possible without that much effort)
- Fast
- Overclockable in the future (but not to the MAX)

Target:

- Web/Mobile developement
- Video editing (hobby) with FCP

Draft (with german store links):

CPU	Intel Core i7 4770K	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00D13R97U/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	291 EUR
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00CUYOSP2/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	192 EUR
RAM	Corsair Vengeance Schwarz 16GB Low Profile	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B009YOJZ5E/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	78 EUR
Case	Corsair Carbide Series Black 500R	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005E983JW/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	104 EUR
Power supply	Corsair 650 Watt Modular	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B005DPBAT2/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	93 EUR
System disk	Samsung 840 Pro Series	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B009LI7CTY/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	201 EUR
Storage disk	Western Digital WD10EZEX Blue 1TB	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0088PUEPK/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	58 EUR
CPU cooler	Noctua NH-D14	http://www.amazon.de/dp/B002VKVZ1A/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	75 EUR
Replacement fans for the case	3 * Noctua NF-F12PWM	1 * http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00650P2ZC/?tag=tonymacx8603-21 + 1 * http://www.amazon.de/Noctua-NF-F12-PWM-DOPPELPACK/dp/B00C6911GA	60 EUR
USB Stick	SanDisk Cruzer Blade 16GB	http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B002U1ZBG0/?tag=tonymacx8603-21	12 EUR
2 * SATA Cable	Wentronic HDD S-ATA	http://www.amazon.de/Wentronic-S-ATA-Kabel-5GBs-L-Type/dp/B004ANLUA2	4 EUR
SSD Mounting	Sharkoon SSD	http://www.amazon.de/Sharkoon-Montagerahmen-Einbaurahmen-BayExtension-schwarz/dp/B00D13NB5E	8 EUR
SUM	-	-	1176 EUR

So what do you think? At the moment I do not want to buy an extra graphics card but this could come in the future. (and should be possible) I'm not quite sure which cooling mechanism I would like to have for the CPU. Should it be air cooling or AIO liquid cooling? (like the corsair stuff) And which particular cooling device would you suggest to get? Silence is more important than maxing out the CPU frequency for me!

I'm looking forward reading your suggestions and would like to say thank you for a great site and the awesome buyers guide.

Regards from Germany.

 

[trs96]

As you probably already know Noctua fans are the quietest so it's likely that their CPU
heatsink fan combo will be also. All your other choices look perfect and should pose
no problems for you.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&setlng=de&products_id=34

These are very large coolers and cost more but they are reliable and easy to install.

One other note, low profile Ram works better with these Noctua coolers.

 

[droid-mac]

Thank you very much for your comment.

I have updated the setup with the Noctua NH-D14 and changed the Corsair RAM to be the low profile one. This one is checked on the Noctua compatibility list. And the cooler should work in the 500R case as well.

So am I missing something other than the graphics card and the disk drive which I will extend later on? (OSX Mavericks is available to me since I own a MBP)

 

[trs96]

Thank you very much for your comment.

I have updated the setup with the Noctua NH-D14 and changed the Corsair RAM to be the low profile one. This one is checked on the Noctua compatibility list. And the cooler should work in the 500R case as well.

So am I missing something other than the graphics card and the disk drive which I will extend later on? (OSX Mavericks is available to me since I own a MBP)

Great, having a MBP makes the install much easier. If you want Bluetooth and Wifi you'll need to add
in a card for wifi and a Bluetooth dongle. Search the forum threads and buyer's guide for ones you
can get in Europe. The GBU521 BT dongle works great but is not available in Europe for some reason.

Good luck on your build

 

[droid-mac]

Thank you for your comment. Seconds ago I pushed the order button.

 

[Dotile]

I don't know much about your planned power suply, but I can recommend a "be quiet!" powersupply.
I have one in my main setup, they are quiet and offer a great price/performance ratio.

 

[inkobl]

I was about doing the same kind,

but I was asking myself why not choosing a MotherBoard with Thunderbolt : GA-Z87X-UD5 TH

and also I'm not sure if the CPU really need a "K" maybe it's better buying a more simple like : [h=1]Intel Core i7-4771 or a i5-4670 ?[/h]
What do you think ?

 

[droid-mac]

Thank you for your comments.

Well to be honest I'm not using Thunderbolt at all and never will. (it will die as firewire did)

For the CPU you are right but I have still ordered the components.

 

[inkobl]

yeah but firewire is way more better than USB... I'm still using it often today.

For the CPU I'm just asking...