Contribute
Register

Please help, first Customac build

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
6
Motherboard
N/A
CPU
intel core i5-2500k
Graphics
gigabyte radeon 6850
Mac
  1. 0
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. 0
So i have been looking into making a customac for a while but could not afford the parts until now. I would like a final view on the parts i choose as to compatibility with each other / mac, and which are the best choices.
I based this build off of the 2011 buyers guide using integrated parts from the pro builds but mostly from the i5 build.


Case:
Corsair carbide series 400r

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Video Card:
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

Power Supply:
CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

CPU:
intel core i5 2500k

Motherboard:
I am a bit still undecided about the Mobo between:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 ATX Intel Motherboard
and
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P ATX Intel Motherboard

Thank you for any and all help,
Neji​
 
Perfect. Go with the UD3H.
 
the only thing that caused me to lean towards the ud3 vs. the ud3h or ud3p was that it came with an msata port incase i wanted to upgrade to a SSD later on
 
oops, i forgot an optical drive

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner, Bulk Package 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7280S-0B - OEM
 
oops, i also forgot an optical drive:

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner, Bulk Package 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7280S-0B - OEM
 
Instead of those choose a 2.5" one.
 
so not all ssd's require an msata? that was something that i was wondering
 
so what would be the best method to dual boot w/ windows 7 & osx snow leopard (to start)? i am looking at using iboot which was the method used and suggested by my uncle starting with mac and then creating a partition for windows. Would this be the easiest way to do it or are there other, simpler methods?
 
AFAIK mSATA used as a cache drive using the intel smart response technology will not work in OSX and will only see it as another SSD drive. A separate SSD drive will perform better than an mSATA drive. So, forget about that mSATA feature in OSX. That said the UD3H is a better option. Did you also consider the Z77 boards? Those are an upgrade to the Z68 boards and works well too with OSX Lion and likely with ML.

As for dual booting...watch this

tonymacx86 Blog: tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Dual Booting
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top