i7 2600 motherboard replacement

[lapetus]

Hi,
I have the following:

i7 2600 sandy bridge with Intel HD 2000 graphics. (Note: NOT the 2600k)

16 Gb RAM DDR3, sata drives etc. case with tons of ports.

Currently Asrock H67DE3 motherboard which I think is failing. BSOD USB related, tried drivers, checked for shorts, wire bits etc, on motherboard. No luck. So I need a new motherboard. If I am getting a new one I thought I would like to give OSX a go.

I would like a recommendation for a motherboard which is EASY to get Mavericks working on. Explicitly, onboard sound, ethernet, usb 3.0. I was also wondering if there is cheap fanless video card that is supported easily. I would like a card that's a little better than HD2000, but cheap and preferably fanless.

I have used the search function but found little on 2600 builds. Thanks.

 

[sammyobeid]

try z68 or z77

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-...success-guide-gigabyte-z68x-ud3h-b3-eufi.html

 

[trs96]

Hi,
I have the following:

i7 2600 sandy bridge with Intel HD 2000 graphics. (Note: NOT the 2600k)

16 Gb RAM DDR3, sata drives etc. case with tons of ports.

Currently Asrock H67DE3 motherboard which I think is failing. BSOD USB related, tried drivers, checked for shorts, wire bits etc, on motherboard. No luck. So I need a new motherboard. If I am getting a new one I thought I would like to give OSX a go.

I would like a recommendation for a motherboard which is EASY to get Mavericks working on. Explicitly, onboard sound, ethernet, usb 3.0. I was also wondering if there is cheap fanless video card that is supported easily. I would like a card that's a little better than HD2000, but cheap and preferably fanless.

I have used the search function but found little on 2600 builds. Thanks.

Go back to the 2011-12 Buyer's Guide and see which Z68 boards were listed. Then try and
find one of those models online. Likely will have to use Ebay to find those still for sale. Try
a GT640 model fanless GPU. Prices have gone down on most 640's recently.

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/11/building-sandy-bridge-customac-buyers.html

Here's one not in a recommended build from 2011-12 but it will still work with no problem and is
from a reliable seller I've used before. http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-SHIP-G...1099335850?t=Motherboards&hash=item2c7e6874aa

$80 dollars is a great deal for one of these new and unused. You will still get the 3 year warranty on it because it is new.They will also ship overseas if you're not in the US. There is also a DSDT for it in the repo on this site if you'll need one.

I've been using the D2H-B3 version of this board for almost three years now and it's still going
strong. Only real difference is that the "B3" has two USB 3 ports on the back panel.

 

[yuji22]

Try Asus Z77V-LK.

 

[trs96]

Try Asus Z77V-LK.

It's best to not mix a Sandy Bridge CPU with an Ivy Bridge mobo. It can be done but the
results are generally not going to be satisfactory.

 

[nobodynose]

Hi,
I have the following:

i7 2600 sandy bridge with Intel HD 2000 graphics. (Note: NOT the 2600k)

16 Gb RAM DDR3, sata drives etc. case with tons of ports.

Currently Asrock H67DE3 motherboard which I think is failing. BSOD USB related, tried drivers, checked for shorts, wire bits etc, on motherboard. No luck. So I need a new motherboard. If I am getting a new one I thought I would like to give OSX a go.

I would like a recommendation for a motherboard which is EASY to get Mavericks working on. Explicitly, onboard sound, ethernet, usb 3.0. I was also wondering if there is cheap fanless video card that is supported easily. I would like a card that's a little better than HD2000, but cheap and preferably fanless.

I have used the search function but found little on 2600 builds. Thanks.

You can still get a few motherboards new that are hackintosh-friendly and support Sandy Bridge CPUs. One choice might be be the Gigabyte GA-H61M-USB3H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128589) if you don't need more than two PCIe slots and 4 SATA ports; it's cheap ($49.99 at the link) & compatible.

As far as graphics cards are considered, probably the best, most readily available, supported fanless model out there is the NVidia GeForce 210. Everyone seems to like EVGA, so here is their fanless reference design 210, for $29.99: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130606. If you want better performance, there are a few fanless GT640 models out there; here's one from Asus for $109.85: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B009TORML8.

 

[lapetus]

I'd just like to thank everyone for the prompt helpful responses. This can be rare on the interweb these days!

I have done some searching and found an un-opened Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3. There seems to be a lot of successful builds with this, eg

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-...success-guide-gigabyte-z68x-ud3h-b3-eufi.html

I was wondering if Mavericks will be ok, but this would appear to lay my concerns:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...ud3h-b3-i52500k-dawin-kernel-panic-fixed.html

My questions are:

1) In general are OSX versions backwards compatible with previous supported hardware?

2) Is the latest version always "best" for running software? ie, is my i7 2600 more suited to say 10.8.5 rather than Mavericks? By more suited I guess I mean better stability/performance under load.
To be even clearer, should I consider using older versions of a given software with older OSX for increased stability/performance.
Or should I focus on putting Mavericks on and don't worry about it.

Again I would like to thank everyone for your help.( By the time I had checked a few suggested sellers, the boards were already sold.)

 

[nobodynose]

I'd just like to thank everyone for the prompt helpful responses. This can be rare on the interweb these days!

...

My questions are:

1) In general are OSX versions backwards compatible with previous supported hardware?

Yes, in general they are, as long as you're not going back TOO far (Apple doesn't chain themselves nearly as tightly to the backwards compatibility "prison" as Microsoft and even Linux do.)

2) Is the latest version always "best" for running software? ie, is my i7 2600 more suited to say 10.8.5 rather than Mavericks? By more suited I guess I mean better stability/performance under load.
To be even clearer, should I consider using older versions of a given software with older OSX for increased stability/performance.
Or should I focus on putting Mavericks on and don't worry about it.

The best version of an OS is the version that runs well on your hardware AND runs the software you have/need. That said, in general I believe the latest and greatest is usually better (bug fixes, new features, security, etc.)

Good luck!