Reliable upgrade from MacPro 1,1 with 2 X X5355

[molestrangler]

Hi,

My old (2006) MacPro is still working great, two years ago I upgrade it with two Xeon X5355 (quad core) CPUs that satisfied my CPU needs but the GPU performance is now letting us down, I'm also stuck at OS X 10.7.5 and I don't require the large MacPro case as I only have a boot SSD installed these days.

So now looking to replace with a mATX with better GPU options and ability to install 10.10: "Yosemite", and still keep a quiet system, as it never gets switched off. It's the family PC and everyone uses it.

Preference is stability/reliability & low noise from the Hackintosh and not insane performance, I prefer Asus but willing to use Gigabyte as it seems these are more suited for trouble free Hackingtosh ownership. Also to downsize the case to something like a SilverStone FT03.

Options:

Motherboard = mATX
CPU i7-4790K
WiFi = Asus PCE-AC68 (I have already)
RAM = 16gb
3 X PCI slots = 1 X GPU, 1 X WiFi, 1 X RocketRAID 2722
Storage = Only 1 X SSD (OS X boot) as I use external RAID & NAS
Ethernet = 1 X NAS, 1 X Network
GPU = Nvidia GTX 590 (I have one spare but it may be drive up the noise level)

Main uses: Aperture (TBs of photos), FCE (TBs of home videos), Some games, elgato Turbo.264 HD USB adapter, plus normal use.

My network set-up is rather odd, my NAS is point-to-point Full-Duplex Ethernet, I use the second Ethernet for streaming and the WiFi for Internet.

And a problem lies in needing a second Ethernet port! I was thinking about a USB 3.0 adapter but no idea on performance and compatibility. The Apple USB 2.0 adapter will not perform for me, so looking for other options.

So any suggestions on a mATX motherboard and good USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter?

I really don't want to use a full size ATX motherboard, as I don't want or need a huge case.

 

[Going Bald]

Have you considered the mITX Gigabyte boards like the Z87N-WiFi?

Granted it has only one PCIe slot, but for a family machine the onCPU gfx should be good enough and the WiFi is a mPCIe card, so the only slot you need is one for the RAID card.

The board also has dual NICs, so that need is satisfied. I don't know of any mATX boards that have dual NICs, although if you go mATX you have the PCIe slots to add a dual network card.

 

[molestrangler]

Hi,

Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

[molestrangler]

I'll have to skip in the miniITX board:

o Only one PCi slot
o Wifi option does not support 5HGz
o The StarTech USB 3.0 to RJ45 Ethernet LAN 10/100/1000 Network Adapter (USB31000S) seems to work with OS X

So I should be able to resolve the need for a second Ethernet port, though I will need to research actual through-put.

 

[Going Bald]

I'll have to skip in the miniITX board:

o Only one PCi slot
o Wifi option does not support 5HGz

Only one is needed for RAID card
WiFi option OEM card is not compatible with OS X - replace mPCIE card with one that is compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac - see http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/104850-guide-airport-pcie-half-mini-v2.html

 

[molestrangler]

Only one is needed for RAID card
WiFi option OEM card is not compatible with OS X - replace mPCIE card with one that is compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac - see http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/104850-guide-airport-pcie-half-mini-v2.html

I actually need a minimum of 2 PCI slots, I must have a GPU and RAID card. I do not want to rely on an integrated GPU as we do a lot of Aperture, FCE etc..

And I've read the Asus WiFi card does work, even in real Mac's with the latest OS release.

Tim,

 

[Going Bald]

I actually need a minimum of 2 PCI slots, I must have a GPU and RAID card. I do not want to rely on an integrated GPU as we do a lot of Aperture, FCE etc..

And I've read the Asus WiFi card does work, even in real Mac's with the latest OS release.

Tim,

In that case I would go with the Asus Gryphon Z97 or the Maximus VII Gene