My "Hack Pro " Recipe

Ok so here's the deal..

I had planned on writing a "Parts Guide" on what hardware is needed/compatible for building a hackintosh before I provided you with my build. But with the holidays, I stayed busy and didn't have a chance to keep up with the blog like I intended. Since I started assembling my hackintosh last night, I figured it would be best to go ahead and give you my parts list and assembly notes while it's still fresh on my mind. I'll go back and write a detailed "Parts Guide" in a future blog.

My Hack Pro

Core i5-750 - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 - NVIDIA GT 240 DDR5 - 4GB DDR3 RAM

$631

Purpose & Budget:

These are the most important aspects to consider whenever choosing your hardware. I wanted to build a Mac Pro for cheaper than a Mac Mini (~$700). I would mainly be using the computer for browsing the internet, watching/storing/burning movies, editing photos, listening to music, etc. Most importantly NO gaming (I have a PS3 for that). So I wanted a decent processor, a good amount of ram, a large hard drive, an HDMI equipped graphics card, and a blu-ray burner for my goals. I have to thank newegg.com for their amazing deals and allowing me to reach my goals within my budget. I did most of my shopping between Black Friday and Christmas during their big sales time.

Hardware:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (rev. 2.0) $120

CPU: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz $185

Graphics Card: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 512MB DDR5 $35

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 $50

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM $60

Optical Drive: LG-Black Blu-ray Burner $80

Case + PSU: Antec Sonata III 500W Power Supply $74

Optional Accessories:

Apple Pro Keyboard - Bluetooth (Already Owned)

Apple Mighty Mouse - Bluetooth (Already Owned)

Asus USB-BT21 V2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle $15
(make sure it's v2.0 NOT 2.1, v2.1 bt211 is not recognized by the OS X)

Samsung T240HD 24" LCD Monitor/HDTV 1920x200 (Already Owned)

Software:

Operating System: Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.3 $27 (Amazon) 

Mac OS X 10.6.6 Combo Update - Free

iBoot - Free (thanks tonymacx86)

MultiBeast - Free (thanks again tonymacx86)

Optional Software: 

Parallels Desktop 6

Windows 7 Ultimate

-Macster26

Why Build a Hackintosh?

Why should I build a Hackintosh? Why shouldn't I just buy a Macintosh and avoid the hassle? Why not buy a cheap PC package to use for my Hackintosh?

If you've read this far into the blog, there's a good chance that you've already chosen the benefits of the Mac OS X over Windows whether you're a devoted Mac fan or a newcomer.  Sure Windows is great and made Bill Gates the 2nd richest man in the world, but it fails in comparison to the Mac operating system in terms of appearance, design, functionality, lack of viruses, etc.. you get the idea.  The only shortcoming to the Mac OS X in my eyes is compatibility mainly because the majority of people/programs run Windows.  I justified this minute "con" by telling myself that I can run Parallels Desktop/VMware Fusion or just dual boot Mac and Windows when I need to use Windows.  But anyways this will be covered in a later post.

Now back from my tangent to the main question..
Why should I build a Hackintosh rather than just buying a Mac and avoiding the troubles?
Well the answer for me was obvious.. because it's CHEAPer.  I found that I could build a Hackintosh that was comparable or better than most iMac's for at least $1,000 cheaper.  After compiling a parts list for my Hackintosh build, the total came to around $650.  This was less than the cheapest Mac Mini ($699) which couldn't even compare to my build.  You'll also get the satisfaction of tackling the project of learning how to build a computer and getting to know the Mac operating system better.  So if you want a Mac and are on the budget, the answer is a no brainer.. Build a Hackintosh!

Why go through the hassle of building a computer for your Hackintosh vs using a pre-built PC?
When configuring a Hackintosh, using compatible hardware is the most important step.  Using the right combination of motherboards, processors, graphics cards, etc. is critical for the functioning of your Hackintosh.  Buying a pre-built PC with the right combination without having to interchange parts or give up some functionality of the computer is very unlikely.  Not to mention when building a computer you can choose what parts will be best for what you want to use your computer for (do you need more RAM, faster processor, larger hard drive, blu-ray burner, etc.)

So for me, buiding a Hackintosh was the obvious choice.

-Macster26

What is a Hackintosh??? OSx86??

There's a good chance that if you're reading this blog on how to build a Hackintosh you probably already know what a Hackintosh is.  By the slim chance that my assumption is incorrect, I'll define the term anyways.

Simply put, a Hackintosh is exactly what the word's etymology suggests: a "hacked" "Macintosh."  A more comprehensive definition would be a computer (other than a Macintosh) that has been configured to run the Macintosh operating system.  With the right hardware configuration, the Mac OS X software can be "hacked" to run properly on a non-Mackintosh computer.

Hackintoshes came to be from the OSx86 (from OS X and x86) hacking project who's objective was to run the Mac OS X operating system on a non-Apple PC with Intel x86 architecture.  This effort began soon after Apple announced that they would be transitioning from PowerPC to Intel processors in June 2005.  Prior to this, the OSx86's task was frankly mission impossible due to the exclusivity of the Mac operating system and PowerPC hardware.  Once Apple transitioned to the more universal x86 architecture that many Windows' computers already ran, their software was able to be modified and implemented onto non-Apple computers.  And thus, the Hackintosh was born (dramatic I know).

But what you must keep in mind is that it still wasn't as simple as buying a "Windows" PC with an Intel x86 architecture and just inserting the Mac OS X install disc, clicking install, and voila! you have a Hackintosh.  Configuring the correct combination of hardware and modifying the software accordingly was and still is required.

-Macster26

Blog Mission Statement & Disclaimer

Mission:  My goal for this blog is to provide you with the knowledge necessary to build your own Hackintosh regardless of your skill level.

As I began researching Hackintoshes, I quickly found that most websites/blogs/forums were either too technical for a beginner to understand or were solely set recipes to building Hackintoshes using the exact hardware that others used without a good explanation of the basics.  As a noob to the world of Hackintoshes, this of course led me to countless hours of online, forum-lurking research trying to gain a broad, general understanding of how to begin this journey of building my own Hack Pro.

As my blog progresses, I hope to cover what a Hackintosh is, why to build a Hackintosh, what parts/software are compatible/necessary, my recipe/budget for this project, my build step-by-step from buying the hardware to having the Mac OS X up and running, any updates and additions that I make, etc.

Disclaimer: I would consider myself a novice in both the areas of computer building and the Mac OS X. I'm fairly tech savvy, but this will be my first time digging into the internals of a computer and setting up/running the Mac operating system. I'm mainly stating this so that if you don't have any experience in these areas DON'T be afraid to tackle a similar project.

Also, I'm not responsible for any parts that you buy, anything you break or doesn't fit, any information that's wrong, etc. etc. blah blah blah.. you know the deal.

-Macster26