Building a Monster Hack Pro

[EricFish]

Ok, complete newbie here. Been around Macs for a while, but just recently delving into the Hackintosh arena. I want the power of a Mac Pro... without the price tag. The computer will be used in a recording studio, and needs plenty of processing as well as RAM. Here's what I've found on Newegg, seems like a great deal so far. But here's the $64,000 question: does it all work?

Processor: Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7970

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T2-24GBRL

Graphics: Need suggestions here. It needs to run 4 monitors, preferably DVI. Inexpensive would be good, trying to keep the total price under $2000.

Primary Storage: Kingston SSDNow V100 SV100S2D/256GZ 2.5" 256GB SATA II Internal / External Solid State Drive (SSD)

Secondary Storage: 4 x SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD103SI 1TB 5400 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

BD/DVD Drive: SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L/RSBP LightScribe Support (Retail)

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Case: XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case

I don't think I missed anything component-wise... but if there are any holes, please let me know! (Thanks in advance)

So, if anyone sees anything that screams out "NO HACKINTOSH!!!!" please reply. Any ideas on how to improve this system are also greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[EricFish]

Fantastic! I was really thinking that there would be a problem somewhere... but it's great that someone who's running audio applications found this thread! I'm going to be running a combination of Logic 9 and Pro Tools... sadly I'm still on 8.1.1... but will probably be updating to v9 as soon as I order the parts and get them assembled. Hardware wise, I'm using a Digi 002 with 2 x 8 channel preamps, run by optical cable into the 002. Have you had any problems with the digidesign hardware working?

 

[Doc_Tor]

Hey EricFish. I have been running protools 8 with a 002 on a hackintosh for 12 months now. Absolutely now problems what so ever. My rig is a i7-930 with 8GB ram overclocked to 4Ghz. In addition to Protool's have also run reason, Bonix TV and Logic with no probs.

The only concern you should have is how long it will take to get all the parts together!

cm

 

[Stork]

I don't know about the DVD optical drive. Apple uses Sony and Pioneer DVD drives and doesn't support Blu-ray natively in Snow Leopard. I would get a Sony optical as recommended in Tony's Build Guide (link in my signature block) for installation and check out. The Sony is only $25.00. Then, I'd add your Blu-ray drive to see if it causes any problems.

You'll have to search the forum for a graphics card that supports four monitors. Most of the cards only support three monitors. Also, read the Music section of the forum and see what others are doing for they're recording systems. When you find a graphics card and it's working for you, enter it into the Wiki's Graphics Card section of the Hardware category. wiki/index.php/Graphics_Card_Database

 

[Jabulani Jonny]

That case looks like it might be loud for audio applications, if you're recording in the same room. The Antec P183 and a liquid cooler may do you better. Just a thought...and I'm very new at this so... YMMV.

 

[EricFish]

Yeah, I thought the same thing at first, but I'm planning on building a 3-room studio with a control room, tracking room, and iso booth (all lined out with snakes and soundproofed of course), so a loud case isn't a problem. Also going to be running 2+ Logic Nodes in a cooled computer farm room off to the side... so noise hopefully won't be an issue (fingers crossed here).

 

[jpa]

woow!

video cards...
gtx 470 - 480 or 5870 or 6870.

Seee my signature
or
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