New Build with around £1500 budget - Open to Critique

[dalecorderoy]

Hi guys,

I'm based in the UK and I am currently putting together a new build and trying to get the best spec I can for around £1500/800 so it will have some legs to last a few years and be able to stay up to date for as long as possible. The machine won't be used for gaming but high-end audio work and some other heavy non-audio programs that are pretty hungry resource-wise for my other job. Looking for a nice solid compatible build out of the gate which won't need a load of leg work to get it to run. Naturally, I know there will be some as it is a Hackintosh but just want it to be quick on data transfer for large sample libraries, be able to take on quite a workload, run four screens and support outboard sound cards etc

Would love to gauge your thoughts / advice on the current components. Any red flags or recommendations for alternatives if I'm overcooking any areas and could cut back and improve other areas? All ideas are warmly welcome!

CPU: Intel Core i9-11900 (2.50GHZ, 16M Cache, up to 5.20 GHz) LGA1200 £295

GPU: PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6600 Hellhound 8GB Graphics Card £219

MOBO: ASRock Z490 AQUA E-ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0 £299

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black 64GB 6400MHz DDR5 Memory Kit £208

SSD: WD_Black SN850X 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe £114

PSU: Corsair RM850x 850 Watt Fully Modular 80+ Gold £147

CASE: Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case £145

COOLER: NZXT Kraken 240 All In One 240mm Intel/AMD CPU Water Cooler (2023 Edition) £109

(Will look to add extra fans inside the case too)

If I need to restructure the post or provide any further details please let me know and I'll modify accordingly.

Thanks

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi guys,

I'm based in the UK and I am currently putting together a new build and trying to get the best spec I can for around £1500/800 so it will have some legs to last a few years and be able to stay up to date for as long as possible. The machine won't be used for gaming but high-end audio work and some other heavy non-audio programs that are pretty hungry resource-wise for my other job. Looking for a nice solid compatible build out of the gate which won't need a load of leg work to get it to run. Naturally, I know there will be some as it is a Hackintosh but just want it to be quick on data transfer for large sample libraries, be able to take on quite a workload, run four screens and support outboard sound cards etc

Would love to gauge your thoughts / advice on the current components. Any red flags or recommendations for alternatives if I'm overcooking any areas and could cut back and improve other areas? All ideas are warmly welcome!

CPU: Intel Core i9-11900 (2.50GHZ, 16M Cache, up to 5.20 GHz) LGA1200 £295

GPU: PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6600 Hellhound 8GB Graphics Card £219

MOBO: ASRock Z490 AQUA E-ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0 £299

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black 64GB 6400MHz DDR5 Memory Kit £208

SSD: WD_Black SN850X 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe £114

PSU: Corsair RM850x 850 Watt Fully Modular 80+ Gold £147

CASE: Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case £145

COOLER: NZXT Kraken 240 All In One 240mm Intel/AMD CPU Water Cooler (2023 Edition) £109

(Will look to add extra fans inside the case too)

If I need to restructure the post or provide any further details please let me know and I'll modify accordingly.

Thanks

Hi there.

Three things struck me:

1) The native top memory speed of 11th gen i9 is, I think 2933. The motherboard overclocks to 5000. Not 100% sure you'll see the benefit of the RAM chosen. Plus it may be tricky to get working properly.

2) The motherboard is E-ATX. Make sure it will fit easily in your chosen case.

3) ASRock motherboards can certainly be hackintoshed, I've done it, but they aren't as easy or reliable as Gigabyte/Asus.

Just my two-penny-worth.

 

[dalecorderoy]

Hi there.

Three things struck me:

1) The native top memory speed of 11th gen i9 is, I think 2933. The motherboard overclocks to 5000. Not 100% sure you'll see the benefit of the RAM chosen. Plus it may be tricky to get working properly.

2) The motherboard is E-ATX. Make sure it will fit easily in your chosen case.

3) ASRock motherboards can certainly be hackintoshed, I've done it, but they aren't as easy or reliable as Gigabyte/Asus.

Just my two-penny-worth.

Some great points, thank you! I'm not overly precious about the motherboard, just looked like a great deal as it was on quite a discount. Appreciate what your saying about it being harder to get working. If I flipped out the motherboard to something else, does the PSU and Memory make sense or could that be improved?

 

[moabyte]

I second the use of ASUS or Gigabyte MoBo. Also, go with a DDR5 board, the ram is much faster.

