Contemplating updating my Hackintosh

[aphex]

I've been running this system for 2-3 years now and its so incredibly stable, I actually forget its a hack most of the time.

Current Setup:
Gigabyte G31M-ES2L (Micro ATX)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (3ghz)
EVGA GTS250 1gb Video Card
4gb RAM
96gb Kingston V100+ SSD
2TB Hitachi HD
10.7.3

While its a fast system, i'm thinking its time for an upgrade to something that can handle aperture faster, and will potentially let me start with some video editing in the near future.

I actually wouldn't mind going to something even smaller, a Mini ITX size would be nice, however its important that I keep this system as quiet as possible (soon to be moved to my bedroom).

Is it time for an upgrade? Maybe to an i5 or i7?

 

[jessieqwert]

I would say bump up the ram and call it a day. In my experience a stable hack is hard to come by.

Was this built from a guide?

 

[alfa147x]

Yes upgrade. I use aperture a lot and when I went from a q8300 to a i7 2600. Speed was Nice. I really felt a boost. I say get an SSD then upgrade.

Video editing will really be able to breath with the i7. Plus 16 gb of ram is super cheap. (ddr3)

Just kakewalked a build for friend with either the
Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3
Gigabyte H67M-D2-B3

Don't remember (on iPhone) really easy and clean.

 

[aphex]

I would say bump up the ram and call it a day. In my experience a stable hack is hard to come by.

Was this built from a guide?

Ram is maxed out at 4gb, would need to upgrade the mobo to go higher. I built it with Kaido's guidance.

 

[aphex]

Yes upgrade. I use aperture a lot and when I went from a q8300 to a i7 2600. Speed was Nice. I really felt a boost. I say get an SSD then upgrade.

Video editing will really be able to breath with the i7. Plus 16 gb of ram is super cheap. (ddr3)

Just kakewalked a build for friend with either the
Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3
Gigabyte H67M-D2-B3

Don't remember (on iPhone) really easy and clean.

Already using an SSD as my boot drive, which was an excellent speed improvement over the HDD.

Can i7's be cooled quietly?

 

[alfa147x]

Already using an SSD as my boot drive, which was an excellent speed improvement over the HDD.

Can i7's be cooled quietly?

Yeah. My noctua can do it fan less

 

[KeypoX]

What do you mean forget its a hack most of the time?

My biggest problem with determining hack stability is that I dont know real mac stability lol. However I run for days before I reboot to windows with no stability issues. Some things are a bit quirky, such as USB 3 ports with webcam will kernel panic. But 'real' macs dont even have usb 3.

GA z68ma ud2h b3 cheap board but sleep works, OC 2500k to 4GHz

 

[Zaap]

You've got an easy upgrade- I'd just worry about a new motherboard, CPU and RAM. You're golden with the SSD, no reason to waste money on hard drives with the insane shortage prices these days since you have a 2TB, and your video card is fine.

Personally, I always consult the kakewalk compatibility list when building:
http://www.kakewalk.se/compatibility/

Anything on that list makes for a great Hack running 10.7.3

I'd recommend the same board Keypox has, Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3, as much of the best RAM you can put in it, and a decent Sandybridge CPU. You'll see a big improvement over your C2D, especially with Final Cut.


As for the whole stability thing- it's been said here a 1000 times but it still holds- don't try to hack random incompatible hardware (mainly the motherboard and graphics card) and stick with what's guaranteed to work, and you won't have stability issues. Hacks I've built for others (and my own older hacks that I'm still using) are every bit as stable as 'real' Macs. The right components have all the needed OSX drivers and Snow Leopard as well as Lion are remarkably stable OS's that run well on just about anything.

Gigabyte's Intel boards in particular generally have just the right set of components for OSX and a proper DSDT that lets OSX communicate with the hardware effectively. So yeah, people that tried to hack some random Biostar board or whatever else are generally the ones making the blanket claim that hacks aren't stable. Well, sure they aren't if you're going against the grain. (Which can be fun, but then one shouldn't act like the resulting problems are universal to Hackintoshes.)

This being said, I'm not aware of a current Mini ITX board that's fully Hackintoshable, though there may be. I think I recall Kaido and/or mosslack may have hacked one a while back, but I'm not certain.

As for quiet- I'd just splurge on a decent case with good airflow, (there are a number of decent MicroATX cases that are both small-ish and quiet) quiet system fans and CPU cooler. Sandybridge CPUs are pretty easy to keep cool without overkilling the fans/noise.

 

[Tyranicus]

This being said, I'm not aware of a current Mini ITX board that's fully Hackintoshable, though there may be. I think I recall Kaido and/or mosslack may have hacked one a while back, but I'm not certain.

I've never built a Mini ITX hack myself, but I know some people over at tonymacx86 have had good luck with the GA-H61N-USB3.

 

[Zaap]

I've never built a Mini ITX hack myself, but I know some people over at tonymacx86 have had good luck with the GA-H61N-USB3.

That'd be a pretty cool build. I quick-spec'd that board + i5 2500K + 16GB of DDR3 at right around $400. Not bad for a major performance upgrade as long as that board is easily hacked.

Downsides of using that board would be:

1. Two drive limit. Probably need a USB optical drive, or none at all.

2. No benefit at all if the OP wants to keep his graphic card and it isn't low profile ready. A normal sized graphic card would still require an mATX case making all the other size gains moot. (No idea if the onboard graphics will fully work for a Hack- I have a feeling that would not be ideal, but I don't know for sure.)