hackintosh ... any opinions

craw · Post by **craw** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:12 am

hello peeps ...

recently ordered components for building a rather high spec PC, and I am thinking of going down the hackintosh route. it will be a dedicated video/audio machine, and my main requirement is stability.

I like windows XP, and I also like OS X (I am no fanboy for either platform), but I want to get around the 4GB RAM limitation in XP, and I am not willing to play around with vista. Given that windows 7 will take a few years to materialise, OSX looks rather tasty.

Why not buy a macpro tower you may ask? I can save literally 1000's by building a similar spec PC, plain and simple (I mean macbooks and imacs are competitively priced these days, but you seen the prices of high spec mac pro towers??!!!)

Anyway, regardless of my motivation, I was wondering whether anyone has went down this road? Any opinions? stable? worth the small hassle of setting it up? Ableton live running OK? is it dual bootable (dedicated disk for XP, and one for OSX)?

I can't be arsed fucking around with it trying to solve problems left right and centre, and if it going to be such a big headache, I'll stick with XP.

chime in.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:29 am

I wouldn't do it, too much hassle, no support for anything that goes wrong and no guarantees of anything working. That's a lot of time and effort that might lead to nothing but frustration.

The Mac Pro towers are expensive but are not so far away from the cost of say a Dell XPS tower system, which is around 300 dollars cheaper on a base system.

Don't buy the extra ram from Apple. They kill you on that, you can get the same ram for much cheaper through many other retailers, so when comparing system configs, remember that RAM can be had for significantly cheaper by not going through Apple. Dell charge a lot less for RAM and extra HD space than Apple, so when you compare 2 pimped up systems, that 300 dollar difference soon starts to look like a 700 or 800 dollar difference.

Pasha · Post by **Pasha** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:10 pm

I got a friend who made it on his laptop (actually we made it but he took the hassle to really use it).
After three months, last year in November he decided to go for the real thing and bought a MacBook, expanded the RAM through web order (not Apple!) and now lives happy. To quote his words "It was an extremely challenging experience but now I got the real thing I can relax and make music". "Although we are IT professionals and doing so it's sooo stimulating now I understand that after this experience I know that there are very exceptional people on the net capable of doing extraordinary things like the guys at insanely Mac but is not for everyone, only for the tech-savvy". "Now I enjoy my Macbook, and every upgrade it's not an hassle anymore".
More or less that has been his final comment. I have added that every Apple Upgrade might turn to an hassle but they release anti-hassle patches very often...

- Hope it helps
- Best
- Pasha

ekwipt · Post by **ekwipt** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:21 pm

not worth it a windows box will give you lower latencies and better stability than a hackinslash pc box.

For fun hackingtosh is cool but for anything serious, go and buy a macpro or macbook pro
[/u]

TITBAG · Post by **TITBAG** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:43 pm

AKIN TO MAKING A BLACK TURTLENECK BY STITCHING DYED-BLACK ARMS CUT FROM A TABLECLOTH AND A LOOP OF DYED-BLACK PILLOWCASE FOR THE GHASTLY ROLL NECK PART ONTO A CRAPPY NYLON WHITE TSHIRT COLOURED BLACK WITH A SHARPIE. SHOULD BE PERFECT FOR YOU CLUELESS ANNOYING FUCKTARDS

daniel_grieff · Post by **daniel_grieff** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:47 pm

These are pretty disappointing responses. Im interested in this for exactly the same reason as Craw.
I just cant beleive how expensive the Mac Pro is, seriously its stupid money. And I can build an almost equal computer for a -lot- less.
Having used a macbook for 2 years now, I cant bring myself to go back to XP. It feels like using a prehistoric OS every time I use somebody elses computer that runs it. And vista? No, just no.
Anyhow, I just dont feel that a Macbook pro or iMac offers the same bump in performance compared to that which a MacPro (or equivalent windows PC) would offer. Thats why I dont just go ahead and replace the laptop I hace with the latest upgrade.
Shame this! Real shame!

craw · Post by **craw** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:02 pm

there is a mixed bag of opinions regarding this topic, but I think the general concensus seems to be that it is hassle (see the following for example)

http://lifehacker.com/348653/install-os ... g-required

I currently run quite a powerful PC desktop, and an intel macbook. Regarding ableton, the stability on my PC is shockingly bad, but when I get a stable session running the performance is fantastic. The macbook, on the other hand is as stable as a rock, but performance wise it runs like a burst arse. I put stability differences down to OSX, and performance differences down to more powerful hardware on the PC box (could be waaaaay of the mark here??) ... anyway, I would like the best of both worlds and have OSX stability on a really powerful hardware setup ... but there is no way, I can afford (actually, justify) a mac pro tower at the moment ... even taking into account the inflated RAM and HD's from apple which is just rediculous, I can still build a PC box for half the price as a basic mac pro (I can even build it for almost half the price of dell!)

