From: Lifehacker <em...@lifehacker.com>
Subject: Build the Mac Pro That You Wish Apple Released
Date: June 18, 2012 5:04:07 PM CDT
Reply-To: Lifehacker <em...@lifehacker.com>
June 18th, 2012Top Story
Build the Mac Pro That You Wish Apple Released
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By Adam Dachis
Last week Apple updated their Mac Pros to cutting-edge processors from 2010, even older
graphics cards, and all the USB 2.0 ports you'll ever need. With a proper update unlikely
until 2013, we thought we'd bridge the gap with Hackintoshes—the faster, cheaper Mac
desktops you can build yourself with standard PC hardware. By making your own "Hack
Pro" you'll get the up-to-date machine Apple won't provide, and you'll also save a
lot of money in the process.
The Mac Pro update everyone was hoping for was supposed to include Intel's
latest Ivy Bridge processors, which were designed to be smaller, more powerful,
and more power-efficient. With a desktop computer like the Mac Pro, power usage
is still a fairly significant concern because a lack of efficiency can make for
a pricier power bill. Additionally, with the
immediately out-of-date Mac Pro starting at $2,499, you're already overpaying
for a machine that's slower than the one you can build yourself. In this post,
we're going to look at three mackintoshes you can create yourself, how they
stack up against a comparable Mac Pro, and how much you'll save in the process.
The Builds
Ivy Bridge Hackintoshes are pretty new, and it wasn't until last week that OS X
even supported the new processors officially. The builds we're looking at in
this section are based on the work of people in the hackintosh community who've
already taken the plunge. Where applicable, we'll mention the sources we used
so you can dig deeper and learn more before getting started.
Fast: The Entry-Level Desktops
First let's start off with the entry-level machine. We're going to look at what
Apple offers, what a hackintosh can offer, and how they compare in price and
performance.
Apple's Entry-Level Mac Pro; Total Price: $2,499
Here's what you get for that cool $2,499:
• One 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
• 6GB of RAM (3x2GB)
• 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
• 18x SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5
• Mouse and Keyboard
Our Entry-Level Hack Pro; Total Price: $1,148
Here's an entry-level Hack Pro you can build for $1,148, which is less than
half the cost of what Apple will give you:
• Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 Case ($90)
• Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Motherboard ($99)
• Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz CPU ($317)
• MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (448 Cores) PCI-E 16X Graphics Card
($300)
• 8GB Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz RAM, 2x4GB ($50)
• 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM Hard Drive ($100)
• Corsair Professional Series 650W Modular Power Supply ($117)
• Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial ATA Internal Drive ($17)
• SYBA FireWire 400/800 Card ($28)
• Mac OS X Lion Download ($30) or Thumb Drive ($69)
So, what's the difference?
The Hack Pro is $1,351 cheaper. Of course, you get a nice Bluetooth keyboard
and mouse with the Mac Pro, but you can always throw in aUSB Bluetooth adapter
and whatever keyboard and mouse you want with all the money you'll be saving.
In terms of performance, the Mac Pro and Hack Pro are pretty evenly matched
when it comes to the lesser-components (with the Hack Pro keeping a slight
edge). This build even includes a FireWire 400/800 card so you have your
standard Mac ports. Additionally, the motherboard supports USB 3.0 so you can
have even faster data transfers than the current Mac Pro. The primary
differences between Apple's entry-level Mac Pro and this build are between the
CPU and graphics card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti in our build offers
significantly better performance, so if your needs are GPU-intensive you're in
much better shape with the Hack Pro. When it comes to the CPU, Apple's Mac Pro
offers a 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor to our 3.4 GHz Core i7. While
the Xeon is a higher grade than the Core i7, the one Apple's using is kind of
old and just not as fast. In fact CPU benchmarks tested both and the Core i7
came in at 10,455 and the Xeon at 6,070 (higher numbers are better). While
benchmarks aren't everything, that's a pretty large performance gap between
Apple's latest offering and a machine you can build for half the price.
The bottom line: The Hack Pro is faster than the Mac Pro in every category and
it costs less than half what you'd pay Apple.
Faster: The Mid-Range Workstations
Next we've got the mid-range machine. On Apple's side this means almost a
$1,000 price hike. For the Hack Pro it's a difference of only around $100.
Apple's Mid-Range Mac Pro; Price: $3,424
Here's what you get for your $3,424:
• One 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon processor
• 8GB of RAM (4x2GB)
• 2TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
• 18x SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB GDDR5
• Mouse and Keyboard
Our Mid-Range Hack Pro; Price: $1,276
Here's an mid-range Hack Pro you can build for $1,276, or a little more than
one-third of the cost of a similar Mac Pro:
• Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 Case ($90)
• Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Motherboard ($99)
• Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 GHz CPU ($350)
• MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (448 Cores) PCI-E 16X Graphics Card
($300)
• 8GB Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz RAM, 2x4GB ($50)
• 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM Hard Drive ($195)
• Corsair Professional Series 650W Modular Power Supply ($117)
• Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial ATA Internal Drive ($17)
• SYBA FireWire 400/800 Card ($28)
• Mac OS X Lion Download ($30) or Thumb Drive ($69)
So, what's the difference?
