Mac Pro vs. Hackintosh

energyboy · Jan 27, 2014

Gav Mack said:
I built two hackintosh systems using that Quo haswell mobo a few months ago. Has the genuine Texas FireWire chip and thunderbolt onboard. Flashed it with the 'community' created EFI and after pestering them for a few weeks to see if anything needed fixing they haven't. Not heard one dicky bird from them since, no glitches or gripes just like a real Mac. If Quo do produce an LGA2011 version I'm going to seriously consider it as a future upgrade option to my 3,1.

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Z77MX-QUO-AOS

http://www.techspot.com/article/720-building-a-hackintosh/

Hey Gav Mack,

I've been in need of a new computer, I only have a laptop and my temperatures under load are 90-94C. I've already had to replace the logicboard on it and would like to switch to a desktop for more demanding power without the potential of another GPU failure.

I'm definitely able to build a Hackintosh as following online guides is pretty simple. But am worried about a couple things:

- Updating from 10.9.1 to 10.9.2, 10.9.3 and so on
- Incomplete functionality, ie; sleep mode
- Gigabyte's motherboards have issues with 4 RAM sticks at once

I've picked the following parts for a build using tonymacx86.com parts guide:

Case: Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply: Seasonic SS-520FL2
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H
CPU: Intel 4770 3.4ghz Core i7
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
RAM: Kingston HyperX Black 16GB
GPU: MSI GTX 650 or ASUS GTX 660
Wifi: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800

Total Price: $1,117 + shipping

That's without an HD or SSD, as I'd prefer to have an SSD drive. I'd most likely setup a dual boot system though (SSD for OS X and a large 2TB HD for storage with a partition for Winodws 7 for gaming). If I buy this locally, it'll be more with tax and prices will be higher regardless as Newegg has the best prices.

If I chose a Mac Pro I wouldnt have the hassle of fiddling around with OS X installation or updates.

Currently I can get an older used Mac Pro for under $1,00 like below:

Mac Pro 3,1 2008
8 cores @ 2.8ghz
16GB RAM
GT 120 GPU
500GB HD

Price: $700

I could take that and slap in an MSI GTX 650 and get a decent gaming system, but I'd be limited with future options. The Hackintosh would have much better options though.

Thoughts, anyone?

NOTNlCE · Jan 27, 2014

Hi Energyboy.

That is a solid build right there. I would personally suggest going to a local retailer for the parts, as opposed to ordering them online. Depending on where you live, Micro Center or Fry's frequently have deals on Processor/Motherboard combos which can save you roughly $100 on the Hackintosh build, even with the taxes. Shop around a bit.

As far as updates go, there are usually few issues with updates. With the amount of people in the world using Hackintosh systems, especially with the board you have chosen, updates are not going to be a serious issue. Tonymacx86 and OSx86 members work hard to make sure your system stays stable throughout OS X updates. With a bit of work and patience, updates are pain free.

With the Hackintosh, you will be able to take advantage of full SSD speed if you choose to go that route. The Mac Pro (regardless of generation) only uses SATA 2 speeds and therefore cannot access the full read/write speed of Solid State Drives without a PCIe adapter card (runs 50-100 dollars extra). Also, the integrated 4600 graphics on your i7 will outperform the GT 120 that would come with the 3,1 you have listed. In that respect, in order to "game" as you wish, you would need to update the graphics card in the Mac Pro as well.

The Hackintosh is going to be future proof as future proof can get with a computer running OS X. Individual parts can be swapped out with relative ease, where as with the Mac Pro, you're basically at your limit with processor speed and memory configurations. If you were to ever need more than 16 gigs of RAM, you would basically be SOL, as FB-DIMMs for the 3,1 are outrageously expensive. The i7 is going to outperform the dual Harpertown Xeons in the 3,1 from the start, and the memory is going to be much, much faster.

