OS Xbox Pro Mod: Four HDDs, Windows 7, OS X

By Jane McEntegart
published

It's a hackinbox!

I think calling this an OS Xbox Pro is a little unfair because it does run both Windows 7 and OS X. Then again, OS Xbox kind of fits better than Windows Xbox (careful saying that one out loud) so perhaps that's what modder Will Urbina was getting at when he named his creation.

Packing Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9550s (2.93GHz), an Nvidia GeForce 9800GT card, 8GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, and four traditional hard drives (one each to boot Windows 7 and OS X, and two 500GB 7,200rpm drives in a RAID0 array for video editing), Engadget cites Will as saying his total parts cost was under $1,500 for a system that amounts to a $4,500 Mac Pro.

Check out the video below.

Follow us on Twitter for more tech news and exclusive updates here.

Jane McEntegart
55 Comments Comment from the forums
  • broketechjunkie
    Extremely well made video and system.

    My hat is off for you, good sir. *bows*
    Reply
  • sstym
    Pretty cool, but haven't you heard Steve Jobs? Installing Mac OS on non-Apple hardware will precipitate the end of days.
    Reply
  • nevertell
    no, it won't.
    Reply
  • cookies
    Fucking beautiful.
    Reply
  • sunflier
    Very nice work. Still, its a lot of work just to fit in an old xbox.
    Reply
  • All that just to make a computer look like an XBox? Big deal.
    Reply
  • Spanky Deluxe
    $1500 for a machine that amounts to a $4500 Mac Pro? Really? How can a Core 2 Quad 2.93GHz "amount to" either an i7 based Xeon quad core with hyperthreading or two i7 Xeon quad cores with hyperthreading? Unless he's comparing it to the original Mac Pro from 2006 which had Core 2 Quad based Xeon chips, which was available as a 3.0Ghz machine at $3299.

    I'm all for hackintosh building but some people really stretch their comparisons. A core i7 based quad system could maybe be compared to an entry level Mac Pro, even though it doesn't have ECC and Xeon chips. A hackintosh using Xeon chips etc could definitely be compared. Both would of course be cheaper than Apple's current overpriced Mac Pro pricing but this comparison just isn't remotely accurate or fair.

    It is a beautiful bit of hardware that he's made there. Apart from the EFIX chip. Poor sucker fell for their scam. :(
    Reply
  • TheFace
    What no blu-ray? hahah. I would be proud to have this prominently displayed anywhere. That is awesome.
    Reply
  • Jaspel
    very nice
    I'm jealous
    few questions though..
    anodized or paint, any issues with heat?
    why destroy a dev unit when standards can be had for less than 50?
    don't mac pros have dual xeons ie 16 threds?
    you paid for efix?
    any plans to emulate xbox for original function?
    Reply
  • dirtykid
    jaspelvery niceI'm jealousfew questions though..anodized or paint, any issues with heat?why destroy a dev unit when standards can be had for less than 50?don't mac pros have dual xeons ie 16 threds?you paid for efix?any plans to emulate xbox for original function?
    That was exactly my thought the whole time: 'this is all very nice, but will it play Xbox?'
    Reply