Hi everyone - I'm considering undertaking my first home built system, and I was hoping to get some advice from the wisdom of these boards.
Just to set the stage, for the past several years, I've been using a Mac Pro at work, and I really appreciated the power of the platform...I'm a research scientist, so I was doing some heavy computation and number crunching. I am now looking to upgrade my home setup where I have an iMac for my daily use and an older Windows box running a small home server setup.
I've decided I'd like to approximate some of the power of the Mac Pro and also potentially move some of the server duties to a VM running on the new machine. However, I'd like to avoid spending $2000+ on a Mac Pro, so I'm exploring the home build Hackintosh approach.
I've started to do some research, and I have some starting ideas on the hardware that I want to use, but I also have a few questions, and I was hoping to solicit some input from those who are much wiser and more experienced with this sort of thing
...
First, here are my answers to the general new system questionnaire:
Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime in the next month or so
Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) I'd like to stay under $800 (after rebates), and of course, if I can do it cheaper that's the goal!
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Mac OS as host OS for primary usage - this includes websurfing, some media consumption (lots of music occasionally some video), occasional Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop usage, etc. In addition I was planning on keeping a Windows 7 VM running permanently to serve as a media server and also a host for a network printer/scanner. I will also have a Win 8 and maybe another Mac OS VM for doing some coding/development work (but this is basically hobby sort of usage)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitors, speakers, NIC card
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I have a MicroCenter nearby for local access. Otherwise, I'll price shop among Newegg, TigerDirect, and Amazon.
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: See below
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: Dual monitor setup - 1) 1920x1080, 2) 2048x1152
So, here's the basic outline of what I have decided on:
Motherboard: GA-Z77-D3H (approx. $100) - seems like one of the most used motherboards for Hackintosh builds and it's reasonably priced
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600Mhz - probably a pair of Corsair sticks for approx. $80
Hard Drive: Plan on reusing a 1TB drive that I already own, but plan on buying a 120-128GB SSD for the primary drive.
Here are the outstanding questions that I was hoping to get some help figuring out:
Processor: Debating between an Core i5-3570K ($170 at MicroCenter) and a Core i7-3770K ($230 at MicroCenter). I was wondering how much it will matter. I'm not anticipating that I'll be doing any very heavy processor intensive activities - I'm not a gamer, and if I have to do heavy computation for work, the machine is provided by my client/employer. I'd love some opinions on whether it's worth spending the extra $60 for the Core i7.
Video Card: Since I'm not going to be gaming and doing seriously graphics intensive activities, can I just get away with using the onboard graphics or do I need a dedicated Video Card to run the two monitors?
Hard Drive: As far as the SSD, are the strong opinions about brand? I was considering going with a Samsung, SanDisk, or OCZ - please let me know if I should steer clear of any of these brands, or if one is any better than the others. I have no experience with SSDs, so I'm not sure how much brand matters...
Power Supply: I was figuring I'd be fine with a 450W power supply. I used one of the online calculators which told me that I would need a 280W power supply - I figured having a bit of head room wouldn't hurt...Does this make sense?
I greatly appreciate any opinions and recommendations. And please let me know if any of my assumptions/plans are just way off base.
Thanks!
Just to set the stage, for the past several years, I've been using a Mac Pro at work, and I really appreciated the power of the platform...I'm a research scientist, so I was doing some heavy computation and number crunching. I am now looking to upgrade my home setup where I have an iMac for my daily use and an older Windows box running a small home server setup.
I've decided I'd like to approximate some of the power of the Mac Pro and also potentially move some of the server duties to a VM running on the new machine. However, I'd like to avoid spending $2000+ on a Mac Pro, so I'm exploring the home build Hackintosh approach.
I've started to do some research, and I have some starting ideas on the hardware that I want to use, but I also have a few questions, and I was hoping to solicit some input from those who are much wiser and more experienced with this sort of thing
...First, here are my answers to the general new system questionnaire:
Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime in the next month or so
Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) I'd like to stay under $800 (after rebates), and of course, if I can do it cheaper that's the goal!
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Mac OS as host OS for primary usage - this includes websurfing, some media consumption (lots of music occasionally some video), occasional Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop usage, etc. In addition I was planning on keeping a Windows 7 VM running permanently to serve as a media server and also a host for a network printer/scanner. I will also have a Win 8 and maybe another Mac OS VM for doing some coding/development work (but this is basically hobby sort of usage)
Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitors, speakers, NIC card
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I have a MicroCenter nearby for local access. Otherwise, I'll price shop among Newegg, TigerDirect, and Amazon.
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: See below
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: Dual monitor setup - 1) 1920x1080, 2) 2048x1152
So, here's the basic outline of what I have decided on:
Motherboard: GA-Z77-D3H (approx. $100) - seems like one of the most used motherboards for Hackintosh builds and it's reasonably priced
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600Mhz - probably a pair of Corsair sticks for approx. $80
Hard Drive: Plan on reusing a 1TB drive that I already own, but plan on buying a 120-128GB SSD for the primary drive.
Here are the outstanding questions that I was hoping to get some help figuring out:
Processor: Debating between an Core i5-3570K ($170 at MicroCenter) and a Core i7-3770K ($230 at MicroCenter). I was wondering how much it will matter. I'm not anticipating that I'll be doing any very heavy processor intensive activities - I'm not a gamer, and if I have to do heavy computation for work, the machine is provided by my client/employer. I'd love some opinions on whether it's worth spending the extra $60 for the Core i7.
Video Card: Since I'm not going to be gaming and doing seriously graphics intensive activities, can I just get away with using the onboard graphics or do I need a dedicated Video Card to run the two monitors?
Hard Drive: As far as the SSD, are the strong opinions about brand? I was considering going with a Samsung, SanDisk, or OCZ - please let me know if I should steer clear of any of these brands, or if one is any better than the others. I have no experience with SSDs, so I'm not sure how much brand matters...
Power Supply: I was figuring I'd be fine with a 450W power supply. I used one of the online calculators which told me that I would need a 280W power supply - I figured having a bit of head room wouldn't hurt...Does this make sense?
I greatly appreciate any opinions and recommendations. And please let me know if any of my assumptions/plans are just way off base.
Thanks!
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