BY THE WAY, THAT TURTLE NECK YOU DESCRIBED SOUNDS RATHER FETCHING TITBAG

I guess I'll suck it and see, and if it doesn't work with my setup after a maximum of 1 day tinkering, I'll install XP.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:12 pm

I agree with pretty much what everyone said. I looked into a Hackintosh and came to the conclusion that it's more about IT fuckwittery, which is great if you have time to dick around. But if you're making music with it or even worse, if you're gonna play live with it, you're just askin' for trouble.

I also agree that Macs cost just too damn much, still! I just bought a brand new Dell D630, 2x2.4ghz C2D, 2gb ram, 7200rpm hard drive, for $725. I would have bought a macbook, but a comparable macbook is $1100, refurbished! On the desktop side, I have a Quadcore q6600 that I built with quality parts, and a comparable Mac Pro would have doubled my price.

Bottom line, stick with XP, or shell out the cash for a Mac, but don't try to squeeze a square OS into a round-hole computer.

fewture · Post by **fewture** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:29 pm

about the mac pro being 'way more' than the rest,

did you spec competitors with exact some components (ie the exact same CPUs)?

I don't know about now but a year ago, it was impossible to find the same specs from Hp, Dell etc which were much cheaper. In some cases the Apple was cheaper. Maybe thats changed now.

But of course, I am saying this with the obvious rule of "DO NOT BUY APPLE RAM OR HARDDRIVES"

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:31 pm

^ I dunno, bro, but I have built my own PCs for over 10 years, so I never price out other companies. I go to Newegg, get the exact components I need and I can almost always beat out the Dells and HPs, and I can usually get close to half of a Mac Pro.

fewture · Post by **fewture** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:36 pm

nebulae wrote: On the desktop side, I have a Quadcore q6600 that I built with quality parts, and a comparable Mac Pro would have doubled my price.
.

Just to note, the price difference in Xeon 5400 and the q6600 is substantial - if someone wants to fairly compare the mac pro, then you need to find systems with the same specs (not similar specs). All the other companies systems with xeon's are a lot more than their normal intel desktop ranges.

craw · Post by **craw** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:49 pm

^^^

Like Neb says ... I am not comparing systems, I am comparing individual components. and I think it is fair to say, that component for component comparisons will still show that DIY PC's are still about half the price of mac pros (hey apple have to make money some how, eh? ... and good on them, they make some very nice products ... but at the high end of the market there is no denying that they are very expensive ... don't get me wrong, I would love a mac pro, but, can't justify the price ... with mouths to feed, I have definitely been shopping around)

I can get some super deals on components in my city from a nationwide retailer ... there is actually no comparison

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:53 pm

fewture wrote:if someone wants to fairly compare the mac pro

quite honestly, I don't. Given, it's not an apples to apples (pun intended) comparison, but bottom line is that I don't need a super-high end Xeon chip...the very fact that Apple doesn't offer ANY in-between options when going from an iMac to a Mac Pro means that I have nothing to compare with.

But all of that is besides the point of this thread, and I'm not gonna get into a fruitless debate where we don't convince each other of anything

If you want the Mac Pro, go for it...it's a great machine.

madhattared · Post by **madhattared** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:18 pm

fewture wrote:
nebulae wrote: On the desktop side, I have a Quadcore q6600 that I built with quality parts, and a comparable Mac Pro would have doubled my price.
.
Just to note, the price difference in Xeon 5400 and the q6600 is substantial - if someone wants to fairly compare the mac pro, then you need to find systems with the same specs (not similar specs). All the other companies systems with xeon's are a lot more than their normal intel desktop ranges.

Just because there is a price difference doesn't mean the performance is substantially better for the Xeons.

I have a hackintosh at home. It is rock solid with Live and is the fastest computer I've ever built. It took me 12 hours start to finish to get the machine built and osx stable with dual monitors nvidia drivers, network and sound driver which can all be found at the insanely mac forums. It is much cheaper then the hardware apple sells, especially considering their desktops.

WD Raptor + Q6600 eats Live for breakfast.
All said the chip, mobo, and two hard drives (raptor and 750gig) cost me 800$. I had all the other parts lying around already.

Take the plunge, you can spend the money you save on other gear.

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:25 pm

madhattared wrote: Take the plunge

For our benefit, could you please list all your parts, like mobo, video card, etc, and links to the drivers? That way, future readers can have a nice resource. Thanks.