Hackintosh Build (£200-£400)

[ford1999]

I'd like to build a Hackintosh computer with a budget of £200-400. I have little experience with choosing the right parts and would highly appreciate advice to get the right parts for this build.

I aim to use this Hackintosh as a dual boot system between Windows 10 and Mac OS X Yosemite / El Capitan. I already have a basic M-ATX case to hold the components so I do not require to purchase a case at this time. I also own a few hard drives so storage space is not an issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[P1LGRIM]

I'd like to build a Hackintosh computer with a budget of £200-400. I have little experience with choosing the right parts and would highly appreciate advice to get the right parts for this build.

I aim to use this Hackintosh as a dual boot system between Windows 10 and Mac OS X Yosemite / El Capitan. I already have a basic M-ATX case to hold the components so I do not require to purchase a case at this time. I also own a few hard drives so storage space is not an issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

This thread may be of interest :

http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/118150-building-budget-haswell-build-how-low-can-you-go.html

Also this forum Search

 

[Adrian B]

I'd like to build a Hackintosh computer with a budget of £200-400. I have little experience with choosing the right parts and would highly appreciate advice to get the right parts for this build.

I aim to use this Hackintosh as a dual boot system between Windows 10 and Mac OS X Yosemite / El Capitan. I already have a basic M-ATX case to hold the components so I do not require to purchase a case at this time. I also own a few hard drives so storage space is not an issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

You should easily be able to put together a motherboard, CPU, 8GB RAM and a reasonable PSU for around £230

Motherboard ~£50
i3 Processor ~ £100
8GB RAM ~ £40
PSU ~ £40

http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/118150-building-budget-haswell-build-how-low-can-you-go.html

Watch out - some of the cheaper i3 models only have HD4400 graphics and these require some additional work to get running. Stick to a i3 model listed in the main buyers guide as these all have HD4600 graphics. You will need to use a monitor with a digital video connection. The old 15 pin d-sub has had its day.

 

[ford1999]

Thank you both for your replies! Would you recommend an i5 over an i3 for the long term? Is the difference worth the price?

 

[Adrian B]

Thank you both for your replies! Would you recommend an i5 over an i3 for the long term? Is the difference worth it?

I would rather have the fastest i3 processor instead of a budget i5. If you go for an i5 then make it one of the fastest. I say that after using a i5-4400 processor in a build 18 months ago.

The i3 will feel faster for most people more of the time. The better i5 processors are in the sweet spot for some proper gaming (with a decent GPU) using windows. If you are likely to add a £200 GPU in the next couple of months then an i5 may be worth considering - but an i3 is more than capable of good gaming.

It all depends on your computer use and priorities. I think you are probably better looking at adding an SSD or two. Possibly consider a better case or OS X compatible wifi card (if you need one). There are loads of possible options and permutations.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/building-customac-buyers-guide-july-2015.html

 

[ford1999]

This is what I have listed so far:

Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 Motherboard (1150 socket)
Intel Core i5 4570 (QC) / Core i3 4360 (DC)
Samsung 840 Evo 250gb
Corsair 550w PSU
Optiarc Disk Drive
2x Noctua NF-P12

Will this work?

 

[Adrian B]

This is what I have listed so far:

Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 Motherboard (1150 socket)
Intel Core i5 4570 (QC) / Core i3 4360 (DC)
Samsung 840 Evo 250gb
Corsair 550w PSU
Optiarc Disk Drive
2x Noctua NF-P12

Will this work?

In short -Yes. I would not recommend using a single SSD for more than one operating system - it can potentially cause big problems if you are updating one or the other. You could probably run OS X on a single ~ 120GB SSD.

The Sony drive is discontinued and prices tend to be on the high side. I have a Samsung SH-224DB and a Lite-on iHAS 124-14 both work fine and don't have any sleep issues (some drives prevent a machine from sleeping. Some others scan for a disk which is also annoying. The Samsung model is quieter at all but full speed.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CDGGQRA/?tag=tonymacx86-21
http://www.cclonline.com/product/12...-24X-DVD-Writer-SATA-Black-Internal-/CDR0205/

The Noctua NF-P12 is a fan designed to move a high pressure of air. Ideal for CPU cooling or force a high pressure of air into a case to give high positive pressure for cooling.
If you want a more focused flow fan then look at the NF-P12:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm-noctua-nf-f12-pwm-focused-flow-pwm-cooling-fan-quiet

 

[ford1999]

Thanks for the reply again, I now know what I have to purchase to get a nice hackintosh build. Thanks for your help (Adrian B / P1LGRIM)