$400 Hackintosh rig with 10.5.4

[macbirdie]

Kaido,
That $400 setup looks great. Just want to double check that Final Cut Suite 2 works...? I'm a starving filmmaker who needs an affordable editing setup. Sorry, this is a dumb question, but if I want to put in a 500 gb hard drive, I can just switch out the original hard drive in your set up, right?

Do you use FC? Have you done HD editing on it, and is this machine able to handle HD?

I'm a mac user and have never built a computer before. Going completely off what I've read and seen online, so this is really great. Thanks for the info and the work. I'm really thinking of doing this...

 

[macbirdie]

ok. I read through the initial post more carefully and my questions have been answered.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: macbirdie
Kaido,
That $400 setup looks great. Just want to double check that Final Cut Suite 2 works...? I'm a starving filmmaker who needs an affordable editing setup. Sorry, this is a dumb question, but if I want to put in a 500 gb hard drive, I can just switch out the original hard drive in your set up, right?

Do you use FC? Have you done HD editing on it, and is this machine able to handle HD?

I'm a mac user and have never built a computer before. Going completely off what I've read and seen online, so this is really great. Thanks for the info and the work. I'm really thinking of doing this...

Yup, I would actually suggest getting the 640gb drive though:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136218

It's only $10 more than the 500gb drive and is one of the fastest 7200rpm drives available. It also has 140 gigs more than the 500gb drive and is supposed to be very quiet too.

Keep in mind that HD editing is like playing 3D games - you'll want a top-performing system. The E2180 is no slouch, but you'll probably want to consider some upgrades in the future:

1. Quad-core processor: This will help you crunch video faster, especially with stuff like the SmoothCam filter.
2. More RAM: It's around $160 for 8 gigs of RAM and I'd definitely recommend maxing this out. In fact, this should be the #1 upgrade for your machine.
3. Extra drives: I run four drives: my boot drive (300gb Raptor - fast), my backup drive for Time Machine (500gb - larger than the boot drive), and two RAID sets (both 2x500gb RAID 0). I use one RAID set for capture/compression and the other for editing. This way it's not copying large files to and from the same drive, it's copying large files from one drive to another drive, which helps speeds things up.

I'm not sure how much the video card affects HD editing. All it recommends on Apple's page is non-integrated graphics. My 256mb 7300GT plays 1080p MKVs fullscreen without a hitch, so it's hard to recommend a video card since even a cheap $30 video card can handle HD just fine. On my main rig I use a modded Quadro FX 5600 workstation card with 768mb RAM and it runs pretty well too, hehe.

That's the great thing about Hackintoshes...you can start out with an inexpensive rig that fits your budget and then upgrade to your heart's content and as your budget allows. I have a pretty mean system for HD editing, but I started in November '07 with a more basic system and have been upgrading ever since.

Oh and don't forget a Firewire card, unless you have an SD or HDD-based cam!

 

[mshan]

Antec Sonata III case for $79.99 shipped at Buy.com right now (no rebate): Link

 

[dmw16]

Do I need a SATA DVD Burner, or will PATA work?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
Antec Sonata III case for $79.99 shipped at Buy.com right now (no rebate): Link

Great price for a great case, I've built several systems with Sonata III's and they are all whisper quiet. Plenty of room, good PSU, nice large exhaust fan, and easy to work on :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: dmw16
Do I need a SATA DVD Burner, or will PATA work?

PATA is fine!

 

[leglez]

Well dang, looks like I already am having problems with ewiz. I placed my order on Sunday afternoon. I got my tracking numbers from newegg yesterday, and ewiz today. I didn't really think anything of it, until I looked for the expected delivery dates. Everything except for my flash drive is supposed to come from newegg and be in tomorrow, and the flash drive is suppose to come in Thursday. Yet my motherboard and processor which I ordered from ewiz is said to not be in until Monday the 18th, 8 days after the day I ordered. Is there some holiday I don't know about?

