1st Build, Need Advice - Hackintosh

[sathoro]

Hey guys

This is my first build ever and I'm pretty nervous since not only does everything have to be compatible with each other but I plan on turning it into a Hackintosh so that adds some more rules to follow...

I don't plan on spending much more than $1000 and I want to stick with an i5 CPU and probably 6gbs RAM.

I do 3d animation (Cinema 4D), photo editing (CS5) and casual gaming (WoW).

Right now I need some help on the motherboard (the one I was eyeing got discontinued I think...) and RAM.

My dream set-up would be eventually to have three monitors so keep that in mind with the GPU please

Here is what I have so far: (missing motherboard and RAM, would love suggestions)

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($69.99)

Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($249.99)

EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (will that be able to run well on 3 monitors and does anyone know if it is compatible or not to hackintosh?) ($154.99)

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply ($79.99)

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 ($199.99) (will the 2.88ghz be any better?)

Sorry for all the questions, any advice is really, really appreciated!

 

[sathoro]

Update: switched the

Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

with

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

[Somebody_007]

nvidia cards can't run 3screens only two per card. And thats a pretty weak card anyways. I think you need nvidia though for foto editing so if you want 3screen you'll need 2 cards. for i5 you can't take 6gb only 4 or 8. here is a fast 4gb kit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231279&cm_re=gkill_4gb-_-20-231-279-_-Product

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

no. Photo edititing will mostly go via the CPU.

GTS 250 is not a weak card, its just not so new.

A cheap ATI card will do the job. I'd be looking at a 5650, since all the 5*** series cards have eyefinity, and WoW does not take much graphical power.

If you want more graphics power get a 5770, but anything more is a waste of money considering you are only doing casual gaming.

 

[Somebody_007]

the 250 isn't very powerful it might handle most games now but in the future it will have more trouble. And running 3screens on 1 card with eyefinity isn't so easy as I read somewhere.

 

[coldsleep]

the 250 isn't very powerful it might handle most games now but in the future it will have more trouble. And running 3screens on 1 card with eyefinity isn't so easy as I read somewhere.

Care to provide a link?

The major problem that people run into with Eyefinity that I've heard about is that you have to use DisplayPort for one of the monitors. Other than that, I haven't heard about any serious problems.

I'd agree with xbeater's suggestion of getting a 5670 or 5770 - use Eyefinity to drive 3 screens, get the 5770 if you do enough gaming to warrant the price increase.

 

[Somebody_007]

yeah thats the problem I heard about the displayport thing.

 

[coldsleep]

At worst, that means you need to get a $100 DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI active adapter.

In the best case scenario, your monitor supports DisplayPort, and you don't need anything additional.

To get back to the original point of the thread, I have no idea if any of the above hardware works well as a Hackintosh. The OP might do best by googling for Hackintosh sites and see if they have any compatibility lists.

The power supply is overkill for what you've got. A 550W or 650W PSU would be more than adequate for what you have listed. Not to mention, it's not 80+ certified, which should be a requirement for any reasonable build (like, anything over $300). This OCZ ModXStream 700W 80+ Active PFC is $90 with free shipping and has a $25 MIR, bringing it down to $65. This Corsair 650TX 650W 80+ Active PFC is $100 with free shipping and a $20 MIR to bring it down to $80. You could also go with something with 80+ Bronze/Silver/Gold, like this OCZ Z-Series 650W 80+ Silver Active PFC for $90 + $10 shipping and a $15 MIR, total $85 after rebate.

As somebody_007 mentioned, since an i5-750 supports dual-channel memory, you will get slightly better performance with either 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM (rather than 6 GB -- unless you go 2/2/1/1 sticks). Something along the lines of one or two of these G.Skill ECO Series 1600 MHz CL 7 4 GB kit for $120 would be one of the best price/performance choices.

For motherboards, I would look at getting something with USB 3 and SATA 6 Gb/s, like this Asus P7P55D-E for $155. Many gamers don't go for this board, as the 2nd PCI-E 2.0 slot drops to x4, but since it doesn't sound like you plan on doing a gaming-heavy setup with CrossFire, you should be fine.

You're probably not going to get a lot of love for that case, as it's not an HAF 922 or Antec 300 Illusion (two of the most commonly recommended cases here), but I think that case choice is generally highly personal (at least as far as aesthetics), so I'm not going to give you any grief. If you're not set on that case though, you might check for other mid-towers with free shipping. Right now, the Antec Nine Hundred Two and the Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B both have free shipping, and they're fairly well-regarded cases, to my knowledge.

 

[Lmeow]

Eyefinity gaming on cards which aren't powerful enough, like the HD 5770, with three monitors at massive resolutions greater than 2560 x 1600 will really impact on the performance, AFAIK - the 128-bit memory bandwidth will slow it down considerably. You'd need at least an HD 5850 for some decent gaming with three monitors IMO.

 

[coldsleep]

Eyefinity gaming on cards which aren't powerful enough, like the HD 5770, with three monitors at massive resolutions greater than 2560 x 1600 will really impact on the performance, AFAIK - the 128-bit memory bandwidth will slow it down considerably. You'd need at least an HD 5850 for some decent gaming with three monitors IMO.

For certain. I should have been more clear, I was assuming that he'd use a 5670 for Eyefinity while doing video/photo editing, and then game on a single monitor. At least for WoW, the 5670 should be adequate for those purposes.

For any more intense gaming, we'd need to know the resolution, and whether or not it was going to be Eyefinity gaming. Though, really...Eyefinity gaming isn't in the cards with a $1000 budget.