Log Daily Driver (Programming / Visuals / Audio) — Budget: 800€ — Hackintosh box

[ffs_whatever]

Hi, everybody!

I am going to build myself a new machine.
It will be hosted in a (beautiful) Lazer3d Cravo.

This will be my daily driver, and will be used for:

• Programming (Frontend / Backend / WebGL / ...)
• Audio (production and recording)
• Photoshop / After Effects / Blender (Mainly just to make adjustments and export stuff)
• Playing Minecraft about once a year ?

Goal
Put together a portable, quiet, stable, durable system.
It has to be small, look gorgeous, and stay sharp with little to no upgrades.

It doesn't need to be OP (I don't do PC gaming).
I work a lot with animations (JS/WebGL), so I want to optimize my machine for that, without overachieving.

Budget: 800€ give or take.
OS: MacOS (Yeah, I like pain...)


Components

Type​	Item​	Price​
CPU​	Intel i5 9600K​	€225​
Motherboard​	ASUS ROG Strix H370-I Gaming​	€160​
Memory​	Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz DDR4 16GB (8GB x2) CL16​	€87​
Storage​	Sabrent Rocket SSD 512GB NVMe PCIe M.2​	€80​
Power Supply​	Sharkoon SFX 450W 80+ Bronze​	€60​
Case Fan​	Noctua NF-P12 PWM​	€20​
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L12S	€50
Case​	SilverStone SG13​	€60​
WiFi & Bluetooth	BCM94360CS2 + Adapter	€38
Total​	​	€780​

Decisions, decisoins, deicnsosi...
After many doubts, I decided to do the wrong thing and went for an Intel CPU. (LOL)

For how much I'd like to use Linux daily, let's be real... it just does not support all the stuff I use daily.
So I'd have to run Windows as my main OS.
But I need a shell! So I'd probably end up using WSL the whole time. (NOPE!)

So what's in between?
What could possibly support ALL the stuff I need, while giving me a native UNIX experience?
Ta-daaa! MacOS.

I could have gone with AMD hardware, but turns out docker doesn't run properly in MacOS on AMD CPUs.
The reason being it relies on Intel's vt-d/vt-x technology. That's a deal-breaker for me.
There are workarounds, such as creating a docker-machine in VirtualBox...
I may be old-fashioned but I like my docker smooth.

So I've spent countless hours educating myself on Hackintosh (that was painful) and picked supported hardware.
The only mod I'm gonna have to do is replacing the WiFI/Bluetooth card with a natively supported one.
That's probably gonna cost me some network performance (and 40€), but I can live with that.


Build Log

28 May 2020
I've got all the pieces!

 

[ignsvn]

The main power drawers are 65W CPU + 75W GPU = 140W. Looking at those + RAM + drives + fans, you should be fine with 300W.

I don't know the wattage of your USB devices though. This one you need to check & add them yourself.

If you're set on 1650, you may want to check latest 1650 variants with DDR6. It gives around 5%-10% extra performance VS DDR5 1650. I don't know if there's one in low profile though.

I don't know much about TFX PSU, but the Silverstone PSU you linked is FlexATX with a fan half size of the TFX's. Obviously it'll be much louder.

Perhaps you can check Athena TFX PSUs here http://athenapower.com/node/557 ->
Good luck.

 

[ffs_whatever]

Thanks, unfortunately seems like Europe does not like PSUs.
That Athena (like every other 400W FlexATX/TFX) is nowhere to be found, but no biggie.

Anyway, checking out some benchmarks, looks like I can pull this off without a GPU altogether

 

[ignsvn]

Thanks, unfortunately seems like Europe does not like PSUs.
That Athena (like every other 400W FlexATX/TFX) is nowhere to be found, but no biggie.

Anyway, checking out some benchmarks, looks like I can pull this off without a GPU altogether

Wait, you mean they don't ship to Europe? The Amazon URL?

 

[ffs_whatever]

Wait, you mean they don't ship to Europe? The Amazon URL?

I think they do, but that's gonna be too expensive (item + shipment + import fees = ~170€) and would probably take too much time.

 

[ignsvn]

I think they do, but that's gonna be too expensive (item + shipment + import fees = ~170€) and would probably take too much time.

Riiight I forgot about the import fees.

OK then yeah probably you can consider going FlexATX route, or Meanwell open PSU (if the case is compatible with those).

The highest end would be HDPLEX. From what I read it's a great product & they have great after-sales service but then again the price is not gonna pretty.

Edit: for now the only way to reduce FlexATX fan noise is by replacing the fan with lower RPM equivalent. However, I'm not an electrical engineer so you need to find out the pros & cons yourself. Meanwell works great especially if you can put a fan nearby it. It's an open PSU though, so more technical things to consider.

Edit2: I heard the FlexATX PSU in Intel latest NUC is quiet, but so far we're not sure whether it will be sold separately.

 

[lowkey]

Silverstone ML05 was on sale for 30€. The Lazer is too expensive.
Sabrent Rocket was on sale in dec 2019. Everyone was happy until some of them died later.
HDDs are retro. SSDs are the way to go.
B550 itx might be better in terms of cooling. B350 itx was very hot, B450 itx got besser and x570 itx is even better. The mainboard manufacteurs are evolving the amd boards year per year.
The amd apu is getting the latest support due the dgpu drivers. This might be enough. But they are expensive and slower.
Its a lot cheaper to get a good TFX PSU than some Flex PSU.
The cpu cooler is missing?

 

[Ezzoud]

I'd say wait for new renoir apus. Leaks hace shown 8core/16thread with vega graphics glocked at 2100mhz. Current amd apus go like 1400mhz-1500mhz on gpu. Atleast thats what im waiting for my next build

 

[ffs_whatever]

The Lazer is too expensive.
HDDs are retro.
B550 itx might be better
The cpu cooler is missing?

HDD: I have some laying around, might as well put one in for long-term storage.
CPU Cooler: I'll just use the stock one!
B550: I guess we'll see in a month, can always upgrade later, the difference between selling B450 and buying B550 would be minimal.

Lazer CG7 is really expensive!
I would pay 180€ for it, making it the most expensive piece of the whole build... gonna think about it a little...

Anyhow, I've played a little with the idea of putting OSx in there.
All the components I've chosen are compatible, I'll just need to stick a compatible GPU in there.

I could go for the 3300x + RX 560.
Or save 130€ on the case, and get a better GPU in a case that supports a decent SFX 450W...

 

[ignsvn]

Aah now we're talking. If the case is negotiable, you can get, for example, SG13 case and use the money to get decent SFX PSU and so on.

 

[ffs_whatever]

Hi there, I've edited the post.
Many things have changed, and I've got all the pieces.
That's gonna be a painful build, but I'm positive we'll all enjoy it!