Is it worth it?

[thisguyneil]

Hi,
Long time windows user, recently went to OS X and love my macbook and now in need of a desktop. Instead of buying a Mac mini id rather build my own and have done much research on the subject and I'm still wondering one thing, how stable is this? By that i mean if i pick out the right parts, build it right, can this be my daily driver? I'm a college student so ill be doing primarily typing, web browsing, VERY LITTLE audio/video editing (class projects, you know), I am a guitarist so maybe some garage band, and of course backing up and syncing my iPhone/ipad whenever needed (id say 3 times a week). I'll be dual booting windows where i will game on (Starcraft [hopefully on max if i can get the right card, I've heard its not too graphics heavy], everything in the half-life series [and hopefully half life 3 when it comes out, and yes it is coming out]) and thats pretty much it. So nothing super intensive. Also whats all this talk of "unlicensed versions of Yosemite?" I've always had official copies of windows, so i don't mind ponying up to buy OS X for my machine as long as i can consistently make sure everything works instead of one day saying "you can't do X activity because you don't have an official version of Yosemite" or are my fears crazy?

So long story short-with the above conditions mentioned, is hackintoshing stable enough for daily driver (i really don't want to be doing an iphone/ipad update and then a kernel pack arise)? also if so can anyone recommend a build for very light gaming, mainly typing/browsing/occasional audio processing? can work around budget but as i said, college kid. most bang for buck

Also thanks for looking/helping!

 

[Going Bald]

Yes, it is worth it. And yes, it is stable if you get compatible parts. Mix and match from the recommended parts lists or use one of the build lists to match your budget. You might want to look through the Golden Builds and the User Builds forums to see what others have built and get a better idea for what you want to buy.

 

[Kazbah]

Also whats all this talk of "unlicensed versions of Yosemite?" I've always had official copies of windows, so i don't mind ponying up to buy OS X for my machine as long as i can consistently make sure everything works instead of one day saying "you can't do X activity because you don't have an official version of Yosemite" or are my fears crazy?

You cannot buy Yosemite. it is free... and here is where the ecosystems differs. Apple support OS X on Apple hardware ONLY. Thus Yosemite on non-Apple hardwareis "unlicensed use"

If you pick your parts carefully, it will behave like a real Mac but it will never be a real Mac in the sense that you will never be abble to get Apple to support you if x or y feature is not working for you.