OS X/Hackintosh i5 Build for Roommates (2 builds)

I

investinwaffles

Limp Gawd
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Apr 26, 2010
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So my roommates both want OSX desktops now and dont want to pay for pricey Apple hardware.
How glitchy are homebuilt OS X machines? Meaning, If I set it up and everything for them will it be a PITA to use day to day (driver glitches/incompatibilities)? Ive read up on people claiming that their builds have been rock solid and not even restarted in weeks.

They are both pretty un-tech savvy (my roommate wont let me upgrade the ram in his macbook for some retarded reason). Probably why they use apple tech, but hey im not knocking. The one that games could probably update drivers if I talked him through it.

They both use Serranto Scratch Live (a music mixing program) and their 2.4/2.0ghz macbooks are completely overwhelmed. My roommates started restarting because it overheats

I just want to figure out if its possible to put together a pair of strong i5 rigs for them.
nything that will game at 1920x1080.

I also refuse to let them spend ****ing $700 on a mac mini with a 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
One will be running only Serranto Scratch Live, the other will be running Scratch live, but wants to dual boot into windows so he can play SC2, COD Black Ops, and probably WOW

Also, the one that wont be gaming wants his to be fairly portable so he can take it to DJ gigs and stuff. Mini ITX would be blow his mind but isnt necessary. These do need to be M-ATX Mid/micro towers though. I think one of these in black and one in silver would be pretty perfect for a "roomy" case. I just hate the PSU placement:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112300

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
The same price as a mac mini would be nice - $750 total (each) maybe

3) Where do you live?
Boulder, CO. I have a microcenter near me.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
These will be a full build. So Mobo, CPU, Ram, Video card (if needed), PSU, HDD, Optical, Sound, Case, CPU Cooler

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Apple 23" 1920x1080 on the "gaming" one, and a 23" 1920x1080 Samsung panel. Also keyboard and mouse will be reused
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, if it is necessary. I would prefer only a mild OC for minor maintenance.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
23" 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
January 2011
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Esata would be nice, but nothing fancy needed. Good sound is a "must" according to him though (he knows its not going to be studio quality or any of that jazz)
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 64bit for the gaming PC. OSX is needed for both the builds
Click to expand...
 
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I don't how possible an i5 is in ATX form factor. I know i5s come in some macs, but the form factor is different. I would assume there is a certain intel chipset driver that would carry over easily, but you have to research it.

I've done several of these and the BEST way to go about it is to use a board that comes in the mac towers (or came at one point).

The most stable hackintosh I've ever used is my machine at work that dual boots for diagnostics. It has a gigabyte p35 board that apparently basically came in the mac pro towers at one point (and later the p45). The drivers for it were perfect and simple.

Before you pull the trigger on any hardware I would go on http://www.osx86project.org/ and really look over the hardware compatibility list for whatever version of OSX you want to run. If you really get it right, like my machine at work (Which was actually random chance), then you can just install from a plain old vanilla retail snow leopard cd. If you get a combo like that, it will be as stable as any mac.
 
I just built a hackintosh on an i7/x58 setup and it took a little tweaking to install correctly, but once it's up and running no problems. It has that predictable OSX stability.

One thing you absolutely MUST do is research what hardware is compatible with hackintosh drivers. You'll find out that there are weird combos of hardware that are magically compatible with hackintosh setups, and that's the stuff you'll want to buy. As an example, my usb wifi adapter wouldn't work, so I had to order another brand/model that was supported, and now it's not a problem. Stuff like that.

I personally used http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/ and found all the information I needed at that one web site.

I'm curious though, are your friends going to do anything besides game on these hackintosh rigs? If not, then it's friggen stupid to go through all the trouble to get one working just for gaming.
 
Yeah, if you do some research on exactly what hardware to buy, the hackintosh should be pretty stable
 
The only problem with a hackintosh, is when you do an osx update it will typically bork your installation.
So by building one, you are placing yourself as support, everytime they update the o/s.... let's say two or three times a year.
If you want to make your life easy, stick to gigabyte motherboards, and nvidia video cards.
Look up Kakewalk on insanelymac.com
It's a pretty straightforward installation program, make sure you pick one of the supported motherboards.
Also, you can generally forget about aftermarket soundcards.
 
Just follow a guide if you are not feeling too adventurous. I never had an issue with software update myself. I recently upgraded to X58 and has been rock solid for the past few days. Never had an issue with my P5Q-Deluxe either.

p.s. As for sound card most (if not all) OS X supported card will work in a Hackintosh. I use a EMU-0404 USB as it has drivers for both OSX and Win7.
 
Check this out its a LGA1156 mini-ITX board. Its a Gigabyte H55N-USB3, here it is with a 480 on it :eek:

attachment.php


Full size ram slots on it too.
 
avddreamr said:
The only problem with a hackintosh, is when you do an osx update it will typically bork your installation. So by building one, you are placing yourself as support, everytime they update the o/s.... let's say two or three times a year.
Click to expand...

no offense man but if someone applies a system update from apple on their hackintosh they are effing stupid.
 
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