2012 CustoMac Hackintosh Buyer’s Guide for Every Budget

[uptownnyc]

Tired of waiting? CustoMac has a part-by-part product selections for building your own Hackintosh at a variety of price-points.

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2012/08/building-customac-buyers-guide-2012.html

 

[snow blind]

I've been wanting to build an Ivy Bridge hack after selling my old MBP and returning my 2012 MBA. I'm stuck on an old HP mini hack of mine.... and it's comically slow.

I'm going to wait until October with the (hopefully) new iMacs before I go back to a big budget hackintosh.

 

[iMarvin]

Hope that someone can get this to work with a thunderbolt motherboard, maybe it already does?

What is the difference in the motherboards that enables them to use OSX and not?

Would be nice to use the iMac as a display.

 

[RustyMacVet]

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

 

[d0nK]

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

I put Mac OSX on one of my PC's 5 hard drives last July to see what it was like. I loved it and bought a 15" mbp in late 2011. My hackintosh is still my desktop though and runs perfectly fast and slick, just as well as my mbp... no difference. Stick that in ur fanboy pipe

Because of this, I also convinced my parents to buy themselves an iMac and they've been patiently waiting for the last 5 months for the refresh/update! Come on Apple, release the 2012 iMac!!!

 

[iSayuSay]

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

Or people who want a reasonably powerful machine, made of up-to-date components and pro-level flexibility. Not necessarily unable to afford a real Mac(Toys).

So .. Since Apple is too busy with their iToys and can't provide user's needs on their MacPro, why not build one on your own?

Some people makes me sick to my stomach telling people how lowlife Hackintosh are.. typical fanboys

 

[iMarvin]

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

Lighten up sunshine, it's only electronics were talking about.

 

[MagicThief83]

I'll give Apple until October to get their act together and give us what we demand! I've been getting by surprisingly well with my MBA, and it also handles gaming (albeit light) well. IF by October there is no 2012 iMac, then I may just go down the Hackintosh route.

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Stick that in ur fanboy pipe

Lol, there will be a lot of pipe sticking between Apple sticking us with their "great" products in the "pipeline" and Hackintosh users sticking it to Apple!

 

[-tWv-]

I followed this guide (the sandy bridge one) and everything went smoothly with my hackintosh, I would encourage anyone who is on the fence to just go for it. Building a computer is a great experience. It's also much easier to upgrade in a few years if it needs it.

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

Are you kidding me? I'm a diehard Mac user who wanted a powerful desktop that doesn't cost thousands of dollars. Since apple hasnt update the Mac Pro I decided to go the hackintosh route for the learning experience and the more affordable pricing. Even though it's not assembled by Apple, it's still a Mac.

 

[Djlild7hina]

Hope that someone can get this to work with a thunderbolt motherboard, maybe it already does?

What is the difference in the motherboards that enables them to use OSX and not?

Would be nice to use the iMac as a display.

z77x-up5 th or up4 works fine with thunderbolt. doesnt support hot plug atm but still works for now. Namely different chips for various parts on the board aren't compatible with OSX and different bios. Gigabyte is the best for hackintosh since the uefi allows for native support without the use of dsdt

 

[RustyMacVet]

Are you kidding me? I'm a diehard Mac user who wanted a powerful desktop that doesn't cost thousands of dollars. Since apple hasnt update the Mac Pro I decided to go the hackintosh route for the learning experience and the more affordable pricing. Even though it's not assembled by Apple, it's still a Mac.

I disagree. It's a PC with Mac OS X.

That's like, putting a Ford body on a Dodge frame and calling it a Ford.

 

[-tWv-]

I disagree. It's a PC with Mac OS X.

That's like, putting a Ford body on a Dodge frame and calling it a Ford.

It still functions exactly the same as a Mac, I see no difference besides the price tag. I do appreciate Apple's design approach and I love their products (have owned 3 Macbooks, an iPad, and 2 iPhones) but I just don't have the cash for an iMac or Mac Pro so I went the Hackintosh route.

