Mac OS Customac recommendations

titana

titana

Level E
i need to assemble a customac ( Lion ) and need recommendations regarding hardware selection.

i will be using it for 3d rendering softwares which use graphic card accerelation. It should be powerful build and a stable one. i do not intend to overclock. i know there are some sites with recommendations for these but i need some input from forum members who have already tried.

i have never build a customac before but have been using OSX lion on my laptop through vmware. So i do have some idea regarding installations.

i am thinking of i5/i7, compatible motherboard with USB3.0, 8 GB RAM, AMD 6850/6870 or equivalent nvidia card.Budget in my mind is around 35-40k for these.

i already have HAF932 cabinet & 650 watt TAGAN PSU from my previous builds, and will be using WD 600gb blue or 1 tb green HDD as the primary HDD.

I will prefer hardware which have full functionality and relatively hassle free installation...Recommendations please
 
titana said:
i will be using it for 3d rendering softwares which use graphic card accerelation. It should be powerful build and a stable one.
Click to expand...

Better to go with Apple desktop, since you need for professional usage [I assume].

Hackintosh is good & fun, however it is not that stable.

Or if you still want to build one, head to Tony Mac Blog
 
the thing is the softwares will cost me as much as the mac itself. So i am planning a customac for the time being and invest in software till i can buy a mac desktop. i have already been to tonymacblog and the forums and need more info on stable and power comp builds.
 
Have you tried insanelyi ? Thing is I know how to install in laptop & have no idea in desktop & which all configuration should be. I remember reading somewhere, someone has built 99% perfect Mac Desktop. I will try to search & let you know.
 
Pick up the latest Sandybridge Core i7 and a compatible high end motherboard along with other highend components like RAM and Graphics card. If you are an audio profressional pick up an external USB/Firewire Sound card, most of the high quality external sound cards are plug n play with OS X and they sound way better than the onboard HD sound. If you want raw power then you can always overclock and check for stability in windows and then install OS X.
Remember that these days Intel Platform is like 95% compatible with OS X but to get thing right you will have to get your DSDT perfect. tonymacosx86 has a user contributed DSDT database, this should help you pick up the mobo. Remember no DSDT is perfect and sometime you will have to alter it. A good DSDT will let you install Vanilla OS X flawlessly (Given that you make a bootable setup disc/pendrive) and will keep the number of external kexts to a minimum (External kexts may cause kernel panic after you update OS X).
Lastly there's no easy way of getting OS X running on a PC (Its quite true if you want all Vanilla and clean). It takes some time and lots of patience.
 
Here is what I recommend:

  • A Gigabyte z68 board. Search Tonymac for popular ones.
  • A GTX 580i card
  • A Sandybridge processor

Create a bootable Lion USB stick using Unibeast and install Lion. Then update using Multibeast. All of these are available on Tonymac's website, including custom DSDT for most Gigabyte z68 boards.

I have been sucessfully running a hackintosh for the past 2 years with absolutely ZERO problems. I do a lot of image editing in Photoshop and LR and really beat the crap out of machine. And it has never failed me. My config:

  • Core i7 2.9 GHz socket socket 1366 processor
  • Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0 with latest BIOS (FH)
  • Sapphire 9800GT
  • Half a dozen hard drives
  • Corsair Force 3 GT 120GB (recently added)

My only gripe is that I don't have native Sata III on this board. The Marvel chip which is advertised to offer Sata III is sh*t. I stuck a AS1601 PCI-E card, but that doesn't do justice to my Corsair Force 3 GT 120GB SSD. The newer Z68 boards have intel based Sata III and I suppose are faster. I might upgrade my mobo but getting 'em Gigabyte Z68 boards is so difficult. :sleep:
 
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