How reliable is the CustoMac buyer's guide?

[kiiroaka]

Gigabyte GA-Z170-D3H: other than having PCI slots, which may be useless for some that don't have old cards to support, it looks okay; I guess. It has 4 fan headers, so that's good, and it has an Intel NIC which is always a plus.

While you don't have access to Newegg in India their user reviews can give pertinent info, if one is astute to read between the lines. (In other words bad parts could have contributed to some of the problems, as also user errors in configuring the system.) Same goes for Amazon and some review sites in the U.K. I'd wager that India must have a few sites that has reviews.

As far as dual booting Windows and OSX there are whole threads dedicated to resolving any issues. Typically, if you frst install Windows in UEFI and then install OSX, the EFI files may get updated and then Windows won't boot, so you'll have to start the Windows Recovery (or install) USB stick (in UEFI mode) and run a command like bootrec /fixboot. Don't bother dual booting Windows 7-64, though... that has it's own set of problems, like needing an USB stick with certain boot files. It was a known problem and some of the reviews may have the fix posted.

As far as a monitor goes, I would go with 2560x1440. I can't work on a 1920x1080 because it seemed as if certain text or windows were too large; of course it may have been because of the on board video chip on my friend's computer, but it left a very bad taste in my mouth. At work we use 1920x1080 24" HP monitors. They look and work fine. I just can't stand matte screens, though. I wanted a glass screen like the 27" iMacs have. I'm very pleased with my Crossover 27QHD Glossy monitor, but 2560x1440 displays can be bought from the big known names, Dell, LG, Samsung, etc. Some guys are gamers so they want the lowest btw (?) (black to white) response timings, as close to 1ms as possible. That's a whole science in itself. For example, what's the latest technology? I don't think it's IPS anymore.

Now you would go to Newegg.com, select Computer Systems -> Monitors, select 2560x1440 then filter by 1ms, see what's available, then research that model number by Google searches for "reviews" and "problems". If you don't find what you want you would un-click 1ms, click 2ms, hit the apply button and start all over again. At each stage you would probably look at availability and price in India. Prices for 4K monitors have come down to prices of 2K monitors. The problem is always that one will need a better graphics card to be able to correctly drive a 4K monitor.

 

[Stork]

With respect to the components listed in the Buyer's Guide, we point you in the right direction. The motherboards are reviewed to have compatible audio & Ethernet chipsets with the drivers that are available to hackintoshes.

Although we offer up compatible memory, we found that starting with the Haswell processors and 8-series motherboards that it's wise to make sure the memory you want to use is on my the motherboard manufacturer's support/qualified list (name varies with each manufacturer).

PSU's should be rated as Haswell (or 4th/5th/6th generation) processor "certified" or "ready." These processors have lower idle power requirements than previous generation processors. With older or non rated PSUs, when the processor goes into idel, the PSU will "think" the system is shutting down and will act accordingly.

Finally, we're not telepathic. So, you have to do your homework. However, we've narrowed the field for you.