Hackintosh 10.5.5 Retail Rig - Starting at $305

[Psycho Donut Killer]

From what I read here. it seems that Core 2 Duo is better than the Pentium D Mhz for Mhz. I am looking at the E4500 for $85.
I am not going to be running Parallels on my HTPC, so I have no need of virtualization.
I also just wanted it to be as close to mac-spec as possible, it seems you would be less likely to run into problems. I certainly wouldn't want an AMD hackintosh.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido
Hot Deal: 256mb Fanless 8800 GT for $50 AR ($75 + $25 MIR):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

Does this have the recently announced NVidia GPU failures (e.g. the Macbooks)?

that is a chipset feature... what's new in the macbooks is the integrated GPU that can in theory be coupled w/ the external GPU. As of now, it's only switchable between the two, and not even on the fly. In theory, it should be on the fly, and you could use both. I really hope it's just a programming issue and they're just waiting to plop it in Snow Leopard

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
any known issues w/ this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150247 ?

Looking to hopefully take advantage of the fact CS4 will use the GPU and that the extra ram will help.

Traditionally 512mb cards have had issues, however, I just helped a buddy install the same card a few days ago and it was perfect with the EFI Studio tool in my download package. So go for it

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Psycho Donut Killer
From what I read here. it seems that Core 2 Duo is better than the Pentium D Mhz for Mhz. I am looking at the E4500 for $85.
I am not going to be running Parallels on my HTPC, so I have no need of virtualization.
I also just wanted it to be as close to mac-spec as possible, it seems you would be less likely to run into problems. I certainly wouldn't want an AMD hackintosh.

FYI the 2ghz Allendale for $70 supports virtualization. I have one and it runs VMware just fine

Hackintosh is all about the motherboard and the video card. This guide's BOOT132 is built with drivers specifically for the P35-DS3L, so all you have to really do is choose a compatible video card - the default list is huge now! Then pick the rest of your goodies, pretty much anything works. For $85, you might as well get that E4500 - I have one of those in my HTPC and it's nice and fast

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido
Hot Deal: 256mb Fanless 8800 GT for $50 AR ($75 + $25 MIR):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

Does this have the recently announced NVidia GPU failures (e.g. the Macbooks)?

that is a chipset feature... what's new in the macbooks is the integrated GPU that can in theory be coupled w/ the external GPU. As of now, it's only switchable between the two, and not even on the fly. In theory, it should be on the fly, and you could use both. I really hope it's just a programming issue and they're just waiting to plop it in Snow Leopard

I think Sophie424 is referring to the older laptops that have the faulty Nvidia chips:

http://www.macworld.com/articl...02/2008/10/nvidia.html

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: leglez
Just upgraded my bios to F8, and am about to start restoring leopard to my SATA Drive. Your guides are always great Kaido!

Rock on, let us know how it turns out!

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido
Hot Deal: 256mb Fanless 8800 GT for $50 AR ($75 + $25 MIR):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125070

Does this have the recently announced NVidia GPU failures (e.g. the Macbooks)?

that is a chipset feature... what's new in the macbooks is the integrated GPU that can in theory be coupled w/ the external GPU. As of now, it's only switchable between the two, and not even on the fly. In theory, it should be on the fly, and you could use both. I really hope it's just a programming issue and they're just waiting to plop it in Snow Leopard

I think Sophie424 is referring to the older laptops that have the faulty Nvidia chips:

http://www.macworld.com/articl...02/2008/10/nvidia.html

err.. wow.. i misread the "failures" part... hahah

 

[DnetMHZ]

Do you know if a 6800GT will work in a hackintosh?

 

[Sophie424]

Any Micro-ATX mobo options on this setup?

Thanks!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: DnetMHZ
Do you know if a 6800GT will work in a hackintosh?

Yes:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7618558/Video-Cards

6800GT 128mb, 256mb, and 512mb

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
err.. wow.. i misread the "failures" part... hahah

Hah I read it the same way you did the first time, had to re-read it

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Sophie424
Any Micro-ATX mobo options on this setup?

Thanks!

This BOOT132 package has drivers specifically for the P35-DS3L. Think of it like doing a Dell laptop - you've got a trackpad driver, integrated video card driver, and so on, then you clone it to a Gateway laptop - the same drivers don't apply since it's a different machine.

With that said, I believe this setup has been tested on the Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2C MicroATX motherboard successfully. The original author of this particular BOOT132 distribution created it for the P35-DS3L, the DFI Lanparty/Bloodiron, and the S2C I believe. I further tweaked it to perfection for the P35-DS3L with a specific toolkit and updated BOOT132 system.

 

[sindows]

How well does this board respond to overclocking Quad cores?

 

[Kmax82]

Ok.. well, I got everything ordered. Hopefully it'll be here the middle of next week, so I'll give an update on that as soon as I get it all working.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: sindows
How well does this board respond to overclocking Quad cores?

Extremely well. I have both of my Q6600's at 3.0ghz on air with only a 5-10C temp rise

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Kmax82
Ok.. well, I got everything ordered. Hopefully it'll be here the middle of next week, so I'll give an update on that as soon as I get it all working.

