Shopping List: First Hackintosh Build (economy)

[nwstruggler]

Hi all,

I'm new to the community and just looking for some feedback on my build. I've done a fair bit of research and have located the following. I plan on using this as an htpc (no hd audio needed as my other equipment doesn't warrant it), light audio editing and mixing with Ableton Live, and minor photo editing. Big things for me are total price, ability to stream HD content natively, dual boot ability, and a little expandability in the future if I want Ivy Bridge, more memory, video/audio card, etc:

Case ($57) - Rosewill R379-M Black/Silver Slim MicroATX with 300 watt Power Supply

Memory ($48) - Corsair XMS3 8 GB 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3

SSD ($100) - OCZ Vertex 4 128 GB

MoBo ($95)- Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3P

Processor ($99) - Intel Core i3 2125

Total cost, including shipping and tax, was $410. I chose not to include an optical drive as I really have no use for it. I have an 8 GB flash drive I plan on installing the OS from, and a NAS with approx 1.5 TB of free space that I will use for the bulk of content storage (music, movies, photos, etc).

In the future, I plan on adding a SiliconDust HDHomeRun so I can use this machine as a DVR and TV tuner, but for the time being I don't have the cash on hand.

Questions:

How does everything look, compatibility-wise, and in combination?

Any issues putting Mountain Lion on it?

Will this be fine for a dual boot w/ Windows 8 when it comes out?

Any issues with this recording HD to the NAS once I get the tuner (thinking bandwidth)?

For the build, I'm hoping the cables I need will be included with the PSU/case and MoBo. If I'm wrong let me know

Thanks all, this is a great community and I'm looking forward to contributing.

-Nicky

 

[thelostswede]

Keep in mind that the PSU will suck in that case (i.e. rubbish power efficiency, poor quality components etc).
On top of that, you'll only be able to fit half height expansion cards and you're looking at using a low profile CPU cooler.

Apart from that I see no real issues and yes, you should get all the cables you need included with the board, unless you're planning on adding half a dozen hard drives, as I think that board only comes with two or four SATA cables.

I would suggest getting a separate drive for Windows 8 though.

 

[thierry37]

Hi nwstruggler

Did you start working on your build?

I am looking at the same board and processor. (not really need the new HD4000, I think. And also on a tight budget build)

Give us some update, when you have all running. It's always useful.

Thanks,
Thierry.

 

[nwstruggler]

Haven't started yet. I'm hoping to build this weekend, just received all the components today.

I'll definitely post once it's complete. Looking forward to this one!

 

[thierry37]

Great! Thanks a lot for feedback.
I'll wait with impatience.
Good luck

 

[nwstruggler]

So I seem to be having some issues echoed here by other users.

I get no graphics acceleration (no ability to change resolution). Ethernet worked right after Unibeast but I still cannot boot directly from my SSD. I tried running MultiBeast which ended up getting me stuck at the white Mac boot screen with the spinning circle forever.

I rebooted, formatted the SSD again and am reinstalling OSX fresh,

I'm guessing this is related to the Sandy Bridge/HD3000 graphics and Ivy Bridge MoBo combination?

Does anyone know how to fix this and any other issues caused by combining this board with a Sandy Bridge processor?

I'm now wondering if a Lion install would help.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[thierry37]

IIt's really annoying. Because this mobo iis on the recommended list.
(but with the ivy proc)

Tony or other from the team,
did you get it working only with the ivy i5?

 

[nwstruggler]

On a brighter note.. the TP-Link wifi adapter recommended in these forums still worked OOB. Haven't had a chance to try out sound yet, but to my knowledge the only thing not working is the HD3000 graphics.

I'm about to try http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/53925-qe-ci-hd3000-series-7-mainboards.html this edit when I get home from work and I'll keep you posted.

I also cannot get it to boot from the SSD upon restart, but I haven't run MultiBeast yet. Is there a crucial change that MultiBeast makes that enables boot from SSD/HDD that I can perform manually?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[thelostswede]

On a brighter note.. the TP-Link wifi adapter recommended in these forums still worked OOB. Haven't had a chance to try out sound yet, but to my knowledge the only thing not working is the HD3000 graphics.

I'm about to try http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/53925-qe-ci-hd3000-series-7-mainboards.html this edit when I get home from work and I'll keep you posted.

I also cannot get it to boot from the SSD upon restart, but I haven't run MultiBeast yet. Is there a crucial change that MultiBeast makes that enables boot from SSD/HDD that I can perform manually?

Any help is much appreciated.

If you haven't run MultiBeast, then you didn't finish your installation... so yes, it's pretty crucial you run it, as it means that you're only half way done.

As for mixing and matching CPU's and motherboards, it's never something we've recommended, but yes, it's possible, but it takes more work and it's something that we're looking at adding better support for in the next release of MultiBeast.
Keep in mind that it doesn't take five minutes to test things and to be frank, we don't have infinite access to all kinds of hardware either.

That said, it looks like the guys put together a guide specifically for this scenario, so have a look here http://www.tonymacx86.com/150-enabl...therboards-hd-4000-6-series-motherboards.html

 

[thierry37]

That said, it looks like the guys put together a guide specifically for this scenario, so have a look here http://www.tonymacx86.com/150-enabl...therboards-hd-4000-6-series-motherboards.html

Thats too bad.
I don't want to wait end September to get new i3with HD4000 on a GA-B75
and the current i5 is about 220€ here. Compared to i3-2125 at 130€.... That a big chunk when trying to do a budget Hack.
I'll have a close follow to that guide.
Nwstrugler, I hope it will finally work for you.
You are kinda my little guinea pig.