I am a little confused about hackintosh graphics cards

[diamondschwin]

I was interested in the lifehacker.com 900 dollar mac pro build and was just wondering how the graphics card functions since it is a PC version.


Wouldnt you need to flash the card to a mac rom to get it running or is this handled differently because of the pc motherboard bios??



Thanks

 

[jzuena]

I was interested in the lifehacker.com 900 dollar mac pro build and was just wondering how the graphics card functions since it is a PC version.

Wouldnt you need to flash the card to a mac rom to get it running or is this handled differently because of the pc motherboard bios??

Thanks

The reflash is to get the card to understand EFI instead of BIOS, so you would leave the card as-is on a hackintosh since the hardware uses BIOS.

 

[300D]

$900 will not even remotely come close to building a "Mac Pro", just a low-end wannabe Hackintrash.

 

[CoryBoyUSA]

Other than it not being in a pretty case by Apple, if it meets or exceeds the specs of a Mac Pro, how does it not "remotely come close" to one? Please elaborate, 'cause I'm really curious to see the reasoning behind that statement.

$900 will not even remotely come close to building a "Mac Pro", just a low-end wannabe Hackintrash.

 

[dukebound85]

$900 will not even remotely come close to building a "Mac Pro", just a low-end wannabe Hackintrash.

you do know you can buy a lot of computer for 900 right...

 

[300D]

if it meets or exceeds the specs of a Mac Pro

For $900? Bull.

how does it not "remotely come close" to one?

Have you actually priced out the components of a real Mac Pro?

you do know you can buy a lot of computer for 900 right...

With the computational power and build quality of a Mac Pro, no you can't. $900 will get you some low-end Core i7 powered heap of cords thrown together in a generic case. And it certainly won't buy you a Mac other than a Mini or a hacked tv

 

[dukebound85]

For $900? Bull.


Have you actually priced out the components of a real Mac Pro?


With the computational power and build quality of a Mac Pro, no you can't. $900 will get you some low-end Core i7 powered heap of cords thrown together in a generic case.

build quality?
computational power?

yes, you can....simply look at benchmarks.

remember not EVERYONE needs a dual socket cpu mb either which really drives the cost nor server grade cpu's over desktop cpus or server grade ram when most dont need anything more than regualr desktop ram. server grade does not boost performance in terms of benchmarking

but you also alluded to 900 being a low end hackintosh which is flat out false

when you build your own system, you can control the build quaility of the components

 

[CoryBoyUSA]

Have you actually priced out the components of a real Mac Pro

Have I personally? No. Have you? Apparently you have some wisdom the rest of us do not, hence my request for you to elaborate, versus answering questions with questions. Please enlighten us with the breakdown of how we can't create a system that has equal or greater specs that runs OS X just as well.

 

[cluthz]

http://netkas.org/ for all you need to know about graphics cards on macs and hacks

 

[300D]

remember not EVERYONE needs a dual socket cpu mb either which really drives the cost nor server grade cpu's over desktop cpus or server grade ram when most dont need anything more than regualr desktop ram. server grade does not boost performance in terms of benchmarking

Then buy a single CPU model Mac Pro, thats why they have them.

What do you do if you can't afford an Audi? Buy a VW.

but you also alluded to 900 being a low end hackintosh which is flat out false

No, I stated a fact that $900 will build a low-end Hackintrash.

when you build your own system, you can control the build quaility of the components

No you can't. You're stuck using consumer parts from a list of known compatible components.
In addition, how about control of R&D? Component layout? Cooling zones? The OS being designed with your machine's exact specs and components in mind? Something that doesn't need gay lights and viewing windows to look cool?
Didn't think so.

Have I personally? No. Have you?

It doesn't take a genius to use google.

Apparently you have some wisdom the rest of us do not

Not just wisdom, common sense.

how we can't create a system that has equal or greater specs that runs OS X just as well.

Thats extremely easy, OSX isn't licensed to run on anything but Apple-built hardware. Since you don't work on Apple's design team (you wouldn't be here if you did) it would be pretty darn hard to build an Apple machine.

 

[dukebound85]

Then buy a single CPU model Mac Pro, thats why they have them.

lol you missed my point

No, I stated a fact that $900 will build a low-end Hackintrash.

clever play on words. 900 is not low end for a hackintosh

No you can't. You're stuck using consumer parts from a list of known compatible components.

consumer parts? LOL, you do know that mac parts are consumer too right...

In addition, how about control of R&D? Component layout? Cooling zones? The OS being designed with your machine's specs and components in mind? Something that doesn't need gay lights and viewing windows to look cool?
Didn't think so.

ah apple defense at its best.

R&D? cooling zones? component layout? what makes you think pc's dont incorporate any of this? lol

oh and i dont use "gay lights" *gasp*

oh nevermind that many of the same components macs used can easily be bought for a pc
quite amusing

regardless, the fact is that many hackintoshes outperform macpros is very easily found by google

It doesn't take a genius to use google.

lol indeed. try it

the claim was that a hackintosh cant give macpro performance and it can easily as evidenced by a simple search

Thats extremely easy, OSX isn't licensed to run on anything but an Apple-built hardware. Since you don't work on Apple's design team (you wouldn't be here if you did) it would be pretty darn hard to build an Apple machine.

we arent building apple machines, we are making machines that run osx.

