Contribute
Register

Cheapest & Smallest Hackintosh Build?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Quinquangular

Quinquangular

Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
18
Mac
  1. 0
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. 0
Hi! Been kinda new to the Hackintosh community. I've done a Hackintosh dual boot desktop before and experimented on a laptop.

Anyways, college is coming around, and I'm getting a Macbook for my bring-to-class laptop.
I want something in my dorm I can connect an external monitor to and a very small Hackintosh sounds like something I want to do!

I see from the Buyer's Guide the CustoMac Mini is shown. Looks great.
I want something like this, but I read about the incompatibility of the Intel m.2 card. Are there any builds very similar to the size & price of the CustoMac Mini but with 100% compatibility so I can buy the parts straight from Amazon and build it? If possible?
The bluetooth/wifi card I see from the thread was about $130 on Amazon! I don't think I can do that.
 
Quinquangular said:
Hi! Been kinda new to the Hackintosh community. I've done a Hackintosh dual boot desktop before and experimented on a laptop.

Anyways, college is coming around, and I'm getting a Macbook for my bring-to-class laptop.
I want something in my dorm I can connect an external monitor to and a very small Hackintosh sounds like something I want to do!

I see from the Buyer's Guide the CustoMac Mini is shown. Looks great.
I want something like this, but I read about the incompatibility of the Intel m.2 card. Are there any builds very similar to the size & price of the CustoMac Mini but with 100% compatibility so I can buy the parts straight from Amazon and build it? If possible?
The bluetooth/wifi card I see from the thread was about $130 on Amazon! I don't think I can do that.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that cheapest and smallest are not always the same thing. MiniITX motherboards can often cost more than a comparable MicroATX or ATX board; it comes down to which is more important to you, size or cost. And you might be able to get a PCIe solution for the Wifi/BT card that's less expensive than the M.2 card, and with a MicroATX board you'll have more than one PCIe slot to work with.
 
My "Daily Driver"
Z370M Pro4 |  i7 8700 |  Radeon Other
Partner's Hack
Z370M Pro4 |  i5 8400 |  HD 630
Quinquangular said:
The bluetooth/wifi card I see from the thread was about $130 on Amazon! I don't think I can do that.
Click to expand...
Here is a cheaper wifi card on amazon. I purchased this and a CSR 4.0 bluetooth dongle on ebay, from China, for under 10 USD. No handoff/continuity with these.

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 06.14.46.png
 
Last edited:
Quinquangular said:
Hi! Been kinda new to the Hackintosh community. I've done a Hackintosh dual boot desktop before and experimented on a laptop.

Anyways, college is coming around, and I'm getting a Macbook for my bring-to-class laptop.
I want something in my dorm I can connect an external monitor to and a very small Hackintosh sounds like something I want to do!

I see from the Buyer's Guide the CustoMac Mini is shown. Looks great.
I want something like this, but I read about the incompatibility of the Intel m.2 card. Are there any builds very similar to the size & price of the CustoMac Mini but with 100% compatibility so I can buy the parts straight from Amazon and build it? If possible?
The bluetooth/wifi card I see from the thread was about $130 on Amazon! I don't think I can do that.
Click to expand...

Desktop: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...hine-hp-elite-8300-sff-i7-3770-gt-630.199712/
Laptop: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...book-using-clover-uefi-hotpatch-10-11.189416/

Checkout my signature for both.
 
nobodynose said:
Keep in mind that cheapest and smallest are not always the same thing. MiniITX motherboards can often cost more than a comparable MicroATX or ATX board; it comes down to which is more important to you, size or cost. And you might be able to get a PCIe solution for the Wifi/BT card that's less expensive than the M.2 card, and with a MicroATX board you'll have more than one PCIe slot to work with.
Click to expand...
Ah that is true. I care more about the smallest size than the price I suppose. But I do want something as cheap as possible yet as small as possible so I can bring it freely home and to college.
 
Quinquangular said:
I want handoff/continuity support, so what would be the best way to get it with a limited size mITX mobo?
Click to expand...
You can...

Get a wifi + bluetooth handoff capable card for the mini-PCI-E slot. The bluetooth on these will be USB.

Or...

1. Get a handoff-capable (AirPortBrcm4360 compatible) mini-PCI-E WIFI card.
2. Add a handoff-capable (Broadcom BT 4.0 LE) Bluetooth dongle. You can connect it internally if you want.

Source: this thread, read the OP a couple of times if you haven't already, see success others have reported with different hardware.
 
Quinquangular said:
Bit too big for my liking. I'm really wanting to build the CustoMac Mini in the buyer's guide but I just need 100% support for all native Mac features, which in this case it is lacking continuity and handoff.
Click to expand...

Here is the 8300 USDT version: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...14-mac-mini-which-is-the-better-value.219978/. You will never get 100% compatibility with Apple features, if you don't tinker around with stuff. That is why it is called hackintosh. If you don't want that, buy a Mac :D
So all you need is a compatible Wifi+BT card or USB dongle. That is all. The HP 8300 USDT is the closest (in size) as you can get to a Mac mini with the least effort.
Or you can try Intel NUC: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...efi-nuc7i7bnh-nuc7i5bnk-nuc7i3bnh-etc.221123/, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...clover-uefi-nuc5i5mhye-nuc5i3myhe-etc.209386/, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...g-clover-uefi-nuc6i5syk-nuc6i7kyk-etc.207848/ or Gigabyte BRIX: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...xi5h-4200-gb-bxi5-4570r-gb-bxi7-4770r.175815/
 
Quinquangular said:
Hi! Been kinda new to the Hackintosh community. I've done a Hackintosh dual boot desktop before and experimented on a laptop.

Anyways, college is coming around, and I'm getting a Macbook for my bring-to-class laptop.
I want something in my dorm I can connect an external monitor to and a very small Hackintosh sounds like something I want to do!

I see from the Buyer's Guide the CustoMac Mini is shown. Looks great.
I want something like this, but I read about the incompatibility of the Intel m.2 card. Are there any builds very similar to the size & price of the CustoMac Mini but with 100% compatibility so I can buy the parts straight from Amazon and build it? If possible?
The bluetooth/wifi card I see from the thread was about $130 on Amazon! I don't think I can do that.
Click to expand...

Hummm, well why not use an good display with your Apple laptop instead of trying to do a hackintosch?

good modding,
neil
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Copyright © 2010 - 2024 tonymacx86 LLC
Back
Top