The Merged Hackintosh Thread

[ease718]

i got everything at newegg.
i got my info at insanelymac dot com

mobo = gigabyte p35 D3SL =$80
processor = core 2 quad 2.4GHz (oc'ed at 3.6GHz) = $279
ram = 4-4-4-12 ddr800 (runs fine at 1000MHz) = $142
hd = WD Raptor 10000 rpm system drive = $89
processor fan = freezerpro7 = $11
firewire card = $14
geforce 7300 turbo graphic card = $89

os10.5 = $129

satisfaction = priceless
i enjoy this computer more than any of the numerous real macs i have owned.

one of the most reliable macs i have owned, it just works and its stinking fast. infact its faster than apples quads.

 

[aaronw1986]

You can't call it a mac. It just runs OS X against the EULA. Why would you post that here? Are you looking to get flamed?

 

[Dimwhit]

Very nice!

 

[dukebound85]

You can't call it a mac. It just runs OS X against the EULA. Why would you post that here? Are you looking to get flamed?

i think its cool

whats wrong with him posting about this? the eula? then better shut down iphone hacks forum....

 

[remmy]

Cool

What case to house everything?

 

[ease718]

i started this thread so other people could also build their own hardware for running osx.

i have great satisfaction from doing this and want to share some info of my system.

this is the most reliable computer i have ever owned. i have owned apple computers from before they even made a mac. i am sick of being ripped off.
look at the other topics in this forum, a lot of people have problems with 'real' macs.

i encourage all interested to go to insanely mac dot com and roll their own, its a great experience.

i used a case and powersupply off a pc i had built for me a few years back for running autocad

this hacintosh is the first time i have 'built' a computer myself

 

[ease718]

You can't call it a mac. It just runs OS X against the EULA. Why would you post that here? Are you looking to get flamed?

go ahead flame away

 

[trip1ex]

Nice, but using the "most reliable" tag is pretty ridiculous since you just built the thing.

I was thinking about building one, but if I lost some of my data like my photos etc because of the hackintosh then my wife would kill me. Who knows what updates are going to do to it. And you have to wait for the hackers to issue a patch to Leopard. Besides I actually much prefer the iMac all in one.

Maybe as a second Mac for editing and storing video since I could just pop hard drives in and out and use Quad Core cpus. Then I could also use it as a Windows machine for gaming, but I game less and less so ....

 

[Infrared]

i got everything at newegg.
i got my info at insanelymac dot com

mobo = gigabyte p35 D3SL =$80
processor = core 2 quad 2.4GHz (oc'ed at 3.6GHz) = $279
ram = 4-4-4-12 ddr800 (runs fine at 1000MHz) = $142
hd = WD Raptor 10000 rpm system drive = $89
processor fan = freezerpro7 = $11
firewire card = $14
geforce 7300 turbo graphic card = $89

os10.5 = $129

satisfaction = priceless
i enjoy this computer more than any of the numerous real macs i have owned.

one of the most reliable macs i have owned,

How long have you had it?

Reliability can only be measured over a reasonable period of time.

 

[ease718]

Nice, but using the "most reliable" tag is pretty ridiculous since you just built the thing.

it is actually the most reliable mac i have used. i know this sounds crazy but it is true. i didnt just build it last week, i've had it for well over six months on 24/7, it is just very stable. i run parallels with xp a lot of the time also, works great.

i'm a designer so i have been using macs since my first se20. you dont want to know what i went through with apple customer service and my last alum powerbook lol

there is little learning to do in the setup. i also keep a system backup 'just in case' but no problems at all so far.

 

[stomer]

i got everything at newegg.
i got my info at insanelymac dot com

What about updates? Don't you have to be careful not to bork your install?

 

[johny5]

The whole point of me jumping onto the apple bandwagon was for dedicated software created on specific hardware, less chance of things going wrong, hanging, crashing whatever you call it.

I have a few old pc bits kicking around but I just cant get my head around using a "hacked" OS on knocked together varied hardware. Surely this opens up chance of things not going too well certainly not as well as dedicated hardware).

anyway that's my 2 cents, I daren't try it as I said I don't want to go back down that world that I came from but I love tinkering around with things like this anyway. If I want more OSX in the house then I will purchase Apple.

But well done on the purchase and I hope it all goes well for you keep us updated on here.

 

[ease718]

What about updates? Don't you have to be careful not to bork your install?

yes i always check on the insanelymac forums BEFORE i do any software updates.

the osx hacked install disks are getting very good now, very easy also. I still bought leopard though i used the kalyway installer. osx4all is also good i have heard.

i did build my hardware to be as compatible as possible, however anything with SSE2 or SSE3 should work.

coreduos work great.
the cheapest core duo is like $80 and can be oc'ed to 3.0GHz add a cheap $50 gigabyte mb and $60ram and you can use your old hd and case. real cheap and plenty quick.

 

[tmelvin]

The whole point of me jumping onto the apple bandwagon was for dedicated software created on specific hardware, less chance of things going wrong, hanging, crashing whatever you call it.

I have a few old pc bits kicking around but I just cant get my head around using a "hacked" OS on knocked together varied hardware. Surely this opens up chance of things not going too well certainly not as well as dedicated hardware).

anyway that's my 2 cents, I daren't try it as I said I don't want to go back down that world that I came from but I love tinkering around with things like this anyway. If I want more OSX in the house then I will purchase Apple.

