Custom built Hackintosh ?

[wivvy's dad]

I've always had great service/products/prices from these people.....

http://www.novatech.co.uk/

 

[Gromett]

I have been reading up, researching and scouring the net to decide what to get next.

While my search previously had been for laptops I was looking at i7 as only the i7 had a QM part (Quad core Mobile). When I moved to looking at desktop I still looked at i7's thinking these were the only quad core parts. It turns out I was wrong .. i5's also have quad core parts and are £100 cheaper.

I have also found a Link Removed for mounting a mini ITX motherboard to for £22. This also has mounting for a 2.5" and psu..

I have also found that small PSU's are now standardised as well under the SFX form factor and smaller. The SFX form factor is a little bit bigger than 1U but without a case it works out to roughly the same size.

Here is a comparison list (in attached image) as I can't do tables in vbulletin..

I am now looking at the i5 Quad core part, using the built in graphics.
The mother motherboard is a P8H77-I and is 17cm by 17cm so is tiny.
The PSU is 63mm tall so that gives you some ideas of how big the entire computer will be. I will be using the intel liquid cooled heatsink/fan combo which will be mounted away from the motherboard giving great cooling via some truma ducting :thumb:

I am using the TV recommended on another thread as the monitor as the motherboard has an HDMI output and the TV has two HDMI inputs.

I can't believe I am getting excited about building a computer again. Thanks Jim

 

[Pikey Pete]

I have been reading up, researching and scouring the net to decide what to get next.

While my search previously had been for laptops I was looking at i7 as only the i7 had a QM part (Quad core Mobile). When I moved to looking at desktop I still looked at i7's thinking these were the only quad core parts. It turns out I was wrong .. i5's also have quad core parts and are £100 cheaper.

I have also found a Link Removed for mounting a mini ITX motherboard to for £22. This also has mounting for a 2.5" and psu..

I have also found that small PSU's are now standardised as well under the SFX form factor and smaller. The SFX form factor is a little bit bigger than 1U but without a case it works out to roughly the same size.

Here is a comparison list (in attached image) as I can't do tables in vbulletin..

I am now looking at the i5 Quad core part, using the built in graphics.
The mother motherboard is a P8H77-I and is 17cm by 17cm so is tiny.
The PSU is 63mm tall so that gives you some ideas of how big the entire computer will be. I will be using the intel liquid cooled heatsink/fan combo which will be mounted away from the motherboard giving great cooling via some truma ducting :thumb:

I am using the TV recommended on another thread as the monitor as the motherboard has an HDMI output and the TV has two HDMI inputs.

I can't believe I am getting excited about building a computer again. Thanks Jim

I told him to go and buy a Mac Mini, but he wouldn't listen.


Pete:Cool:

 

[Gromett]

I told him to go and buy a Mac Mini, but he wouldn't listen.


Pete:Cool:

damn, right, not paying £100's over the odds for an underpowered system.

 

[scotjimland]

Update ..

Hi Jim, I had mine built to order by www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ and I've always been impressed with it.

Almost 5 years on I had a problem, I phoned them for assistance and they talked me through it all. I asked for the bill, NO CHARGE within the same owner life of the machine.

Now I'm even more impressed.

My neighbour sold his interest and Directorship in 'Novatech'. The building is only about a mile away if I can get any stuff for you! ... Griff

After much research and thinking I eventually bought a bespoke desk top from PC Specialists. Thanks for pointing them out to me ..

I compared several builders and costed against doing it myself.. but on balance, decided that if I was spending a lot on a PC I didn't want to risk getting it wrong .. plus I would have a warranty and backup ..

I ordered in Nov last year and it was delivered in the time frame specified.. about 10 working days .. At each and every step of the 'build', I was informed of progress by email..

When the completion date was known, again I was emailed and given the option of day and time.. it arrived on the day and within the hour specified..

So, top marks so far..

When it arrived it came in two huge boxes.. very well packed..

Inside there was a welcome pack with a set up manual, manufacturers books, driver and software installation and Windows7 disk.

Booting up was straight forward and it all ran as it should.. fast ..

Since then I have since added a second 22" Monitor.. this is fantastic.. a desk top that has so much space ..

I have also upgraded the Graphics card to a Nividia Ge force GTX 660 , fitted a Firewire card and an eSATA card for the 1 tb Iomega back up drive.

I've also added a pair of Bose Companion 2 speakers... amazing sound quality from such a small footprint

The spec:

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770K (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache

Processor Cooling INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Motherboard. ASUS® P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT: PCI-E 3.0 READY,WIFI, SLI, X-FIRE

Memory 16GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P(4 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210 - DVI, HDMI, VGA

Hard disk 1 180GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)

Hard disk 2 2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

Optical drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power supply CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE

Sound card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO

Network Facilities 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options 2 PORT USB 3.0 INTERNAL PCI-EX CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS

Monitor IIYAMA E2273HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080

Keyboard & Mouse LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit.. upgraded to Ultimate

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour..



