GA-EP45-DS5 vs. GA-P35-DS4

[mcsmart]

Hello everybody.

I want to build a new Hackintosh. Scince I have some experience with OSX86 I thought it would be better to ask before I go out there and buy something :)

First of all, what I want:

reliability and stability
Intel Core2Quad (all cores have to work)
vanilla kernel
installation with retail-DVD
SATA with AHCI
2 PATA drives (HDD, DVD-Ram) (of course DMA should work)
USB, FireWire, Sound (patches are OK here), PCIE
PCEFI or similar
vanilla Apple Software Updates would be nice too
no shutdown/reboot glitches
hibernate/sleep


My questions:

Can anybody here say anything about the things in the list above?
Is the GA-P35-DS4 really a zero-hassle OSX86 mobo (except from the sound)?
Will I be able to benefit from the TPM-chip in the EP45 board?
I am not really a hardcore gamer and I don't want to use Windows on that machine. Should I buy the EP45-DS5 because it has PCIE 2.0?


Thanks to eveybody who takes the time to give me any hints.

- mcsmart

[milanca]

Haven't heard a fully successfull story for P45, you can do some more research. So P35-DS4 is the best solution, i think. I have DS3 board with C2Q. Difference from DS4 is there are no firewire ports (as i dont use any f/w devices) and there are not all the possible raid modes(again it has what i might need). With DS4 you could have all of it.

[kroviken]

Haven't heard a fully successfull story for P45, you can do some more research. So P35-DS4 is the best solution, i think. I have DS3 board with C2Q. Difference from DS4 is there are no firewire ports (as i dont use any f/w devices) and there are not all the possible raid modes(again it has what i might need). With DS4 you could have all of it.

hi milanca...
i just moved myself to Intel system..can u do me a favor by answering these questions:

1. which is better in urself opinion (in terms of updating system); AMD or Intel systems?
2. if Intel; what installer u used (leo4all etc..)? if from 10.5.2,how u update ur system securely?
3. if AMD; just update using ASU by Zeph...isnt it?

thanx 4 any help!
hoping ur help to decide my new rig next week (wanna sell my rig now..)

[mcsmart]

Okay, just to let you know, this is the hardware I bought recently and everything works very well:

GA-EP35-DS4
Q9450


1. which is better in urself opinion (in terms of updating system); AMD or Intel systems?

Of course Intel.

2. if Intel; what installer u used (leo4all etc..)? if from 10.5.2,how u update ur system )
Well, I personally ordered a Leo-disc from the Apple store and used it for my Intel-Hackintosh. So if you are a bit familiar with OS X a retail install is the ultimate way.

Besides that, any Intel-compatible installer will work. I used iDeneb 1.3 before and this works great, too.
When you are on an Intel-System with PCEFI/Cameleon (with vanilla kernel) you can also use Apple Softwae update to update your OS. I updated my Retail 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 this way - no problems at all.
You only need to be careful with 10.5.6 - it is not released yet but it won't be easy to install, because they updated AppleRTC.kext which is likely going to cause kernel panics and a headache if you aren't careful ;)

- mcsmart

[kroviken]

Okay, just to let you know, this is the hardware I bought recently and everything works very well:

GA-EP35-DS4
Q9450


Of course Intel.

Well, I personally ordered a Leo-disc from the Apple store and used it for my Intel-Hackintosh. So if you are a bit familiar with OS X a retail install is the ultimate way.

Besides that, any Intel-compatible installer will work. I used iDeneb 1.3 before and this works great, too.
When you are on an Intel-System with PCEFI/Cameleon (with vanilla kernel) you can also use Apple Softwae update to update your OS. I updated my Retail 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 this way - no problems at all.
You only need to be careful with 10.5.6 - it is not released yet but it won't be easy to install, because they updated AppleRTC.kext which is likely going to cause kernel panics and a headache if you aren't careful ;)

- mcsmart

hi mate...

wow,thanx buddy! i viewed at apple store,it dont cost much..and its 10.5.4..
so.is it possible 4 me to choose GA-EP35-DS4 or GA-EP35-DS3 (if not in store)?

"When you are on an Intel-System with PCEFI/Cameleon (with vanilla kernel) you can also use Apple Softwae update to update your OS. I updated my Retail 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 this way - no problems at all."
this i'm not familiar...how do i know its PCEFI/Cameleon w/vanilla kernel?

if u dont mind...can u show me ur complete system (sound,vga,etc...)

thanx buddy!

[mcsmart]

hi mate...
wow,thanx buddy! i viewed at apple store,it dont cost much..and its 10.5.4..
so.is it possible 4 me to choose GA-EP35-DS4 or GA-EP35-DS3 (if not in store)?

There is no big difference between DS3 and DS4. DS3 will work as well, but I think it does not have Firewire ports. And the heatpipe of the DS3 does not look as nice ;)

this i'm not familiar...how do i know its PCEFI/Cameleon w/vanilla kernel?

Well, if you don't know what this is you should probably install iDeneb (with vanilla kernel) first. It will install Chameleon for you automatically.
A retail installation is only recommended for advanced users!

My specs are:

GA-EP35-DS4 (2.1 with F5 BIOS)
Intel Q9450 (I'd recommend the Q9550)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (512MB) (I'd recomment the XT)
4GB Corsair CL4 DualChannel Memory
3 SATA HDDs and 1 SATA DVD Burner (LG) (I really recommend getting rid of IDE drives!!!)
PSU: beQuiet! darkPower Pro 550W

[Aydinz]

i cant buy the P35 motherboards in australia. it seems to all be P45's now, all the P35's have been discontinued and sold out.

i found this tutorial to install retail on a P45: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=135948

but Milanca said he hasnt heard many good things about the P45's and retail installs so can i just get your opinion on whether i should still buy this MoBo?

