Hackintos render farm

[Borquee]

Hi,

Planing on small hackintosh render farm... need your opinion

So I just ordered today 10x Supermicro SC512L-260B cases (got them really cheap on ebay)

I decided on i7-4790 with passive cooling (case is helping), 8Gig ram, small hdd

But I still haven't decided on motherboard... I need it for pure cpu render... Would like to go cheaper than GA-H97M-D3H.... I really just need processor power and nothing else.

Any ideas?

 

[trs96]

What is the price per motherboard you'll pay for the Gigabyte H97M in your country ?

 

[Borquee]

Price is about 100$

 

[trs96]

Hackintosh render farm

Price is about 100$

You could get the Asrock H97M for about $10 less but I don't think it's worth it
because of the extra time and effort it takes to get OS X installed and fully working
on those motherboards. I would stay with the GA-H97M-D3H model. If you are building
ten of these and have to install with the Clover method instead of Unibeast / Multibeast
it gets more complicated x10 for a beginner using the Asrock H97M motherboard.

The choice is up to you, just know that you would need to do your research here on this
site about the challenges with the Asrock Z and H97 motherboards before going that route.
If you have already used Clover before and are experienced with that approach then by
all means save the money and go with Asrock. You can read about one person's experience
with the install of Yosemite on an Asrock itx board here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...h97m-itx-ac-8gb-ram-intel-hd-4600-clover.html

Check the Comments section of this User Build.

 

[Borquee]

How about GA-H81M-S1 (or GA-H81M-S2V)?
It is around 50$ ... I just need it for processor render, just need graphics and network to work

 

[nobodynose]

How about GA-H81M-S1 (or GA-H81M-S2V)?
It is around 50$ ... I just need it for processor render, just need graphics and network to work

Graphics won't work on the GA-H81M-S1 without a separate graphics card - it has only a VGA port for onboard graphics, which isn't supported in Mac OS X. However, the GA-H81M-S2V (which apparently isn't available in the US, by the way) looks like a winner, as it has DVI port.

 

[trs96]

How about GA-H81M-S1 (or GA-H81M-S2V)?
It is around 50$ ... I just need it for processor render, just need graphics and network to work

For an intensive use scenario like rendering for hours / days at a time, I would still go with the H97
chipset over the H81. The H97 is a better match for the 4790 cpu. H81 boards are designed
for business use, less demanding situations. They will work but who knows how they will hold
up over time in a render farm. There is always the 3 year warranty to fall back on if you do go
with those.