 

[zarf2007]

It still functions exactly the same as a Mac, I see no difference besides the price tag. I do appreciate Apple's design approach and I love their products (have owned 3 Macbooks, an iPad, and 2 iPhones) but I just don't have the cash for an iMac or Mac Pro so I went the Hackintosh route.

but why settle for second best....don't you realise that the 'my pc spec's are better than yours' is the reason we dumped the PC with its **** windows OS for something which is a 1000 times better!!! is the hackintosh quiet? no.....does it look good? no.......is it just a bundle of parts thrown together? yes......

in short there is nothing good about it other than the ability to run OSX....which could be broken in the future......also resale value is crap so why bother.......I bet you're one of these people who looks at a guy driving a ferrari and says 'but my hyundi has a better subwoofer'......you miss the point entirely, and like the 1000s of other windows fools will never get why we buy the real thing....the experience....

 

[iSayuSay]

I disagree. It's a PC with Mac OS X.

That's like, putting a Ford body on a Dodge frame and calling it a Ford.

We all love Mac here. But some just can't justify to spend $2500 or more for a 2 years old box. See?

You were talking as if all people who build Hackintosh and custom PCs are poor college kids living in a basement slum, only able to afford $300 laptop and install OSX on it so they could call it "my Mac"?

No.. Building a PC can easily topple MacPro price tag if one really want to. Most people here build a hackintosh to match or exceed MacPro, not some mere Macbook or Minis. I could come up with $5000 box and hackintosh it. Obviously I'm capable enough to buy a real Macintoys.

But again, tell me one good reason why should one buy a RustyMacPro now?

 

[iSayuSay]

but why settle for second best....don't you realise that the 'my pc spec's are better than yours' is the reason we dumped the PC with its **** windows OS for something which is a 1000 times better!!! is the hackintosh quiet? no.....does it look good? no.......is it just a bundle of parts thrown together? yes......

There's no "settle for second best" by building a PC or Hckintsoh. Apple is clearly the largest mobile devices company in the world today. So why defend Apple from the truth?

• iMac is the one and only reasonable desktop solution from Apple, but limited indeed.
• Minis are weak pseudo-desktop solution.
• MacPro .. well as I said .. a RustyMacPro.

You see all but loser desktop products. While Macbook and iToys hordes are pretty decent powerhouse and money machine in their own class.

in short there is nothing good about it other than the ability to run OSX....which could be broken in the future......also resale value is crap so why bother.......I bet you're one of these people who looks at a guy driving a ferrari and says 'but my hyundi has a better subwoofer'......you miss the point entirely, and like the 1000s of other windows fools will never get why we buy the real thing....the experience....

And when a Mac breaks out of warranty/AppleCare, what would you do? Do you think Apple will replace all your parts for free?
It's the same pile of junk just as any broken PC is. Unless you pay (excessively) for Apple repairs, it will stay be it.

"When in doubt, use car analogy" -Classic MacBible Chp.101

Ferrari is one of a kind, build all components from the ground, in-site, strictly by Italian workers to show how proud they really are. Macs are not. They're just another made-in-China Foxconn mainboards, using Intel CPU and nVidia/Radeon GPUs, just like a lot of PC out there. It's built for the mass, cheap, but good looking.
So I'd say Mac is a nice looking Volkswagen.

The reason I'm still standing by Apple here only because OSX and excellent service from Genius. I owned 4 Macs so far and none of them have zero repair history. So no need for telling me that "Apple machines are much more durable than PC parts" crap. They simply don't.


"Spec doesn't matter" is another famous quote from MacBible. If you don't care about spec, why did you bought fully loaded iMac as in your sig.? So you bought it not because it's i7 and has SSD? You bought it not because it has 6970M so you can play decent games under BootCamp?

Apple is no longer a respectable real computer maker in my book. So as long as they don't get their s#1t together about desktop computers, I'll just buy their Mactoys and iToys from now on.
That's what they're good at and there's nothing wrong by admitting it.

