Newbie Advise: My Spec

[darthkir]

Hello guys,

First of all I would like to say that I am from Malaysia and please forgive my English. I am totally new in hackintosh, but I am excited and would like to start nevertheless. I have been an AMD user since my last 1995 Pentium 100 desktop. So I know little about current Intel line-ups, not very detail anyway.

Cutting down to the chase, I would like to build an i5 machine. I am looking at the i5 750 CPU and possibly couple it with a Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L.

I have read this guide http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html. I would like an opinion for this mobo if it is recommended or not, and whether whatever stated in this guide should work well with this mobo. Also I would like to use my current ATI HD 4850 512MB if this is possible.

Looking fwd to receiving any advise from you guys expert here, thanks!

 

[darthkir]

I need to add that I need onboard sound as well as I am not sure whether my Audigy 2 ZS is supported or not...

 

[jimx86]

Cutting down to the chase, I would like to build an i5 machine. I am looking at the i5 750 CPU and possibly couple it with a Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L.

I have read this guide http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html. I would like an opinion for this mobo if it is recommended or not, and whether whatever stated in this guide should work well with this mobo. Also I would like to use my current ATI HD 4850 512MB if this is possible.

I like your i5, but not really the motherboard it will be going with. First of all, because that board is discontinued by Gigabyte. Second of all, because it says P55, but I actually think it's an H55 board (it is lower end and has less features). There is a better board currently still receiving updates from Gigabyte and is not discontinued, and is P55, but that will cost more - the P55M-UD4 (which also has better onboard audio support). If you are on a budget, then I guess you can stick with your motherboard. You will need to activate ALC 888 in MultiBeast, though.

You ATI graphics should work fine, but I'll need someone else to help you get that working (I forgot exactly how you need to get the Radeons working, sorry!) .

 

[jimx86]

I need to add that I need onboard sound as well as I am not sure whether my Audigy 2 ZS is supported or not...

Haha, I forgot to provide a full answer to your sound card. You will not have support natively through OS X. I tried searching for a rogue kext/patch for the card, but I don't think any exist, sorry!

 

[darthkir]

Cutting down to the chase, I would like to build an i5 machine. I am looking at the i5 750 CPU and possibly couple it with a Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L.

I have read this guide http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html. I would like an opinion for this mobo if it is recommended or not, and whether whatever stated in this guide should work well with this mobo. Also I would like to use my current ATI HD 4850 512MB if this is possible.

I like your i5, but not really the motherboard it will be going with. First of all, because that board is discontinued by Gigabyte. Second of all, because it says P55, but I actually think it's an H55 board (it is lower end and has less features). There is a better board currently still receiving updates from Gigabyte and is not discontinued, and is P55, but that will cost more - the P55M-UD4 (which also has better onboard audio support). If you are on a budget, then I guess you can stick with your motherboard. You will need to activate ALC 888 in MultiBeast, though.

You ATI graphics should work fine, but I'll need someone else to help you get that working (I forgot exactly how you need to get the Radeons working, sorry!) .

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. The P55M-UD4 is within budget I believe, but i dont find the exact match in the price list over here. Are you referring to the Gigabyte P55-UD4P or the Gigabyte P55A-UD4P? What is the difference between these two and Gigabyte P55A-UD3P?

 

[jimx86]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. The P55M-UD4 is within budget I believe, but i dont find the exact match in the price list over here. Are you referring to the Gigabyte P55-UD4P or the Gigabyte P55A-UD4P? What is the difference between these two and Gigabyte P55A-UD3P?

It may just be that Gigabyte doesn't sell the P55M-UD4 in your country. Basically the P55-UD4P and the P55A-UD4P are ATX versions of the P55M-UD4, which is a microATX board (it is shorter in width, but same length). The A in the P55A-UD4P means it supports USB 3.0, which is 10x faster than USB 2.0, but you'll also need a USB 3.0 flash drive, which is rare to find today. Not in 1-3 years, though. Actually, I would purchase the P55A-UD4P as it has the same audio as the P55M-UD4 (ALC 889A) *the P55A-UD4P has ALC 889, not 889A, and therfore will not be supported natively by versions of OS X after 10.6.2* and it will be future proof (it also has SATA 3, which runs at 6 GB/s, twice as fast as the old SATA 3 GB/s). I honestly don't know what the P stands for, though.

