Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iBook G4 replacement: Used Mac or hackintosh?

nomar383 said:
idk about the monitor, I'm sure he did

And I think if I OC'ed my hackintosh it would explode into flames lol. Hard to get great ventilation on a G4 Powermac Case

Cheapest Core i7 processor I could find on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
$280 bucks

Motherboards are even more :eek:

Edit: Dirt cheapest MB is $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130221
Click to expand...

lol fair enough. did you price one???

• GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 $199.99

• Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory $89.99

• CLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case + GREATPOWER 650W PSU $149.98

• Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor $279.99

• GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $259.99

• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $99.99


i didnt include a DVD drive, they are dirt cheap. that system costs $640.95 US DOLLARS!!!!

that is pretty darn cheap, within the OP's ranges i reckon.

the GPU is fairly powerful, especially if he is 'occasionally' going to play games, you could use onboard and save ~$250.

the CPU can be OC'd to quite high, easily 3 on air so its pretty impressive :)
 
DoFoT9 said:
lol fair enough. did you price one???

• GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 $199.99

• Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory $89.99

• CLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case + GREATPOWER 650W PSU $149.98

• Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor $279.99

• GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card $259.99

• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $99.99


i didnt include a DVD drive, they are dirt cheap. that system costs $640.95 US DOLLARS!!!!

that is pretty darn cheap, within the OP's ranges i reckon.

the GPU is fairly powerful, especially if he is 'occasionally' going to play games, you could use onboard and save ~$250.

the CPU can be OC'd to quite high, easily 3 on air so its pretty impressive :)
Click to expand...


Okay you got me, that ain't too shabby :) OS X run on it?
 
nomar383 said:
Okay you got me, that ain't too shabby :) OS X run on it?
Click to expand...

haha of course it would :D


wish i had the ~$1000 AUS to buy something like it! i probably wouldnt buy the lower machine but, have to get something that was dual-quad core capable. therefore making it effectively a 16-thread machine :)

seems fairly attractive though for the price, they are cheaper parts though so i wouldnt trust them 100%. always backup! haha
 
DoFoT9 said:
well im not that good at US conversions, im in australia (hehe)..so dont trust me 100% on this.

i reckon for $600US you could get a lowish range Corei7. mind you the corei7's can be OC'd rather nicely, most of the money for the computer would be put into the GPU (for me anyway). what games do you play?
Click to expand...

I do not really play any games except for Need For Speed sometimes, and that's just when I'm REALLY bored. When it comes time to sell it, though, a GPU is a good selling point.

DoFoT9 said:
for a bottom-line one i dont reckon it would. as long as the GPU isnt top line then it wouldnt be too expensive. ill have a look at an american website and draw up a quote.

oh btw is your hackintosh CPU an E4*00?? i may have the same as you :) OC'd to 3GHz though easily :)

oh btw btw the OP wouldnt need a monitor aswell, did your friend have amonitor?
Click to expand...

I have like 10 :D

DoFoT9 said:
lol fair enough. did you price one???

• GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 $199.99

• Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory $89.99

• CLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case + GREATPOWER 650W PSU $149.98

• Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor $279.99

• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $99.99 (Get a $40 320GB one)


i didnt include a DVD drive, they are dirt cheap. that system costs $640.95 US DOLLARS!!!!

that is pretty darn cheap, within the OP's ranges i reckon.

the GPU is fairly powerful, especially if he is 'occasionally' going to play games, you could use onboard and save ~$250.

the CPU can be OC'd to quite high, easily 3 on air so its pretty impressive :)
Click to expand...

With my changes it's about $400 USD. That's ridiculous. I am so going to do that.

I can use onboard, it's enough for NFS, and I can stick a 9600GT in there if I feel the need.

What do you think?
 
iMpathetic said:
I do not really play any games except for Need For Speed sometimes, and that's just when I'm REALLY bored. When it comes time to sell it, though, a GPU is a good selling point.
Click to expand...

oh ok excellent, NFS is pretty basic in terms of GPU requirements




With my changes it's about $400 USD. That's ridiculous. I am so going to do that.

