Upgrade advice

[Pip]

Hey all, I am currently running:

Intel D975XBX2KR 975X P4/P4EE/Pentium D/Pentium XE 1066FSB LGA775 DDR2 ATX
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 4MB Cache
Corsair 4GB DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory
Sapphire Radeon HD5770 Vapor-X 1 GB DDR5

I dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu on separate drives. I want to add Mac OS X (hackintosh) and am also considering upgrading some hardware at the same time...

I am looking at something like:

-- Gigabyte LGA1366 SATA3 ATI CrossFireX ATX Motherboard GA-X58A-UD3R -
-- Intel Core i7 Processor i7-930 2.80GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU, Retail BX80601930
-- Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D Dominator 6 GB 3 x 2 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Core i7 Memory Kit
-- OWC 120gb SSD for OSX install

As there is good OS X compatibility with Gigabyte boards... any thoughts? is the processor overkill, is there a sweet spot price/performance wise in the i5/i7 line?

This is a general computer, also used for moderate gaming/photoshop/development.

Would love your thoughts on if there is enough of a jump in performance and features to justify the hassle/$ of rebuilding with the upgrades above or other suggestions/substitutions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tiraides]

You'll need to conduct some research to determine which particular processors and motherboards are compatible with OS X. (I'm sorry, but I have no clue in that area.)

You should also try to find out whether or not some of the new processors and boards based on Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge platform will also be compatible. We've been telling many people to wait until January 5 to see what's available, but you may have a unique case with your hackintosh "requirement."

 

[Pip]

Thanks for your response. Re-reading my post I think I wasn't clear, the Gigabyte MB I chose specifically as it is suppose to be hackintosh compatible. I am looking for a general read on the choices from pure hardware and Win7/Ubuntu perspective.

 

[Dangman]

For now, the Core i5 750 CPU + P55 mobo route is the better price to performance CPU than than the Core i7 9xx series CPUs + X58 mobo route.

Prelim build:
$200 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$125 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$48 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
---
Total: $373 plus tax and shipping.

Notice the huge price difference between my setup and yours. Yet my setup will be on par or relatively close to your planned setup in terms of performance. That mobo is pretty well supported in OSX.

Now whether or not it's a justifiable upgrade, if you play games that are both CPU heavy and multi-core aware, then yes, it's a justifable upgrade.

 

[Pip]

Thanks very much. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Looks good to me, if I want to double the ram it looks like that motherboard has 4 slots so I can just double up your suggestion. One more question, my current setup runs pretty cool and very quiet with a big aftermarket HS and 120mm slowish fan. What HSF would you recommend for this combo?

Thanks again!

 

[Dangman]

I recommend this HSF:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

Oh and forget my previous Ram recommendation and go for either of these sets instead:
$50 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$100 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Going with above sets will give you more room of RAM upgrades. With the above sets, you can upgrade to 16GB of RAM should you feel that you need that much one day

 

[Pip]

Thanks again. I noticed this alternative... just $5 more and a bit faster... (I get free shipping with Amazon)... is this the same core, just a bit faster?

 

[Dangman]

Thanks again. I noticed this alternative... just $5 more and a bit faster... (I get free shipping with Amazon)... is this the same core, just a bit faster?

Pretty much. If you can spare $5 D) go for it.

 

[Pip]

Is this comparable to the G.Skill ram? or should I stick with your exact suggestion?

 

[Dangman]

Is this comparable to the G.Skill ram? or should I stick with your exact suggestion?

That RAM is comparable to the G.Skill.