Building a Budget Haswell Build: How Low Can You Go?

[flatlander48]

It almost seems that you need to go through the numbers each time for the various comparisons. I can see the decision leaning one way or the other depending upon the configuration that fits what you want to do. Personally, I have nothing against Apple, but it is just that they don't really make what I want. And, I can see why they split the Mini and the iMac the way they do. If they put a graphics card in the Mini, it would cannibalize the iMac sales.

That's Show Business...

 

[WonkeyDonkey]

It almost seems that you need to go through the numbers each time for the various comparisons. I can see the decision leaning one way or the other depending upon the configuration that fits what you want to do. Personally, I have nothing against Apple, but it is just that they don't really make what I want. And, I can see why they split the Mini and the iMac the way they do. If they put a graphics card in the Mini, it would cannibalize the iMac sales.

That's Show Business...

Not all together true. They used a discrete GPU in the mid 2011 model Mac Mini (Radeon 6630M) and that model was a huge success. It was this fact that stopped me buying a newer model mini. Try plugging a thunderbolt monitor or large screen cinema display into one of the newer ones, the performance totally sucks.

For the uninitiated, buying a newer generation mac mini and large screen apple monitor is going to leave them very disappointed in that respect.

I think things may change in the future though. They have had good sales with a more reasonably priced iPhone 5C, and the current thinking suggests they are looking at a cheaper iMac model too. This makes sense since they are missing out on a huge chunk of the market. Sticking discrete graphics in the mini would generate more sales and it is unlikely this would cannibalise the iMac sales since the two machines are just too different.

 

[flatlander48]

Sticking discrete graphics in the mini would generate more sales and it is unlikely this would cannibalise the iMac sales since the two machines are just too different.

At the low end, you can't match the Mini and iMac exactly. However, the lowest configuration of the 21.5 iMac is i5, 8Gb and 1 Tb for $1300. A Mini with an i7, 8Gb and 1 Tb is $900. That leaves $400 for a monitor, keyboard and mouse. If you could come close to the Iris Pro graphics performance with the Mini, it would appear to be an alternative.

I think Apple always has to be careful about their pricing. Apple products have sold as premium products for a long time. If they don't maintain that, they will begin to look like everyone else and they will lose that battle. Plus they need sufficient margins to be able to support significant R&D.

 

[jjforums]

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Even if you fall into these categories, know that by saving some money now you're limiting future expandability of the motherboard. Hence, our recommendation for 8-series motherboards is to choose H87/Z87. These are going to be the most future proof. You can find a selection in the latest Buyer's Guide.

For fun, we spec'd out the following "CheapoMac" build on the latest Haswell and 8-series bits. This is not a recommended build, however you may be able to save up to $200 by cheaping out on the motherboard, case, and ram.

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You say you don't recommend this build because of expandability only? I mean, with this build you can put up to 16Gb of RAM and a mid-range video card... So what could be the 'future proof' issues?

Thank you.

 

[trs96]

You say you don't recommend this build because of expandability only? I mean, with this build you can put up to 16Gb of RAM and a mid-range video card... So what could be the 'future proof' issues?

Thank you.

What he was trying to say is that if you keep your motherboard a long time (5-6 years) and want
to do things like photo/video editing, the limits on ram and storage drives can be a problem for
some people. When editing an 18 megapixel raw file with photoshop today you'll likely want a minimum of 16-32 GB of ram (if you were editing on a frequent basis.) With HD and now even 4K video it's easy to fill up a 2-3 TB drive in a hurry. So just imagine 4 or more years from now how
much ram and storage capacity you'll need for these kinds of things. If you will only keep a cpu
mobo combo going for about 3 years and then upgrade to the newer platform it shouldn't be
any problem if you choose the H81m motherboard with a core I3 Haswell cpu.

My first Mac Mini I bought in 2005 had 512mb of ram and a 1.25GHz processor. At the time it seemed like way more than I'd ever need but by about 3 years later I was already feeling
quite limited in what I could do with it. It's still running today though, mainly as an iTunes jukebox.

What many use these budget builds for is, internet surfing, watching videos either online or
as part of a home HTPC etc. It's also good for children to use as their pc as OS X is pretty much
immune to all the viruses and malware that infect pcs running Windows.

It's simply a low cost way of getting OS X to run on your hardware that is a very easy install when using the guides and software on this site. To sum it up, these budget builds are excellent for
non-professional home and family use.

 

[newastrum]

1. If you use few drives
2. If you have no need for more than 16GB RAM
3. If you use few peripherals

When choosing a motherboard, it’s important to note the chipset. Each year Intel releases a few alternate versions of the consumer chipset in order to cater to different budgets and usages.

The budget H81 chipset has a few big limitations vs. Z87 and H87. First it has 2 slots for a maximum of 16GB of RAM. Second it only has 4 SATA ports, 2 SATA 3gbps and 2 SATA 6gbps. Certain variants of the H81 chipset have support for legacy connectors such as COM, LPT. The B85 chipset motherboards mainly have 2 RAM slots, but double to 4 SATA 6gbps and 2 SATA 2gbps ports. These chipsets both have less USB ports as well.

The mainstream H87 and Z87 chipsets have 6 SATA 6gbps ports. Z87 has more durability and full support for overclocking both unlocked CPUs and the RAM.