I can vouch that setup on Tonymac recommended parts is very easy, and that sleep and other nuance functions work as intended. So, at this point, the real question is whether you're willing to spend an extra $500~ for a system that will last you a significantly longer amount of time, but require a good deal of work to get set up and a bit of work with upkeep, or go for the 3,1 with less performance and lifespan, but be "easy."

As an owner of both a custom build Hackintosh and a Mac Pro 3,1 - I can tell you that gaming on a Hackintosh and dual booting Windows is much better and easier than it is on a Mac Pro. In Boot Camp with that GTX 650 on a Mac Pro, you will only get PCIe 1.1 speeds, and no boot screen, where as you will get full performance and PCIe speed in both OSes on a Hackintosh. I could go on if you want.

tl;dr - The Hackintosh is a much better value if you don't mind putting a bit of effort into the machine.

Hope this helps.

Gav Mack · Jan 27, 2014

energyboy said:
Hey Gav Mack,

I've been in need of a new computer, I only have a laptop and my temperatures under load are 90-94C. I've already had to replace the logicboard on it and would like to switch to a desktop for more demanding power without the potential of another GPU failure.

I'm definitely able to build a Hackintosh as following online guides is pretty simple. But am worried about a couple things:

- Updating from 10.9.1 to 10.9.2, 10.9.3 and so on
- Incomplete functionality, ie; sleep mode
- Gigabyte's motherboards have issues with 4 RAM sticks at once

I've picked the following parts for a build using tonymacx86.com parts guide:

Case: Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply: Seasonic SS-520FL2
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H
CPU: Intel 4770 3.4ghz Core i7
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
RAM: Kingston HyperX Black 16GB
GPU: MSI GTX 650 or ASUS GTX 660
Wifi: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800

Total Price: $1,117 + shipping

That's without an HD or SSD, as I'd prefer to have an SSD drive. I'd most likely setup a dual boot system though (SSD for OS X and a large 2TB HD for storage with a partition for Winodws 7 for gaming). If I buy this locally, it'll be more with tax and prices will be higher regardless as Newegg has the best prices.

If I chose a Mac Pro I wouldnt have the hassle of fiddling around with OS X installation or updates.

Currently I can get an older used Mac Pro for under $1,00 like below:

Mac Pro 3,1 2008
8 cores @ 2.8ghz
16GB RAM
GT 120 GPU
500GB HD

Price: $700

I could take that and slap in an MSI GTX 650 and get a decent gaming system, but I'd be limited with future options. The Hackintosh would have much better options though.

Thoughts, anyone?

I've built quite a few hackintosh systems for clients and do still maintain some of them albeit reluctantly. They are frankly a PITA, for myself I wouldnt dream of owning one give me a real Mac any day. However these Quo haswell boards were radically different. Flash the UEFI, setup the BIOS as per instructions and its a pain free OSX install with only the audio kext to install. Not a peep since from the client which is a first ever. If I was in the market for a Haswell Hack I wouldnt hesitate in paying the extra cost for the Quo over a standard gigabyte. The premium paid in having largely what behaves as a real Mac would certainly pay out in the long term in swear box costs and pulled hair removed by frustration!

I would only be really interested myself to replace my 3,1 if they launched an LGA2011 mobo. TB, lots of PCIe slots, a bit like what many would have imagined a 6,1 tower logic board might have been before we knew about the can.

Temps on your notebook seem high after a logic board swap - which model is it?

wildmac · Jan 27, 2014

kenosecon said:
why an i7? isn't that a xeon whats inside a mac pro? ...an i7 is a toy dude, not for pros...

The point here should be, that some of the "pro" software is running faster on these "toy" processors. All depends on the software you are using, and what your workflows are.

What you missed in a post above, or paid no attention to, is that there is a huge gap between the definite iMac/MBP market, and the nMP market. If Apple made a headless iMac (non-crippled Mac Mini), then there really wouldn't be as much need for Hackintoshes.

