Got the s4m. Now what?

[sparklepony]

Hello,

I am building a new computer and I've just purchased the 4 mini.

I need a bit of help with the parts, as I have not build a pc in over 20 years.

What I am looking for is a machine that can do some gaming, and I also want it to run Mac OS.
I plan to use one 500 gb m2 drive and split that to two partitions so I can dual boot to Windows or Mac OS.

Graphics card the 1060 is the one i have settled on. Im considering the msi 1060 6g aero,
Processor I want the i5-8400 with the L9i Cooler.
Ram I want 2x8gb sticks

I can understand I need the dell 330w and the HDplex400. I believe I could go with lower wattage for this setup, but I would like it to be future proof to upgrade to a 1080 or bigger in the future.

What I need help with is selecting a motherboard, ram, hdd and a wifi m2 card (this is needed for the hackintosh part even if the motherboard has wifi as I understand it.)

My ultimate goal is a computer that is as silent as possible while being able to run Mac OS and do 1080p gaming. I will never do any overclocking, I just want the thing to start up and run, so I prefer to use the cheapest (quality) parts I can get instead of high end stuff I wont need. The only thing I plan to ever change in it is the GFX once the 1060 is too slow.

For monitor it will be connected to a 1080p projector. I don't care about higher resolutions.

I live in Europe.

I don't have a budget, I can buy any parts I need, but I prefer it to be cheaper rather that getting a 200 eur motherboard that has features I don't need.

 

[sparklepony]

I can see the Dynamo 360 DC-ATX is pretty affordable at 75$ free shipping and no import duty.
Will that work with what I have in mind above instead of the HDplex 400? Since the adapter is 330w, I assume this is just as future proof as the HDplex?

 

[Soul_Est]

I can see the Dynamo 360 DC-ATX is pretty affordable at 75$ free shipping and no import duty.
Will that work with what I have in mind above instead of the HDplex 400? Since the adapter is 330w, I assume this is just as future proof as the HDplex?

It will not. the Dynamo 360 is meant to be used in conjunction with a Dynamo Mini or other PicoPSU style unit.

 

[sparklepony]

I will order the HDplex from their website.

That’s one thing off the list. Thank you.

 

[calvinpp]

if you're going to run a Hackintosh, you should consider going AMD for your GPU? Mac OS has no drivers for NVIDIA from what I've read and it takes a lot more workarounds to get the NVIDIA cards working in the newer versions of MacOS

 

[Soul_Est]

if you're going to run a Hackintosh, you should consider going AMD for your GPU? Mac OS has no drivers for NVIDIA from what I've read and it takes a lot more workarounds to get the NVIDIA cards working in the newer versions of MacOS

I full agreement with this. VEGA best of all or Polaris if you can't swing it.

 

[sparklepony]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am aware of the tweaking needed for the Nvidia cards. It seems straight forward with some well written guides. I don't imagine I will be playing on mac OS, maybe Heartstone, I just like the Mac OS for general browsing, and the Windows partition will be used for gaming. If it can boot from restart to either OS in about 10 seconds I am happy enough with that. I am quite impressed with the 10xx cards from watching reviews.

Now I can understand the 11xx series are pushed back to end of august with the 80 coming first followed by 70 and 60 one month apart.
I am in no rush building this thing, I won't even have the case for another 3 weeks, and I can see there is now a new internal power solution for the S4 Mini that allows it to operate without a power brick. I am not sure when it will be for sale, but for sure I am waiting for that solution.

This means the 10xx should see a noticable price drop in the coming weeks, plus people will want to onload their 10xx to upgrade, so I will wait and see at end of august. Might as well get a bigger card crammed in.

Can the i5 integrated graphics run with mac os, or is this where I need the AMD?

 

[calvinpp]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am aware of the tweaking needed for the Nvidia cards. It seems straight forward with some well written guides. I don't imagine I will be playing on mac OS, maybe Heartstone, I just like the Mac OS for general browsing, and the Windows partition will be used for gaming. If it can boot from restart to either OS in about 10 seconds I am happy enough with that. I am quite impressed with the 10xx cards from watching reviews.

Now I can understand the 11xx series are pushed back to end of august with the 80 coming first followed by 70 and 60 one month apart.
I am in no rush building this thing, I won't even have the case for another 3 weeks, and I can see there is now a new internal power solution for the S4 Mini that allows it to operate without a power brick. I am not sure when it will be for sale, but for sure I am waiting for that solution.

This means the 10xx should see a noticable price drop in the coming weeks, plus people will want to onload their 10xx to upgrade, so I will wait and see at end of august. Might as well get a bigger card crammed in.

Can the i5 integrated graphics run with mac os, or is this where I need the AMD?

I took a look around the net and it should be fine to use the integrated graphics, however, if you were looking for an AMD, Amazon has the RX 580 8GB for sale: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078Q78L93/?tag=theminutiae-20

The RX580 is the GPU that Apple is promoting for the eGPU 'Blackmagic' solution so it is a good one for your purpose and with the mail in rebate, this is a rather decent deal for it and it fits perfectly in the Skyreach 4 Mini (I myself just received and installed it a day ago).

The bigger concern I think is with wifi/bluetooth/imessage: from what I recall, there is only one specific pcie card that works perfectly with hackintosh macOS and without it, there are issues with wifi/BT connections. Between that and the Nvidia drivers black screening in High Sierra, I decided to just stick it out with Windows 10 instead.