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J-Squad · Jun 21, 2007, 12:38 PM

I've decided as of late that I want to build a powerful Mac, after having laptops for the past 4 years. Obviously my only choice is a Mac Pro, so I've been putting together a list of parts to get. The only part I'm unsure of is the PSU. I know it's about 900 watts, I just don't know if it's model specific, or if the machine could take something with less, or how to find a Mac-specific one. Help would be much appreciated.

Big Mac · Jun 21, 2007, 12:48 PM

The fact is, you cannot "build" a Mac Pro. You can build an off the shelf PC that closely approximates the hardware of a Mac Pro, but you'll still have to hack OS X to run on it.

J-Squad · Jun 21, 2007, 12:52 PM

not if I buy the exact parts that in the Mac Pro. I've seen the Logic Board on ebizzle for about 455 bucks. Though the image was definitely not from the Mac Pro, the title labeled it as such.

Lateralus · Jun 21, 2007, 01:00 PM

You do realize that once you've shelled out for all the parts necessary for this build, you'll be approaching the cost of buying a Mac Pro directly from Apple right? And you'll still need to purchase all of the software including the operating system.

More over, what little bit of money you might save by doing this yourself will be lost many times over in diminished resale value in comparison to an actual Mac Pro.

J-Squad · Jun 21, 2007, 01:07 PM

I'm not exactly sure of that. From a lot of prices that I've seen online, I could save a thousand or two. It's just a lot of money, you know?
I am curious about the OSx86 project; I doubt it's at all reliable, though.

Big Mac · Jun 21, 2007, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by J-Squad

not if I buy the exact parts that in the Mac Pro. I've seen the Logic Board on ebizzle for about 455 bucks. Though the image was definitely not from the Mac Pro, the title labeled it as such.

I'd be wary of that, then. If it's a genuine board it may be damaged, and if it isn't genuine (most likely since Apple doesn't sell them separately and requires technicians to send replaced parts back) it's not going to work right.

I have read through OSx86. You can hack OS X easily enough to work on non Apple motherboards, but you won't have full driver support and you won't be able to upgrade the OS using Software Update because you'll break the hack that way. It just doesn't seem worth the hassle.

C.A.T.S. CEO · Jun 21, 2007, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by J-Squad

I'm not exactly sure of that. From a lot of prices that I've seen online, I could save a thousand or two. It's just a lot of money, you know?
I am curious about the OSx86 project; I doubt it's at all reliable, though.

OSx86 is a illegal project, and MacNN won't help you break the law. I'm still surprised at why Apple hasn't shut them down.

shinji · Jun 21, 2007, 01:53 PM

Might be easier to just buy a used legit one, if you don't wanna buy a refurb?

2 gig of the type of fbdimm the mac pro requires + the questionable motherboard + 2 dual core xeons + whatever xeon cooling system + an overpriced mac-specific gfx card to begin with + the os...seems like you'd save a few hundred bucks instead of a couple thousand, but I dunno.

mduell · Jun 21, 2007, 04:26 PM

Saving a thousand or two? I'd love to see a Mac Pro spec machine for $500-1500!

900W sounds about right for a dual Xeon box.

OreoCookie · Jun 21, 2007, 05:30 PM

If you want to build a system that is equivalent to a Mac Pro, you'll end up spending a lot of money: workstation-grade tower, a large PSU, workstation motherboard, etc. Mind you that the motherboard has to be genuine (otherwise OS X will refuse to run) and your graphics card needs to be OS X compatible, too. There is also the minor obstacle that you can't buy 10.4 for Intel separately yet …