I can use onboard, it's enough for NFS, and I can stick a 9600GT in there if I feel the need.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

wow that is cheap hey! can be OC'd to 3ghz easily! i have seem 3.7GHz on air reported with an upgraded cooler.

one thing though, apparently the RAM i recommended doesnt run on the X58 intel mobo that i recommended :-S. you might have to check that out. here is the link to it. (the third review tells you)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148246
 
DoFoT9 said:
oh ok excellent, NFS is pretty basic in terms of GPU requirements


wow that is cheap hey! can be OC'd to 3ghz easily! i have seem 3.7GHz on air reported with an upgraded cooler.

one thing though, apparently the RAM i recommended doesnt run on the X58 intel mobo that i recommended :-S. you might have to check that out. here is the link to it. (the third review tells you)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148246
Click to expand...

I know! Being out of computers for a year is fun 'cause when you get back into it, everything is REALLY cheap.

I will keep y'all posted... gonna try and configure one at the $500 USD pricepoint with a dedicated GPU and non-cheap parts.
 
Your math was wrong. Without a GPU and with a 500GB HDD and 3GB RAM that system is $600 even.
 
DoFoTo, do you know of any good LGA 775 motherboards with integated graphics that OC well?
 
I wish it looked like a better deal to do so!

I configured a Core i7 system for $600.

Can you do that at an Apple Store? No. Sure, lack of support, but building things is fun.
 
iMpathetic said:
Ah, the thrill of the chase.

My last remaining respectable computer is my trusty iBook -- 1.33GHz G4, 1GB RAM, 40GB HDD, with Tiger and a blue Apple logo. :D
Click to expand...
You should max out the iBook to 1.5gb ram/250 5400 HD and Superdrive/ disable Dashboard before giving up the ghost on it.

I think they are great machines, still. Your oem HD is VERY slow.

OR sell it and get the new white MacBook. You can use it as a desktop anyway.
 
I wish I had more MONEY!

I already disabled Dashboard and I think it helped. All I need now is a $60 HDD and I'll be in business.

Let's see... $375 hackintosh plus $60 HDD is $435. Could get tight but maybe I can do that.

How much of a performance boost would I see? For me, it's an issue of CPU usage when just Web browsing with two tabs open, and I don't know why!
 
iMpathetic said:
DoFoTo, do you know of any good LGA 775 motherboards with integated graphics that OC well?
Click to expand...

i have the "MotherBoard Intel S775 Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L (All in 1)" that works PERFECTLY. runs hackintoshes easily, easy to OC and the RAM can be boosted up a little bit.

note: i couldnt get the hackintosh recognising the onboard GPU (it worked but only as minimal res), i have an 8500GT that works flawlessly with it. cheap as chips too!

iMpathetic said:
I wish I had more MONEY!

I already disabled Dashboard and I think it helped. All I need now is a $60 HDD and I'll be in business.

Let's see... $375 hackintosh plus $60 HDD is $435. Could get tight but maybe I can do that.

How much of a performance boost would I see? For me, it's an issue of CPU usage when just Web browsing with two tabs open, and I don't know why!
Click to expand...

yes i want more money too! $375 hackintosh is the older 775 you did before isnt it? the corei7 is the $600 one?? got any specs on the one you wish to purchase?
 
Cassie said:
That shouldn't be an issue. I've got 6 tabs open right now, no problems. Even when I only had 512 MB of RAM, I could still do that.:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes, but mine seems to be colossally retarded.

@ DoFoTo: I'm still in the planning stages but it's basically a Q9400, a Gigabyte mobo, 4GB RAM, and a 500GB HDD running in a donated case and PSU.

If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.

The Q8200 or 8500 or whatever (the 2.33GHz one) would save me a ton of coin for a real GPU.
 
