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Getting a machine that is as powerful as my Imac

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Hey,

I'm pretty interested in building my own mackintosh but I have no experience in building a PC/mac. So I've started to read and I would like to know what buyer's guide to follow to get the same performance as my Imac (geek bench score 13441) for as little money as possible.

If I know that I get a good base to start to put in some better parts to make it faster.

Thanks in advance!

Grtz
Robrecht
 
Hey,

I'm pretty interested in building my own mackintosh but I have no experience in building a PC/mac. So I've started to read and I would like to know what buyer's guide to follow to get the same performance as my Imac (geek bench score 13441) for as little money as possible.

If I know that I get a good base to start to put in some better parts to make it faster.

Thanks in advance!

Grtz
Robrecht

A Haswell I7 processor is the best way to go for performance like a 2013 iMac.
Take a look at 4770K if you want to over clock, 4770 if you don't. There is also
a newer 4771 that clocks in at 3.5 Ghz. Any of these give great performance
at not a high price. For a motherboard choose any H87 in the buyer's guide, again
if you won't over clock and want to save some money.
 
A Haswell I7 processor is the best way to go for performance like a 2013 iMac.
Take a look at 4770K if you want to over clock, 4770 if you don't. There is also
a newer 4771 that clocks in at 3.5 Ghz. Any of these give great performance
at not a high price. For a motherboard choose any H87 in the buyer's guide, again
if you won't over clock and want to save some money.

Another option to look at if not overclocking is the 4770S.

This has a lower TDP of 65W so won't require heavy duty cooling; the clock speed is a little lower at 3.1 Ghz. If noise and fan duty are a consideration then this could be another option.

:cool:
 
so if I buy the parts from the buyers guide for the customac pro what will be the performance of the hackintosh?

CPU: Intel cor I7-4770K (but I have no experience with over clocking but I'm interested to learn it)
Motherboard: GA-Z87X-OC force (is the most expensive one why would I need that one?)
RAM: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3
Case: Corsair Carbide 500R
power supply: Corsair 650 Watt Modular
SSD: SATA 6Gb/s 240GB SSD
Graphics card: Geforce GTX 760

I guess separate cooling is only needed if you want to over clock?

I would need this machine especial for photography (photoshop) and gaming purpose. This is already a machine around 1400 euro's so not the cheapest if I have to buy a screen and keyboard with it. So I would like to know how I can compare this with the best 21,5-inch Imac?

Greetings,
Robrecht
 
so if I buy the parts from the buyers guide for the customac pro what will be the performance of the hackintosh?

CPU: Intel cor I7-4770K (but I have no experience with over clocking but I'm interested to learn it)
Motherboard: GA-Z87X-OC force (is the most expensive one why would I need that one?)
RAM: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3
Case: Corsair Carbide 500R
power supply: Corsair 650 Watt Modular
SSD: SATA 6Gb/s 240GB SSD
Graphics card: Geforce GTX 760

I guess separate cooling is only needed if you want to over clock?

I would need this machine especial for photography (photoshop) and gaming purpose. This is already a machine around 1400 euro's so not the cheapest if I have to buy a screen and keyboard with it. So I would like to know how I can compare this with the best 21,5-inch Imac?

Greetings,
Robrecht

For Photoshop and gaming you wouldn't need the most expensive board (OC force) to get good
performance. Look at the Z87X-UD3H or the 4H and 5H versions which are more affordable than
a Z87 OC Force.

The build you have listed above would give performance more like the 27 In. iMac with a core
I7 CPU. So when comparing prices keep that in mind. The 27 inch iMac is a very good value
but the all in one design really limits options in internal storage and expandability. There will
be a high end Gigabyte board with 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports available but it's still in the testing
phases so be on the look out for that. There is the GA-Z87-UD5-TH already available with 2 of the
first Gen TH ports. The UD7-TH will offer the TH.BOLT 2 20Gb/s speeds.
 
My idea now is to get a build started to see if I really can make a mackintosh work but still make a beast of a machine (relatively). So I decided to ditch the graphics card for now and wait to order one till I confident I can make it work. (good Idea or not?). I don't want cheap out on the CPU but I don't think I will be over clocking in the future so are there better options without losing performance?

What can I add after I builded this? memory, video card, more storage space, wifi, blu-ray reader

CPU: Intel core I7-4770K €295,95
Motherboard:GA-Z87X-UD3H €142,41
RAM: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3 €141,85
Case: Corsair Carbide 500R €109,9
power supply: Corsair 650 Watt Modular €94,2
SSD: SATA 6Gb/s 240GB SSD €141,85

total costs:
€926,16


Prices are from the french amazon as I get free shipping there.

Will this machine be viable if I order these parts?

Can I get the price lower without losing performance in the long run?

Connecting 2 screens won't be a problem either?

Isn't my power supply to strong if lose all the non essential things like I did here?

Thanks for the help! I'm learning a lot :)
 
Advice needed on some parts - Intel core I7-4770K - GA-Z87X-UD3H

So I decided to order some parts and try to build a hackintosh.
I've come up with these parts, to play it relative save I followed the buyers guide and I have read some user builds with similar parts.

CPU: Intel core I7-4770K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20


Motherboard: GA-Z87X-UD3H
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPOIJM4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20


RAM: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3 Corsair
http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B007TG8QRW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20


Case: Corsair Carbide 500R
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E983JW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20


power supply: Be quiet! Dark Power PRO 10 650W
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/292668/be-quiet!-dark-power-pro-10-650w.html


SSD: Samsung 840 EVO
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1388679117&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+840+EVO+basic


Graphics card:

I will buy a better screen later but for know I'm gonna use what I have add home.
I'm not gonna put in the graphics card add the beginning because I don't wanna spend much more in 1 moment.

So what do I wanna add in my machine if it works like a charm. Video card, more memory and more harddrive space.

Question 1:
Is this power supply a good idea? I have no clue what to look for when buying a power supply.

Question 2:
Are there better SSDs for the same price range? Or am I good with the Samsung EVO basic?

Question 3:
Will this be a viable build or will I run into any major problems (that even you guys can't solve)?

EDIT: Question 4 :
Should I buy a CPU cooler? I will probably mess around with a little over clocking. If yes, any suggestions?

I must say I'm a complete noob when it comes to building my own PC so I hope this will work out. I already have learned a lot by reading this forum. Thank you for that!

Also should I wait for the new buyers guide?

Thanks!
 
I decided to order my parts somewhere this week.

I will go for a 256gb samsung pro instead of the EVO series. Don't ask me why I just have this gut feeling.

I also decided to buy a separate CPU cooler and I want to buy a good one so I decided to go with the
Thermaltake Frio but will this fit with the Corsair Carbide 500R? I found out it will with only 5mm extra space.
I would like to have a confirmation from some more experience people then me because I don't trust myself yet in these matters. Also will my PSU be enough for that cooler? (keeping in mind that I will add a video cart and extra harddrives later on)

Thanks for answering my questions :) !

Greetz
 
Your hardware choices all look great. Don't think you'll have any problems
with your Mavericks installation. Let us know how it goes.
 
This is basically the same build I just made for my first hackintosh, and I'm in love with it. It's the most powerful machine I've ever had (haven't had a desktop since desktops were the only choice). If you run into any issues, you might need to update your UEFI. I was confused for 2 days, only able to load the OS in safe mode and always getting stuck at the apple logo. After updating the UEFI, as someone suggested on here, it worked like a charm.
 
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