The ironic thing about the gaming thing.. running Win8 bootcamp makes the nMP a pretty good gaming machine, for those that want to game + do "real work".

A "pro" uses the best tool for the job, not necessarily the most expensive.

energyboy · Jan 27, 2014

NOTNlCE said:
Hi Energyboy.

That is a solid build right there. I would personally suggest going to a local retailer for the parts, as opposed to ordering them online. Depending on where you live, Micro Center or Fry's frequently have deals on Processor/Motherboard combos which can save you roughly $100 on the Hackintosh build, even with the taxes. Shop around a bit.

As far as updates go, there are usually few issues with updates. With the amount of people in the world using Hackintosh systems, especially with the board you have chosen, updates are not going to be a serious issue. Tonymacx86 and OSx86 members work hard to make sure your system stays stable throughout OS X updates. With a bit of work and patience, updates are pain free.

With the Hackintosh, you will be able to take advantage of full SSD speed if you choose to go that route. The Mac Pro (regardless of generation) only uses SATA 2 speeds and therefore cannot access the full read/write speed of Solid State Drives without a PCIe adapter card (runs 50-100 dollars extra). Also, the integrated 4600 graphics on your i7 will outperform the GT 120 that would come with the 3,1 you have listed. In that respect, in order to "game" as you wish, you would need to update the graphics card in the Mac Pro as well.

The Hackintosh is going to be future proof as future proof can get with a computer running OS X. Individual parts can be swapped out with relative ease, where as with the Mac Pro, you're basically at your limit with processor speed and memory configurations. If you were to ever need more than 16 gigs of RAM, you would basically be SOL, as FB-DIMMs for the 3,1 are outrageously expensive. The i7 is going to outperform the dual Harpertown Xeons in the 3,1 from the start, and the memory is going to be much, much faster.

I can vouch that setup on Tonymac recommended parts is very easy, and that sleep and other nuance functions work as intended. So, at this point, the real question is whether you're willing to spend an extra $500~ for a system that will last you a significantly longer amount of time, but require a good deal of work to get set up and a bit of work with upkeep, or go for the 3,1 with less performance and lifespan, but be "easy."

As an owner of both a custom build Hackintosh and a Mac Pro 3,1 - I can tell you that gaming on a Hackintosh and dual booting Windows is much better and easier than it is on a Mac Pro. In Boot Camp with that GTX 650 on a Mac Pro, you will only get PCIe 1.1 speeds, and no boot screen, where as you will get full performance and PCIe speed in both OSes on a Hackintosh. I could go on if you want.

tl;dr - The Hackintosh is a much better value if you don't mind putting a bit of effort into the machine.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, I've spent a LOT of time researching the best parts for a desktop rig, essentially looking at best bang for the buck without spending an insane amount of cash. That setup I've picked would be near dead silent too.

I'm still on the fence, I just don't want to deal with uncertainty and long complicated installations of OS X. I'm willig to put in the time, but so as long as its minimal. I've yet to read into the process of the actual install and all of them seem to be different depending on the components selected.

----------

Gav Mack said:
I've built quite a few hackintosh systems for clients and do still maintain some of them albeit reluctantly. They are frankly a PITA, for myself I wouldnt dream of owning one give me a real Mac any day. However these Quo haswell boards were radically different. Flash the UEFI, setup the BIOS as per instructions and its a pain free OSX install with only the audio kext to install. Not a peep since from the client which is a first ever. If I was in the market for a Haswell Hack I wouldnt hesitate in paying the extra cost for the Quo over a standard gigabyte. The premium paid in having largely what behaves as a real Mac would certainly pay out in the long term in swear box costs and pulled hair removed by frustration!

I would only be really interested myself to replace my 3,1 if they launched an LGA2011 mobo. TB, lots of PCIe slots, a bit like what many would have imagined a 6,1 tower logic board might have been before we knew about the can.

Temps on your notebook seem high after a logic board swap - which model is it?

