Custom PC spec for Photography

[mavericks7913]

Im thinking to build my own desktop for hackintosh instead of iMac and Mac pro. I still don't know why Mac pro is so expansive tho. Anyway before I start I would like to hear the max spec of each parts such as RAM, CPU, GPU, and etc.

I really think that I need to get more RAM space like 32 or 64. 16 is def not enough. Yesterday, my macbook pro stopped working because all applications used all RAM space especially Photoshop. That just happened within 10min. People kept telling me that 16 is good enough but I don't think so. I have a lot of medium format files and scanned film files so having larger space of RAM is necessary.

CPU is not that expansive which is around $350 but are there any differences between Xeon version?

I do both game and editing programs but I will focus on the program. AMD Radeon R480 is a newest GPU and it has a cheap price but great gpu. Im thinking to get two of these.

Any thoughts?

 

[anewman143]

go to tonymacx86.com - I've learned a TON about hackintosh builds and the community there. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I've got my components selected. What I did was to read a LOT there, come up with a proposed list of equipment, and then posted my list with relevant questions about it - and let the community help!

Alternatively, you can use one of their "preselected" lists of components as well - either way, it's a SUPER site and you will learn a ton. The physical build isn't covered there, but there are TONS of youtube videos on how to put it all together. tonymacx86.com shines in the software and settings realm - the build is easy...it's tweaking all the settings that can be the challenge. I'm very excited to start my build. Will have dual M.2 SSD's to boot either windows or Mac (windows for gaming only, really).

 

[someoldguy]

A few years back I built 2 machines using tonymacx86 ' s Custom Build components . These sets of parts almost guarantee hardware compatibility . It's real important that you do your research first so you have a good idea what you're getting into . Expect to have to tinker around with settings . Don't get frustrated , my first build took a week or 2 before it was stable. Worked fine after that . One thing you should be aware of is that updates/upgrades can 'break'your system OS wise . If I were doing one again , think I'd use a final version of OSX , rather one that's still evolving , i.e. 10.10.5 , or better 10.11.5 . You want something that's mature , not a work in progress . And then stay with it ,don't upgrade to 10.12. .

 

[Robotti]

As tonymacx86's list seems to be limited to the mainstream platform (Z170), does it mean that X99 platform is unusable as a Hackintosh? I would really like to set up an X99 PC, because I need some of those features for the Windows side.

 

[The Bad Guy]

I don't see the point of a Hackintosh these days. I mean, the Mac OS has only gotten worse since 10.8, you might as well just go Windows period.

 

[Robotti]

I tend to disagree. After having to leave Windows 7, I have had very bad experiences, which are only now starting to slowly get better. I like OSX better, although I am using Windows more. If I could choose, I'd only use OSX, but unfortunately that is not possible. That's why I would like to set up a machine that can conveniently do both. I have a rMBP that can, but it hasn't got the power I need.