In regards to the new Core i7's I'm not sure if OSx86 is capable of recognizing the hyperthreading technology in them to get the 8-core functionality. If anyone has any information on that, I'd be curious to know. My original set up I had made for under $900 USD, I think I've reached the FSB ceiling on my mobo, can't seem to get a stable OC pass 1600 FBS.

I had plenty of options when chosing graphics cards when I first made mine, but there was no native support in OSX for 9 series Nvidia's and now I'm still using an 8800GT re-flashed with an OC'd bios from a Mac Pro 8800GT dump.

I'd recommend doing some research, to specific components to get the most reliable hackintosh. I've been using mine reliably since June 08.
 
nateDEEZY said:
In regards to the new Core i7's I'm not sure if OSx86 is capable of recognizing the hyperthreading technology in them to get the 8-core functionality. If anyone has any information on that, I'd be curious to know. My original set up I had made for under $900 USD, I think I've reached the FSB ceiling on my mobo, can't seem to get a stable OC pass 1600 FBS.

I had plenty of options when chosing graphics cards when I first made mine, but there was no native support in OSX for 9 series Nvidia's and now I'm still using an 8800GT re-flashed with an OC'd bios from a Mac Pro 8800GT dump.

I'd recommend doing some research, to specific components to get the most reliable hackintosh. I've been using mine reliably since June 08.
Click to expand...

So, you've drank the Hackintosh Kool-Aid?

Interesting. How was your experience?

Anyway, there's no way I am going to be able to build a Core i7 anytime soon. Looks more like a Core 2 Quad, probably one of the midrange ones, running in a borrowed case, with 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, on a Gigabyte mobo with integrated graphics, unless I can finagle a GPU as well.
 
iMpathetic said:
So, you've drank the Hackintosh Kool-Aid?

Interesting. How was your experience?

Anyway, there's no way I am going to be able to build a Core i7 anytime soon. Looks more like a Core 2 Quad, probably one of the midrange ones, running in a borrowed case, with 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, on a Gigabyte mobo with integrated graphics, unless I can finagle a GPU as well.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend the 8800GT as it is native in the Mac Pro's and if you're brave enough, they are flashable with Mac Pro 8800GT bios's. Also the 8800 GT is equipped with a hardware decoder for H.264 and VC-1 codecs, which is why I assume is why Apple went with them to begin with.

My experience with my hackintosh is documented on another thread in my siggy if you care to read. The more I look into how the OSx86 community has evolved the easier it seems to start new projects. The initial set-up was the most time consuming, researching ahead of time to get everything up and running. Then having to "deal" with each update from 10.5.2 to 10.5.6. Going to 10.5.4 was by far the easiest that took almost no thinking, but going from 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 was the largest pita as well as updating to EFIv9 to get to 10.5.6 as well as reflashing my 8800GT.

It's my understand there are already some distro's out there with 10.5.6 making that upgrade the easiest. Even with my MBP I've always been hesitant with software updates, especially with the mindset "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I held onto 10.5.4 the longest, as I saw no real need to update. The most CPU intensive software I use is Aperature and Photoshop, and the occsional quick&dirty movie editing I do in iMovie. So as a main desktop it's going strong nearly a year, listening to iTunes, syncing my iPhone and iPod and streaming music/movies to the 360 and PS3.

You'll spend the most time during intial set up getting everything to "just work," but after you get everything to work properly it's just avoiding the temptation of major OS updates (10.5.X.) I've kept up with every software update, quicktime, photoshop, iwork/ilife etc etc without any issues what so ever while under 10.5.4

Also I haven't ran any Geekbench 2 #'s since June last year, tonight before I leave for the weekend I'll update with new #'s to see if those benchmarks have changed at all.
 
I read the thread, yes. Very interesting how you got all of it to work, unfortunately, one of the supervising study hall drones got me.

I will read it in-depth this evening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back