[Guide] HP 6300 Pro / HP 8300 Elite - A 100 percent Working and Easily Affordable CustoMac

[trs96]

so, if i am planning do doing a little video/gfx editing on it, but i plan on using it primarily for PLEX with the ability to transcode, Would it be better to up to the I7 since i have to spend money either way.
in other words: spend $150-$200 on the I7 CPU and use onboard HD4000, or get the 1050LP (~$150) and stick with the i5.
but i may only use the 1050 occasionally as i dont think PLEX can use the CUDA cores for transcoding

In your scenario I would get the i7 and use the HD4000. Then you can use Intel quick sync to help speed up the transcoding. You can always add a GT 1030 later on if you need more for editing video.

 

[andwhy81]

In your scenario I would get the i7 and use the HD4000. Then you can use Intel quick sync to help speed up the transcoding. You can always add a GT 1030 later on if you need more for editing video.

TRS, once again you have come through, thanks for the insight, i will probably be ordering the I7 here this weekend.
Do you have any link or posts about moving my old install (see my sig) to the 8300? I should be able to copy the new EFI folder and just move my SSD over to the 8300, copy the folder over and run UNI/Clover config per your guides?

 

[trs96]

TRS, once again you have come through, thanks for the insight, i will probably be ordering the I7 here this weekend.
Do you have any link or posts about moving my old install (see my sig) to the 8300? I should be able to copy the new EFI folder and just move my SSD over to the 8300, copy the folder over and run UNI/Clover config per your guides?

It's so easy to do a clean install on the 8300, that is the way to go. Then move over your data and programs after that.

 

[trs96]

After successfully creating a Hackintosh out of the HP 6300 Pro SFF I am now going to do an HP 8300 Elite CMT. What is the most powerful video card I can use in it, either nVidia or AMD? The 1050 Ti is a huge downgrade from the GTX 970 I have in my Windows PC now and I am going to dual boot this with Windows 10 and be my new gaming machine so I need a comparable GPU.

I don't recommend swapping out the HP 350W PSU for a 500W + model from other manufacturers. It's not a simple process and doesn't work all that well. There are required adapters and you may lose the fan control of the power supply. It can be done but IMO it's not the best choice. If you are a serious gamer you could buy a used or refurbished Haswell motherboard and use a 4690 or 4790 CPU paired with a higher end graphics card. Then use any size/wattage PSU you'd like with no limitations.

 

[andwhy81]

Can you also replace the power supply fan with one of these on a 8300 Elite SFF?

Taskrov, what HeatSink fan did you end up getting for your 8300 SFF? I was looking at this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RUZ059O/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

 

[andwhy81]

It's so easy to do a clean install on the 8300, that is the way to go. Then move over your data and programs after that.

since my main HD is the SSD i will be using, i may have to do a clean install to another HD, move my stuff over then clone that back to the SSD to be used as the main.

 

[phrozenpenguin]

For anyone that wants to use their i7-3770 CMT HP Desktop for Final Cut Pro video editing:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814932014&cm_re=rx_560-_-14-932-014-_-Product
This Gigabyte card is the best choice. Does not require any 6 pin supplemental power. Has 4 GB of Vram. This card can even support an 8K monitor at a 60 Hz refresh rate. May only be possible in Windows 10 right now. 4K should work fine on a CustoMac.

@trs96 what is required to get this to work - will it work OOB? Thanks in advance. I currently use the onboard HD4000 so have no experience of externals.

 

[trs96]

@trs96 what is required to get this to work - will it work OOB? Thanks in advance. I currently use the onboard HD4000 so have no experience of externals.

I don't have one to test with. From what I've read from gigamaxx and others it's as close to native support as you'll get with this Gigabyte version of the RX560. The 10.13.4 beta supposedly has full OOB support.

 

[timseley]

Hi all. I've wanted to jump into the hackintosh pool for quite awhile now and couldn't ever justify it until now. I figured it would be best to start with something more straightforward so went with the HP 8300 Elite MT with I7-3770. Of course after upgrades my "budget" hackintosh keeps getting more expensive. I stuck to recommendations from the EXTREMELY helpful guide(s) and have added an additional 16 GB RAM for a total of 24, 500 GB SSD, and GT 1030 2GB. I'm running 10.13.3.

Although this is a general use desktop, I'm hoping to use it primarily for managing my photo library (lightroom) and editing 4k video. Just got a 4k monitor as well. Should this system be able to capably handle 4k video editing? As in regular editing in Adobe Premiere (no crazy effects) with smooth playback? I've been underwhelmed with the performance (choppy video at times, intermittent slow downs).

So a few questions:
Are my expectations just too high for a PC with these specs?
Would a better video card (like a GTX 1050 4GB) make a dramatic improvement? I get the sense this 4k monitor is part of what's killing performance, even at reduced resolution.
Do I need to do anything special to enable optimized performance from my GPU for things like CUDA support or does it matter?

 

[trs96]

So a few questions:
Are my expectations just too high for a PC with these specs?
Would a better video card (like a GTX 1050 4GB) make a dramatic improvement? I get the sense this 4k monitor is part of what's killing performance, even at reduced resolution.
Do I need to do anything special to enable optimized performance from my GPU for things like CUDA support or does it matter?

The 1030 only has 2GB of Vram so that gets used up pretty fast with a 4K monitor. Your best bet would be 1050 Ti with 4GB to use for video editing. Look at the Nvidia website for how to enable CUDA for your system.