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hackintosh, worth it or not!

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Hi, I'm looking for honest answers from long term hackintosh user (at least 6 months). I have a good pc (i7 3770k & gtx 680 & 16gig 2100 ram) and an iMac 2008, which have a very nice display but becoming laggy in non-web browser tasks. I did transform my pc into a hackintosh once but didn't keep the setup for more than a few days.
I'm normally afraid of patch that break down the systems. Not that I'm not able to work on it, it's just that I don't want to spend more time fixing my computer than using it. So let say I install 10.8.3, how much longevity can I get out of it without having issues (assuming the build is working fine, which it did the last time).

Does the DISK IMAGING tools (ghost,...) work well with OSX.

I know it's safer to buy another mac, but I already have a good PC and the old imac which doesn't have a resale value. If I go the mini route it cost me 900$ to get the i7 and I still need to upgrade the ram. So with 1000$ I duplicate my pc and get stuck with subpar video performance. If I use my PC, I maximize the investment I did.


Thanks!
 
It's a matter of personal preference really and what you need a Hackintosh for, because if the need is there then you'll be willing to put some effort into troubleshooting or avoid putting yourself in situations where your system breaks. I had a working SL build for a year without a hitch, of course i went through a very long process of trial and error before reaching a stable point but there is such thing if you know what you're doing, this is the kind of knowledge easily accessible through forums, always research before jumping to updates. This week i made a full clean transformation from Win 7 to ML 10.8.3 no dual boot just a single OS on my main drive. it's working just like any compatible system would, it's longevity depends on smart use, i know it won't break on it's own unless i do something that ticks it off. No computer is immune to hardware failure so just in-case always back up your data to a secondary drive, at least if something does break the loss won't be as bad.
 
A lot of people make this way harder than it needs to be. If you purchase compatible components, read a little and clone your hard drive (super duper for me) before doing os updates, it should go quite well. I have done 5 or 6 hacks all with lion or better and they are very stable for me.
 
I built my hackintosh just over a year ago and like you i didn't run osx much on it in the beginning (had to run Lion using BridgeHelper at the time) and all i did was playing games with it in Windows all summer anyway. But as soon as i installed Mountain Lion on it, this thing has ran better than any mac i have purchased ever. In fact i would never consider buying a real mac desktop ever again. This thing is as solid as a rock. It became my main machine overnight and I have never regretted it. But like others said i did some research and i chose the parts i did because i wanted it to work with as little tinkering as possible. And thats what i got, not that i still didn't still tinker with it to just have fun. Hope this helps!
 
I have a late 2011/2012 27" iMac w/ Thunderbolt 16GB Ram. i5. I also have a 2012 Macbook Pro 13, new 2013 Macbook Pro 15" Retina (the fully loaded model),
and a i7-3770K Hackintosh, 32GB RAM connected to a Dell 2731UHM monitor which has the same 2560x1440 resolution as my iMac.

The Hackintosh is a beast. I have no problems running it. It is also a lot cheaper. The only thing I prefer running is my fully loaded 15" Retina (16GB/768 GB SSD, 2.7 quad i7).

It is totally worth. Running FCP X, it flies.
 
why dont sell both? and go for the mini. You should be close to the 1000$ mark selling both computers.

I'd say hackintoshing your rig will do, but since you are worried about fixing and all. Mantain a cloned disk updated daily, and take in consederation to wait for others to do the early updates. You should be good as long as you remain here in the forums :)
 
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