- Joined
- Apr 16, 2011
- Messages
- 172
- Motherboard
- GA-Z77MX-D3H-TH
- CPU
- i5 3570K
- Graphics
- 7870
- Mac
I wouldn't recommend people disassemble iMacs; again, if anything goes wrong, the Apple main boards are expensive to replace. I can only speak for my 27" 2010 model. Removing its glass was simple, held on by magnets it took twenty seconds using two £1 sink plungers that I already had. If determined to upgrade, follow especially the iFixit and OWC teardown videos for your particular model, so you aren't caught out by the panel's easy to damage ribbon cables. They list needed tools. Thank you £1 store. Avoid fingerprinting the panel. I disassembled in a dusted bathroom but used my £1 can of compressed air. The OWC and iFixit guides for your particular model help assess the difficulty level. If impatient, avoid. Either way, if a main board stopped working on you... who needs that stress?
I find it hard to compare an iMac to a hackintosh. The iMac is stunning to look at, plug it in and go, friends and clients ooh-and-ah, it's
close to inaudible except under load (unless you get a model with a rouge HD) and the screen is a joy (I love my Dell panel but it wasn't cheap or aesthetically as nice). We go hackintosh to save money, to hit better benchmarks if needed, and we enjoy making things and can factor in a some time for any niggles along the way. I built a heavily vented sound-deadening enclosure for my modded (new holes for intake/exhaust Noctua fans/NH-D14 on fan speed reducers) Antec Sonata IV case to sit in. Though it helps reduce obnoxious gaming noise, my hackintosh goes under the desk, either way!
What trs96 recommends sounds sensible. I am holding off on my next build until I know that the Z97 board I want works fully. The 4790K looks great at stock; apparently running 5 degrees cooler than the 4770K. It doesn't appear to be the stellar overclocker that we faintly hoped for but, at stock speed, even if you don't do well in the so called silicon lottery, it turbos up to 4.4, apparently beating an overclocked 4770K running at the same speed. Plan B is get a cheaper i3 CPU with hyperthreading, as a stopgap until Broadwell, next Spring. Best of luck with whatever you go for.
I find it hard to compare an iMac to a hackintosh. The iMac is stunning to look at, plug it in and go, friends and clients ooh-and-ah, it's
close to inaudible except under load (unless you get a model with a rouge HD) and the screen is a joy (I love my Dell panel but it wasn't cheap or aesthetically as nice). We go hackintosh to save money, to hit better benchmarks if needed, and we enjoy making things and can factor in a some time for any niggles along the way. I built a heavily vented sound-deadening enclosure for my modded (new holes for intake/exhaust Noctua fans/NH-D14 on fan speed reducers) Antec Sonata IV case to sit in. Though it helps reduce obnoxious gaming noise, my hackintosh goes under the desk, either way!
What trs96 recommends sounds sensible. I am holding off on my next build until I know that the Z97 board I want works fully. The 4790K looks great at stock; apparently running 5 degrees cooler than the 4770K. It doesn't appear to be the stellar overclocker that we faintly hoped for but, at stock speed, even if you don't do well in the so called silicon lottery, it turbos up to 4.4, apparently beating an overclocked 4770K running at the same speed. Plan B is get a cheaper i3 CPU with hyperthreading, as a stopgap until Broadwell, next Spring. Best of luck with whatever you go for.