I've currently got an early 2011 MacBook Pro with a 6750M that failed on me recently. Cost me about $600 to replace the logic board. I always use my laptop at home in clamshell mode connected to a 24" monitor, which requires the dGPU so its always exerting heat. I should mention that the 94C temps are when running handbrake at the most intense compression possible.

My friend's got the 4770 with Corsair (H80 I think) liquid cooling and his temps are around 70C under load. The Noctua NH-D14 should perform better.

Where can I buy the QUO motherboard and is it more reliable than the Gigabyte one? Also, does it take Haswell processors like the 4770?

wildmac · Jan 27, 2014

energyboy said:
Where can I buy the QUO motherboard and is it more reliable than the Gigabyte one? Also, does it take Haswell processors like the 4770?

Haswell not an option yet.. which is why I'd probably stick with GA if I do this route.

Gav Mack · Jan 28, 2014

energyboy said:
Thanks, I've spent a LOT of time researching the best parts for a desktop rig, essentially looking at best bang for the buck without spending an insane amount of cash. That setup I've picked would be near dead silent too.

I'm still on the fence, I just don't want to deal with uncertainty and long complicated installations of OS X. I'm willig to put in the time, but so as long as its minimal. I've yet to read into the process of the actual install and all of them seem to be different depending on the components selected.

----------

I've currently got an early 2011 MacBook Pro with a 6750M that failed on me recently. Cost me about $600 to replace the logic board. I always use my laptop at home in clamshell mode connected to a 24" monitor, which requires the dGPU so its always exerting heat. I should mention that the 94C temps are when running handbrake at the most intense compression possible.

My friend's got the 4770 with Corsair (H80 I think) liquid cooling and his temps are around 70C under load. The Noctua NH-D14 should perform better.

Where can I buy the QUO motherboard and is it more reliable than the Gigabyte one? Also, does it take Haswell processors like the 4770?

Yet another one of those 2011 models logic board failure, I would keep the receipt as you may be able to get it refunded as they are being investigated by Apple right now. Most likely still running hot because they slop too much of cheap paste on the CPU/GPU, the engineers are still being told to do it the wrong way by Apple. If you are capable of removing the logic board I would urge you to do what Doward has done on his video to prolong it's life in this post:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18469142/

Apologies it's not haswell it's ivy bridge, it's manufactured by Gigabyte for QUO and bought off their website which is currently down. Their site seems to go on and off a lot which by most accounts on insanelymac is normal! My client bought a pair in Asia and gave me the parts to assemble it for them.

http://quocomputer.com/shop/z77mx-quo-aos/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/quo/projectq-run-any-os-the-unique-motherboard

energyboy · Feb 3, 2014

NOTNlCE said:
Hi Energyboy.

That is a solid build right there. I would personally suggest going to a local retailer for the parts, as opposed to ordering them online. Depending on where you live, Micro Center or Fry's frequently have deals on Processor/Motherboard combos which can save you roughly $100 on the Hackintosh build, even with the taxes. Shop around a bit.

As far as updates go, there are usually few issues with updates. With the amount of people in the world using Hackintosh systems, especially with the board you have chosen, updates are not going to be a serious issue. Tonymacx86 and OSx86 members work hard to make sure your system stays stable throughout OS X updates. With a bit of work and patience, updates are pain free.

With the Hackintosh, you will be able to take advantage of full SSD speed if you choose to go that route. The Mac Pro (regardless of generation) only uses SATA 2 speeds and therefore cannot access the full read/write speed of Solid State Drives without a PCIe adapter card (runs 50-100 dollars extra). Also, the integrated 4600 graphics on your i7 will outperform the GT 120 that would come with the 3,1 you have listed. In that respect, in order to "game" as you wish, you would need to update the graphics card in the Mac Pro as well.

