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CPU & Motherboard recommendation

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Jun 17, 2015
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Motherboard
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK
CPU
i7-4790K
Graphics
GT 740
I want to build a customac with a atx board. I will be replacing my old system I want a system that cost maybe $600 to $800 (price doesnt include case, power supply, fans). If I could get away with no video card that would be wonderful. I use my desktop today to surf the web, make short videos on imovie/capcut. I dont need a powerhouse. Thank you for any help you can provide.
 
If I could get away with no video card that would be wonderful. I use my desktop today to surf the web, make short videos on imovie/capcut. I dont need a powerhouse.
Get a tenth gen motherboard and CPU (comet lake) so you can use the UHD630 iGPU. Anything newer and the iGPU does not work with macOS. There are still some new 10th gen boards for sale on Amazon. Best to go with Asus or Gigabyte. Z490 is preferred but other chipsets will also work.

This is the one I would pick. New, not refurb, great price. Stork posted a User build too.

Add a 32GB ram kit that works with this Asus board and probably a new M.2 1TB drive. Should be under budget.
If you don't need 8 cores then get the i5-10400 as Stork did.

 
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Get a tenth gen motherboard and CPU (comet lake) so you can use the UHD630 iGPU. Anything newer and the iGPU does not work. There are still some new 10th gen boards for sale on Amazon. Best to go with Asus or Gigabyte. Z490 is preferred but other chipsets will also work.

This is the one I would pick. New, not refurb, great price. Stork posted a User build too.

Add a 32GB ram kit that works with this Asus board and probably a new M.2 1TB drive. Should be under budget.
If you don't need 8 cores then get the i5-10400 as Stork did.

So something like this

GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Ultra​

Intel Core i7-10700K or​

Intel Core i5-10600K​


Is there any special I should consider for cpu's My current hack had a 4790k and i loved it.
 
GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Ultra
I don't see any of these new on Amazon unless you pay highly inflated prices. Avoid Amazon motherboard refurbs as people with brand new boards damage pins, send them back and get a refund and Amazon still resells them later. They don't have staff qualified to do the testing of returned boards. The Aorus Elite is still available new for about $230.


Some sellers are asking over $400 for the Ultra model.

Screen Shot 9.jpg
 
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So something like this

GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Ultra​

Intel Core i7-10700K or​

Intel Core i5-10600K​


Is there any special I should consider for cpu's My current hack had a 4790k and i loved it.
I can say that Z490s are great boards. They just work on everything with 10th gen and can even run as far back as Sierra/High Sierra using CPUID and GPU spoofing to Coffee Lake.

You can still pick up a new Z490 Aorus Master on Amazon for around $258.95, and this board has Thunderbolt 3 support using a plug-in card.

> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087GH5SK2/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

It certainly is possible to build the system under $800 and that includes the PSU, fan and case.

CPU
Intel i7-10700K
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086ML4XSB/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
$279.00

RAM
Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX 16GB 3200Mhz
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0143UM4TC/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
$54.99

PSU
NZXT C750
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H3KR6R2/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
$69.99

Fans
Thermaltake RGB 12mm
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MVY3N55/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
$59.99

Case
Thermaltake V250
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084RSCFD4/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
$88.71

I've not included pricing for the NVMe SSD as that would push it over the $800 budget, but I highly recommend using WD's SN750 or Samsung's 980 or 970 Evo/Evo Plus series which are now priced fairly cheap under S100-$120. I've used the 970 Evo Plus on hackintoshes before after upgrading the NVMe's firmware with no issues. But these should all work. If you want more performance I'd recommend to get the i9-10900K and even an AMD dGPU which have now all fallen dramatically on price. The RX6600, RX6800 or RX6900XT should all work with macOS Monterey.
 
I want to build a customac with a atx board. I will be replacing my old system I want a system that cost maybe $600 to $800 (price doesnt include case, power supply, fans). If I could get away with no video card that would be wonderful. I use my desktop today to surf the web, make short videos on imovie/capcut. I dont need a powerhouse. Thank you for any help you can provide.
Unless you really enjoy Builidng your own computer and you live outside the United States or even if you do for that matter, you can get a real Mac with M1 chip starting for $699.
 
Unless you really enjoy Builidng your own computer and you live outside the United States or even if you do for that matter, you can get a real Mac with M1 chip starting for $699.
I have really though of this but what i can build for 600-800 will be far better/usable to a M1 with 8GB. But for anyone reading this post this is something you should be considering. There is a gamble in making an intel based computer for a company moving away from intel.
 
I have really though of this but what i can build for 600-800 will be far better/usable to a M1 with 8GB. But for anyone reading this post this is something you should be considering. There is a gamble in making an intel based computer for a company moving away from intel.
Maybe early next month we will see some new Macs marking the second anniversary of Apple silicon transition.
 
I have really though of this but what i can build for 600-800 will be far better/usable to a M1 with 8GB. But for anyone reading this post this is something you should be considering. There is a gamble in making an intel based computer for a company moving away from intel.
As far as I can tell the 10gen I7 is only slightly more powerful than the M1 in Multi Core, While the I5 is not as powerful. In the single core it looks to me like the Mac mini is winning. From a GPU perspective the M1 kicks the crap out of the intel IGPU. But the M1 SOC also has Neural engine that helps with video processing, and while 8 gigs of memory seems like a low number it utilization is much better on the M1 as the threw put is much higher allowing 8 gigs to be much more effective. The advantage with the intel build is you can get more memory later and the ability to add a more powerful GPU if needed at a later date.

I am not sure if you are in the US or another country but if you are in the US you can get a student discount and get the upgraded version with 16gigs of memory for $829. From your description of how you use your computer the M1 sounds to me like a Far better choice now and into the future. Also a lot of people fail to calculate their time into the endeavor, if we take just minimum wage of the state of CA $15/hr soon to be $22/hr for fast food workers it takes you 6 hours to get everything put together and up and running you have added another $100 /$132 into the cost.

Let's not forget the possible frustration! There are a lot of factors to consider but at your budget price point and your stated useage I say the M1 is the clear winner. As @Bustycat noted above we might see a new Mac mini next month that could be even more powerful.

I personally have not upgrade to a new Mac with SOC because the top level M1 Ultra chip Studio is hugely expensive and my rendering software has not been ported to run on Apple silicon just yet... It is possible it never will be so for now I am biding my time.
 
Let's not forget the possible frustration! There are a lot of factors to consider but at your budget price point and your stated useage I say the M1 is the clear winner. As @Bustycat noted above we might see a new Mac mini next month that could be even more powerful.
Now it is rumored no more new Macs this year.

 
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