$800 Hackintosh Rig

[mshan]

"In addition to introducing the Q8000 family of quads, Intel will, in Q3 bring out a new CPU series, one aimed at the sub-$100 market segment. The E5000s will all be 45nm-built dual-core processors and they will be replacing the E2000s which are based on older 65nm Allendale core.

Lacking VT and TXT, the E5000 CPUs will have a FSB of 800 MHz and an L2 cache of 2MB, one third that of the already released Wolfdale dual-core parts. Featuring a 65W TDP and a frequency of 2.5 GHz, the first E5000 CPU will be dubbed E5200. This one will come in Q3 and cost about $84 (in 1000-unit tray quantities)."

Link

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
"In addition to introducing the Q8000 family of quads, Intel will, in Q3 bring out a new CPU series, one aimed at the sub-$100 market segment. The E5000s will all be 45nm-built dual-core processors and they will be replacing the E2000s which are based on older 65nm Allendale core.

Lacking VT and TXT, the E5000 CPUs will have a FSB of 800 MHz and an L2 cache of 2MB, one third that of the already released Wolfdale dual-core parts. Featuring a 65W TDP and a frequency of 2.5 GHz, the first E5000 CPU will be dubbed E5200. This one will come in Q3 and cost about $84 (in 1000-unit tray quantities)."

Link

Isn't VT needed for virtualization software such as VMware and Parallels to run?

 

[mshan]

For maximum compatability with Leopard, is there any difference between the LiteOn SATA hard drive and the Pioneer 215 SATA drive (is this the one actually used in Mac Pro)?

And does Lightscribe functionality create any problems for Leopard, or does it just not see that feature of the Liteon drive?

And is using an IDE drive very hit or miss for a Hackintosh?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
For maximum compatability with Leopard, is there any difference between the LiteOn SATA hard drive and the Pioneer 215 SATA drive (is this the one actually used in Mac Pro)?

And does Lightscribe functionality create any problems for Leopard, or does it just not see that feature of the Liteon drive?

And is using an IDE drive very hit or miss for a Hackintosh?

IDE drives are hit or miss, just depends on your hardware really. I have a Lite-on SATA DVD burner with Lightscribe and it works just fine on my Hackintosh. I believe the Lightscribe feature is supported, but you'll need something like DiscLabel to use it. Haven't used it in awhile.

 

[Kaido]

My Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L arrived today. Installed Kalyway 10.5.2 plus the Kaly 10.5.3 Combo Updater, as well as drivers for my audio and video. So far everything works, doing further testing tonight. If everything checks out, I'll post a new thread tomorrow

 

[mshan]

Hi Kaido:

I take it that that D-Link DT-BT120 adapter was chosen because it is plug and play in Mac OS X.

I haven't researched any bluetooth adapters, so how is the hardware in terms of reception (sensitivity and rock solid connection stability), both in Mac OS X and Windows XP?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mshan
Hi Kaido:

I take it that that D-Link DT-BT120 adapter was chosen because it is plug and play in Mac OS X.

I haven't researched any bluetooth adapters, so how is the hardware in terms of reception (sensitivity and rock solid connection stability), both in Mac OS X and Windows XP?

It's fine. My wife uses an Apple Bluetooth keyboard with it on a daily basis w/o problems.

This Giga board is looking like the one to get. I'll have more details this evening after testing. I believe this is going to be my new recommendation...it's an amazing board :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Screwing around with overclocking while I'm waiting for the rest of the parts to come in. I have a beater chip that I use for test installs, an Intel E2180, which is doing quite well on this board. It's 2.0ghz stock and sells for $70 shipped:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819116052

Very overclockable...3ghz won't post, 2.9ghz is unstable, but 2.8ghz is absolutely perfect and runs at 44C idle with the stock heatsink and paste. I'm using 2 gigs of el-cheapo 667mhz, so I'm surprised I got this far at all. CPU is set to 280mhz x 10 (2.8ghz) and everything else on auto (RAM @ 932mhz). Yippie, an extra 2x800mhz

 

[mshan]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131025

Brand new Asus P5W DH Deluxe in stock again at Newegg.

There is also an used one on the FS forums for about $100 shipped. (Link)

 

[mchammer187]

case can be had much cheaper http://www.microcenter.com/sin...tml?product_id=0257459

 

[Kaido]

Happy to report that the DS3L is working 100%. The only oddity is that P35 boards are woken from Sleep via the Power Button, not keyboard and mouse, which irks me because I am used to wiggling my mouse to make the computer wake up. No big deal though, apparently it's a "feature" of P35 boards. But, it works. I'm on 10.5.3 via Kalyway and have full driver support. I ordered 3 more boards; I'm quite excited about this board

Working on the tutorial now, should be up by tomorrow :thumbsup:

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Happy to report that the DS3L is working 100%. The only oddity is that P35 boards are woken from Sleep via the Power Button, not keyboard and mouse, which irks me because I am used to wiggling my mouse to make the computer wake up. No big deal though, apparently it's a "feature" of P35 boards. But, it works. I'm on 10.5.3 via Kalyway and have full driver support. I ordered 3 more boards; I'm quite excited about this board

Working on the tutorial now, should be up by tomorrow :thumbsup:

that's funny, I want that feature on my imac... people bump into my table and wakes up the system

 

[Jschmuck2]

I'm just about to do a very, very similar setup on my Vista machine when my new HD gets here tomorrow. Kalyway OSX is getting it's own 160GB drive. I'll do up a thread on it then but I'm using the same mobo so expectations are high.

