trs96
Moderator
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2012
- Messages
- 25,351
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte B460M Aorus Pro
- CPU
- i5-10500
- Graphics
- RX 570
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
The HP 6200 Pro/8200 Elite SFF Desktop
HP 6200 Pro SFF
HP 6200 Pro w/ i5-2400 at Newegg
4GB of Ram and 500GB HDD
HP 8200 Elite SFF
HP 8200 Elite w/ I5-2400 at Newegg
HP 8200 Elite SFF with i5-2400
_____ HP 6200 Pro SFF
HP 6200 Pro w/ i5-2400 at Newegg
4GB of Ram and 500GB HDD
HP 8200 Elite SFF
HP 8200 Elite w/ I5-2400 at Newegg
HP 8200 Elite SFF with i5-2400
Go with the GT 710 if you don't need to install Snow Leopard first. It's a much newer card and will have support longer than the EN210. Both the GT 710 and EN210 are supported in High Sierra. You have the option of using the Asus EN 210 as a Snow Leopard compatible card. Then you can keep using it later for Sierra / High Sierra. Only the GT 710 works with Mojave and Catalina. Support for the older EN210 was dropped when Mojave was released.
Best Gaming Graphics Card Low Profile MSI GTX 1050 Ti 4GB at Amazon.com (Sierra or High Sierra Only)
Optional: Crucial MX500 SSD - Install Sierra/High Sierra on this SSD and set up a 2 drive dual boot system.
Alternate CPU Option: Core i3-2125 at Ebay
You can replace any other Intel Sandy Bridge CPU with one of these and then have supported onboard HD3000 graphics. Use a DP to HDMI or DP to DVI cable to use the onboard Intel Graphics. Make sure to inject Intel in your Clover config.plist. Note that HD3000 graphics are not supported in Mojave/Catalina.
Ram Upgrade Kit (2 x 4GB DDR3) Hynix 1333 MHz ram kit for $26
Do not purchase 3rd party 1333 MHz ram kits for your 8200. HP branded Samsung or Hynix are best. You can also use Nanya or Elpida ram. Make sure the timings match existing ram that comes with your HP desktop. It's always best to run your ram in dual channel mode. Watch the following video by Phil's Computer Lab to learn how to completely upgrade your HP 8200 SFF Desktop.
Comments
About 3.5 years ago there was an immensely popular thread on this site called "Building a Budget Haswell Build: How Low Can You Go?" tonymacx86 himself started this thread and christened it The CheapoMac build for those who wanted to own a hackintosh for a small amount of money. It demonstrated that you could build a Core i3 Haswell H81 system for about 350 USD. That build is no longer practical. A new Haswell I3-4330 costs 200 USD or more if you can find one. The used ones on Ebay start at $82. The Gigabyte H81M-HD3 or other suitable Haswell motherboards are also scarce and expensive, even for the used versions.
This HP 6200 Pro system performs as well or better than that build and is actually easier to set up and configure. It only costs about 130 USD currently and the prices should continue to go down over the next few years. Note: Prices have come down to about $80 in December of 2019. It's already built for you. Just install the low profile graphics card in about 2-3 minutes and you're ready to go.
This is a general use CustoMac for doing all that you do online like surfing, checking email, creating documents and viewing media content. This is the perfect low cost alternative to buying a used Mac Mini. If you have a daily driver that has a Core i7 and a power hungry graphics card, this HP 6200 can be used instead for these basic everyday tasks. It will help you to save a lot on your electric bill. A great idea if you spend many hours a day on the tonymacx86 forums or just surfing youtube and social media sites. Make sure to use an SSDT for CPU power management. Find the i3-2100 and i5-2400 versions attached below.
If you want to either game or edit video, spend $20 more and get the I5 version of the 6200/8200 or HP 6300/8300 I have owned both the HP 6200 with an I5 and the 6300 too. The 6300 is a very good choice as it has onboard USB 3.0 and UEFI. If you just want the lowest cost hackintosh possible then get the 6200/8200 with a Core i3-2100 and the GT 710 graphics card. The 710 still has support in Mojave/Catalina if you want to upgrade to either of those later on.
