Hackintosh Maker Releases Liquid-cooled Core i7
Not cheap, but cheaper than a Mac Pro.
Apple hasn't taken very kindly to those making Hackintosh computers and then selling them. While Psystar was successfully taken down by Apple, Quo Computer is pressing on ahead with a new, high-end Mac Pro clone.
Announced today is a new maxQ2 system that is liquid cooled by Asetek. The system itself is billed as able to run Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows 7, but there's always that extra wink accompanied with the Apple OS capability.
"QUO specializes in computers aimed at those who want the fastest, most overclockable systems without the time required to custom configure one themselves," said QUO founder Rashantha De Silva. "We selected Asetek Liquid Coolers to deliver quiet operation plus the thermal headroom for overclocking the maxQ2 because they feature a sealed liquid loop that is reliable and eliminates customer maintenance. This is the type of elegance Apple enthusiasts treasure."
The maxQ2 is powered by an Intel Core i7 6 Core 3.6Ghz CPU, 12GB of RAM, a 240GB SSD, a 1TB HD, and an NVIDIA 285 GTX configured to take advantage of the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine. The maintenance-free Asetek 550LC features an integrated pump and copper cold plate connected to a 120mm heat exchanger.
"Asetek recently demonstrated how liquid cooling can both quiet and increase the performance of an Apple Mac Pro," said Steve Branton, Director of Marketing at Asetek. "QUO's liquid cooled maxQ2 computers enable Mac OS X enthusiasts to get the benefits of liquid cooling in an extremely powerful computer, without the effort of retrofitting liquid cooling into an existing Mac Pro."
The maxQ2 will be available with Asetek liquid cooling for $3,765 on September 15, 2010.
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Still, building your own system or even buying one from dell would be more cost-effective.
Dell? Really? try something like CyberPowerPC.com, unless you like to pay double of the actual price for any part upgrade. even that you already pay for the primary part on the original build price.
what do mac users need with a 6-core high-end system? do itunes and garage band really hog up that much power?
are u an stupid... if you build your own you might be able to make a Hackintosh.... if you buy from Dell you WONT be able to make a Hackintosh....
This article is about hackintosh not price comparisons and you did an apples to oranges comparison. have you ever priced a Mac Pro?
Not a very good start to that argument.
The only turn off for me about hackentosh is drivers :s even though I really want to set one up.
Why are they using and older generation video card, why not a 460?
Ya what's up with the GTX 285? Are the GTX 400 series not compatible with macs?
I'm not a big Apple fan, but I think that Tom's Hardware would do well to stop throwing in jabs at Apple in their articles. It's not very professional.
At any rate, I would love to own such a computer, but unfortunately, installing Mac OS X on a non Apple machine breaks the EULA, so I won't be doing it.
Why are they using and older generation video card, why not a 460?
The 460 does not support AMPE with current Nvidia drivers.
they feature a sealed liquid loop that is reliable and eliminates customer maintenance. This is the type of elegance Apple enthusiasts treasure.
Meaning even the manufacturer knows Mac users can't do anything without their hand being held
what do mac users need with a 6-core high-end system? do itunes and garage band really hog up that much power?
iTunes, probably... lol
I'm not a big Apple fan, but I think that Tom's Hardware would do well to stop throwing in jabs at Apple in their articles. It's not very professional.At any rate, I would love to own such a computer, but unfortunately, installing Mac OS X on a non Apple machine breaks the EULA, so I won't be doing it.
Never!
What? Maby a "apple" that actually might deliver some performance (Thoo outdated gpu in win-PC standards atleast for the rest of the hardware), not the ordinaly one or two generation old crap slapped together in a shiny case!
Why are they using and older generation video card, why not a 460?
Because it is for people who want to run MAC OS, they might not notice or care, and it's cheaper. It also has 12GB of RAM, which is not necessary. This is for bragging rights, and caters to the same crowd that would want a Mac Pro anyways, so why even bother trying to justify this thing? Or it's price?