The Hackintosh is going to be future proof as future proof can get with a computer running OS X. Individual parts can be swapped out with relative ease, where as with the Mac Pro, you're basically at your limit with processor speed and memory configurations. If you were to ever need more than 16 gigs of RAM, you would basically be SOL, as FB-DIMMs for the 3,1 are outrageously expensive. The i7 is going to outperform the dual Harpertown Xeons in the 3,1 from the start, and the memory is going to be much, much faster.

I can vouch that setup on Tonymac recommended parts is very easy, and that sleep and other nuance functions work as intended. So, at this point, the real question is whether you're willing to spend an extra $500~ for a system that will last you a significantly longer amount of time, but require a good deal of work to get set up and a bit of work with upkeep, or go for the 3,1 with less performance and lifespan, but be "easy."

As an owner of both a custom build Hackintosh and a Mac Pro 3,1 - I can tell you that gaming on a Hackintosh and dual booting Windows is much better and easier than it is on a Mac Pro. In Boot Camp with that GTX 650 on a Mac Pro, you will only get PCIe 1.1 speeds, and no boot screen, where as you will get full performance and PCIe speed in both OSes on a Hackintosh. I could go on if you want.

tl;dr - The Hackintosh is a much better value if you don't mind putting a bit of effort into the machine.

Hope this helps.

Gav Mack said:
I've built quite a few hackintosh systems for clients and do still maintain some of them albeit reluctantly. They are frankly a PITA, for myself I wouldnt dream of owning one give me a real Mac any day. However these Quo haswell boards were radically different. Flash the UEFI, setup the BIOS as per instructions and its a pain free OSX install with only the audio kext to install. Not a peep since from the client which is a first ever. If I was in the market for a Haswell Hack I wouldnt hesitate in paying the extra cost for the Quo over a standard gigabyte. The premium paid in having largely what behaves as a real Mac would certainly pay out in the long term in swear box costs and pulled hair removed by frustration!

I would only be really interested myself to replace my 3,1 if they launched an LGA2011 mobo. TB, lots of PCIe slots, a bit like what many would have imagined a 6,1 tower logic board might have been before we knew about the can.

Temps on your notebook seem high after a logic board swap - which model is it?

Well! I got a new desktop!

I found a guy that sold me a 2008 Mac Pro, 2.8ghz 8 core, 16gb RAM, 500gb & 1TB HDD, Nvidia GT 120 and two superdrives for $550.

It's already about 10-15% faster than my MacBook Pro as I ran a few tests (Geekbench and Cinebench).

Price is really low but the catch is that the top handles are dented/warped. I just need to find a 2008 Mac Pro case and swap everything and make it look nice. Only thing thats missing is the Wifi card, but thats ok, its only a $30 part.

What do you guys think of the deal?

NOTNlCE · Feb 3, 2014

energyboy said:
Well! I got a new desktop!

I found a guy that sold me a 2008 Mac Pro, 2.8ghz 8 core, 16gb RAM, 500gb & 1TB HDD, Nvidia GT 120 and two superdrives for $550.

It's already about 10-15% faster than my MacBook Pro as I ran a few tests (Geekbench and Cinebench).

Price is really low but the catch is that the top handles are dented/warped. I just need to find a 2008 Mac Pro case and swap everything and make it look nice. Only thing thats missing is the Wifi card, but thats ok, its only a $30 part.

What do you guys think of the deal?

I think that was about a fair price for that machine. 16GB of FB-DIMMs is hefty to purchase if you needed to get a RAM upgrade on a lower end machine. Probably going to need a new video card, so budget yourself that accordingly. The GT 120 is much better than the 2600 XT, but they're both nothing compared to a modern video card. I wouldn't even bother with a case swap, you could risk damaging something in the process.

Imo, that machine needs another $300 or so in upgrades to really shine, but with all the "issues" with PCIe SSDs in 3,1s, put your next upgrade budget into another video card. (Unless, of course, you don't need a better video card, but in my experience, 1080p video on an older video card offloads a lot on the processors.)

