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Show HN: Mac Pro equivalent using i7

pcpartpicker.com

6 pointsittan15 comments

How is this "equivalent?"

The Xeon E5 in the Pro is faster and costs at least $100 more. I'm not sure how these motherboards compare in quality. The ECC memory memory in the Pro is faster and more reliable. This also doesn't have Thunderbolt, onboard WiFi, or Bluetooth 4.

Last, this is big, loud, and hideous.

If the point was, "you can build an equivalent computer for $1000 less," it misses the point, widely.

"Loud?" I wouldn't call a Noctua cooler loud.

The HAF cases are built around optimizing airflow not acoustics, so they're pretty fan-noisey

Air flow doesn't have to be noisy - quality 120mm fans in no way are noisy. If the GPU fans bug you, you can get some Arctic Acceleros, so quiet.

And? Does it run OSX? Is this anything other than an ad? Does it have a unique case styling that may or may not be better?

Why did you post this?

Yes it would run OSX (On the vanilla kernel too, just need to inject FakeSMC and an AppleHDA mod). AMD's newest offerings are obviously supported under Mavericks as well as 10.8.5

So "sorta, not really" is the answer. It's a potential hackintosh, with all the associated hassles that come along. (updates break your hackintosh? Hope you didn't want to get work done today).

And it's in an ugly case.

With less useful hardware (Xeon vs i7, memory quality).

It's going to not have workstation level build quality. For instance, my older mac pro has literally 1 cable run inside the case (power to the gfx card). Everything else is slotted in, and done on board. No self-built system I have is built that well.

I doubt I can get applecare on this system. So when things go wrong, I have 15ish different supplies to go through RMAs with (for better or worse).

Basically this "article" makes zero sense. It's just a link to a bunch of parts. Is it just advertising / affiliate?

I was just answering if it would run OSX...I by no means think it's on par with the new Mac Pro specs or build quality wise

> So "sorta, not really" is the answer. It's a potential hackintosh, with all the associated hassles that come along. (updates break your hackintosh? Hope you didn't want to get work done today).

Well..no, not really. Builds with recent Intel CPUs are pretty stable, even across upgrades. One of my hackintoshes (which was built because it took Apple Too Damn Long(TM) to update the MacPro line) has made the jump from Lion > ML > Mavericks with little to no issue. The biggest problem when upgrading was on the windows side going XP-x64 > Win7 when Win7 wouldn't install and then I realized that SSD wasn't in slot 1 during the install. The only issue I've had with my OSX disk was Win8 corrupting it's volume headers (which are easy enough to repair in 5mins)

This build is conservative when picking a R9 280X, because the performance level of AMD Firepro D300 (dual) is currently unknown. You can always drop in R9 290X (or two...)

Difference between Radeon and Fire Pro is only in the driver certification/support.

edit: also this thread is kinda pointless, because it should be well know that you can build the same machine for much less money when going by the raw specs.

If you had to use a Xeon and ECC Ram the price would end up higher.

The performance might not be any better, but the comparison would be.

This is not at all equivalent to a Mac Pro.

Don't buy the Cooler Master HAF X, unless you don't mind a big, bulky, noisy (HAF = High Air Flow = Lots of vents).

Second person to mention that it would be "loud". Quality 120mm fans and good air flow means lower RPM to achieve higher air flow, and your internal components need to work less because the temperature is cool.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1522158

I have a Corsair Carbide, friend has a HAF 932. Loudest components are those not part of the case - PSU and GPU.

If you want good silence, do a little research - Seasonic PSU, Arctic Accelero cooler for GPU if you are gaming or crunching lots of data, SSDs (naturally), Noctua CPU fan. Far, far, far from loud.

Edit: NewEgg even has a search tool, over 1200 reviews on the Canadian site. Doing a search on "noise" brings back mostly results commending it on how quiet it is: http://bit.ly/16wK3Yr

Does this work as a Hackintosh?

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