New Hackintosh build

[pierovera]

So yeah, I want to upgrade my computer, it's just not keeping up with me and more and more programs are incompatible because of the 32-bit architecture or the GPU, etc.

I've been doing some research in the past few weeks and because I'm a really big fan of OS X, but not so much of the overpriced computers Apple sells, I've decided to build a Hackintosh (basically a non-Apple computer running OS X).

So having compatibility in mind, here are the basic specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K (3.4 GHz Quad-core)
GPU: Asus GT640 2GB DDR3
Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel GA-B75M-D3P
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x 4GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Storage: San Disk Extreme SSD 128GB SATA

Now on to my question, how will this perform while using Photoshop, editing video and (if anyone knows) sampling large audio files? I'll also use it for gaming and whatnot, but the priority would be those first three.

By the way, I included the motherboard in the specs in case anyone is curious, but it's not too relevant I think.

Thanks

[pierovera]

So... Anyone?

[jameswilby5]

Hi,

I'm pretty into computers so may be able to help you. The big thing with gaming and serious photo/video editing is the graphics card, especially gaming and video editing. The graphics card you have selected seems to be okay at best but may struggle with some of graphically demanding games like crysis and serious video editing with large files.

If you let me know your budget I could let you know if it's a good build for the price. For example adding more RAM always improves performance but it depends on your budget since you should allocate your budget accordingly. Everything else seems pretty good if you are going for a mid range computer. However with the SSD San Disk are probably not the best brand. Brands such as crucial, intel and OCZ are currently leading the market although San Disk are catching up. I have a couple of Crucial M4 drives which run like a dream and are incredibly reliable and I have heard their new one, the M500, is even better.

Once again I can't really asses the spec without knowing your budget, but if you let me know I can give some suggestions. Building a hackintosh is a great idea but can be quite a process so make sure you know what you are doing before you start.

[pierovera]

Currently I've tried having everything under $800 USD. I might not need a better graphics card as of right now because all of the games I own run on my computer so I guess they'd have no problem.

About the SSD, which one would you recommend on my budget? Currently with the prices I have, I'm looking at a price of $764 + OSX, obviously including the case and power supply and all that stuff.

Thanks

[jameswilby5]

Hi,

You may be able to get away with the graphics card selected although it depends how future proof you want your computer to be and what games you intend to play. For the price thats a pretty good build. If you are doing video editing with REALLY large video files consider more RAM, but that could always be added at a later date and it doesn't really cost that much.

With SSDs in recent years it has always been that OCZ are the fastest drives although have a slightly higher fail rate. If you stick to a good back up plan then I wouldn't worry, but since I always forget I opted for the Crucial. Crucial drives tend to have the balance between good speeds and reliability which is why they have become so popular. Intel drives are a tad slower but very reliable. One thing to mention though is that the speeds shown by the manufacturer vary significantly from the real world speeds so make sure you look at all the reviews.

All in all I would go for the OCZ Vertex 4 if you back up regularly or the M500 if you want to be ultra safe. The chances of an OCZ SSD are still very low although I opted to play it safe. I really can't say anything negative about my Crucial SSD.

Hope this helps!

[pierovera]

Well probably what I'll be looking for in the future is a RAID 0 setup, so speed isn't that much of a concern, as long as the SSD can be relied on, I'll have no problem. Currently, I have a backup drive though I don't backup all that often because it's quite time consuming (my backup drive uses FireWire 400 and the USB 2.0 ports on the computer on which my main drive, that is external, is connected, are quite slow too).

Within my budget, I'd be looking at either the M500 120GB or the M4 128GB. Of these two, which one would you recommend?

Thanks again

[jameswilby5]

Hi,

Yes a Raid 0 set up would be the way to go. Although with that you must make sure you stick to a regular back up plan. With the OS X installed you should get Time Machine. So you could leave a large external hard drive plugged into the machine and set it to perform regular back ups by itself. I know this wouldn't be perfect since the back up would be kept in the same location but it would be better than nothing and would prevent loss of data if one of the hard drives failed.

The M500 is the newer version of the M4. The only reason to buy the M4 is that it has been around for a while and has a very good track record in terms of reliability. The new drive is meant to be quite a lot faster and more energy efficient. Given that it is made by Crucial I would expect it to have very good reliability and so far there have been no reported problems with it, other than the odd faulty one which is to be expected. So overall I would go for the M500 at this point in time. It is widely considered one of the best SSDs on the market so you can't really go wrong with it.

James

[pierovera]

Well unless I get a really good deal on the M4, I'll probably go with the M500. Backup is totally fine, I have a 500GB HDD where I have been backing everything up, though expensive, I've had great experiences with Lacie external drives, though because of the cost, probably I'll switch to another brand for any future purchase whenever it happens. Energy efficiency is best, I'll be working with a 500W power supply, so I don't want it not being able to boot anytime soon because the drives require to much energy. Plus, it keeps the drives cooler.

I think that would be it, any further recommendations/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help

[jameswilby5]

Sounds like a good plan Lacie make good external hard drives but they are expensive. Check out G-technology they make good external raids that work well. I have the G-raid mini which I use for backup and transporting very large video files/projects which works brilliantly. They also do larger ones for desktop use which get you more storage for the price.

Yes you should be fine with a 500W power supply for the moment. If you start putting more hard drives/graphics cards in you may need to upgrade.

Glad I could help,

James