 

[-tWv-]

but why settle for second best....don't you realise that the 'my pc spec's are better than yours' is the reason we dumped the PC with its **** windows OS for something which is a 1000 times better!!! is the hackintosh quiet? no.....does it look good? no.......is it just a bundle of parts thrown together? yes......

in short there is nothing good about it other than the ability to run OSX....which could be broken in the future......also resale value is crap so why bother.......I bet you're one of these people who looks at a guy driving a ferrari and says 'but my hyundi has a better subwoofer'......you miss the point entirely, and like the 1000s of other windows fools will never get why we buy the real thing....the experience....

Have you built a hackintosh? Mine is extremely quiet and I think it looks awesome. There are some very cool cases out there. No its not the metal Mac Pro case, but it still looks good, just a different look than a Mac Pro. I also disagree that it's a "bundle of parts." If you take apart a Mac Pro the parts are going to look very similar, they will just be apple branded and designed to fit into the Mac Pro case. If apple updates the Mac Pro line every year like it does for it's laptops, then buying one would actually make sense. Right now, it does not though because you are buying outdated hardware for a very high price tag.

 

[lannisters4life]

Hope that someone can get this to work with a thunderbolt motherboard, maybe it already does?

There are three thunderbolt motherboards out I think at the moment from Intel, Asus and Gigabyte, and I've read that someone has used the Gigabyte successfully with the Thunderbolt display. This was in Windows though.

I don't have much interest in my own Hackintosh, but will admit the project is quite interesting.

 

[zarf2007]

deleted other stuff as its worthless bile.....

"Spec doesn't matter" is another famous quote from MacBible. If you don't care about spec, why did you bought fully loaded iMac as in your sig.? So you bought it not because it's i7 and has SSD? You bought it not because it has 6970M so you can play decent games under BootCamp?

Maybe because I wanted the iMac that suited my needs....if I really wanted to max out on everything I would be upgrading a PC every six months and wasting my life dealing with **** issues such action brings.......unless you buy into the apple eco system, you will never understand, so just go and sit next you your sub par PC that sounds like an airplane taking off and looks like a donkeys balls....

Apple is no longer a respectable real computer maker in my book. So as long as they don't get their s#1t together about desktop computers, I'll just buy their Mactoys and iToys from now on.
That's what they're good at and there's nothing wrong by admitting it.

then go try windows 8 and stop whining here.....

----------

Have you built a hackintosh? Mine is extremely quiet and I think it looks awesome. There are some very cool cases out there. No its not the metal Mac Pro case, but it still looks good, just a different look than a Mac Pro. I also disagree that it's a "bundle of parts." If you take apart a Mac Pro the parts are going to look very similar, they will just be apple branded and designed to fit into the Mac Pro case. If apple updates the Mac Pro line every year like it does for it's laptops, then buying one would actually make sense. Right now, it does not though because you are buying outdated hardware for a very high price tag.

Yes I have, and no matter how much I tried to convince myself it wasnt as good as the real thing.......no amount of telling yourself with make it so.....I don't care if it has 16 cores it still sucks dead dogs in design, support and panache.....its just crap. Oh and goodluck with resale value as the minute you buy it its lost 50%....

 

[The-Pro]

Stopped reading this thread when noticing the usual mac vs pc arguments coming along. its rediculous and pointless to argue what is better here.

The link is very interesting and will probably come in very hand for a lot if people since it is lots of information in one place which you would otherwise have to search for for several hours.

 

[49JC]

Whats the difficulty level in building a hackintosh? Ive built PCs in the past but its been a long long while. I dont assume its just put all the parts together load OSX and boom everythings done. Or is it? LOL.

 

[juanm]

This topic makes me sick to my stomach. Hackintosh' are for PC users who want to tell people they own a Mac.

That's not true! Take me, for instance. I've had pretty much every kind of intel Mac, except for the Xserve, and I was thinking about replacing my aging iMac with a Mac Mini, but this machine would ideally be able to help with 3D rendering from time to time, and every bit of processing power is welcome in that case. Now, for the price of a Mac Mini, I can have a much better machine (and much more expandable, too!)

 

[-tWv-]

Whats the difficulty level in building a hackintosh? Ive built PCs in the past but its been a long long while. I dont assume its just put all the parts together load OSX and boom everythings done. Or is it? LOL.

