Budget System Build + Newbie Questions

[Alika]

Hello! I try to contextualize my situation, so feel free to scroll to "Possible Build" if you don't care for the context of my situation and want to just give me advice on the build I am thinking about. I also have a few potentially newbie questions at the very bottom.

Quite new to this whole Hackintosh scene, but I have definitely done a hefty amount of research over the past few weeks on the subject, so I have built up the confidence to building my own. I have some experience with building PC's because all of my friends have their own gaming PC's, and we would have "building" parties (nerdy, I know); however, I have never built my own simply because I don't have the time to game like they do at this point in my life, so I am relatively unfamiliar with ordering the correct parts, so try to bear with me.

Here's the situation: The computer will be for my parents, and I want to get them a computer that runs a Mac OS since their past computers have all been Macs. In addition, their entire house is Apple-based (Apple TV, iMac, iPads, iPhones...yeah, Apple owns us), but I don't want them to have to spend the money on an expensive Apple product. (Note: I am aware that Hackintosh can be buggy, but I live near my parents and will be their tech-help person if a bug comes up). They do mostly surface things with their computers: Word processing, watching Youtube/Netflix, Airplay, TurboTax, listening to iTunes, basic iMovie video editing. So I am trying to do a borderline budget build that can do all of those things relatively well since my mom is very impatient when it comes to loading times (She has used an iMac 2008 for the past 9-10 years, I don't blame her).

Possible Build:
Note: All parts are pulled from this site's "Buyer's Guide", and most are from "CustoMac Budget ATX".

+ Crucial Budget (8GB) RAM
+ Core i5-6400
+ Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3
+ EVGA GT 740 SC (single slot)
+ Crucial MX300 525GB
+ Corsair CS 550 Watt
+ Corsair Carbide 300R
+ TP-Link PCI Express Wifi Adapter 802.11N (N900)

Questions:
1) I may want to expand/upgrade later if my parents build a makeshift music studio in their house within the next year or two. Is this a build that has the potential to be upgraded easily? Or would it just be best to build a basic one now like the customac mini and make an entirely new build if my parents want the upgrade?
2) If I am going to have the internet connection linked through an ethernet cord, do I need the Wifi Adapter if I want to AirPlay from this Hackintosh to an Apple TV?
3) Do I even need a dedicated graphics card if the computer won't be used for anything more than the tasks above since the Core i5-6400 has Intel HD Graphics 530 already?

Thanks so much if you managed to read this far, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Adrian B]

1) I may want to expand/upgrade later if my parents build a makeshift music studio in their house within the next year or two. Is this a build that has the potential to be upgraded easily? Or would it just be best to build a basic one now like the customac mini and make an entirely new build if my parents want the upgrade?

It would be easy to add more RAM - I would recommend that you start with 16GB if you can afford it today. If your parents wish to uase theis machine for music production then an i7 processor upgrade if it was required in the future would be possible. An additional HDD for storage or another SSD for using as a dedicated drive for music projects would be easy.

2) If I am going to have the internet connection linked through an ethernet cord, do I need the Wifi Adapter if I want to AirPlay from this Hackintosh to an Apple TV?

You can use AirPlay over the network by ethernet but there are some different wifi/BT cards that can be used for Apples Handoff and continuety features if your parents were interested. Otherwise you are fine just using ethernet.

3) Do I even need a dedicated graphics card if the computer won't be used for anything more than the tasks above since the Core i5-6400 has Intel HD Graphics 530 already?

It will not do any harm to use an additional GPU as this will help with the video editing as the GPU should take some of the processing tasks to make the process quicker. Onboard graphics also require the use of part of the RAM that you have.

We have a dedicated music section that is worth exploring. I do not know at what level of music production that your parents are likely to consider but there is good advice to be had from the resident mod - @ BoomR
https://www.tonymacx86.com/categories/system-usage.19/

Good luck

 

[Alika]

It would be easy to add more RAM - I would recommend that you start with 16GB if you can afford it today. If your parents wish to uase theis machine for music production then an i7 processor upgrade if it was required in the future would be possible. An additional HDD for storage or another SSD for using as a dedicated drive for music projects would be easy.



You can use AirPlay over the network by ethernet but there are some different wifi/BT cards that can be used for Apples Handoff and continuety features if your parents were interested. Otherwise you are fine just using ethernet.


It will not do any harm to use an additional GPU as this will help with the video editing as the GPU should take some of the processing tasks to make the process quicker. Onboard graphics also require the use of part of the RAM that you have.

We have a dedicated music section that is worth exploring. I do not know at what level of music production that your parents are likely to consider but there is good advice to be had from the resident mod - @ BoomR
https://www.tonymacx86.com/categories/system-usage.19/

Good luck

Thanks for the reply! Your info helped me narrow down some decisions. It seems like getting the 16GB RAM, wifi/BT card, and GPU makes sense. Thanks again!