Brand new to building a Mac

[Metallica_Band]

Hello. I am in need of building a Mac. I got screwed this morning when Sony Vegas didn't auto save when it was supposed to and I couldn't go to school to turn in my project and I got so mad I just didn't go. I lost out on hours of work. I am fine with Photoshop and Illustrator and other Adobe products with my PC. I'm in the middle of planning a Monster PC as well as a server. So now I have to plan a Mac because I can't stand Vegas and I think Video editing is MUCH better and easier on a Mac. Oh, sound editing rox too.

I was mad so I went on my main [H] forum and ranted/vented. It's a grey area, hackintosh's are, so I couldn't really talk much about making one.

I discovered two methods at the same time that would solve my problem.

#1. I found an old Tekzilla episode that introduced the EFi-X. Basically it allows a user to boot multiple operating systems on one computer. They call it a Multiboot Processing Unit (MPU). You build your PC using parts that they have tested it working 100% and you plug it into your USB header on the motherboard. It creates the same environment that Macs run in or something like that so you can go out and buy you a copy of OSX and install it on a hard drive. They specifically say it is not considered a "hackintosh" nor a "Mac clone". It'll cost like $200 or so, but that plus the remaining parts and it's still going to be a hell of a lot less than buying a Mac Pro.

#2. I also was sent a PM linking to tonymacx86's P55 Hackintosh Blog. I was like "OMG that looks confusing". The same person PM'd me again later on about a new easier http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=286. It looks pretty straight forward too.


My question to you guys is this. What's the difference between tonymacx86 method and this EFi-X device? I just want to be able to build my system and install OSX and be able to buy any apple products that is compatible (if there are any limitations at all once the system is working) and have everything working nice and stable. And maybe a dual monitor would be awesome. Ooooh, a dual monitor right over my 3-screen eyefinity. :slobber slobber:

Anyways, I'd be interested in giving this, I guess you'd call it "free" method, a try. I just don't know what the real difference between the two methods are, if any, and which would allow the BEST system build with possible room for upgrades and support whenever I need help with a hardware compatibility issue.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[thelostswede]

Trust me, Tonymac's CD is better than EFI-X, as it does exactly the same thing. The EFI-X dongle just keeps the code on an encrypted USB dongle that fits inside your system rather than on the hard drive...

I guess that answers all your questions...

Also, Tonymac is on the ball and release updates every few days, unlike EFI-X that doesn't seem to care about its users any more...

 

[Metallica_Band]

Hmmm....alright. So where can I find a list of compatible hardware? Or you could just make my life easier and tell me the top of the line hardware I could make my Mac and I'll just get that.

I need my Mac built pronto. Hopefully I can get the parts shipped fast enough so I can have my project finished by next Saturday.

I'll give Tony Mac a chance. better than spending $240 for a USB device. And anyways, if this way doesn't work, the parts will most likely be the same if I had to go the EFi-X way, but I don't think that'll happen.

 

[thelostswede]

Ok, not wanting to be rude or anything, but you need to do some SERIOUS research.
A good place is to start is http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Some suitable motherboards are the ones with a ready made DSDT which you can find here http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2009/12/ ... oards.html
As for graphics cards you need to be a bit careful, as not everything works.
You're going to have to have a read here on the forums to find out a bit more.

 

[Metallica_Band]

I thought I saw a list of compatible hardware somewhere, but I guess I was remembering the list from EFi-X. Hmmm....now that I think of it, I though I remember someone from these boards mentioning something about looking at a hardware list.

Oh well, I knew there was some catch to this. EFi-X already did the homework and provides a chip and list of tested hardware for easy installation.

Still, I'd rather go the Tony Mac route. I will just have a hard time doing MORE research on a Mac build. I'm almost finished with phase 1 for my Monster PC and still planning my server PC. Plus my video editing I'm still trying to work on even though I want to set Sony Vegas on fire for ruining my hours of hard meticulous work. Feed it to the Snow Leopard I will.

I looked at those sites you linked to and it doesn't really help me much when looking for Mac parts. At least the wiki one didn't, unless I'm looking in the wrong spot. The motherboard one on Tony's blog showed a list of mobo's, but it said something about Differentiated System Description Table, which I don't know anything about, and linked to various files that I don't know what to do with.

I guess the only real thing I need is a mobo and video card. Everything else I already know.

If the on-board audio doesn't work, then the M-Audio USB Sonica Theater 7.1 should work, I think.

And the Apple Dual Channel Gigabit Ethernet PCI-e Card should work just fine if the one on the mobo doesn't want to work.