Get at least a low profile GTX 1050 for gaming use. The GTX 1050 Ti 4GB is the best GPU you can use with this HP desktop. With an I5 and the 1050 Ti you can play most AAA titles at 1080p and high settings. Note: the 1050 Ti cannot be used with Mojave or Catalina. Nvidia never released drivers for either of those.
This is a Sandy Bridge based SFF desktop that is a year older than the 6300. It has Intel EFI but not UEFI. You will need to create a Unibeast legacy installer with Sierra. That is the main difference between the two install procedures. Refer to the HP 6300/8300 guide for a much more detailed description of the complete 10 step process. This guide by itself will give you the most important points necessary to install macOS Sierra/High Sierra on the HP 6200 or 8200 to be up and running quickly and easily. Note: The 8200 model uses the exact same processors and BIOS but the motherboard has some minor differences from the 6200.
There is a High Sierra video based guide you can also view to see the whole process. High Sierra converts SSDs to APFS.
If you don't have access to a Mac or CustoMac to make the Unibeast installer, follow the Snow Leopard guide in Post Number Four
1. Prepare your HP PC for the Sierra Installation
a. Disconnect the VGA output from your graphics card and remove the nuts and bracket. Connect the Low Profile bracket.
Do not plan on long term use of the VGA output at the back of your HP desktop.If you do have an HD3000 CPU you could use the DP output on the back panel.
Adapt it to HDMI if you need to use the onboard HD3000 graphics of your system.
HD2000 graphics are not supported. Use a macOS compatible graphics card instead.
VGA is an unsupported analog video option that will yield poor results with macOS Sierra/High Sierra.
Use it only short term, if you have no graphics card or can't access the BIOS when using a 4K monitor.
c. Check your BIOS to see what version you've got. Mine had v02.06. Any BIOS dated 2013 or older should be updated. If you will also run Windows on your PC it's best to update to the most current v02.29 for numerous security patches that have been added since 2011. You can find the J01_0229.BIN file attached below. Unzip the file. Drag the .BIN file to a clean, FAT32 formatted flash drive. Insert it into a front USB port on your HP PC.
1) Power on and tap on the esc key to reach the Startup Menu and then select Utilities, then Flash System ROM.
2) You should then see the 02.29 BIOS version you are flashing. Hit enter and follow the directions shown there.
3) Let your system reboot on it's own and then check to make sure your are on ver. 02.29.
Read the official HP guidelines for using the Startup or F10 Flash System ROM feature.
d. After you complete the update make sure to restore factory defaults as described in Step 3 of the HP 6300/8300 guide.
e. In the BIOS change the Storage Options → Sata Emulation Mode to AHCI from IDE.
f. Disable the Serial Port if that is enabled under the Advanced tab.
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2. Create your Sierra Legacy USB Installer on another Mac or CustoMaca. You'll need access to a computer running Lion 10.7.5 or later to download macOS Sierra. 10.8.5 for High Sierra
b. Use only genuine OS X /macOS from the Mac App Store or the Snow Leopard retail DVD from Apple.
c. Link to the macOS Sierra download from Apple or High Sierra
d. Once the download completes, right click on the installer in the dock and quit the application.
e. You should then find the macOS Sierra 10.12.6 installer is in your Applications folder.
f. Follow the standard tonymacx86 Installation Guide. In Step 2. #13 make sure to select Legacy Boot Mode and not UEFI Note: if you will use the GT210 (Asus EN210) then you should also select Inject Nvidia when making your installer.
g. Insert your USB drive into one of the back panel USB 2.0 ports. (just under the ethernet connection in the back)
3. Power on your HP 6200 and install macOS Sierra
a. Tap on the F9 key after the POST and select your USB installer under the Legacy Boot Sources entry.
b. Once you reach the Clover Splash screen select the External drive with the Sierra icon. Not the Clover one.
c. You shouldn't need any boot flags. The initial boot from USB may take up to 4 minutes to reach the installer so be patient.
