Current Mac pro to Hackintosh advice pls : )

[cpache76]

Hi,

I currently own a Mac pro mid 2010 model with a 2.8 quad xeon coupled with a 5870 which performs perfectly fine to me i use boot camp to run windows ONLY for gaming i initially made the jump from pc to mac and dont plan on changing this exactly but with a new mac pro inbound and more than likely with a 7950 + GPU and a £2000 price tag to boot im considering purchasing a Origin pc with a gtx 780 and turning that into my mac of choice - again windows is soley for gaming.

My question is will it be an easy switch and will the gtx 780 be supported in your opinion in the current osx and the soon to be announced update or im i likely to get into problems as updates are rolled out (im a fan of keeping software up to date as the mac updates generally add something worth while) i have a macbook pro also so not leaving the apple loop completely but i want to be future proof as currently a 680 mac edition is the highest real upgrade i can get. Comparing CPU's also the xeon is strong but a 3.5 i7 can out-do it so i wont miss it to much - any opinions would be really helpful before i take the plunge.I dont want to also build from scratch not because i cant but id rather use the mac pro money to get an origin.

Thanks

 

[bloodyelle]

Hello.

I was in a very similar situation. I just built a HackPro two weeks ago and am plenty happy compared to the MacPro I was working on at the office. I would definitely advise holding on to that MacBookPro at least for a few months while things get settled on the new computer.

Regarding the Origin PC, it all depends on the components. TonyMac and others do a great deal of testing on MoBos and other components to ensure compatibility. Chances are an Origin PC will have a fair share of incompatibility since most PC manufactures don't scout out the most Mac-compatible parts. I would advise building your own if you really want to stay in the Mac world without shelling out for Apple's new hardware. Of course be warned that there are a few nuances with any hackintosh, namely sleep issues. I had a minor one where my computer won't sleep automatically in Mac (I have to manually sleep it). Everything works fine in Windows though.

As for the 780 - compatibility wise, we could see modded drivers on launch-day or months from now. That is on NVidia, but normally they are good with compatibility. Anytime you live on the cutting edge, you are running the risk of issues. If its for a Mac build, wait a few weeks after launch of the card until you get one to see what others are saying, unless you are comfortable hacking hardware on a mac system.


Personally, I have an i7 3770k that I overclocked (super-easy) to 4.5GHz and it runs stable. I also went with an OC'ed 660ti (MSI) for price/performance and since I only really use Windows to game as well, I didn't see a need to go too crazy with a card. I play ultra settings in most games, but I couldn't get TressFX to run smoothly in Tomb Raider for instance, so there are downsides, but if I SLIed them (only works in Windows from what I understand), I'd have more than enough for any current game, even in surround gaming.

 

[cpache76]

Thanks so much for the reply, after reading that i've had a u-turn and decided to just build my own after all doing a bit of research into parts which all seem ok for now besides the 780 i'm going to hold out till apples WWDC which is on the 10th of june to see if theres any news regarding the next mac pro's cpu or gpu just to be sure i doubt ill be able to get a new pro below 2k with the same power processor or near enough to the xeon i do love i have to admit and ill be limiting myself in terms of cores with an i7 but it seems the best bet financially.

Parts wise -

Intel Core i7 (3770) 3.5GHz
Corsair CP-9020002-UK TX650M 650 Watt Power Supply
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX
Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe Motherboard
GTX 780 3GB

Excluding ram etc which all seem compatible enough i wouldnt let go of the macbook pro i love the thing and i do still want to be in the apple loop (so to speak) the whole having to keep on top of updates in case they decide to stop working is a pain but i can live with that hopefully itll soon be at the stage where everything 'just works' thanks again for the feedback also its helped alot ! I do alot of Cinema 4d and photography work thats where ill miss something from ATI for the open cl support (c4d wise) but i can live with that too i guess : )