Congratulations on your new machine, I'm one of the few on the forums who still thinks the Socket 771 MPs are worth snatching up.

energyboy · Feb 4, 2014

NOTNlCE said:
I think that was about a fair price for that machine. 16GB of FB-DIMMs is hefty to purchase if you needed to get a RAM upgrade on a lower end machine. Probably going to need a new video card, so budget yourself that accordingly. The GT 120 is much better than the 2600 XT, but they're both nothing compared to a modern video card. I wouldn't even bother with a case swap, you could risk damaging something in the process.

Imo, that machine needs another $300 or so in upgrades to really shine, but with all the "issues" with PCIe SSDs in 3,1s, put your next upgrade budget into another video card. (Unless, of course, you don't need a better video card, but in my experience, 1080p video on an older video card offloads a lot on the processors.)

Congratulations on your new machine, I'm one of the few on the forums who still thinks the Socket 771 MPs are worth snatching up.

Thanks man.

Essentially I really need a wifi card right now, I can't even boot into the Mavericks installer from a USB drive. When I try to run the installed from Mountain Lion, it says I need a network connection.

GPU will be replaced, that's guaranteed. An SSD will also be added, most likely something minimal like a 120gb drive, basically just as a boot drive.

Since I have a laptop that I use frequently, I need to figure out how to share my files but have them all located in one spot. I may just get a 2TB external 2.5" drive (USB) and store everything on and connect it to the Mac Pro or MacBook Pro whenever I do any kind of work and just continue from where I left off rather than having duplicates on one and the other.

wildmac · Feb 4, 2014

Since my nMP order still hasn't processed, I'm still debating myself.

I was looking Hackintosh, but I'd still wind up spending $2k for a system, and then the concerns about long-term upkeep have me wondering.

Instead, I've been rethinking getting a 4,1 or 5,1 system for between $1k-$2k, depending on how it's equipped.

It appears the real downside is the PCIe speeds, but that might not be a deal-breaker for me.

It's either the cMP, or $4500 for a nMP and some external storage. Hmm...

NOTNlCE · Feb 4, 2014

To be quite honest, the upkeep really isn't that much. Just wait a few days and do some reading to make sure updates won't completely destroy your system. If you have recommended hardware, Hackintosh systems function almost exactly as well as "real Mac" computers.

EDIT:

You could take the best of both worlds - a forum member just recently acquired an HP Z800 Workstation and successfully Hackintoshed that, reportedly paid about 850 pounds for a 12 core machine.

JaguarGod · Feb 4, 2014

NOTNlCE said:
To be quite honest, the upkeep really isn't that much. Just wait a few days and do some reading to make sure updates won't completely destroy your system. If you have recommended hardware, Hackintosh systems function almost exactly as well as "real Mac" computers.

I have been building Hackintosh computers since 10.5.8 and they have become so much easier to build and reliable to run and maintain. I am currently running a build with the i7 4770K, 32GB RAM and two GTX 760's running three monitors with Mavericks (the multi-monitor support is a bit strange in Mavericks IMO). This build is by far the best build to date and the most reliable. After updating to 10.9.1, I only had to reinstall the audio and ethernet kexts with multibeast and everything was good to go.

MxDaviD · Feb 5, 2014

Hello guys,i am considering
buying a hackintosh,now i have imac 21.5 base model (2011),does macintosh work ok? if i take i7 and gtx nvidia 760 how would it work? How is it with the system updates?
PS:sorry for my bad english

Anim · Feb 5, 2014

Urrr, I wish Hackintosh'ing was as simple as people make out.

Spent 3 hours with a mate on Skype last night trying to get his almost perfect mavericks install completed. The only thing that doesn't work for him is the OSX App Store, everything else (Safari, iTunes, Apple ID etc) is fine but without the app store it is quite limited if that is the only place his apps live.

Why on earth does the App Store have to work different to the iTunes Store, it is like Apple have made it deliberately difficult for anything other than genuine Mac products to work.

