GA-P55M-UD2 + i5 + 4870

[M4ciek]

Hi

I would like to ask about my build:

GA-P55M-UD2
INTEL ICORE5 I5 750 BOX
GEIL DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) 1600MHz 7-7-7 ULTRA Dual [OR] OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600 Reaper CL7-7-7 Dual
OCZ StealthXStream 600W SLI
Asus Radeon 4870 1GB 2xDVI (PCI-E)

I'm not sure about RAM and graphic card. Should it work 100% compatible with OS X?

/e: How can I get 1600MHz on RAM? Becouse gigabyte show only: * 800 MHz * 1066 MHz * 1333 MHz * 2100 MHz

 

[thelostswede]

The RAM doesn't matter, it'll just work, however, going with low latency modules on the Core i5/i7's is a waste of money as the performance advantage is less than 1% in most cases.
The graphics card is meant to be a bit of a hassle to get going though, but it's not impossible.

 

[M4ciek]

The RAM doesn't matter, it'll just work, however, going with low latency modules on the Core i5/i7's is a waste of money as the performance advantage is less than 1% in most cases.
The graphics card is meant to be a bit of a hassle to get going though, but it's not impossible.

So... low latency don't give me more perfomance?
Graphic... I heard all 4870 with 2x DVI should work with PC_EFI (I found it on netkas blog).

/e: cheaper RAM let me choose Radeon 4890 (supported by PC_EFI)

 

[thelostswede]

It doesn't give you enough of a performance increase to validate the extra cost.
Have a look here http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory ... analysis/1 they did an extensive test. Yes, lower latency helps in some cases, but are you seriously going to worry about a difference of next to nothing compared to the extra cost? I wouldn't even bother looking at the synthetic benchmarks as they don't relate to real world performance gains.
Also, the Core i5 750 doesn't work well with 1600MHz memory unless you overclock the bus speed due to its multiplier and uncore speed which means you can't run at the correct ratio with 1600MHz modules. Faster modules or slower modules are better in that sense.
However, I'm using 1600MHz modules, CAS9, but I run them at 1333MHz at CAS8 instead. Considering that they didn't cost me any more than 1333MHz modules I opted for them instead.

 

[M4ciek]

Hmm... Does GA-P55M-UD2 let me safe overclock bus with i5 (box)?
Or should I buy 1333MHz RAM and don't try oc?

 

[thelostswede]

Safe and safe, overclocking is pretty safe these days, to much more extreme measures than upping your bus speed a little bit. I just don't think its worth the extra money in terms of the performance difference, but then again I don't think going with the 4890 over the 4870 is a good investment either...

 

[M4ciek]

I think and search a lot for best build... and here is my new idea:

MSI P55-GD65
i5 750 Box
RAM G.Skill [ Ripjaws ] F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
GeForce GTS 250

Help me choose best solution. It's not for gamming... I need them for everyday work (graphics, video etc). Actually I'm waiting only for one game - Diablo III (Mac / PC) and I'll think about GPU upgrade when D3 will be released.

 

[thelostswede]

The GTS 250 should be plenty fast.
I'd suggest sticking with Gigabyte on the motherboard side of things, simply because their boards seem to work better in a hackingtosh setup for one reason or another.
The rest should be ok, but the ripjaw heatsinks are just for show, as DDR3 memory really doesn't get very hot unless you over Voltage and overclock the modules.

 

[M4ciek]

The GTS 250 should be plenty fast.
I'd suggest sticking with Gigabyte on the motherboard side of things, simply because their boards seem to work better in a hackingtosh setup for one reason or another.
The rest should be ok, but the ripjaw heatsinks are just for show, as DDR3 memory really doesn't get very hot unless you over Voltage and overclock the modules.

I found guide for this MSI board - and all works nice.

I know the heatsinks aren't necessary - but I think it's good ram for this config anyway.

Is there any problem with GTS 250 1GB? Should I choose specyfic manufacturer or search for correctly outputs? Becouse I found very nice gf card: SPARKLE GeForce GTS 250 1024MB DDR3/256bit DVI/HDMI PCI-E

 

[thelostswede]

As far as I know, they should all be the same.
Some of us here have Gigabyte cards, but I don't really see why other GTS 250's should be any different.

And trust me on the Gigabyte motherboard thing, I can't tell you the details, but let's just say that I have some inside information as to why Gigabyte boards are the better option for a Hackingtosh.