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: leglez
Well dang, looks like I already am having problems with ewiz. I placed my order on Sunday afternoon. I got my tracking numbers from newegg yesterday, and ewiz today. I didn't really think anything of it, until I looked for the expected delivery dates. Everything except for my flash drive is supposed to come from newegg and be in tomorrow, and the flash drive is suppose to come in Thursday. Yet my motherboard and processor which I ordered from ewiz is said to not be in until Monday the 18th, 8 days after the day I ordered. Is there some holiday I don't know about?

6 days? Relax man.

Newegg has amazingly fast shipping, but 6 days including a weekend doesn't seem that bad to me. Don't worry, the Hackintosh isn't going anywhere...just enjoy the ride

 

[mshan]

MSI Wind PC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...32&Tpk=msi%2bwind%2bpc

Is this Hackintosh friendly?

Only one memory slot, but it is supposed to support 2 GB stick. Obviously very limited expandability, but could be very cheap option for web-surfing and iTunes. VGA out only, too. I think it also has an internal compact flash slot, so I don't know if this could be used in lieu of a hard drive.

If so, could be a very cheap option (would it be comparable to a Core Solo Mac Mini)?

Could probably be made very, very quiet with a notebook sata hard drive suspended as per SPCR website and replacing that fan if necessary (is it something like 60 mm?)

 

[leglez]

I went ahead and ordered a 9800GX2 and 8GBs of OCZ Gold RAM today. I think I am set now except for a couple 1TB hdds, but I am going to wait and see if these come down in price any time soon.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
MSI Wind PC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...32&Tpk=msi%2bwind%2bpc

Is this Hackintosh friendly?

Only one memory slot, but it is supposed to support 2 GB stick. Obviously very limited expandability, but could be very cheap option for web-surfing and iTunes. VGA out only, too. I think it also has an internal compact flash slot, so I don't know if this could be used in lieu of a hard drive.

If so, could be a very cheap option (would it be comparable to a Core Solo Mac Mini)?

Could probably be made very, very quiet with a notebook sata hard drive suspended as per SPCR website and replacing that fan if necessary (is it something like 60 mm?)

The Wind is nearly 100% compatible. You need to replace the Wifi card with a working model (802.11g or 802.11n) and upgrade the RAM to 2gb (1gb soldered in; just add a $20 1gb 667mhz stick). The onboard line in/out/mic don't work, but the speakers do as well as the webcam. So if you want to video chat, just add a tiny $8 USB sound card or get a USB headset or Bluetooth headset (built-in Bluetooth works). Also it takes a standard 2.5" hard drive, so you can upgrade to whatever you'd like.

Pretty spiffy little machine, I'll definitely be getting one down the road

 

[mshan]

Hi Kaido:

Click on my link.

This is actually a desktop barebones, not the notebook.

 

[mshan]

Hey Zaap:

Any specific settings that are required on the Intel BoxDG31PR to make is Hackintosh friendly?

Also, any IRQ issues between PCI slot 1 and PCI slot 2 I should be aware of?

(I just built a system around the BoxDG31PR and am testing with Windows XP right now. With integrated graphics, typical load is under 40 - 50W (Celeron 440). It seems very snappy, even with a Western Digital 500 GB Green Power hard drive (5400 rpm).

I kind of suspect that this Intel P31 chipset is very nice indeed!

(I am going to add my XFX 7600GS passive, dual DVI video card in the next couple days, so I will try and update idle and load power consumption then).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
Hi Kaido:

Click on my link.

This is actually a desktop barebones, not the notebook.

Oh righto, that just came out a couple days ago I think! It should be pretty dang compatible. I'm actually going to be putting one into my Cube case, although I'm waiting for the combo with DVI + GigaE. The only board that has that right now is the EEE Box, but that's $349...which is lame because the boards themselves sell for like $80, but only have VGA on them right now. Luckily there's a whole slew of them slated for production, so we should be seeing more options shortly.