Mainstream Chipsets
H87 - 6 SATA 6gbps, 32GB RAM support, Crossfire/SLI support
Z87 - 6 SATA 6gbps, 32GB RAM support, Support for Overclocking

Budget Chipsets
B85 4 SATA 6gbps, 2 SATA 3gbps, 32GB/16GB RAM support (depends on model)
H81 2 SATA 6gbps, 2 SATA 3gbps, 16GB RAM support

Specialty Chipsets
Q85/Q87- support for Intel vPRO technology​

Even if you fall into these categories, know that by saving some money now you're limiting future expandability of the motherboard. Hence, our recommendation for 8-series motherboards is to choose H87/Z87. These are going to be the most future proof. You can find a selection in the latest Buyer's Guide.

For fun, we spec'd out the following "CheapoMac" build on the latest Haswell and 8-series bits. This is not a recommended build, however you may be able to save up to $200 by cheaping out on the motherboard, case, and ram.

	Core i3-4330	Amazon US (CAN UK DE ES FR IT)​ ​	Newegg
	GA-H81M-HD3	Amazon US (CAN UK DE ES FR IT) ​	Newegg
	500GB HDD	Amazon US (CAN UK DE ES FR IT)​	Newegg
	Rosewill mATX Tower + 450w PSU	Amazon US (CAN UK DE ES FR IT)​	Newegg
	Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB DDR3 1600mhz	Amazon US (CAN UK DE ES FR IT)​	Newegg

Unbelievably this build comes out to about $350 as of the time of this posting.

You may ask, why not go with a cheaper CPU? The answer is, the lower end CPU graphics don't work in OS X; you need to buy a graphics card in addition to the above components if you use a Haswell CPU without Intel HD 4600 integrated graphics. We priced out using the cheapest $60 Pentium CPU and a $30 graphics card. When the dust settles, you can shave about $60 off of the price, making the CheapoMac less than $300. However, you get an inferior graphics solution such as the Fermi-based NVIDIA GeForce 610. In the end, using the integrated Intel HD 4600 graphics with the low end Core i3-4330 is the best bang for the buck.

Can you spec out an even cheaper compatible Haswell Build? Post your build here.

View attachment 75791​

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[intromission]

Good morning folks,


So it's been a while since I've been on.

A few years ago I found the site extremely helpful in putting together a Custom PowerMac G5 and then a Probook 4530s, now I find myself exploring options for a budget HTPC build/blu ray player (very tight budget), and I came across this thread. I'm very new to the new techniques being implemented these days as I never went beyond 10.6.8 on my old builds.

My interest in using the Intel Celeron G1840 is what brought me to this thread, and DrTom's post in particular. So I've already ordered the EVGA GT610 off Amazon to get around the graphics issue, I have the Celeron processor on hold at Microcenter along with the GA-H81M-H, but in looking through case options last night I realized that wanting a micro itx case, this motherboard will not do, so my first question is:

-What is the Micro Itx version of the M Atx motherboard GA-H81M-H, and will it be as successful?

-I was looking at either the Apex mi-008 or the cooler master elite 120 case, but can't seem to find a straight answer as to whether the included PSU in the apex would be enough to power this system.
On Amazon I came across a comment by someone that the motherboard will require at least a 400W.
Being that it is a suggested case here, I'm just wondering if people go ahead with the 200W or dump it and upgrade.

-Any news on whether I would be confined to 10.8 Mountain Lion (I have no problem with this, but Mavericks would be nice if it was possible).


Many thanks in advance.

 

[WonkeyDonkey]

Good morning folks,


So it's been a while since I've been on.

A few years ago I found the site extremely helpful in putting together a Custom PowerMac G5 and then a Probook 4530s, now I find myself exploring options for a budget HTPC build/blu ray player (very tight budget), and I came across this thread. I'm very new to the new techniques being implemented these days as I never went beyond 10.6.8 on my old builds.

My interest in using the Intel Celeron G1840 is what brought me to this thread, and DrTom's post in particular. So I've already ordered the EVGA GT610 off Amazon to get around the graphics issue, I have the Celeron processor on hold at Microcenter along with the GA-H81M-H, but in looking through case options last night I realized that wanting a micro itx case, this motherboard will not do, so my first question is:

-What is the Micro Itx version of the M Atx motherboard GA-H81M-H, and will it be as successful?

-I was looking at either the Apex mi-008 or the cooler master elite 120 case, but can't seem to find a straight answer as to whether the included PSU in the apex would be enough to power this system.
On Amazon I came across a comment by someone that the motherboard will require at least a 400W.
Being that it is a suggested case here, I'm just wondering if people go ahead with the 200W or dump it and upgrade.

-Any news on whether I would be confined to 10.8 Mountain Lion (I have no problem with this, but Mavericks would be nice if it was possible).


Many thanks in advance.

There is a H81N motherboard if you can find it. The specs within each family of motherboard are generally similar if not 100% exact. Have a look at that and see if it meets your needs.

 

[trs96]

You could try to find the GA-H81N mini-itx motherboard if you need that form factor. I've
never used the PSU in the Apex case. Not sure how reliable it is or if it's worth taking a
chance on with your new hardware. There is a good Antec 380W PSU that would fit in the
Coolermaster mini-itx case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1N82842561&cm_re=EA-380D-_-17-371-033-_-Product

These have proven to be super reliable over the longer term. Seasonic makes them for Antec.

Best of luck on your Customac build !

 

[intromission]

Thanks for the info! So this GA-H81N mini-itx mobo, I'm seeing it has no optical out. Should I be able to get the audio portion of the HDMI signal working? I've briefly read here that this has been worked out by others but I haven't had a chance to read up on that yet. Would it be safer to have an optical out in the case that HDMI audio isn't there? Playing movies will be the main reason for this build. I'm guessing Apple TV connection will have the audio working through that, but what about with Blu Rays? That will be coming directly from the machine.