Cheers

[milanca]

Yes, it should be explored some more regarding P45 board. If I was about to build a new machine i would go with the most compatible board (as i did with P35 from gigabyte), minimum or no installation troubles at all, etc.. that would be my goal.

I am very satisfied with P35 boad. Recently i completely fixed DSDT and got rid completely of efi strings, everything goes off dsdt. AppleRTC loaded, HPET, IntelCPUpowermanagement, also sound, ethernet and gfx added to dsdt. Sleep works, timemachine, also hibernate/deepsleep. Pure installation.

What i would go for (so far all positive feedback) is a new intel based board with new nforce chipset, as the new macbooks have. Only restore disk from the new mackbooks is needed to install the new drivers. And of course some newer C2Q processor.

[Aydinz]

well atm i am looking at buying all new hardware to build a powerful desktop hackmac and i am looking to get:

Netgear GA311 Ethernet PCI Adapter
GIGABYTE EP45-DS3L Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo 3Ghz E8400 CPU
4GB Kit (2x2GB)DDR2 1066 Kingston RAM
22' Chimei 222j HDMI Monitor
Nvidia 8600GT 256MB Graphics Card

could you recommend the most mac friendly hardware models that have the equivelent power?

Thanks

btw i cannot find anywhere in Australia that sells p35 motherboards

[nfoav8or]

For a good HCL... look at http://www.efixusa.com and navigate to their HCL...

This may be close to Pystar so watch what you do with these sites.

EDIT: direct link to HCL at EFi-X.com... http://www.efi-x.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&language=english

EDIT 2: remember though, this is a HCL for using EFi-X dongles... don't go solely based on this list... it is simply a good place to start.

[Aydinz]

well i emailed PsyStar and they would not disclose their chipset, this is the last piece to my hardware puzzle i already have all the other pieces and when i looked on the osX86 HCL a guy recommeneded GIGABYTE EP45-DS3L Motherboard thats why i was thinking of getting that and he also provided a link to a tutorial he created to install retail OS X on that mobo.

edit: what are EFi-X dongles?

[nfoav8or]

well i emailed PsyStar and they would not disclose their chipset, this is the last piece to my hardware puzzle i already have all the other pieces and when i looked on the osX86 HCL a guy recommeneded GIGABYTE EP45-DS3L Motherboard thats why i was thinking of getting that and he also provided a link to a tutorial he created to install retail OS X on that mobo.

edit: what are EFi-X dongles?

you really need to read the links I send your way bud... it explains it there... EFi-X has been out and around the OSx86 world for a little bit now. :)

happy reading.

..... ALSO, note that I am not trying to send you over there to buy the so-called "dongle" (I love hat word... haha, dongle)... I am merely sending you over to look at their HCL as well.

[Aydinz]

yeah i checked that out and i looked at it and i know what it is lol my question should be more along the lines of how does it work? sorry if i made that unclear. and yeah im getting all the recommended hardware other then the graphics card because i just bought it recently dont want to renew it already. but im seriously thinking of buying one of these EFI-X things but i wanna know how it works before i get it :P

[kroviken]

There is no big difference between DS3 and DS4. DS3 will work as well, but I think it does not have Firewire ports. And the heatpipe of the DS3 does not look as nice ;)

thanx!i'll find it!

Well, if you don't know what this is you should probably install iDeneb (with vanilla kernel) first. It will install Chameleon for you automatically.
A retail installation is only recommended for advanced users!

i'm downloading iDeneb 1.3 10.5.5...is it what u mention above?or,i should find 10.5.4?
what ur meaning for advanced users? is it the drivers 4 certain hardwares?

[milanca]

@Aydinz
I am sure your config will work like a charm. Did you already buy all the parts or just planning to buy them? If you have them, you should start installing and configuring your rig. You can decide later about efix, its a good thing though, but not necessary. If you have maybe one external usb hard drive then i wouldn't worry at all if i was you:-)

[Aydinz]

thanks milanca, i have already got the graphics card which i bought from a while back but all my other parts (CPU, Ram, MoBo, Monitor) still havent been bought as i am still price hunting. Once i get all the parts i will most likely make a thread on my progress and also for questions i have so the lovely InfiniteMac people can help me (Y)

[nfoav8or]

Once i get all the parts i will most likely make a thread on my progress and also for questions i have so the lovely InfiniteMac people can help me (Y)

We love that kind of ambition... this is what makes OS X fun.

[Aydinz]

ok so i was talking to my dad and he said that instead of getting me a P45 he might get that for himself and give me his GA-P35-DS3P, ive looked in the HCL list at osX86 and this looks just as good as all the other P35 motherboards, what do you guys think should i do that?

[nfoav8or]

haha... yeah, sure. If your father wants the better board for his PC... sure. I think either will work.

BTW... are you looking to have a hackintosh that you don't need to do any work on to get it going from a retail install? This is not hackintosh then...

[Aydinz]

lol yeah i kinda thought it wouldnt be a hack anymore but that is my end goal to get a retail install running flawlessly on a non-mac computer

[nicolaspcg]

Good morning.
I have a motherboard ga-ep35-ds4 with targeta ati4870, hard disk 500GB.
With himself not to install any version of mac you X leopard nor mac you x snow to leopar nor mac you x snow leopard 10.6. Podeis Where I can find the form of isntalarlo.
To help me
Thanks

Nicolaspcg greetings:)