I'm gonna have the world's only Intel Atom Cube running Leopard 10.5.4! Well, the second. My buddy already did it with his lol

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: mshan
Hey Zaap:

Any specific settings that are required on the Intel BoxDG31PR to make is Hackintosh friendly?

Nope. I set up Leopard on it without even touching the BIOS.

Also, any IRQ issues between PCI slot 1 and PCI slot 2 I should be aware of?

Not that I'm aware of. I've used a Firewire card in slot 1, and a PCI capture card in slot 2 (for Windows) and had no IRQ conflicts.

(I just built a system around the BoxDG31PR and am testing with Windows XP right now. With integrated graphics, typical load is under 40 - 50W (Celeron 440). It seems very snappy, even with a Western Digital 500 GB Green Power hard drive (5400 rpm).

I kind of suspect that this Intel P31 chipset is very nice indeed!

It's the G31 chipset (P31 would be the ATX version, G usually being mATX + GMA onboard graphics)


Intel's own hardware tends to lean toward reliable and rugged, vs. bleeding edge performance/ tweakable/overclockable to the hilt. The payoff, is system stability, and ruggedness.

A rack-mounted DG31PR Hackintosh I built for a friend's production company (real time titling into keyer) has been running non-stop (as in never turned off) for over a month now without a hint of instability.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Zaap
A rack-mounted DG31PR Hackintosh I built for a friend's production company (real time titling into keyer) has been running non-stop (as in never turned off) for over a month now without a hint of instability.

Yeah definitely, I've had mine up for months at a time with zero stability issues :thumbsup:

What racks did you use btw?

 

[RESmonkey]

Do you really need that card reader?

 

[leglez]

No it isn't required, but it might come in handy down the road.

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Yeah definitely, I've had mine up for months at a time with zero stability issues :thumbsup:

What racks did you use btw?

I got the rack cases from a local computer dealer here in LA, but very similar to this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811182566

It's amazing the effect of several of these mounted in a hardware cabinet. Simply badass, and yet, far less expensive than it looks.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
Do you really need that card reader?

Nope, that's the beauty of it! The build is 100% configurable. My goal was to make a $400 build, and it fit within the budget. It's just a nice convenience feature. Most people have some of digital camera that uses a memory card, or else a phone, PDA, portable gaming system, video camcorder, etc. that uses flash memory. Plus it adds an extra USB port to the front of your computer. So, you can totally leave it off if you'd like. But heck, for $13...why would you?

 

[DW in UT]

On this new Wind desktop barebones , two questions:

1. Any heat problems, or does the external power supply negate that?

2. Is that a standard optical drive cover that user would remove with a drive in place? Does this need a short optical drive, or is any standard drive ok?

-thanks-

 

[Zaap]

That thing is only 65W- it can't possibly generate much heat at all.

Looks like you have to remove the drive trays to install both drives- yes the cover comes off. I can't tell if the molex connector on the motherboard would get in the way of a standard sized optical drive or not, but it looks like it might be best to go with a short drive just in case.

 

[mshan]

http://translate.google.com/tr...ocs/2008/0519/msi2.htm

Only one memory slot supporting 2 GB, but does have mini-pci-e and compact flash slot also.

I think they include a molex to dual sata power breakout cable, and from pics in link, there appears to be plenty of room for a full size optical drive.

Do the test specs indicate that this should be powerful enough to run iTunes via Front Row Interface smoothly?

Also, are there external usb firewire adapters available that are Hackintosh friendly?

And is this rig powerful enough to also run Core Audio (Apogee Duet) via firewire while also running iTunes via Front Row Interface (1920 x 1080 on say Samsung LN46A550)?

 

[Zaap]

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/.../2008/0519/msi2_04.jpg

That's a short drive pictured. (Compare to the length of the hard drive). Looks to me like using a full length drive (around 1" longer) would obstruct the mobo molex connector.