Help - Need to replace dead iMac quickly and with little $

[sporkman]

Howdy,

So it's not been a good week or so. Had a server for a new business venture fail while on vacation, hit a deer last week, and today my old c2d imac just died. No power, nothing. Even if it is just the power supply, that's $130, and who knows what will die next. If it's the mainboard, then we're basically talking way too much money.

That said, I work from home and that was my main desktop. Cash is tight. Apple's hardware has not been lasting too well with my last 3 or 4 purchases. I'm not inclined to pay a premium again if I'm only going to get a few years out of the hardware.

I don't need a speed demon - I'm mainly just using a ton of iTerm sessions and a browser. I'd like to occasionally use Lightroom and FCP, both of which were more than fast enough for me on the C2D iMac. I don't game at all.

I've built one hackintosh for my "media center" and I'm mostly happy with it. Sleep doesn't work, GigE doesn't work (but FE does), and system profiler thinks that accelerated gfx are not enabled, but they certainly seem to be. This is the result of me going nuts trying to read a zillion threads at that other big hackintosh site. Building/installing was easy, but going through all the misinformation and general confusion just about did me in.

For a "daily driver" I'd like something that works 100% - sleep, network, sound and general reliability. I have little cash. Well, I really have none, but that's what Bill Me Later is for. Again, speed and graphics aren't prioriites.

Can anyone give me a bit of a hand in selecting a widely available mainboard and video card? I'd like to spend $100 or less on the mainboard, get one of the cheaper i3 CPUs, and a really cheap/dated video card that is well supported. Oh, and if the parts can be had from Amazon and are eligible for "Prime" shipping, that's a huge bonus as well (now I'm just being greedy... )

This is a "gimme" request. I apologize. I would not do this if there wasn't so much time pressure. I can find the case, PS, I've got some drives laying around, even some Firewire cards. I just need some really good "yes this works and you can buy it still" recommendations on the mainboard/video card.

Thanks, and again, apologies for begging.

 

[humph]

Cheapest approach may be old ICH7 MB and low-end dual core thingy. Like GA-G41M-ES2L or GA-G31M-ES2L, LAN looks OK (if not OOB, kexts available). Audio may be easier on the G41 (ALC888).

Although that'll probably be not as fast as the old iMac (depending on what CPU it had of course). And you might end up paying a bit more for DDR2 RAM (than DDR3) which would offset the savings on CPU and MB somewhat.

8400GS is probably the least expensive GPU still easy to get. I see people have success with various versions of that card. EDIT: Or perhaps ATI4350 - people report OK on 10.6.5. But as with all GFX, you probably want to do a bit of Googling and check exact model that others have success with, against the specific cards on your short list.

Else, yes, something like a GA-H55M+i3-530. Check forums & build reports here.

However, for the iMac, certainly could be just a PSU problem. Cant the local Apple center do a no-fix-no-fee thing for the PSU, so that if not (just) the PSU, then no wasted cash? (OK, probably not how they work, but you might be able to plead with them!).

 

[marosell]

I assume its over a year old and you don't have the extended warranty? Apple warranty and service is bar none...

I'd take it in, see what they want to fix it, and ask them how much it's going to cost. iMacs are pretty solid, so you have a lot of hardware there (and a monitor!!!) that you'd be getting rid of. Find out what they want to replace, and see if it's cheaper for you to replace it yourself

Other than that, I don't really have any buying advice, but you can check the Graphics Card Database in the wiki to see what others say works well.

 

[thgill]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H:
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Micro-ATX-Motherboard-GA-H55M-UD2H/dp/B0032J5SC6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8

Sleep, GigE and Audio works. Built in Firewire 400.


CPU: Intel i3-530
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Processor-3-06GHz-LGA1156-BX80616I3540/dp/B0031M9QZ4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8

Excellent entry level cpu. Should smoke the C2D cpu in your iMac.

Video: Nvidia 9500GT
http://www.amazon.com/SPARKLE-SFPX95GT512U2HP-GeForce-PCI-EXPRESS-Graphics/dp/B001DJE486/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8

I personally wouldn't choose anything below an Nvidia 9400 or 9500GT for video. If its an option, you can probably find one cheaper elsewhere than Amazon.

DVDRW: Sony Optiarc

No link to Amazon since they are overpriced there. Should be able to find one under $30 pretty easily. You mentioned sleep being important to you. Sony and Pioneer units are known to work well with sleep. Other units prevent the machine from auto sleeping and sometimes have other issues (drive spinning up with no disk in it and etc.)

Memory: DDR3 4gb Crucial
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-CT2KIT25664BA1339-240-pin-PC3-10600-Memory/dp/B001R4BT1M/ref=sr_1_30?s=pc&ie=UTF8

Free to choose just 2gigs if that enough for you. Again, shopping around if thats an option might be a better choice.

Just add hard drive and case of your choice, stir, and you are ready to rock out.


