Need to build the cheapest hackintosh possible

[rsdcountry]

Hi Everyone,

I've been out of work for 1.7 yrs due to illness, and my son needs a mac to learn xcode. We have a imac, but Santa needs to find another cheap mac/hackintosh so we can learn xcode together.

I would like to be able to run win 7 pro and osx snow leapord or lion. We have purchased all of those operating systems.

I use to be a system admin (small scale) so I've built a few pc's before and started with dos 2.1, so i've been around for a while.

I bought a hp Pavilion d4100y several yrs ago, replaced the power supply 1 yr ago. if I can use this case that would be great. Here is the link:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prod ... g=en&cc=us

Win 7 would be used with boot camp. My son likes to play world of tanks and call of duty blk ops.

So with that in mind, what would you choose for sound video and such?

Would like to use 16gb of memory for the xtra 20 bucks or so, it would be nice.

I tried to hack it a yr ago. and was able to get it to load snow leapord. but no sound or internet, so after days of trying, I figured the hardware was just to old.

I really appreciate your help. Also one of my favorite apps is ialertu

It will take a pic if someone touches your mac and email it to you for free.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[LmnLm3]

Cheapest cost to you really depends on what you have already that might be compatible, and what country you're shopping in.

Most mATX motherboards will fit in those cases, and while the i5 is more expensive than the i3, it will not only last longer, but it will probably be cheaper because the graphics is supported, while the i3 has HD2000 so you would need to buy a separate card.

I would like to go out on a limb and say that CoD Black Ops will not play (well) on a very inexpensive computer...

Other than that, the real question is what is your budget?

 

[rsdcountry]

Thanks for the fast reply! I'm building this here in Elkton, MD 21921 USA

And If I can save by using my old hp case and fairly new 450 watt power supply, thats 70 bucks right there.

ok i'm with you on the i5. I have a 512mb and a 1gb video card, both are 2-3 yrs old. I think they are both pci express

the hp has a 250gb hard drive that is a sata 2 (think I said that right, or is it esata 2 ...has small red plug)

mother board has usb 2.0 ..a intel dual core 3.0 ghz pentium D processor. I think it was the first dual core to come out.

I think whole machine is 7-8 yrs old. came with xp pro. i custom ordered it with hp. 2300.00 but got them down to 1700.00 so its a full size tower

So I see the mother boards have usb 3.0 can you use them in osx ? or will they be down graded to 2.0?

Thanks agian for all the help. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

 

[rsdcountry]

I seen on life hacker they started making a 300 hackintosh, but ended up in the 700 range. It would be cool to come in at 300

 

[hacman]

your cpu and mobo are not supported , and what model your graphics card ?

 

[rsdcountry]

the video.. not sure... would have to dig. lets figure on a new mid range video... like to see 1 gb on the mem hate to have a new mother board and choke it with a old video... those other cards would have been 100 dollar cards..nothing special

 

[hacman]

with out correct spec we can't help

 

[rsdcountry]

sorry... i'm not sure i'm following you, we are going to use a new mother board..and i5 cpu..and a new video card (one with a 1 gb of mem hopefully) ... what else do you need from me? So we are also going to use 16 gb of pc mem. and the hard drive is esata 2 ..so its 7200 rpm and 256 gb.. not big but will help cut cost for now.

so re-using case, power supply and hard drive. sorry for the confusion

 

[Mate94]

Hi Everyone,

I've been out of work for 1.7 yrs due to illness, and my son needs a mac to learn xcode. We have a imac, but Santa needs to find another cheap mac/hackintosh so we can learn xcode together.

I would like to be able to run win 7 pro and osx snow leapord or lion. We have purchased all of those operating systems.

I use to be a system admin (small scale) so I've built a few pc's before and started with dos 2.1, so i've been around for a while.

I bought a hp Pavilion d4100y several yrs ago, replaced the power supply 1 yr ago. if I can use this case that would be great. Here is the link:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prod ... g=en&cc=us

Win 7 would be used with boot camp. My son likes to play world of tanks and call of duty blk ops.

So with that in mind, what would you choose for sound video and such?

Would like to use 16gb of memory for the xtra 20 bucks or so, it would be nice.

I tried to hack it a yr ago. and was able to get it to load snow leapord. but no sound or internet, so after days of trying, I figured the hardware was just to old.

I really appreciate your help. Also one of my favorite apps is ialertu

It will take a pic if someone touches your mac and email it to you for free.

Thanks,
Dan

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 / GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
Intel Core i5 2500K
16 GB DDR3, choose whatever you want. Every RAM are supported.
AMD Radeon HD6850/HD6870, every brand are supported I think.

 

[Finboss]

You don't need a core i5 or the latest and greatest graphics card for xcode. If that is all you are using it for it is a complete waste of money.
The Intel Core i3-2105 has a built in HD 3000 gpu that is fully supported by OSX Lion. It is 2/3 of the price of i5s you are suggesting.
Combine that with a Z68 motherboard from the CustoMac Buyers Guide (http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/search/label/CustoMac) and 4GB of RAM and you have a solid machine that is perfectly fine for learning XCode and most other uses. It should come out to be just over $350 depending on what motherboard you choose.