It's almost that simple now. You build the hackintosh with compatible hardware, then install OSX via tonymacx86's Unibeast tool. This basically modifies the OSX installer to allow it to boot.

After installing, you use a different utility called Multibeast that installs kernel extensions to allow the hardware to work properly. This also installs a boot loader called Chimera which allow OSX to boot without the Unibeast USB. After that you are all done! Just search tonymacx86s forum to find the correct multibeast settings for your motherboard and hardware.

 

[iSayuSay]

deleted other stuff as its worthless bile.....



Maybe because I wanted the iMac that suited my needs....if I really wanted to max out on everything I would be upgrading a PC every six months and wasting my life dealing with **** issues such action brings.......unless you buy into the apple eco system, you will never understand, so just go and sit next you your sub par PC that sounds like an airplane taking off and looks like a donkeys balls....

then go try windows 8 and stop whining here.....

Yes I have, and no matter how much I tried to convince myself it wasnt as good as the real thing.......no amount of telling yourself with make it so.....I don't care if it has 16 cores it still sucks dead dogs in design, support and panache.....its just crap. Oh and goodluck with resale value as the minute you buy it its lost 50%....

I have an iMac, just like yours sans the SSD. It was great machine but it has its own problem. Thin and hot is not supposed to be tied together. Having a decent spec, I use it intensively and torture it as much. Ended up display and HDD got replaced within the first year.
Thanks for a great quality hardware.

So then I want a MacPro with Sandy Bridge E CPU and GTX680 series which actually works and reliably take a heavy stress. Not just a sexy tight embodiment with built in LCD.

Oh wait ... that's right, Apple don't give a rat ass about MacPro! The most reliable and only viable solution for desktop is the most moronic Mac out there! No Thunderbolt, no USB3.0, no proper spec bump.
And most importantly it costs the same as 2 years ago. Would you buy that shiny box?

Being a Mac fan is one thing, but spending money on the right hardware at the right time would make a lot of sense.
So excuse some of us for being a bit smarter, wiser and build our own blasphemy ugly cursed hckintosh.

 

[philipma1957]

My windows only pc has an
i7 3770t cpu = $310
a msi 7950 gpu after rebates 259
an intel dz77re thunder bolt mobo 275
4x 4gb = 16gb samsung ram stick 100
a crucial m4 512gb ssd 350
a seasonic x660 psu 119
a silverstone case 110
very quiet fans 40
proma tech cpu cooler 40
samsung blu ray 65
windows pro 7 140

cost 1808.

This is better then a 2012 hex core mac pro. for 1200 less. this will run windows 7 faster in every manner then a hex core mac pro. and it pulls under 200 watts when maxed out. any apple user that must have windows and many of us must have windows will build a piece a gear like this. then tag on a mac mini with bootcamp or another piece of mac gear with bootcamp.


For whatever the reason apple has hurt the desktop line.

 

[iSayuSay]

My windows only pc has an
i7 3770t cpu = $310
a msi 7950 gpu after rebates 259
an intel dz77re thunder bolt mobo 275
4x 4gb = 16gb samsung ram stick 100
a crucial m4 512gb ssd 350
a seasonic x660 psu 119
a silverstone case 110
very quiet fans 40
proma tech cpu cooler 40
samsung blu ray 65
windows pro 7 140

cost 1808.

This is better then a 2012 hex core mac pro. for 1200 less. this will run windows 7 faster in every manner then a hex core mac pro. and it pulls under 200 watts when maxed out. any apple user that must have windows and many of us must have windows will build a piece a gear like this. then tag on a mac mini with bootcamp or another piece of mac gear with bootcamp.


For whatever the reason apple has hurt the desktop line.

I believe there's no longer hexcore MP as of June 2012? It's either quad MP or dual hex MP now.
But yeah, I agree with building a PC being more reasonable/sensible choice nowadays. Apple just don't do a proper desktop anymore. People need to admit that.

Would do the same in the next 2 years or so. Unless Apple really come with a truly new MacPro.
But I hope they could do something about the price. For $2500 they should give us a hexcore CPU as minimum, not quadcore outdated Xeon crap.