The Hack Pro is $2,148 cheaper and bears the same advantages over the Mac Pro
as our entry-level comparisonwith one exception: while there are compatible
motherboards for the 6-core Ivy Bridge processors, they aren't as widely used
just yet and require a few more difficult steps than we want to throw at you.
As a result, we opted to stick with a slightly faster but nonetheless quad-core
processor. This means that Apple's Mac Pro has two additional processor cores.
There shouldn't be much of a real-world advantage here, but that's what you're
sacrificing. If you're okay with having a much faster, much cheaper machine
with two less cores then the Hack Pro is the way to go.
Fastest: The High-End Powerhouses
If you want one of the fastest Hack or Mac Pros you can get, here are your
options. We decided to go all out, so you'll want a fairly fat wallet in either
case.
Apple's High-End Mac Pro; Price: $7,699
Here's what you get for your $7,699:
• Two 3.06 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon (for 12 total cores)
• 16GB of RAM (8x2GB)
• 2TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
• 512GB Solid State Drive
• 18x SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB GDDR5
• Mouse and Keyboard
Our Mid-Range Hack Pro; Price: $2,012
Here's a high-end Hack Pro you can build for $2,012, or slightly more than a
quarter of the cost of the comparable Mac Pro:
• Cooler Master RC-692-KKN2 Case ($90)
• Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Motherboard ($190)
• Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 GHz CPU ($350)
• MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (448 Cores) PCI-E 16X Graphics Card
($300)
• 16GB Corsair DDR3 1600 MHz RAM, 4x4GB ($95)
• 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM Hard Drive ($195)
• OCZ Vertex 4 512GB Solid State Drive ($600)
• Corsair Professional Series 650W Modular Power Supply ($117)
• Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial ATA Internal Drive ($17)
• SYBA FireWire 400/800 Card ($28)
• Mac OS X Lion Download ($30) or Thumb Drive ($69)
So, what's the difference?
The obvious advantage the Mac Pro has over the Hack Pro is that it has three
times the number of cores. That said, you'd be paying almost four times as much
for just that. With a difference of $5,657, you could add another nine 512GB
SSDs to this Hack Pro build and still have money left over. (Technically you'd
run out of SATA connections for the drives, so don't actually do this.) So do
the twelve cores matter? Only if you have applications that can actually take
advantage of them. If not, you'll be wasting a lot of money and power. While
this Mac Pro might be able to best its Hackintosh counterpart in some
situations, we don't think that's worth the cost. We still say stick with the
Hack Pro, unless you really need 12 cores.
At this point it's worth noting that the Hack Pro builds haven't changed much
throughout the comparison. The graphics card was always faster, so it wasn't
necessary to find a faster one. The CPU can hold its own against old Xeon
processors so that wasn't much of an issue, either. When it came to the
high-end build, we intended to offer a 240GB SSDinstead of the 512GB option,
but Apple only allows you to add 512GB SSDs to your Mac Pro. If you don't need
a gigantic solid state drive, you can save yourself about $400 by cutting the
space in half.
It all comes down to this: when you start upgrading a Mac Pro, you spend a lot
of money in the process. When you upgrade a Hack Pro, you don't. You also get a
wider selection of what you can use in the machine. The entry-level model we
put together is really fast, and barely over
$1,000. It's still fast enough to rival the high-end Mac Pro. Until Apple
figures out how to handle its professional machines, hackintoshes are going to
be the way to go for desktop builds—especially on the higher end of things.
Additional Hardware Resources
These Hack Pro builds were put together thanks to a great (but slightly
outdated) build guide by tonymacx86. They were updated for Ivy Bridge by
reading posts in the build section of the tonymacx86 forums (like this one and
this one). Be sure to check out those resources if you want to learn more about
these builds or swap out any of the parts we chose.
The Hackintosh Process
Buying a bunch of parts is the starting point, but you still have to actually
build your hackintosh. Fortunately, we've got you covered in all aspects. Here
are a few resources we've put together to take you through the entire
process—even if you run into problems:
• How to Build a Computer from Scratch - Read this if you need help
building the actual computer.
• The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Building a Hackintosh - Read this for
information on how to install OS X on your custom hardware.
• BridgeHelper - This is a utility you'll want to read about and
download, as it'll give you native Ivy Bridge support.
• Learn About All the Special Files That Help Your Hackintosh Run -
Once you're up and running, it's good to know
what's making that possible. Here's a quick overview of all the special files
that make your Hackintosh do its thing.
• Install Mountain Lion on Your Hackintosh - Mountain Lion isn't out
yet, but here's how you can install it if you can't wait.
• Best Practices When Dual-Booting a Hackintosh - Want to run Linux
and/or Windows, too? Here are the best practices to follow.
• How to Troubleshoot a Hackintosh - If something goes wrong, consult
this guide for tips on how to fix it.
That should be everything you need to know. We hope you enjoy your new Hack Pro
that you didn't have to wait for Apple to build for you!
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