The 460 does not support AMPE with current Nvidia drivers.
Well, this is a more reasonable response. I stand by my 12 GB comment though.
what do mac users need with a 6-core high-end system? do itunes and garage band really hog up that much power?
No, but apple computers are about status more than what they do. Most people own an apple because it's a trendy status symbol.
a mac pro with 2x quadcore xeon with AMD 5870 card and no SSD will cost you over $4000.
Apple needs to protect its bottom line so it will go after this company just like it did former mac clone start-ups.
I just built a core i7-930 + GTX250 mac clone for my younger brother for $1250. The equivalent Mac pro was over 4000 if you include an apple display. Such a rip off
cool
Within the last few years especially there have been many skilled and intelligent techies that have began to run OS X. Just because someone uses a mac doesn't mean they are like your 50 year old relative with a first gen iMac and OS 9 (and clueless).
With that said, I don't think any person that has been a "mac person" would go for this. To many painful memories of the old Power Mac G5's leaking.
lol...gtx 285 for the special adobe driver thingy
they could use a 5870 though
way too expensive
They could go for a GeForce GTX 470... Ohhh i forgot it does not support AMPE under MAC
The liberator companies of Apple tax (not referring to open source community), will gladly set you free for half the Apple tax... and will turn the other way around when you accidentally update your system and things break up.
Run a hackintosh for fun i can understand, I do it myself too, but buy a workstation machine and part from $4k just to run a patched version of an OS running the same programs (aka Adobe) as Windows, I just don't get it...
Yeah, but can it run Crysis? Wait....
Wow that thing is packed with a lot, too bad it can only use a GTX285.
what do mac users need with a 6-core high-end system? do itunes and garage band really hog up that much power?
No, those are half pints compared to sample engines and recording software like Vienna Symphonic Library, East West Quantum Leap products, Pro Tools, etc. With sample libraries, one can easily run into a brick wall with loading gigabytes of samples at a time. These high end media programs take up a LOT of processing power.
I think the primary purpose of quo is to show the general public that apple is in fact NOT magical, they are just computers like anything else, and by the way they ass rape you for one. A better move would be for someone to get people to realize the iPhone is just like any other smartphone, and there are no elves in that either.
However, from a consumer standpoint who is smart and likes the Mac OS but doesnt like the price premium for middle of the road hardware, I can see quo being an option. I am pretty happy with my Mac Pro hack, consisting of gb x58-ud3r / GTX 260 Core i7 920 and h50 cooler, clocking the CPU at 4.2 + turbo boost, hyperthreading ON and a raptor HD and 12GB RAM. It routinely runs circles around the REAL Mac Pro over in the graphics design office he simply couldnt live without, and cost 1/3 of the cost of his 3.0ghz Mac Pro with 16 GB RAM and a shitty Seagate 500GB 7200 drive and the laughable GT120 video card it has. But hey, its a shiny silver case with an apple logo on it with 2 front usb ports and firewire, mine is a boring black case with 4 USB ports eSATA, and firewire.
Ok enough jabbing at apple..
(Written on a MacBook Pro (6,1) btw)
Meaning even the manufacturer knows Mac users can't do anything without their hand being held
Yeah, last time Apple let their hand's go they weren’t even able to hold their iphones right.
Dell? Really? try something like CyberPowerPC.com, unless you like to pay double of the actual price for any part upgrade. even that you already pay for the primary part on the original build price.
He did say even Dell.
what do mac users need with a 6-core high-end system? do itunes and garage band really hog up that much power?
Because the 12 cores on a regular Mac Pro is too much?
are u an stupid... if you build your own you might be able to make a Hackintosh.... if you buy from Dell you WONT be able to make a Hackintosh.... This article is about hackintosh not price comparisons and you did an apples to oranges comparison. have you ever priced a Mac Pro?
pretty sure there are premade version of osx that users have already set up for installs on Dell specific computers, such as one of the most popular uses for hackintosh around, 9" dell laptop.
..that being said... "are u stupid"?