Actually, if you plan to use BillMeLater, Newegg might be an all around better/cheaper option for these parts. Especially on the memory and optical drive.

If you want an i3 rig, these are my suggestions.

 

[sporkman]

Wow, thanks guys, that's some awesome info.

Humph - I like your suggestions, but while I'm cheap, I would probably not go back to a C2D. Also I'm thinking availability on the older parts might be an issue.

thgill - That list looks absolutely f-ing awesome. The prices on the mb/cpu/video look doable. Can you confirm these are all totally out of the box ready for the tonymac tools/method? If so, I'm ordering today.

I may return to the iMac if a cheap power supply pops up somewhere. If the PS fixes it, then I've got a spare. If not, sold for parts, logic board is waaaay to pricey.

With the hackintosh, at least if the mb or something dies, I can very easily replace it.

Lastly, any suggestions on a decent LCD panel? I do really like the IPS panel in this iMac and I'd like to get something comparable (ie: not a TN panel) in the next few months. I have a crappy 19" I can use to start with.

Again, thanks so much for all the replies, this is a life saver.

 

[MacMan]

I would stay away from socket 775 systems as Intel is no longer producing CPU's for this socket. Socket 1156 is a better choice.

 

[thgill]

thgill - That list looks absolutely f-ing awesome. The prices on the mb/cpu/video look doable. Can you confirm these are all totally out of the box ready for the tonymac tools/method? If so, I'm ordering today.

I run the same motherboard, so I know for a fact it works perfectly fine. I use it with an i7 with fantastic results. i3 cpu is no problem as many folks here have rigs running it.

The video card works fine. Had the same model in an older C2Q box. Set it up using either just a Graphics Enabler = yes string or with NVEnabler. If you do a regular UserDSDT install from MultiBeast, the Graphics Enabler is already set to Yes for you so you don't need to even install the NVEnabler. However I believe the NVEnabler kext will allow for some things like multi monitor to work better.


Speaking of UserDSDT, make sure you download the DSDT file from this site that matches the bios version of your board. The most current bios version is F11 and there is a DSDT file that matches that in the database. The board would probably ship with F9 or perhaps F10. You can always flash the newer bios if you like. F10 has improved Turbo Boost compatibility and F11 has improved memory compatibility. I have ran all 3 at one point or another and as far Snow Leopard is concerned, with the proper DSDT there isn't much a difference.

Use Lnx2Macs ethernet kext for properly working gigE ethernet.
http://lnx2mac.blogspot.com/p/realtekrt ... river.html

Might want to see if anyone else has any other suggestions, however this mobo, cpu and video card are a good combo of supported and easy to get running parts. Get the Sony DVDRW so you don't have sleep issues as well.

 

[coco0045]

Hi,

First I like to thank sporkman for asking this question and thgill for providing all the links for the available hardwares. I do not mean to hijack this thread but to continue with further inquires regarding the setup.

I'm confused as what MacMan said regarding sock 775. I thought the motherboard and i3 CPU both use socket 1156? What did he mean by avoiding 775 socket (ie what hardware)?

Also, regarding the i3 CPU, can I use the i5 cpu? If so, can you provide a link?
Lastly, instead of the video card listed, can I use a moderate entry video card instead? I'm looking for one that can provide dual monitoring support (either vga/dvi or dual dvi). I'm looking mainly at video/picture editing..no gaming. Any link as well?

Thank you all for your endless help.

 

[MacMan]

Hi,

First I like to thank sporkman for asking this question and thgill for providing all the links for the available hardwares. I do not mean to hijack this thread but to continue with further inquires regarding the setup.

I'm confused as what MacMan said regarding sock 775. I thought the motherboard and i3 CPU both use socket 1156? What did he mean by avoiding 775 socket (ie what hardware)?

Also, regarding the i3 CPU, can I use the i5 cpu? If so, can you provide a link?
Lastly, instead of the video card listed, can I use a moderate entry video card instead? I'm looking for one that can provide dual monitoring support (either vga/dvi or dual dvi). I'm looking mainly at video/picture editing..no gaming. Any link as well?

Thank you all for your endless help.

Going with an i3 Socket 1156 is the correct move. I just wanted to put out there that a socket 775 Core 2 is a dead end.

The 9500 listed is pretty much the low end. You could maybe go with a GT220.

 

[humph]

Going with an i3 Socket 1156 is the correct move. I just wanted to put out there that a socket 775 Core 2 is a dead end.

Agreed that i3 is the right move for performance & bang for buck.

However, for people who might be reading and on a very tight budget, or in parts of the world where pricing is not as advantageous as USA, what's wrong with 775/ICH7, if not looking for "performance". All that stuff's still shipping.
(OK, anyway, this'll change in some months given DDR2 price vs DDR3, and probably lower i-Series pricing).

Whilst not nice to use Celeron due to kernel issues, didn't think there was a problem with something like E6500/700? (I certainly see no sense in going for a C2D E7500 etc vs i3).