 

[UltraNEO*]

How is a hackintosh when it comes to online software updates? does it work like a real mac? or are you stuck with the version installed?

 

[dukebound85]

How is a hackintosh when it comes to online software updates? does it work like a real mac? or are you stuck with the version installed?

i have upgraded to every update

sometimes kexts are broken but lately its been really seemeless as of late (10.5.5 on to SL that is)

 

[UltraNEO*]

i have upgraded to every update

sometimes kexts are broken but lately its been really seemeless as of late (10.5.5 on to SL that is)

That's pretty cool!! *thumps up*
Guess a 'hackintosh' is like a poor person's Mac?

 

[Diseal3]

That's pretty cool!! *thumps up*
Guess a 'hackintosh' is like a poor person's Mac?

I can see this getting ugly real fast.

 

[dukebound85]

That's pretty cool!! *thumps up*
Guess a 'hackintosh' is like a poor person's Mac?

i did it not for the money aspect, but for the fact that i wanted a challenge

 

[UltraNEO*]

I can see this getting ugly real fast.

Well, that depends on the indevidual and how they wish to take it. Personally I don't think it's a bad thing for users to build windows boxes to run MacOS. If anything it's all positive! After all, if there's a million hackintosh users out there, then there's a million more MacUsers - so to speak.

Looking at your common Intel Mac machine, if you strip away all the custom casing/housing, it's essentially a PC anyway.

i did it not for the money aspect, but for the fact that i wanted a challenge

Challenges are always fun!!!

So can you use any board for a hackintosh box? Or is the mobo and components fairly sensitive?? ...as you can see, i know nothing about them.

 

[dukebound85]

Challenges are always fun!!!

So can you use any board for a hackintosh box? Or is the mobo and components fairly sensitive?? ...as you can see, i know nothing about them.

You need to pick compatible components. Just research the heck out of insanlymac when you decide to

 

[nanofrog]

So can you use any board for a hackintosh box? Or is the mobo and components fairly sensitive?? ...as you can see, i know nothing about them.

It will depend on the method you use, and what you may consider acceptable for "success".

For example, the EFI emulation + Vanilla Kernel will work on most anything to some degree. Every single part may be functional, maybe not, if there's no kext for it, and the ones built into OS X won't make some aspect (component) work.

In researching the board we're both using for example, there's no solution to use the Marvell SAS chip on it. I can live with that. Someone else may not be able to though, as they want to boot off a SAS drive.

It just depends on the specifics for the user IMO.

 

[UltraNEO*]

You need to pick compatible components. Just research the heck out of insanlymac when you decide to

example?

 

[nanofrog]

example?

As you already have the ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution, it would be easier to search out what you have already.

Unless you want to do this with an entirely different system (that you haven't yet decided on parts).

 

[300D]

i did it not for the money aspect, but for the fact that i wanted a challenge.
...
You need to pick compatible components.

Oh, so you wanted the "challenge" of assembling parts made to work with each-other from a list of known "OSX compatible" parts. Skill busting.

After all, if there's a million hackintosh users out there, then there's a million more MacUsers - so to speak.

Apple is a hardware company, not a software company. It doesn't matter if a million people pay the $30 for OSX, Apple doesn't make any meaningful profit from it.

 

[Kristenn]

I don't have anything against Hackintosh per say. But I'm a little shocked that people are allowed to talk about this stuff here >>

With it being mainly a Apple Rumors website. You think it wouldn't be allowed

 

[nanofrog]

Apple is a hardware company, not a software company. It doesn't matter if a million people pay the $30 for OSX, Apple doesn't make any meaningful profit from it.

Going by recent events, Apple's become a device/gadget company (iPods, iPhones, TV,...., i.e. portable devices in particular). These they still design. The aquisition of P.A. Semiconductor bears this out, as it will produce the silicon for such devices specifically tailored to Apple's product lines.

The computers however, specifically the MP, and to a lesser extent the iMac are afterthoughts these days. Apple's even admitted this to some extent at least.

Ive's designs the case. ODM's do the rest of it (Intel, Foxconn,...).

 

[goMac]

Other than it not being in a pretty case by Apple, if it meets or exceeds the specs of a Mac Pro, how does it not "remotely come close" to one? Please elaborate, 'cause I'm really curious to see the reasoning behind that statement.

For me, the problem with building an i7 is you can't do 8 cores and you can't do dual processor configurations. At that point, you might as well go Xeon, and you might as well get a Mac Pro.

You could argue that not everyone needs 8 cores, but that still means a real Mac Pro will blow away a Hackintosh in benchmarks. They aren't comparable, don't pretend they are.

It's a bit like someone saying that a netbook is comparable to a real notebook. They both have their uses, but it's plain stupid to pretend they are the same class of machine.