Awesome, what'd you get?

 

[Kaido]

Working Firewire card:

Adaptec AFW-4300C

Natively-supported 3-port Firewire 400 PCI card.

 

[Psycho Donut Killer]

Are the firewire and ethernet cards that work with my kalyway hacked installs not going to be supported under the boot 132 method? I am not building my new system for a few weeks at least, so maybe I better redo one my my current systems with the boot-132 method. I assumed it was just a different way to get the OS on the machine with patched kexts, and that all other hardware would work the same.

Also, I would assume the built in NIC still has the same wake from sleep problems when using DHCP, if not thats great, but I don't understand why unless the kexts are different than the ones in the Kalyway method. As I understand it we are using the same hacked kexts, but the USB drive loads them everytime you boot overriding Apple's on their retail DVD, software updates, etc.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Psycho Donut Killer
Are the firewire and ethernet cards that work with my kalyway hacked installs not going to be supported under the boot 132 method? I am not building my new system for a few weeks at least, so maybe I better redo one my my current systems with the boot-132 method. I assumed it was just a different way to get the OS on the machine with patched kexts, and that all other hardware would work the same.

Also, I would assume the built in NIC still has the same wake from sleep problems when using DHCP, if not thats great, but I don't understand why unless the kexts are different than the ones in the Kalyway method. As I understand it we are using the same hacked kexts, but the USB drive loads them everytime you boot overriding Apple's on their retail DVD, software updates, etc.

Both cards will work, but you don't need the Ethernet card anymore - my BOOT132 package fixes it.

Yes that's basically the idea, it pre-loads the kexts and they never get overwritten with updates. It's basically the kexts packaged into a bootable USB stick. Pretty simple concept & works wonderfully

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Kmax82
Ok.. well, I got everything ordered. Hopefully it'll be here the middle of next week, so I'll give an update on that as soon as I get it all working.

Awesome, what'd you get?

Well, I didn't get as high of specs as I would've liked, due to budget restrictions.

But I ended up with:

Rosewill MidTower Black Case (w/ 430w PSU)
Gigabyte board (from eBay)
Intel Core2Duo 2.53 Ghz
2 GB of DDR2800 (1 Stick) - gonna try and grab another stick around Christmas
500GB HDD - gonna get another one of these as well around Christmas, as I already have a 1TB external that I can use for backup
nVidia 8600GT
Manta IR Receiver
LiteOn DVD Burner

I think I will be happy with those specs, but we'll see.

 

[Kaido]

Update! Added a note to the guide: Update to 10.5.5 before running my Toolkit. Some cards like the 8800-series don't play nice until after being updated to 10.5.2, so it's just easier if you do the updates first

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Kmax82

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Kmax82
Ok.. well, I got everything ordered. Hopefully it'll be here the middle of next week, so I'll give an update on that as soon as I get it all working.

Awesome, what'd you get?

Well, I didn't get as high of specs as I would've liked, due to budget restrictions.

But I ended up with:

Rosewill MidTower Black Case (w/ 430w PSU)
Gigabyte board (from eBay)
Intel Core2Duo 2.53 Ghz
2 GB of DDR2800 (1 Stick) - gonna try and grab another stick around Christmas
500GB HDD - gonna get another one of these as well around Christmas, as I already have a 1TB external that I can use for backup
nVidia 8600GT
Manta IR Receiver
LiteOn DVD Burner

I think I will be happy with those specs, but we'll see.

Hey dude, that's a beast and totally wipes the floor with the Mac Mini for probably about the same price You've got a DIY iMac for 1/2 cost! If you need any help just PM me.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Hey dude, that's a beast and totally wipes the floor with the Mac Mini for probably about the same price You've got a DIY iMac for 1/2 cost! If you need any help just PM me.

Yea.. all in total after shipping and rebates, I'm looking at only $450 shipped. I didn't want to spend more than $400, but figured it was worth it to get the Core 2 Duo, instead of the Pentium Dual Core. I am going to be using this as a render box as well, so it will probably get updated to a Quad Core when Nehalem comes out. And I might try and install Windows, hook up my X360 controller and play some Windows games from my couch. We'll have to see.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Kmax82

Originally posted by: Kaido

Hey dude, that's a beast and totally wipes the floor with the Mac Mini for probably about the same price You've got a DIY iMac for 1/2 cost! If you need any help just PM me.

Yea.. all in total after shipping and rebates, I'm looking at only $450 shipped. I didn't want to spend more than $400, but figured it was worth it to get the Core 2 Duo, instead of the Pentium Dual Core. I am going to be using this as a render box as well, so it will probably get updated to a Quad Core when Nehalem comes out. And I might try and install Windows, hook up my X360 controller and play some Windows games from my couch. We'll have to see.

$450 is what Apple used to charge for the 4GB SO-DIMM RAM upgrade in the laptops and iMacs :laugh:

 

[Sophie424]

Originally posted by: Kaido

a. Insert your USB stick (any size will do - 64mb or larger - but keep in mind it will be permanently installed 24/7 into your Hackintosh).

I'm curious why you choose not to put Chameleon on the hard drive. Does that mess up updates?

Thanks - Sophie