PC to Hackintosh Rebuild

[Wint0nOBoogie]

Hi I am a noob, and will do as much research as necessary to figure this out,
but would like to put it out there to get the specifics out to the Universe and see if I can get up and running a little sooner. I have a PC that I never use because I don't like the 'clunky-ness' of most of the software. The Board and Chip in it that will have to go away, and won't be mentioned by name.

But I figured the other parts might be able to be put in to a pretty nice Hackintosh conversion. The machine was a beast , but I never use it, and my mac is a mini that is showing its age...

The machine is as follows:

Graphics: 2 x Asus Radeon 5850 DirectCU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121375R
Ram: Kingston 4 x 4Gb 1333 ram (KVR1333D3N9/4G)
Case: Antec Dark Fleet DF-30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129085&Tpk=Antec%20Dark%20Fleet%20DF-30
Power: 1000 watt Thermaltake TR2-RX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153118&Tpk=1000%20watt%20Thermaltake%20TR2-RX
HD: 1 run of the mill 500Gb Seagate (adding SSD + More HD's)

Questions:
- I know that others have got these Asus cards to work, but how much trouble would it be to get them to work?

Most Importantly....
What Board (& Chip) should I drop in to this new Hackintosh to get a nice system that will go together 'easily' and not give me too much grief, have some forward compatibility, and end up with a pretty nice system...

Also, Who thinks I should just wait for 6 months or so for the Thunderbolt boards, Ivy bridge chips and build the most badass system possible?? I am in no real hurry.

Thanks in advance for looking, and helping me out if you can.
PS. I know that PSU is overkill, but this machine used to have 4 graphics cards...

Winston

 

[Koalaman]

1) You cannot run 2 graphics cards in CrossFireX. You can only have them act as other outputs. 2) Ivy Bridge Boards and CPUs are already rolling out. And personally I recommend an i5 with a compatible board. Unless you need the hyper-threading.

Here is this forum's custom builds which feature all compatible parts. Just scroll down because the 2012 builds havent been published yet.

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/search/label/CustoMac

 

[jester969]

You can go with the veteran Z68 1155 system now.

You can go with an Ivy League sys.

You can wait a few more weeks for the Gigabyte TH boards and Mountain Lion.

It seems you can wait and see what happens.

 

[s3v]

And even if you choose to keep the dual graphics cards, 1KW is overkill. You would be safe with 600-750w.

 

[Wint0nOBoogie]

- Thanks to those who replied. I appreciate it a lot. I know that it is my responsibility to figure this stuff out myself and make my own decisions.

Would there be any problems mixing ASUS Card(s) with a Gigabyte board? Gigabyte seems that way to go...

If you got a driver, you got a driver and that's that? They work, or can things get randomly weird or unstable mixing manufacturers. Or better to stay with one of the few ASUS boards that will work in a Hackintosh?

I have been getting by for so long with a $400 mac (because I lost my job in 2008 and am just now getting back on my feet) and now I wouldn't mind having a fast, new Gen Hackintosh... So I think I will wait for a Thunderbolt board as that will be a great feature to have down the road.

Yep, that PSU is overkill, but I already own it, power is cheap where I live, and I can add & upgrade with that till the cows come home.

I think I might have this as a dual boot system and have the two cards just for Crossfire on the PC side. Would I have to open the case and pluck off/ put on the Crossfire ribbon every time I changed from Windows to MacOS?

 

[jester969]

No you don't have to take it off.

 

[Koalaman]

And there should be no problem mixing ASUS cards with Gigabyte.