Cheap Hackintosh with Old Parts

So I've been wanting to get a Mac Desktop, but not wanting to spend the money on an iMac had me looking at Mac minis, and for the price, they're pretty much completely outdated.

I have an older PC that I used as a DVR, but since I don't have cable anymore, it sits unused.

I'm trying to do this as cheap as possible, so less than $350 is ideal. I'm also wanting it to work as well as possible, with little tinkering.

Here's what I have so far:

• Gigabyte GA-H81M-H mobo
• Corsair CX430M PSU
• (1) G.Skill NS Series 4GB DDR3 1333
• Crucial M500 120GB SSD
• 2TB Seagate HDD (Can't recall the exact one, but it shouldn't matter, right?)
• Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 3000 v2
• Logitech Performance MX mouse.

Here's what I'm eyeballing:

• Intel i5-4690s
• Another 4GB stick of the G.Skill RAM (If it works, not sure what makes RAM Hackintosh compatible)
• Rosewill RNX-AC1900PCE

If the RAM doesn't work, I'll either do 8GB or 16GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600.

This will likely replace or be used in tandem with my Windows machine but it'll be typical school work use, streaming videos, some Light Room usage (light, as in >12 times a year), etc.

I'm also hoping that I can get Handoff and iMessage working, as I do have an iPhone and I'd really like to use those features. I'm sure there are software hacks that will enable them, but none of the hardware listed should prevent it from working I hope?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Your parts sound good, they should work fine together. Make sure the additional G.Skill RAM you buy is an exact match for the one you already have.

The i5-4690S is a good processor - very fast, but with a lower TDP of 65W. I have the i5-4590S myself.

I think (but I'm not sure) that getting Handoff and iMessage working with a non-Apple Wifi card is an exercise in futility; you'll have a much easier time of it if you get one of the BCM94360CD cards on a PCIe adapter instead of the Rosewill card you mentioned. Then everything pretty much works OOB. Here's a thread with loads of info on that option: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/c...ini-cards-pcie-and-mini-pcie-adapters.147734/.

Thanks for the reply.

Since it looks like Apple has all but forgotten the Mac mini, if I want to run OSX on the cheap with modern hardware, a hackintosh is my only option.

Thanks for the tip on the wireless card, I'll look into that. As for the RAM, since I bought it on Newegg and they still sell it, I can buy another stick again no problem.

After doing a bit of research, and in the effort to save some money I've been looking at downgrading the CPU to an i5-4440s. Benchmarks have it outperforming my current AMD a10-6790k CPU, and with much lower power consumption.

However, a cursory search of Google only shows results of hackintosh rigs running the 4440 (non-s). I doubt it would be a problem since the two share the same micro-architecture, one is just rated at a lower TDP (and base clock which I'm not concerned about). I just want to make sure before I go ahead and order some hardware.

No problem using the I5-4440s.

Ive just picked up a H97M-D3H & i3 4360 which is pretty cheap on amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J2LIFDC/?tag=tonymacx86-21

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K872FB2/?tag=tonymacx86-21

trs96 said:

No problem using the I5-4440s.

Click to expand...

Cool! Thanks for the help.

VoiletDragon said:

Ive just picked up a H97M-D3H & i3 4360 which is pretty cheap on amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J2LIFDC/?tag=tonymacx86-21

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K872FB2/?tag=tonymacx86-21

Click to expand...

I did take a look at the i3-4370 as an even lower power option, but its only around 30-35 cheaper than the i5-4440s. The i3 seems to do better in single core benchmarks (likely due to the higher clock speed), but the i5 is better in multi-core performance. I think the i5 is a better all around CPU, but thank you for the suggestion!

bass_lover1 said:

I did take a look at the i3-4370 as an even lower power option, but its only around 30-35 cheaper than the i5-4440s. The i3 seems to do better in single core benchmarks (likely due to the higher clock speed), but the i5 is better in multi-core performance. I think the i5 is a better all around CPU, but thank you for the suggestion!

Click to expand...

The i5 is going to be fast than a i3 of course. i3 is only a Dual Core Chip but its all i need for what I'm going to use this hack for. It all depends on what you're going to be using this new build for.

VoiletDragon said:

The i5 is going to be fast than a i3 of course. i3 is only a Dual Core Chip but its all i need for what I'm going to use this hack for. It all depends on what you're going to be using this new build for.

Click to expand...

I doubt I'll use it for anything that would need the extra horsepower of the i5, but getting it now will at least prevent me from wanting to upgrade after a few months.