The difference between the two and the P55A-UD3P (you already know the A means faster SATA and USB) is the audio. Also, the UD3P has ALC 889, not the UD4's ALC 889A, which doesn't have native support in Snow Leopard (or at least the lastest updates). Also - this is only important if you'll be doing SLI or CrossfireX - the P55A-UD3P has 2 PCIe 2.0 slots, but one of them runs at x4 instead of the normal x8 for P55 ports when in dual-graphics configurations, meaning that one of your graphics cards will be bottlenecked.

Ok, sorry for the long post, but I can ramble for a pretty long time when talking about motherboards.

 

[darthkir]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. The P55M-UD4 is within budget I believe, but i dont find the exact match in the price list over here. Are you referring to the Gigabyte P55-UD4P or the Gigabyte P55A-UD4P? What is the difference between these two and Gigabyte P55A-UD3P?

It may just be that Gigabyte doesn't sell the P55M-UD4 in your country. Basically the P55-UD4P and the P55A-UD4P are ATX versions of the P55M-UD4, which is a microATX board (it is shorter in width, but same length). The A in the P55A-UD4P means it supports USB 3.0, which is 10x faster than USB 2.0, but you'll also need a USB 3.0 flash drive, which is rare to find today. Not in 1-3 years, though. Actually, I would purchase the P55A-UD4P as it has the same audio as the P55M-UD4 (ALC 889A) and it will be future proof (it also has SATA 3, which runs at 6 GB/s, twice as fast as the old SATA 3 GB/s). I honestly don't know what the P stands for, though.

The difference between the two and the P55A-UD3P (you already know the A means faster SATA and USB) is the audio. Also, the UD3P has ALC 889, not the UD4's ALC 889A, which doesn't have native support in Snow Leopard (or at least the lastest updates). Also - this is only important if you'll be doing SLI or CrossfireX - the P55A-UD3P has 2 PCIe 2.0 slots, but one of them runs at x4 instead of the normal x8 for P55 ports when in dual-graphics configurations, meaning that one of your graphics cards will be bottlenecked.

Ok, sorry for the long post, but I can ramble for a pretty long time when talking about motherboards.

I actually enjoy technical talk, dont mind at all the ramble!

So I take it if I purchase either version of the UD4P i should have OOB compatibility, yes?

 

[jimx86]

I actually enjoy technical talk, dont mind at all the ramble!

So I take it if I purchase either version of the UD4P i should have OOB compatibility, yes?

Actually, I just rechecked some stuff, and the P55A-UD4P doesn't have ALC 889A (wow that was stupid on my part). You'll need the P55-UD4P (without the A in the model name!). I'm so sorry for the misinterpretation, but that teaches me to remember full motherboard specs by memory!

This is confusing... the P55A-UD4P, which has an A in it, doesn't have ALC 889A
The P55-UD4P does.
So the P55-UD4P will be confirmed to work OOB. NOT the P55A-UD4P or the P55A-UD3P. Sorry for the trouble!

Edit: if you can find the P55M-UD4 where you live, I would still recommend that

 

[darthkir]

I actually enjoy technical talk, dont mind at all the ramble!

So I take it if I purchase either version of the UD4P i should have OOB compatibility, yes?

Actually, I just rechecked some stuff, and the P55A-UD4P doesn't have ALC 889A (wow that was stupid on my part). You'll need the P55-UD4P (without the A in the model name!). I'm so sorry for the misinterpretation, but that teaches me to remember full motherboard specs by memory!

This is confusing... the P55A-UD4P, which has an A in it, doesn't have ALC 889A
The P55-UD4P does.
So the P55-UD4P will be confirmed to work OOB. NOT the P55A-UD4P or the P55-UD3P. Sorry for the trouble!

Hey, thanks to the effort on you part to enlighten me I actually havent gotten into any trouble yet LOL! Thanks again jim, wow its really faster on this forum than the other! I actually believe i will enjoy myself here!

Now I only have to deal with my HD 4850...

 

[jimx86]

Hey, thanks to the effort on you part to enlighten me I actually havent gotten into any trouble yet LOL! Thanks again jim, wow its really faster on this forum than the other! I actually believe i will enjoy myself here!

Haha, no problem!
We try our best to reach our readers as fast as possible! (I'm only available at certain hours, though there will be other mods/users who will be able to help).

Now I only have to deal with my HD 4850...

I'll try to find a previous post which deals with the Radeons.. That might take me some time.