But well done on the purchase and I hope it all goes well for you keep us updated on here.

I'm with you. Use to like tinkering with that stuff. Call it age, laziness, all of the above...but I like going to the Apple store or online. Buy it, take it home, unbox a few things, plug it in and wala! The idea of having to go to a web site, download this and that, untar this/that, recompile, blah blah....eck!

 

[Mackilroy]

The only part I don't like about your hackintosh is the 7300.

Though you might not be a gamer for all I know.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Wow, a Geekbench of 7100. That's pretty impressive, considering my Mac Pro at stock scored 7325. After upgrading to 6 gigs of RAM and throwing in a Raptor my score is now 7793.

Congrats on your Hackintosh. I had a Tiger Hackintosh on my older AMD hardware. I bought the Mac Pro because I always wanted one, and I didn't feel like tinkering this time around. I'd been building my own PC's for years and just didn't want the hassle this time around.

The OSX86 scene has come a long way over the last year.

 

[tom.]

i have owned apple computers from before they even made a mac. i am sick of being ripped off.
look at the other topics in this forum, a lot of people have problems with 'real' macs.

People seem to persist to push this myth of macs being overpriced. You get a fully built high-spec (providing you buy at the right time, which most do), with customer service, optional support and now upgradeability. I love having a place to take my machines when something goes wrong, not like Dell or PC equivalents. You get a hell of a lot for your money when buying a mac. I built PC's for years, but ever since i made the move its nice to relax, upgrade when you need to, and have the ability to dump your problems on someone else and play ignorant. Every little touch is worth something, and you don't get that from a newegg bargain purchase.

Also, if you haven't noticed, this is a 'mac' forum so people with problems are going to come here. Come back when you have some statistics on the number of macs sold over a 12 month period, against the number of problem posts here. Go to any manufacturers website or related forum and it will be rammed full of people with problems. That claim is completely irrational and unjustified.

However, I do think what OP has managed is cool, if it gets people using OS X and compatible apps then I don't see a problem. The fact he purchased OS X (supposedly ;P) is impressive when it's so easily available on usenet and P2P. Apple is not just about the hardware and I love to see people using OS X regardless of how they've done it, so well done!

 

[ease718]

i agree a faster graphics card would be great if i played directx10 games.

this is the gigabyte 'turbo' oc version which is meant to be about 35% faster than the 7300 in the powermac. works great though. when i built this the directx10 cards 8600 8800 where still very very expensive.

i have tried CD4 and bioshock when i boot from the xp drive, worked great though they are dx9 games.

i have no gripes with those people who would rather just buy a 'real' mac. for me finances where a major motivator, and i didnt have a problem with the fiddle factor lol. if i had more $$ and less time i would buy apple.

 

[ease718]

People seem to persist to push this myth of macs being overpriced.

its just that $700 for 4gb of slow ram is way overpriced when you can build a system for that

 

[FireSlash]

FB-DIMMs are much more reliable than standard DDR. While DDR800 is faster in some cases, it is much more prone to failure and has nothing viable in fault tolerance. If DDR is bad, you'll know because suddenly your PC is crashing, doing weird things, or corrupting your data.
You've overclocked the bloody hell out of your CPU and ram. They might appear stable, but can these settings be maintained during long (see: 4+ hrs) of abuse? I can see ambient temps topping out and causing the ram to overheat. On the subject, the D3SL has an ambiently cooled northbrige, and you've got that system clocked pretty hard. I know the Ga-K8N Ultra-9 I run for gaming gets over 160F on it's much larger passive cooler, and the sucker isn't even OC'd. We won't bring in the fact that you're using non-apple hardware and most likely apple drivers interfacing with hardware they were never designed for.

Other than that, not bad. I can't stand hackintosh though, had way too many problems getting updates to install, things to not crash, and getting a kernel that would do simple things like shut down properly.

 

[tom.]

its just that $700 for 4gb of slow ram is way overpriced when you can build a system for that

Granted, Ram and HD direct from Apple is over-priced, however you do have the ability to add your own, and it is much cheaper elsewhere. Machines on the whole, are good value for money.

 

[aaronw1986]

Granted, Ram and HD direct from Apple is over-priced, however you do have the ability to add your own, and it is much cheaper elsewhere. Machines on the whole, are good value for money.

Though still expensive for RAM, you can get 4GB for $380 from OWC. Keep in mind Mac Pro RAM is special.

 

[ease718]

my machine has run 24/7 for over six months. i only have one case fan and a fan-less graphics card. no overheating so far. the q6600 G0 stepping is great with regards to heat. i my run ram @1000MHz and like you said if there is ram problem youll know fast

 

[ease718]

Though still expensive for RAM, you can get 4GB for $380 from OWC. Keep in mind Mac Pro RAM is special.

even 380 is expensive. i want ddr3 lol.

 

[FireSlash]

my machine has run 24/7 for over six months. i only have one case fan and a fan-less graphics card. no overheating so far. the q6600 G0 stepping is great with regards to heat. i my run ram @1000MHz and like you said if there is ram problem youll know fast

Wow. +1 for danger will robinson.

DDR doesn't get much airflow short of the bank closest to your CPU fan. The NB only has the draw from your rear exhaust, and the video card is the same. If you ran this system at 100% for extended periods of times, thermal overload would win.

I hope you're at least running a temp monitor.