So how does all this run... simply amazing .. boot up time about 20 sec.. applications just 'switch on' .. no waiting. for example MS Office Word.. just opens.. .it never hangs or goes slow even when doing photo and video editing.. it's FAST ... I am truly delighted with both the machine and the service from PC Specialist .. would highly recommend them ..

Of course , for about the same money, £1200 .. I could have bought a low spec basic iMac with no optical drive.. to get a similar spec and warranty would cost almost double

If you call, as I have on a couple of occasions for advice, you speak to a technician.. someone who knows your machine and who has time to discuss it.. cost, service and back up .. 5 star :thumb:

PC Specialist

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[wivvy's dad]

For what it's worth, for about half that price, I've just built a very similar spec machine, sourced as a barebones bundle from Novatech..... 8 core AMD processor, 8gb ram, 750w psu,

Though I already had: the monitors; 5x2tb HHD's (2 internal, 3 external); 2 dvd writers; 2 card readers; keyboard and Wacom tablet.

Horses for courses. I'm not trying to say mines better/faster etc. Just the spec and what I paid for it.

 

[Gromett]

Built my own just before christmas fastest quad i5 i could find.
32GB. 64GBSSD, 2TB and 4TB internal drives etc etc.
£500 inc monitor/kb/mouse etc.

Built it in a rack mount case and redid my wardrobe area to include a section of space for 19" rackmount gearoh:

 

[wivvy's dad]

This is a dinky little thing.....

http://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/novatechpockitnpi01.html

 

[scotjimland]

Built my own just before christmas fastest quad i5 i could find.
32GB. 64GBSSD, 2TB and 4TB internal drives etc etc.
£500 inc monitor/kb/mouse etc.

Built it in a rack mount case and redid my wardrobe area to include a section of space for 19" rackmount gearoh:

I'm sure you did Karl..

but if you are going to compare costs then you need to compare like for like.. same components.

it's like comparing a home built camper van to an off the shelf model .. not the same.

and even it you did yours cheaper.. why the oh: and ? ? ? ?
I'm more than happy and all the won't take the shine off

 

[Gromett]

the oh:and were aimed at me for being stupid with the overkill.
Hacking a perfectly good side unit down just to fit in a rack mount computer warranted the oh:

Not aimed at you at all sorry.

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[scotjimland]

the oh:and were aimed at me for being stupid with the overkill.
Hacking a perfectly good side unit down just to fit in a rack mount computer warranted the oh:

Not aimed at you at all sorry.

ah.. I should have realised you weren't taking the michael .. apologies.. :Blush:

I did price up components but came to the conclusion it wasn't worth the hassle .. plus I'd have no back up or warranty.. besides.. I've never built one from scratch, and with no one to hold my hand, didn't want to risk frying an expensive processor ... or getting a component mismatch

 

[bigfoot]

Look for computer fairs,usually at weekends,to get some ideas of what there is.
I built my first PC over 15 years ago. Although I trained as a Telecom engineer,it was with some trepidation I attempted it due to the fact that I last wielded a soldering iron in anger was some 20 years earlier.
Its a bit like Meccano or Lego for geeks.
Mine cost,in 1997 £125 in parts and equivalent retail would have been about £1k. But the main satisfaction is building it and working it successfully. You learn a lot about how they are made and also you can upgrade it yourself.
The building courses are worth going to,some are run by the Local Authority at low cost and some have fees that include the cost of the machine that's yours to keep.

Try it you may end up with a new hobby!

 

[Popeye]

Thank you Jim for the PM, you are most welcome.

As I said in the original reply I live less than a mile from Novatech and one of my neighbours sold his share in the same company.

Dealing with them would have been very easy for me. However, even easier was dealing with pc specialist who supplied the desktop I use every day. It wasn't until I had a problem that pc specialist really showed their colours.

One other factor I would bring up........if I had built my own pc to the standard of the one I purchased from pc specialist and factored in an hourly rate equal to my earnings doing what I do best, then pc specialist would still have worked out cheaper than Novatech without the guarantees etc.

I'm so pleased I was able to help Jim and if you are chuffed now, just imagine how you'll feel in five years time when you make use of the first owner life-time guarantee... Griff :thumb:

 

[wivvy's dad]

5 years from a computer?

 

[scotjimland]

5 years from a computer?

no reason why not.. I have two laptops both bought in 2007 .. a Sony and a Dell.. still working fine..

also an iBook.. circa 2004.. still working albeit a bit slow by today's speeds..

desk tops can be upgraded as required .. so 5 years is not unusual..

In saying that, nothing lasts forever, except paddy's road brush that only had 4 new shafts and 10 heads in 20 years

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[mitzimad]

other than more memory and larger hdd ive found upgrading computers to be almost impossible in 2 years time the motherboard will be the wrong config for the newer processors the graphics cardas will have changed
things are not as bad now as the arms race for faster and faster processors has reached a plateau but built in obsolescence is what keeps the computer industry going

 

[Gromett]

My laptop must be 6 years old now and still going strong. It's got a new graphics card, memory upgrade and SSD drive but the screen, keyboard and motherboard are all original