I've done pretty much everything
- good grades
- homework
- offer to pay for it
- offer to pay for some of it
- not nag my parents 24/7
- offer to do chores
- and pretty much everything else
So yeah please help me
My build roughly is £1500 (without monitor). My aim is to make a hackintosh of equal or more power for cheaper than a £3000 iMac. What's not to like.
I will use the computer for homework, 3d stuff and of course video games (the windows partition).
Basically I'm stuck and both my parents are psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychotherapists. My dad hates anything video games and thinks no matter what they are stupid.
How old are you? In all honesty, start with the college/career prospects that require a Mac. Tell your dad you want to be a software engineer and you want to build iPad and iPhone apps. Tell him it's your passion and show him all the relevant information related to that career (how much they make per year, the schools you would want to go to for it) don't even talk about the Mac. In fact, let the Mac be like, some obscure detail related to it.
Tell him a few app ideas that you have and bring up some success stories.
Tell him that you're also interested in building your own graphics for the applications because they have to look good.
Again. Do not, under any circumstances, bring up the need for a Mac. Focus on the career, the goal, the schools, the dreams. Show him that Android development is less than 1% as profitable as iOS development.
Don't bring up the Mac.
When he starts researching it, he will see that a Mac is the only way to go. The only way for his son to achieve his dream career, to succeed in the school he chooses, is to have a Mac. He might price around, might talk to your mom. Show him how disappointed you are that a Mac Pro is recommended and how much it costs. Tell him, "I don't want to burden you and mom with an expensive computer because all I'm going to use it for is programming." Then if you can get him to the buying phase, tell him that you found a site that encourages people to build their own Macs.
Tell him about the benefits: you'll build useful skills for yourself by assembling yourself. He'll save thousands because the parts are much cheaper than official Apple machines. You'll have 3-5 year warranties on all of the hardware. It'll last you until college. Tell him, "The cool thing about Mac OSX is that it's not full of viruses or stupid games like Windows is." Use the lack of popular games on Mac as evidence that you won't be distracted on a home-built Mac.
Make the Hackintosh look like some kind of cost saving alternative that will help HIM as a parent to fund your future. Don't ever use the word gaming and don't buy a GPU that has the word gaming on it. Stick to boards like the D3H or some other UD3P board.