Non Video Gaming Hackintosh

[tanstaafl1963]

I'm looking to get a beefier mac for my stock trading platform.
Currently using a mac mini with 8GB ram and want to build a Hackintosh with probably 16GB (Maybe 32) RAM.

From what I've seen on line, it looks like most Hackintosh's are geared towards gaming systems. Can anyone provide some pointers about the graphics cards that aren't so much for gaming? and probably a little cheaper?

One thing I'm unsure of is how to mix/match components and any compatibility gotcha's to look out for...

Thanks in advance...

 

[Stork]

You'll need a system for general purpose computing. What does your stock trading app(s) say for the recommended (minimum) system requirements?

I recommend a mATX size motherboard, like my Gene build, but costing less. (My Gene motherboard is build for overclocking.) A non "K" processor will also save you money.

Now, graphics cards are a PITA right now as we're in a transition while awaiting the release of High Sierra in September or early October. However, a good used graphics card is the Nvidia GTX 760 which works OOB, supported natively by Apple's macOS drivers. The GTX 760 will drive at least two monitors which may help you with your stock trading application(s). I bought a used EVGA GTX 760 from eBay for ~$100 18 months ago, and they've held their price. Gigabyte and EVGA are you best choices for working well with multiple monitors; I recommend staying away from ASUS graphics cards as they deviate from the Nvidia reference design.

Once we know your stock tracking/buying application's requirements, we can better advise you.

 

[tanstaafl1963]

You'll need a system for general purpose computing. What does your stock trading app(s) say for the recommended (minimum) system requirements?

I recommend a mATX size motherboard, like my Gene build, but costing less. (My Gene motherboard is build for overclocking.) A non "K" processor will also save you money.

I use ThinkOrSwim from TDAmeritrade and they offer some flexibility for RAM, so I'm thinking the more the merrier/speedier.

Now, graphics cards are a PITA right now as we're in a transition while awaiting the release of High Sierra in September or early October. However, a good used graphics card is the Nvidia GTX 760 which works OOB, supported natively by Apple's macOS drivers. The GTX 760 will drive at least two monitors which may help you with your stock trading application(s). I bought a used EVGA GTX 760 from eBay for ~$100 18 months ago, and they've held their price. Gigabyte and EVGA are you best choices for working well with multiple monitors; I recommend staying away from ASUS graphics cards as they deviate from the Nvidia reference design.

I'm not in a big hurry and was thinking about the upcoming release before making any decisions. It's good to know about the ASUS cards and to stay away. I supposed if I want more the 2 monitors, I can add another Graphics card. Is there a Maximum that MacOS can support?

Once we know your stock tracking/buying application's requirements, we can better advise you.

 

[Stork]

200-series motherboard & Kaby Lake processor are supported in High Sierra along with the newer AMD Rx 580 and Vega 56 graphics cards series. Unfortunately, the "miners" are driving up the price of these cards, so waiting for several months will allow those cards to at least be available at the MSRP.

The 300-series motherboards and Coffee Lake processors will be coming out later this year, but until Apple markets a Mac with the Coffee Lake components, best to stay with Kaby Lake (200-series). Additionally, High Sierra 10.13.0/.1/.2 will have bugs, so I recommend to start off with Sierra 10.12 until the bugs are worked out in High Sierra. My experience has been the 10.x.3 release is good for production systems.

As you get close to ordering, check back here for more advice.

 

[tanstaafl1963]

so.. silly question...
When looking at the motherboards & cases, I need to match the 'type' (mini-ITX case with mini-ITX mboard)
case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RJQ3GQ/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
motherboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2V075M/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

so this in this example, these two would be compatible.

Thanks

 

[kjc]

I run thinkorswim on my machine as well. Contrary to what others may say you do not need beefy specs to day trade. The new Core i3 8000 series should be good enough. It is quad core. 8gbs of ram minimum. 16gbs would be ideal depending on how many charts you will have open up. As for GPU the integrated intel GPU should get the job done.

Thinkorswim charts and indicators are not GPU intensive. However, when I had a Nvidia GPU the thinkorswim was not working well with it. I had no issues with my GPU. Only thinkorswim would crash ALL THE TIME. It made trading difficult. When I send my error reports to TOS support they told me it was my GPU. I had a GTX 960 4GB. I play games and had no issues with this GPU for other applications. But TOS did not run well with it.

So I switch to the AMD RX 500 series. RX 560 gets the job done.

Again the new core i3 series, 8gbs of ram minimum and a SSD is more than enough for TOS.