 

[Jschmuck2]

And what do you need 3 boards for?!?!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
And what do you need 3 boards for?!?!

Family! You think I'm going to let them use MY Hackintosh?

 

[Jschmuck2]

Touche'. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing...it's really a very cool concept. Kaido, are you using Kaly? That's the build that I have 10.5.2...

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Touche'. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing...it's really a very cool concept. Kaido, are you using Kaly? That's the build that I have 10.5.2...

Yup. I think I'm just going to screw onboard Ethernet and get a $10 Network Card. None of the Ethernet drivers seem to be working 100%. The rest of the board, however, is gorgeous. It's taking everything I throw at it

 

[Zaap]

Kaido, or anyone else running the GA-P35-DS3L: have you had any issues with using 4GB or more of RAM? Some reports of OSX crashing if accessing more than 3GB of RAM, (requiring a max memory setting) with some DS3 boards is what initially steered me toward the DS4 which has no such issues.

Also, are you using SATA in AHCI mode? All ports work?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Zaap
Kaido, or anyone else running the GA-P35-DS3L: have you had any issues with using 4GB or more of RAM? Some reports of OSX crashing if accessing more than 3GB of RAM, (requiring a max memory setting) with some DS3 boards is what initially steered me toward the DS4 which has no such issues.

Also, are you using SATA in AHCI mode? All ports work?

8gb ram - runs fine. Yes AHCI mode, yes Native SATA, yes all ports work

My only issue is Ethernet. I guess I'll just writeup a guide with Ethernet marked as "experimental" since it doesn't work 100%. Which is annoying, haha.

 

[Kaido]

Okay, I ordered a cheap Gigabit Ethernet PCI card (> $15 shipped from Newegg) that was shown to be working under 10.5.1. I'll test that and if it works post the guide, that way we have a 100% fully-working system.

Edit: Buddy of mine has a Realtek RTL8139C PCI 10/100 Ethernet card and it works 100%. Like 99 cents on eBay if you don't need Gigabit.

 

[Jschmuck2]

I used this EFI guide to get my 8800gt recognized with 512mb of RAM. Worked like a charm.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=91755

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Touche'. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing...it's really a very cool concept. Kaido, are you using Kaly? That's the build that I have 10.5.2...

Yup. I think I'm just going to screw onboard Ethernet and get a $10 Network Card. None of the Ethernet drivers seem to be working 100%. The rest of the board, however, is gorgeous. It's taking everything I throw at it

By Ethernet not working 100%, are you referring mostly to the problem with IP address after wake from sleep? Or are there other ethernet issues as well?

As for the IP after sleep thing, are you using manual settings, or DHCP assigned? Now that my sleep works (thanks to your link to SMBIOS) I have no issues with networking after waking up. My IP settings are manual.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Zaap

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Touche'. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing...it's really a very cool concept. Kaido, are you using Kaly? That's the build that I have 10.5.2...

Yup. I think I'm just going to screw onboard Ethernet and get a $10 Network Card. None of the Ethernet drivers seem to be working 100%. The rest of the board, however, is gorgeous. It's taking everything I throw at it

By Ethernet not working 100%, are you referring mostly to the problem with IP address after wake from sleep? Or are there other ethernet issues as well?

As for the IP after sleep thing, are you using manual settings, or DHCP assigned? Now that my sleep works (thanks to your link to SMBIOS) I have no issues with networking after waking up. My IP settings are manual.

There are two issues, but only one, depending on the driver you use:

Driver #1: No AFP/Bonjour stuff (no AFP servers, doesn't see iTunes shares, etc.)

Driver #2: Requires manual reset when woken from sleep because it loses the IP address and for some reason doesn't get it from DHCP on wake.

#2 is a minor issue, but I want perfection, and if that means a $10 Ethernet card then that's what I'll get

 

[mshan]

Antec Solo might be a better choice than the Antec Sonata for potential quietness, combined with more effective cooling. Antec NSK2400 / 2480 would be horizontal, home theater type case equivalent.

This Compucase LX-6A19 is another nice option, as it looks understated, professional and well built, and also has a lot of potential for expandability and cooling efficency (stock or pre-modded by Cool Cases). It does have a standard hard drive cage, so transmitted vibration may be an issue, particularly with more than one hard drive installed.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Happy to report my rig up and running 99.9%, with the exception of the "lose your IP after waking up from sleep" issue. Perfectly alright with me, since I don't use sleep.

Kaido, did you notice a slowdown of your Vista boot times after installing OSX? I don't know if it's me or my imagination.