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Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide April 2013

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Stork said:
I have both wireless cards. Both work the same as far as I'm concerned. Note: both of these cards use 2GHz & 5GHz wireless bands, not just 2GHz as with other wireless cards. They also use the same wireless chipset, and both go on sale.

TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter,2.4GHz 450Mbps/5Ghz 450Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n,WEP, WPA/WPA2
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GMPZ0A/

Rosewill Wireless N Dual Band Adapter IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI Express Up to 450Mbps Data (RNWD-N9003PCe)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VKON0S/
Click to expand...
Next challenge: Import Rosewill Wireless card in France :banghead:Amazon deliver this product only in US :cry:
 
Build 1
GA-Z77-DS3H |  i7 3770K |  HD 4000
Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide April 2013

Please forgive my extreme Mac noobiness in advance :crazy:

Having just retired after 23 years as an air traffic controller, I'm going to be starting a Web Design & Development Program at my local community college this summer. I will likely take some network administration classes at the same time. I've been building Windows-based computers for 20 years, but have no experience whatsoever with Macs or the Apple OS.

I would like to build a CustoMac system that will let me run Adobe's website design software, along with Photoshop and any other programs that I will need for my coursework. I am not a gamer, but would like to have enough system power to efficiently run a windows emulator simultaneously with my Mac programs.

I honestly have no idea which CustoMac configuration (CPU, memory, video card, etc.) would be best for me. I'm more afraid of not having enough system resources to do what I want to do, but I'm cheap and don't want to pay for computing power that I'll never use. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

KC
 
hello,
i going to build a CustoMac Mini. I have one question is I want to add GTX 650 Ti Boost in CustoMac Mini, is it possible ? And if possible, do i need to change motherboard and power supply ? and which ones ?

Thanks in advance
 
Hi Zoofer,
You should open a topic in the Buying Advice, you will be more visible, you will get more answers.
Try to define all what you will need, software you will use, your budget, etc, so it's easy for suggestions.

If you have the budget, you take the mid range boards (depending what you need), a core i5-3570, 8Go Ram and SSD + HDD.

If on small budget, you can take cheaper recommended board and processor.
(on mine, cheap mATX + i3-3225, I could do web design with no problem, I can run virtual Windows with VWmare Fusion, etc.)
It might just take a bit longer for heavy duty work.

You can start without a graphic board, if you choose the right CPU with integrated HD4000
Later you can add a GPU is you feel the need.
Etc.

For sure, you should get your system on SSD.
 
Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide April 2013

ne7ven said:
hello,
i going to build a CustoMac Mini. I have one question is I want to add GTX 650 Ti Boost in CustoMac Mini, is it possible ? And if possible, do i need to change motherboard and power supply ? and which ones ?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

In addition, i'd like to install win8 for it, is it possible and compatible too ?
 
Please could you tell me an alternative to
Apex MI-008 ​
in CustoMac mini? In Spain it's not available.
Thank you!
 
hi can i use a hdd instead of ssd
 
Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide April 2013

Smartg2os said:
Look on forum similar configurations (GA-Z77-DS3H or GA-H77-DS3H, only the Intel chipset differ, the Z one allow OC) to see what to choose on Multibeast. Update your bios (you need Windows or Cross-over (for Mac) to extract the bios file, then put it on a FAT32 drive, you can use your phone), old bios versions can cause many kernel panics, I experienced it myself on my GA-Z77-DS3H. Your Intel Graphics Chipset is not supported by OS X, so you need a graphic card to have QE/CI working. Then, you have to install bootloader: Chimera (available in Download section of this website) or Chameleon to boot without USB.
Personally, I used Multibeast only to install VoodooHD audio on 10.8.3 update, I used an all-in-one package for GA-Z77-DS3H (compatible with H77 chipsets).

Some links for you:
Configuring UEFI
A build using almost the same motherboard as you
All-in-one GA-Z77-DS3H package (need to install a patched AppleHDA or VoodooHD audio from Multibeast after)
UEFI/BIOS update Check your rev before updating, there is different files for each rev!!! (rev 1.0 or rev 1.1) (written on the motherboard)

If you have any problem that Google/forum search can't solve, you can reply here or post me me a pm
Click to expand...


Many Thanks to both answers! I am trying!
 
Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide April 2013

reload said:
Please could you tell me an alternative to
Apex MI-008 ​
in CustoMac mini? In Spain it's not available.
Thank you!
Click to expand...

I found the same problem (apex unavailable in Spain) and instead used an Thermaltake Element Q bought in Amazon. Not perfect in cable management aspect, and watch out the size of yourRAM, because it can take the space you need for the HD. But it's cheap and comes with a power supply just enough (220W), if your needs are the basic.
 
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