For a new installation of macOS, you MUST erase and format the destination drive according to the following steps before continuing.
In the top menu bar choose Utilities, and open Disk Utility
Highlight your target drive for the Sierra installation in left column.
Click Erase button
For Name: type Sierra (You can rename it later)
For Format: choose OS X Extended (Journaled)
For Scheme: choose GUID Partition Map
Click Erase
Close Disk Utility
When the installer asks you where to install, choose Sierra. Wait about 20-30 minutes for the install to complete.
d. Reboot and select the HFS drive icon at the Clover bootloader screen. Finish the setup of macOS Sierra.
4. Run Multibeast Post Install
If you are installing Sierra make the following selections in Multibeast and install.
Choose iMac 14,2 System Def. if you want to upgrade to Mojave or Catalina
Note: If you have an HP 6200/8200 with the i5-2400 you will need to use an ssdt.aml file to enable CPU power management.Find one attached below. Place the .aml file into /EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/ For the i5-2500 or i7-2600 CPU you should generate your own with Piker Alpha's script. See the guide: Generate an SSDT. This will help enable speed stepping and CPU power management. Without it you won't get turbo boost or more than about three of the lower p-states, up to only about 2.2 GHz. If iMac 12,2 doesn't work for your system you can try iMac 14,2. If so, do not use the SSDT for CPU power management.
When using the Asus EN210 graphics card, you also must select Inject Nvidia in Multibeast. It's located under the Customize tab. No need to Inject Nvidia with a newer GT 710 as it works OOB with Sierra. The GT 610 will not work with Sierra installed on this system so avoid that graphics card. If you want to use DisplayPort output to connect to a 4K monitor and produce a resolution of 4K at 60 Hz, the MSI GT 1030 Low Profile card is your best choice. For gaming at 1080p get the GTX 1050 Ti.
The Nvidia GT 1030 and GTX 1050 (Ti) models will all need the Nvidia web drivers installed.
To find out your build number and then get the right driver.
First, open up About This Mac:
- Click where it says 10.12.6 or whichever version of macOS you have installed
- This will display your build number
- Download the right driver for your build number
After you've successfully run Multibeast, eject your Unibeast USB drive and then reboot.
5. Download and run Clover Configurator
a. You can get it here: Clover Configurator Website
b. Uncheck the box next to Inject Intel if you are using dedicated graphics.
c. See step #8 of the HP 6300 / 8300 guide for all the details.
6. Enable your analog and HDMI Audio
a. Use Kextbeast to install AppleALC 1.4.4 and Lilu kext 1.4.0 to /Library/Extensions. Use Kextbeast to do this. Find them attached below. Installing these will enable all your onboard audio options. Final step to enable audio is to mount your EFI partition (use Clover Configurator) then edit your clover config.plist and inject audio layout-id 17 in Devices -> Audio. See image below. credit: aloha_cn
If you still want to use VooodHDA + AppleHDA disabler kext (not recommended) they are still attached below as well.
Note: If you have the older GT 210 graphics card and want to use HDMI audio you will need to use an edited VoodooHDA kext that is to be installed to /Library/Extensions with Kextbeast. Find it attached below.
b. If you want enable features such as CPU power management and iMessage and Facetime, see the HP 6300/8300 Desktop Guide and read through steps 8a and 10.
Attachments
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VoodooHDA.kext.zip160.6 KB · Views: 1,963
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AppleHDADisabler.kext.zip9.4 KB · Views: 1,867
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J01_0229.BIN.zip5 MB · Views: 1,736
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GT 210.VoodooHDA.kext.zip160.6 KB · Views: 1,008
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i5-2400 SSDT.aml.zip1.2 KB · Views: 1,596
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i3-2100 SSDT.aml.zip804 bytes · Views: 747
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Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 7.58.55 AM.png53.4 KB · Views: 16,614
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AppleALC-1.4.4-RELEASE.zip977.6 KB · Views: 745
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Lilu-1.4.0-RELEASE.zip61.4 KB · Views: 703
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