Advice On New Purchase

[notsofast]

I am new to the Hackintosh environment, I am looking at the following components please let me know if this will be an easy install.

I am also looking to be able to have the sleep work.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V
Processor: I7-870 or I7-950
Memory - 4GB (open to Brand)
Case - Open to case
Power supply - Open to PS

What Video Card would you recommend?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, also if I were to go this route what install instructions would I find.

Please feel free to give me your opinion.

I am hoping to build this fairly cheap if possible

 

[slowjin]

If you are going for a budget, I would recommend a Core i3 processor. Core i7 950 is 1366, so will not work on the mobo you listed.

Depending on your needs, there is a wide range of full compatible video cards. I personally have a 9500GT and it worked right OOB.

Cooler Master 341 case at around $40 seems to be a nice choice and unless you plan to upgrade your rig soon, Cooler Master Elite 460W at $30 is quiet and pretty stable based on my experience.

Good luck!

 

[notsofast]

Will that board work?

Where is a good priced I3? Newegg?

 

[Stork]

Recommend you take a look at Tony's recommended builds. It will help ensure your success.

Building a CustoMac: Three Complete PC Builds for OS X

Be advised that the P & X series of Intel compatible motherboards (MB) are better for overclocking (OC) than the H series. However, there's not much choice in MBs that use the Intel i3/5/7 LGA 1156 (socket) CPUs. (Choice is limited since the new Intel compatible Sandy Bridge MBs and CPUs are now coming into the inventory.) The X58A series of MBs is the top of the line and is for i7 LGA 1336 socket CPUs (expensive). The P55A & P55M boards use the LGA 1156 socket Intel i3, i5 & i7 (<900 models) and are more affordable.

If you can wait until Apple starts selling the Sandy Bridge models, which will be probably in late Spring/early Summer this year, you can take advantage of the newer technology as Apple will update the OS X to use that technology.

 

[slowjin]

Will that board work?

Where is a good priced I3? Newegg?

The board will work with core i3 processors, and as a matter of fact there are multiple posting of similar budget builds in this forum.

Between newegg, tigerdirect, amazon and microcenter, you should be able to find i3's around $100 - $120 range when I last searched.

However, if you ever plan to do something more serious, take note of Stork's reco's, as the budget build will be just that, a lower-end everyday, surf the web, office/iLife, etc.