Budget Hackintosh PC Build Project

[Becky]

Benchmark Reviews' most recent project takes a look at how to build your very own Hackintosh on a budget:

"Why would you want to build a Hackintosh, when Apple's various Macintosh computers are masterpieces of industrial design? Well, for one thing, those sleek aluminum sculptures are kinda pricey. But even if cost isn't a factor, Apple's aggressive move towards non-upgradeable, non-serviceable hardware annoys the geek in all of us. A 21" iMac looks like a prop in a science fiction movie, but it's glued together like an iPad, and if you want to add more memory or replace a failed hard disk, that's just too bad. While such construction techniques are arguably defensible for laptops and tablets, where the fractional millimeters saved result in lighter, smaller devices, it's disheartening to see Apple apply them to desktop machines.

Of all the machines Apple builds, only the Mac Pro is completely serviceable and as expandable as any desktop PC, but it's a very expensive computer whose current decade-old design is becoming dated. We'll see a new Pro this year, but it's unlikely to be any cheaper.

For readers of this web site, the appeal of a Hackintosh is that you can design a Mac work-alike machine exactly as you want it, and can easily upgrade it to boot, since it's just a PC hardware-wise. I've written three previous Hackintosh articles, covering the original X58-based machine in October, 2010, and the updated Sandy Bridge version in August, 2011. In between these two articles I covered the Hackintosh Experience in November, 2010.

Today, I'll show you how to build and configure a modern Intel Ivy Bridge based machine using a mini-ITX setup."

Read more here.

 

[EvanDavis]

I have built one Hackintosh in the past, although lower spec than your link. And how I wish I had done it before buying an iMac and a Mac Pro

 

[floppybootstomp]

A fine article.

Though quite why anybody would want to build a Mac system as opposed to an 'IBM' system is almost beyond me.

I say 'almost' cos I'm told some Apple-Mac video and audio software is better than it's Windows/Linux equivalents. But I don't know.

Let's be honest though, most Apple/Mac users buy their stuff for one of two reasons -

a) Aesthetics - no denying their stuff looks cool
b) The snob factor - the 'if it costs a lot and it isn't user-upgradeable then it must be kinda Sunday Supplement Advertising style superior' ethos.

El Floppo he say 'A fool and his money are soon parted'.

As for Hackintosh, if you really want the latest Apple OS (What's it called now? Frosty Lemur or sumpn'?) then that must be the way to go.