 

[dalecorderoy]

I second the use of ASUS or Gigabyte MoBo. Also, go with a DDR5 board, the ram is much faster.

Nice, thank you. Would you recommend ASUS PRIME Z790-A WIFI DDR5 PCIe 5.0 ATX Motherboard?

 

[moabyte]

Yes, the Prime Z790 is a great board.

I also like this build, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...hunderbolt-4-i7-12700k-amd-rx-6800-xt.318311/ I think there is now a 790 version of this board.

And this one, which I just built. Asus ROG Strix Z690-i Gaming WiFi mini-ITX https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-i7-12700k-amd-rx-6800-xt.318311/post-2321018

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Some great points, thank you! I'm not overly precious about the motherboard, just looked like a great deal as it was on quite a discount. Appreciate what your saying about it being harder to get working. If I flipped out the motherboard to something else, does the PSU and Memory make sense or could that be improved?

Well as you want something powerful that will last a few years, it's hard to predict how Apple and hackintoshing is likely to be affected going forward. Their last Intel desktop chipset was 400-series. 500, 600 & 700 are all working with various degrees of success. Personally I would pick a Golden Build from our forum and follow that. With your listed components you will be the one trail-blazing!

Yes, your PSU is fine. Memory I've spoken about. And there's some good advice above too.

 

[dalecorderoy]

Firstly, thank you so much for the valuable feedback. Such an amazing community here!

I've taken a look at @CaseySJ build and really liked it (such great work)
Asus Z690 ProArt Creator WiFi (Thunderbolt 4) + i7-12700K + AMD RX 6800 XT

Gone through and upgraded accordingly to closely match some of the ideas in the golden build and went for the Z790 suggested by moabyte
but threw in a couple of alternatives on the case and cooler but they don't overly affect the main important components.

CPU: Intel 12 Core i7 12700K Alder Lake Unlocked £310

GPU: PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6600 Hellhound 8GB Graphics Card £219

MOBO: ASUS Intel Z790 ProArt Creator WiFi ATX Motherboard £424

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Black 64GB 6400MHz DDR5 Memory Kit £208

SSD: WD_Black SN850X 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe £114

PSU: Corsair RM850x 850 Watt Fully Modular 80+ Gold £147

CASE: Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case £145
or
CASE: Lian-Li O11 AIR MINI Black SPCC/Aluminum/Tempered Glass ATX Mini Tower Computer Case - O11AMX £147
or
CASE: be quiet! Black Silent Base 802 PC Gaming Case £165

COOLER: NZXT Kraken 240 All In One 240mm Intel/AMD CPU Water Cooler (2023 Edition) £109
or
COOLER: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 ARGB Black All In One Liquid CPU Cooler £109

Would love to hear if you feel this build is more in line as the best bang for buck according to my budget for performance matched to compatibility.

Thanks again!

 

[etorix]

Let me be the Devil's advocate here: With such a budget, and no gaming use, you should consider a MacStudio for future-proofing—possibly watching out for refurbished opportunities.

You have not really defined your target macOS version (minding that "up to date" will hit end-of road about two years from now…) performance requirements and/or hardware requirements (add-in cards?), so it's difficult to evaluate how much "bang" you get for your "bucks". But I'll note that, while the first list did not fully made sense (oversized Z490 MB, "bad spot" 11th gen. CPU and non-matching DDR5 RAM), there could be some merit in a Z490+10th gen.+DDR4 build in that it should be distinctly less expensive than Z790+12/13G+DDR5 and cause less headaches to maintain (because it would match the last Intel configuration with native support, and because manufacturers have stopped updating it… and breaking our hacks in the process) for exactly the same useful life.

 

[trs96]

Would love to gauge your thoughts / advice on the current components.

The only memory on the QVL for that board is DDR4. DDR5 will not work.

ASRock > Z490 AQUA

Supports 10th Gen Intel Core™ Processors and 11th Gen Intel Core™ Processors (LGA1200)<span style=color:red;>*</span>; Supports DDR4 4800MHz+ (OC); 1 PCIe 3.0 x16, 2 PCIe 2.0 x1; NVIDIA Quad SLI™, AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, Intel Thunderbolt™ 3; 7.1 CH HD Audio...

www.asrock.com

There are still some new entry level MSI Z490 motherboards you can buy in the UK. Asrock wouldn't be my first choice for a hackintosh. Especially not when you combine an 11th gen CPU with a Z490. You can also save a lot of money here and put it into a better graphics card.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0876HBFVC/?tag=tonymacx86-21