Replace a MacPro1,1 with a Hackintosh

[DPatterson]

Greetings. My first foray here.
I have a 2007 MacPro1,1 that has been a great box. Unfortunately, I've run up against the "You can't install/upgrade that software" wall good and hard. It was bad enough when I couldn't upgrade OS X past 10.6.8. Now I can't upgrade most of my tools nor install some new tools that I'd like to.

So, looking for advice on building a Hackintosh to replace my MacPro.

Basic config:
- Fastest CPU that is compatible
- 32GB RAM, minimum (I'm a developer and run a lot of simultaneous VMs)
- 1TB SSD system disk
- Multiple 3TB data disks
- A quality sound card. Don't need surround. I don't watch movies, I edit audio.
- Three monitors (I'm a pixel monger )
- BluRay reader/writer

One of the things I love most about my MacPro is how quiet it is. The only time it makes any noise is when I use the DVD drive (which is really noisy).

Based on the recommendations in the Buyer's Guide, I've come up with this preliminary component list:
- Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX GA-Z170X-UD5
- Intel Core I7-6700K 4.0 GHz 8M processor
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX Graphics card GV-N950XTREME-2GD
- Crucial Ballistix SportLT 32GB DDR4 2400 MT/s RAM
- Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD
- Seagate 3TB SATA
- Corsair AX760 760W power supply
- 32GB Flash Drive (for the install)

Questions:
- Is that list a realistic start?
- What case, CPU cooler, and fans will result in the quietest build?
- What graphics card(s) should I get?
I currently have one Apple Cinema HD (1920 x 1200) and two ViewSonic VA2012wbs (1680x1050).
I'm hoping to upgrade to larger monitors within the next year.
- What about RAID? I've been using the software RAID in my MacPro. Will that still work?

Some other information:
- My machine is typically up 24/7/365. The only time I shut it down is for hardware issues or software upgrades.
- I usually spend 10-12 hours/day at my desk working on my computer. As I said above, quiet is important.
- I've been using Macs since the original 64k. I just can't justify the cost of a new MacPro.

And now for the the most important question:
Is using a Hackintosh realistic for a software developer that depends on his machine always being up and running?
How bad are OS X updates these days?

Any and all advice, recommendations, etc. most welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Dave

 

[Red Chief]

First, if you like it quiet, don't buy Seagate drives. They all are noisy during access. WD Reds would be the smart choice, and keeping them a few meters away from your rig even smarter. I have a MyBook external drive at 3m/10feet from my desk, and I still can hear when it starts up at night.

I have a dead silent rig for over 2 years, but be aware that going quiet is… quite expensive! All fans matter: case fans, heatsink fan(s), power supply fan (forget Corsair!), graphic card fans.
I bought Be Quiet! products (heatsink, PSU & 5 PWM fans for about 250€), but since it's a German company I'm not sure wether it'll be available on your market (especially if you're American). Noctua should be, and you should check http://www.silentpcreview.com/ before buying anything.
Avoid watercooling: water pumps are noisy, and so are provided fans by Antec, Corsair & Co.

I have a "Windforce 3" cooler on my Gigabyte GTX670, and it's only noticeable during startup, before PWM regulation kicks in.

Last but not least, buy a big case : more air equals less heat and noise. And don't buy cheap, especially if you intend to put old school HDDs in it. I can guaranty you would hear and feel them vibrating.

 

[Red Chief]

PS: nobody needs a 750W PSU with a single graphic card. A skylake rig will draw less than 50w on idle, and 300 tops when gaming with an GTX960 (good enough for your needs). Buy a Gold or Platinum certified 500 or 600W one. More efficient means less heat to dissipate. Some will stop their fans when they're cool enough.

 

[Stork]

Mac Pro 1,1's are 32-bit and, thus, limited as Apple went to 64-bit Mac Pro's starting with the Mac Pro 2,1. You can upgrade the 1,1's 32-bit firmware to the 2,1 64-bit which would let you run the current OS X and apps. There are tutorials and guides at MacRumor's Mac Pro forum section and netkas.org forum.

Now, that being said, I have not only a 2008 and 2010 Mac Pro's, but hackintoshes as well.