And i7's work, right? I'd just get an i7-920 for my CPU. Oh, but you can't OC these systems, huh? So maybe the i7-960 since the 940, 950, and 960 are all pretty much priced the same.

For the motherboard, all I really want is USB 3.0, Sata 3.0, and socket 1366.

For the video card, I want to be able to do fast renders and support dual monitors.

Memory, I assume, I'd only have to follow whatever the mobo supports.

The rest wouldn't matter, I assume.

 

[thelostswede]

Seriously, just stop, take a deep breath and spend some time reading this site.

No, the processor you're suggesting isn't one of the ones that are super easy to get to work, but it can be done. The i7 in this case is the 800-series, not the 900-series.

EFI-X is a load of crap as I said, yes, they have a list of hardware that works, but it's usually outdated both in terms of updates and hardware.

To get Tonymac's guide to work you need a P55 motherboard (check the list on the site here), a compatible socket 1156 CPU and in your case a half decent graphics card, but I guess a Geforce GTS 250 should work just great.

Onboard Ethernet works for certain on the Gigabyte boards, built two systems so far and both had no Ethernet issues. The card you have might very well not work unless it's PCI Express, as I know Apple used PCI-X cards before which isn't the same.

There's no support for SATA 6Gbps or USB 3.0 in OSX at the moment, but the ports work fine at slower speeds.

But please, go read some stuff, there's plenty resources out there.

 

[Metallica_Band]

Hmmmm.....so I'll need an i7-860. That's the best I can get in terms of speed?

I've been looking more into the forum and I still see posts thanking Tony for guides and hardware compatibility lists and the ease of working an i7-9xx.

I guess I'm missing the easy guides or whatever. I see people post specs with i7-9xx's.

I had put together a starters list before I found out about Tony's way. It consisted of:
i7-920
Gigabyte X58-UD3R
eVGA GTX 285

Are you saying that I can't do this with Tony's method easily? I really would like to use his method, and I think it's the easiest and least complicated of all the ways I've seen out there, but I don't want to pay out $240 to get this to work especially when you've said their support isn't all that great.

I I don't know anything about macs and kernals and stuff so all that confuses me which is why I wanted to find the best way to make a Mac and I was directed to here.

Maybe I'm just trying to build something too strong? All I want to build is a Mac that can edit complex HD videos and render really fast like the Mac Pros at college. That and have dual monitors, play the occasional Mac game, do really complex Photoshop/Illustrator projects with both open at the same time cuz I use them both sometimes, and a dual boot into Windows would be a nice bonus.

I don't know, maybe I just don't know much about the more complicated parts of Macs. I can do the programs and stuff that I was taught at school, but that's all I was taught about Macs and most of the programs I had prior experience with in Windows programs. But certain Mac programs were easier to work with than Windows programs.

I'm still going to try and read over some more forum threads, but I don't know if it'll help. I'll still try to learn.

 

[NikosF]

Definitely do your research - but just be aware that this is becoming much easier than it used to. I drove myself silly trying to go through the threads on insanelymac - and it was when I discovered the tonymac method I made the leap.

I bought:
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 motherboard
GIGABYTE GV-N250OC-1GI REV 2.0 graphics card (GTS250)
INTEL CORE I7 860 cpu
CORSAIR CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 memory - 4x2GB - total of 8GB
WESTERN DIGITAL 150GB raptor HDD (system drive)
SEAGATE 1.5TB SATAII 7200 (data drive)
ANTEC|MINI P180 RT case
ANTEC|TP-750 BLUE 750W 80+ PSU
LG BLURAY RW drive

I received the lot at 8pm one night from Newegg, and by 1am had a dual-booting OSX 10.6.2 and Windows 7 system.

Everything works great on OSX for me (graphics, sound, gigabit ethernet) and my only two niggles are it won't go to sleep properly - no big deal, and I can't play Netflix 'play instant' - the Microsoft Silverlight plugin reports an error - again no biggie, and there are solutions on the web, I just haven't got around to dealing with them.

I've tried both Final Cut Pro 3 and Adobe Premier Pro CS4 and both work really well with it editing HDV captures. No stability issues whatsoever and the CPU / graphics card seem more than fast enough.

 

[themac]

"Won't go to sleep properly"

If you mean energy-saver sleep then I had the same issue (forced sleep worked fine but energy-saver sleep just switched my monitors off). Possibly a DVD drive issue (mine's a LG) but who knows. Either way, solved for me by using the donation-ware PleaseSleep utility - just Google it if appropriate.

 

[jinky]

If you want save money and live close to Fry's, then wait for Friday Ad for special sell. I bought the Combo is cheap GA-P55A-UD3, I5-750 $214. I saw some good deal last week.