Build your own iMac ? Is it possible ?

andrei65 · May 10, 2014

Hi everyone , i'm on a 1100$ budget and I would like to know if building your own iMac was possible
I'll use it for light gaming video editing and surfing the web
Why mac over windows ?
First of all I already have a windows based gaming build .
Second of all , I think macs are faster than windows , more organized and better for video editing etc ...
So what is your suggestion ?
So far I've got this :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770S 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($302.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Integrated with All-In-One Monitor/Chassis
Motherboard: Asus H81T/CSM Thin Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($93.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair ValueSelect 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate SuperSpeed HDD 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Integrated with All-In-One Monitor/Chassis
Optical Drive: LG BT30N Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($79.99 @ Newegg)
All-In-One Monitor/Chassis: Loop LP2150 21.5" All-In-One Chassis ($202.61 @ Newegg)
Total: $917.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-10 14:59 EDT-0400)

do you think it is worth it ?

Plusthinking Iq · May 10, 2014

looks like fun, you dont loose much so long as the monitor motherboard combo dont add too much cost.
but the imac's have a dedicated mobile gpu. but you could have a cheap big ssd, that can not imac deliver.

notherdude · May 10, 2014

the keyword 'hackintosh" is the answer to your dreams, but yes, yes you can build your own PC running Mac OS which will blow the doors off the real thing.
I have one myself running at 4.7 ghz core i7 and 16 gig ram and it all cost less than $1100. http://lifehacker.com/the-always-up-to-date-guide-to-building-a-hackintosh-o-5841604

as to your parts you will need to make sure they will work with OSX which has limited driver support, so it is usually wise to buy parts from a guide, if by iMac you mean that you want an all-in-one then I have never tried that, it would seem that the compromises in choice and performance and build difficulty would outweigh the stylistic benefits.

hunter315 · May 10, 2014

Interesting concept, i didn't realize there were AIO cases available. The biggest difference between using that case for a build your own iMac and a real iMac is going to be the screen quality. Macs, being Macs, always use very vibrant and accurate IPS screens, that AIO case provides you a 21.5" TN panel, which while not bad, is not the same level as the Apple displays.

If you want a fast, responsive system you need a SSD. The biggest thing you notice in normal tasks is not the CPU, not the RAM, but instead the disk. Anytime something needs a file that couldn't quite fit into RAM you have to wait for it to get pulled off the disk drive and sent over, processing the file takes microseconds at most, but to grab the file off a conventional drive generally takes around 10 ms. Also if you are using it for video editing i would suggest not relying on the 5400rpm for primary storage, it is going to be very slow even compared to a standard 7200 RPM drive, super slow compared to an SSD. Get a raided NAS with a few 1-2TB 7200 RPM drives to deal with.

andrei65 · May 10, 2014

Everything should be mac compatible and I prefer an all in one PC than a desktop pc for Mac , just because I don't want it to be too big and macs don't need titan blacks to run all the new games at 4K and shit , you know
i wanted an ssd but an sshd seems to be the best choice for the storage and speed , they're close to ssd's speed and way cheaper

Plusthinking Iq · May 10, 2014

personally i bought the imac 27" a few years back and have a custom pc. back in that time the 27" 1440p monitor was expensive so it was worth it.
now imac is crazy prized. any additions to the order is overprised and if you try ti go ssd only you pay idiotic amounts for the ssd and get nothing in return for the hdd you replaced......
would love to see a contender from asus or someone, imac got desktop cpu and laptop gpu, great combo, just look at the performance of the 880m.
mac os was the biggest problem for me, mouse acceleration and bad support for games and tweaking.

Search

Build your own iMac ? Is it possible ?

andrei65

Reputable

Plusthinking Iq

Honorable

notherdude

Distinguished

hunter315

Champion

andrei65

Reputable

Plusthinking Iq

Honorable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page