But, another alternative to getting a hackintosh is to sell the 1,1 and buy a 5,1 and, depending upon the graphics card, upgrade the graphics card with a PC graphics card and have the VBIOS updated with a Mac EFI VBIOS so that you have the Apple boot screen. (The MacRumors forum has a sticky thread on this subject.) I replaced my 5770 graphics card in my 2010 Mac Pro (5,1) with a PC 280x graphics card, and I had MacVidCards burn the VBIOS to be compatible with the Mac Pro. I also have an Acorn PCIe SSD adapter in both of my Mac Pros/

The drawback to the hackintosh is that you can't be an "early adopter" when it comes to upgrading the operating system. The 10.x.3 is typically the first stable version of the OS X's. For Mac Pro users, this is shouldn't come as shock, and, for risk adverse hackintosh users, this is smart wait, too. There are more risks to owning a hackintosh, but reading the Build Descriptions and El Capitan Desktop Guides threads will give you insights.

Based on the recommendations in the Buyer's Guide, I've come up with this preliminary component list:
- Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX GA-Z170X-UD5
- Intel Core I7-6700K 4.0 GHz 8M processor
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX Graphics card GV-N950XTREME-2GD
- Crucial Ballistix SportLT 32GB DDR4 2400 MT/s RAM
- Samsung 850 EVO 1TB SSD
- Seagate 3TB SATA
- Corsair AX760 760W power supply
- 32GB Flash Drive (for the install)

Questions:
- Is that list a realistic start?
- What case, CPU cooler, and fans will result in the quietest build?
- What graphics card(s) should I get?
I currently have one Apple Cinema HD (1920 x 1200) and two ViewSonic VA2012wbs (1680x1050).
I'm hoping to upgrade to larger monitors within the next year.
- What about RAID? I've been using the software RAID in my MacPro. Will that still work?

If you don't plan to overclock your system, which only benefits gamers, then get the i7-6700, non "K" version, and apply your savings to a graphics card upgrade.

I have the GTX 950 which is fine for my needs - I don't use my system for video or photo rendering. My Gigabyte GTX 950 can drive 4 monitors, as I tried it, but I'm only driving two monitors with the 950. You might want to research the GTX 970 cards that support 4K monitors and pick up a used 970 on eBay. Then, next year you can upgrade to the new graphics cards that will debut this Summer after the bugs get worked out.

I, too, have an ACD 23" (version before the 24" ACDs with thinner screens/cases). Don't use the USB hub on the monitor as it inhibits see the PC motherboard's "Post" (BIOS) screen upon boot up.

I, too, recommend a less wattage PSU - 650 is plenty for your configuration and will allow upgrading to a more powerful graphics card and/or more hard drives.

I can't help you with your RAID question as I don't use RAID. However, since you're going to use PC components, you might research using a RAID PCI card.

Good luck! ...and welcome to the Forum!

 

[pastrychef]

- Is that list a realistic start?

The parts chosen look fine to me.

- What case, CPU cooler, and fans will result in the quietest build?

This one's a little tricky... I would suggest that you read some reviews on cases. Personally, for my next build, I intend to try my best to mimic what Apple did with the Mac Pro 4,1/5,1s in terms of cooling. That means use large fans that run at low RPM and as big of a heatsink as I can realistically use.

- What graphics card(s) should I get?

I've preferred Nvidia cards over AMD/ATI cards for quite some time. I find them more reliable, cooler running, and better performing. If you use a Kepler based Nvidia card, you won't even need any additional drivers if you choose not to. Again, this is just my opinion. I know there are lots of people who prefer AMD/ATI cards.

- What about RAID? I've been using the software RAID in my MacPro. Will that still work?

I've never tested this, but I'm quite certain they should continue to work.

Is using a Hackintosh realistic for a software developer that depends on his machine always being up and running?

I don't see why not. Once set up correctly, other than the boot sequence and requirement for a boot loader, I can't tell any difference between a real Mac and a hackintosh.

How bad are OS X updates these days?

My personal experience is only limited to El Capitan but I was able to upgrade with no issues. I just upgraded through the App Store app and rebooted. It was perfect.