The App Store login message was something like "This computer is not recognised, call apple blah blah" which we think is down to the App Store not being able to detect his working ethernet connection even though it works fine.

I think we did around 12 different "known" fixes to this problem (plastered all over the net) like deleting plists, editing boot plists, messing with ethernet files, startup parameters, Apple ID re-creation, new user accounts all to no avail. At one point I said "Ok this next supposed fix could trash your entire install" his reply was "Thats fine, I've had to re-install several times anyway, it doesn't take long"

So, to get something as simple as the App Store logging in, I left him with this video to work through:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niU8tsQ_S8o
Will check up on him later today and see if that fixed it.

He actually loves tinkering with this, not being the most technical before he started he now knows a ton more about how Mac's work under the hood. I was definitely impressed by his new found knowledge.

Summary
I would say a Hackintosh is a fun project and if your lucky you can have a great system until Apple release a new OSX version which you need.
For serious use, as in everyday business though you couldn't rely on it 100% because when something simple goes wrong the solution is often delving into the OS and editing system files which can screw up the whole boot process leaving you with the only option of a re-install, thats just a hassle to most.

Anim

Scissors · Feb 5, 2014

I learnt a huge amount from setting up various hackintoshes over the years, starting with a first generation Core i7-920, then a Samsung NC10 notebook followed by a few Gigabyte motherboard based systems using the forums over at Tonymac.

I've spent weeks of my life getting things working well and have no regrets about that investment of time. The result was machines which were 99.99% stable and which caused me to have a constant worry about "what if" the next minor or major revision of OSX doesn't work. This became an issue when I realised I no longer had time to deal with problems as they arose and didn't want to take the risk of going ahead with an update without blocking out time to deal with the potential consequences.

I'm aware that the set-up process for certain hardware is extremely straightforward now and recent updates have caused few or no problems at all. However, I've reached a point in my life where I don't want to worry about stability or updates at all, and I'm prepared to pay for a real Mac to avoid those. I've turned my inquisitive nature to learning linux in much more detail, which I think I can say has been more rewarding than fiddling with OSX.

Perhaps if I'd started building a hackintosh more recently, I wouldn't have these fears and would still be using it now.

I know, cool story bro.

ibgb · Feb 5, 2014

Anim said:
Urrr, I wish Hackintosh'ing was as simple as people make out.

Anim

Mac address map to Apple MAC address?

Anim · Feb 5, 2014

ibgb said:
Mac address map to Apple MAC address?

Will check with him later on that one, thanks.

teeck2000 · Feb 5, 2014

I moved from a 2008 MacPro to a hackintosh. My first hack was working 100% great with a gigabyte motherboard and i3 proc. But all the other ones always had an issue with one thing or another. The raw performance was good but some software ran worse cause some boards didn't have power management working 100%. The amount of time and money I spent tinkering and switching boards and hardware was more than the price I would of paid for a real mac. I would always have random freezes on some boards and usb dying out. I have used gigabyte, asus, msi motherboards. Never got 100% working hackintosh after my first.

The other issue is that these motherboards are quite finicky, not even in regard to running os x. They all have weird issues that sometimes get fixed with bios updates or not. By far the most stable motherboard was asus, but not everything was working in OS X. of course this has been my experience only.

It's very tempting to go hack since apple's limitations on hardware choices and videocards, which has certainly improved greatly in the last few years. In the end I purchased a 5,1 quad and upgraded to a hex. Sold my hack and it's sooo much better and less headache.

ugahairydawgs · Feb 5, 2014

Anim said:
Why on earth does the App Store have to work different to the iTunes Store, it is like Apple have made it deliberately difficult for anything other than genuine Mac products to work.

Of course they did. Apple is a hardware company. They want you to buy the hardware from them.

If they made it easy-ish to build out a Hackintosh what would the motivation for people building high end systems be to buy from Apple?

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