 

[mhatayama]

Three monitors (I'm a pixel monger )

If working with triple monitors is a big deal for you, you'd better get the advise from Hackintosh gurus whether it's feasible. I bet it's quite challenging.

 

[DPatterson]

Thanks for all of the replies, everybody. I appreciate the info. Looks like I have some more research to do.

 

[Duffloop]

Did you decide what to do?

I'm still running my 2006 1.1 - upgraded the CPUs to a matched pair from China - dirt cheap now: 5160 CPU Processor (3GHz,4MB,1333MHz,LGA771) and pretty easy to do. so kinda makes it an 8 core 2008 Mac ;-)
SSDs make a massive difference too.
Wacked in an MSI gtx 970 (bus speed hampers it but still better than my 5780) and currently run Yosemite - though Have had it running with El cap no probs (I just like to use Bootchamp to switch to windows quick and el caps security don't play nice with it - can be fixed tho).

Damit I want to build a hackintosh too but this thing just won't die! (And the case looks so goood

 

[pastrychef]

Damit I want to build a hackintosh too but this thing just won't die! (And the case looks so goood

It's more than waiting for a system to die. I think I've still got an Atari 800 buried in the closet somewhere that still works. At some point, a system just gets far too outdated. The computer that I replaced with a hackintosh was a 2010 Mac Pro. It was just far too inefficient in terms of heat and power consumption by today's standards.

Here's the difference in power consumption between my new hackintosh vs my old 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 with 12 cores at 3.33GHz:
Sleep: 5.1W vs 10.1W
Idle: ~80W vs ~170W
Internet surfing: ~90-130W vs ~210W
Full load: ~190-193W vs ~410W

I remember my old Mac Pro 1,1 and 3,1. Those things ran HOT!! It wasn't just the CPUs, it was also the RAM.

Despite your CPU upgrade, a modern i7-6700 will run circles around it. Plus, there are bottlenecks all over the place with that decade old platform. SATA 2, USB 2, 1333 MHz FSB, PCI-e slots with very limited number of lanes.

 

[kiiroaka]

- Three monitors ... I currently have one Apple Cinema HD (1920 x 1200) and two ViewSonic VA2012wbs (1680x1050).
I'm hoping to upgrade to larger monitors within the next year.

You have a problem. You have three DVI monitors. It may be hard to find a video card with three DVI outputs. Two?, no problem; two DVI with a DP and an HDMI?, no problem; 4 DVI monitors?, no problem. But three or four DVI outputs? Problem. Your best bet may be a video card with four DP 1.4 outputs then run four active DP -> DVI adapters.

- What case, CPU cooler, and fans will result in the quietest build?

Noctua heatsinks, Noctua fans. http://noctua.at/en/noctua-at-computex-2016

http://www.silentpcreview.com/
https://www.endpcnoise.com/

- My machine is typically up 24/7/365. The only time I shut it down is for hardware issues or software upgrades.
- I usually spend 10-12 hours/day at my desk working on my computer. As I said above, quiet is important.

If you have a 750W PSU then you will probably need an 800VA to 1000VA Power Backup Unit. I don't really know if you can get Apple reliability on the PC side unless it is an authentic Intel board. In 30 years of servicing Apple computers I cannot remember ever having to change a motherboard. Batteries, yes (remember those days when a dead battery prevented a MAC from powering up?); motherboards, no (unless breaking the display connector on an iMAC counts.) I think in the same many decades I can remember replacing a power supply (II?). Replace a MacPro motherboard? Never. I'm sure it has happened, just I never have.

http://www.caradimas.org/john/?p=193

In my area I can sometimes find a MacPro 3,1 (Dual XEON - 8 core 2.8GHZ) for about $400... A1186 (EMC 2180). You could always find a 3,1 and throw in a better GPU and as much RAM as your afford, and then half as much more. A Mac Pro 4,1 would be better and the Mac Pro 5,1 even better than that. http://www.cultofmac.com/94627/2009-mac-pro-supports-faster-ram-cpus-with-firmware-hack/

The problem is always the slower RAM, the PCI-E bottleneck... and the lack of USB3.0, etc.

You may want to look at the higher priced ASUS boards as a start; around $300 - $350. Then throw in a $350 CPU, $350 of RAM and a $350 GPU.