New mini ITX Build H470 I - Core i5-10500

[Milhooz]

Hi there,

Intro
First, thank you for the great guides and very constructive discussions. I have searched for a few days and as I did not found a comprehensive answer on the forum I have decided to post my own subject. I have already built 3 hackintosh in the past, including my own, build in 2013 that I'm still using daily and it is running pretty smoothly. The other two are still running daily as well in my family.

I need some buying advice to build a hackintosh for my father. I was waiting to see if Apple would release a decent user upgradable computer but I think we can all say that will not happen anymore.

I'm looking for something under $1000, including keyboard and mouse (but not display) and I think I want to go with OpenCore. I'm ready to fiddle with the EFI to make sure that updating the OS will not cause huge problems.

Components
As I'm aiming for the cheapest modern config to have long upgradability, I was planning to go with:
- ASUS ROG Strix H470-I Gaming + Intel Core i5-10500 and iGPU

Or a bit cheaper but previous gen:
- Gigabytes Z390 I Aorus Pro WiFi + Intel Core i5-9400 and iGPU (here the cost difference between H and Z is not that much)

- Crucial P2 NVMe SSD 1TB + 2 TB HDD for Time Machine
- Ram 1x16 GB 2666 MHz (And add another 16GB in a few years if needed)
- Benq PD2700U 4K UHD as my father is doing photography and working mainly with Adobe Lightroom

- Maybe a discrete GPU later
- Bluetooth or Wifi not needed but if working why not.
- No Dual boot

Questions
Do you think it is really necessary to go with the Z490 to have good compatibility with OpenCore or H470 would do fine?
Because there is a huge price difference between H370 and Z490 in mini ITX (from 165€ to 269€). I guess that the OpenCore motherboard list might be a bit old and that is why they are advising to use Z370 motherboards even though we cannot find them anymore.

Why in the TonyMac guides, the advice is always to go for the K CPU?
I don't need to overclock them and their TDP is much higher, is there a difference in compatibility or it's just to have the best performance?

Thank you.

 

[Milhooz]

OK maybe I have written a post that is a bit too long so nobody want to answer :'-(

I'll make it shorter:
- What are the easiest cheap (B or H) motherboards to use for an mini ITX 10th gen build?
- Same question for an Micro ATX build?

Too many options out there and no golden builds on this.
I have seen that some even have wifi/bt working or that you change the Wifi card by another one, if so, that would be a nice bonus because PCI slots are rare on an ITX board.

 

[Jamesbond007]

Hi there,

Intro
First, thank you for the great guides and very constructive discussions. I have searched for a few days and as I did not found a comprehensive answer on the forum I have decided to post my own subject. I have already built 3 hackintosh in the past, including my own, build in 2013 that I'm still using daily and it is running pretty smoothly. The other two are still running daily as well in my family.

I need some buying advice to build a hackintosh for my father. I was waiting to see if Apple would release a decent user upgradable computer but I think we can all say that will not happen anymore.

I'm looking for something under $1000, including keyboard and mouse (but not display) and I think I want to go with OpenCore. I'm ready to fiddle with the EFI to make sure that updating the OS will not cause huge problems.

Components
As I'm aiming for the cheapest modern config to have long upgradability, I was planning to go with:
- ASUS ROG Strix H470-I Gaming + Intel Core i5-10500 and iGPU

Or a bit cheaper but previous gen:
- Gigabytes Z390 I Aorus Pro WiFi + Intel Core i5-9400 and iGPU (here the cost difference between H and Z is not that much)

- Crucial P2 NVMe SSD 1TB + 2 TB HDD for Time Machine
- Ram 1x16 GB 2666 MHz (And add another 16GB in a few years if needed)
- Benq PD2700U 4K UHD as my father is doing photography and working mainly with Adobe Lightroom

- Maybe a discrete GPU later
- Bluetooth or Wifi not needed but if working why not.
- No Dual boot

Questions
Do you think it is really necessary to go with the Z490 to have good compatibility with OpenCore or H470 would do fine?
Because there is a huge price difference between H370 and Z490 in mini ITX (from 165€ to 269€). I guess that the OpenCore motherboard list might be a bit old and that is why they are advising to use Z370 motherboards even though we cannot find them anymore.

Why in the TonyMac guides, the advice is always to go for the K CPU?
I don't need to overclock them and their TDP is much higher, is there a difference in compatibility or it's just to have the best performance?

Thank you.

Theoretically the H470 should also work but as you said it seems that most people here choose Z490. It may be due to the fact that if you have problems there are more references and help to be had.

There is no absolute need to go with a K CPU, especially if you don't overclock. I use a i7 8700 (non-K) in my second build and it works fine. Non-K CPUs work just as well as K CPUs.

Do you absolutely have to go with a 10th gen build or will a 9th gen build work for you?

 

[Milhooz]

Do you absolutely have to go with a 10th gen build or will a 9th gen build work for you?

Thank you for your answer, it is much appreciated.

I prefer to go with the 10th gen because the 1151 socket is from 5 years ago and is end of life, also 9th gen is from 2 years ago already. I have seen some builds with 10th gen that are working fine so it gives me hope. I have already experienced the choice of a "previous gen socket" build with my own hackintosh and later when I wanted to upgrade my CPU I had trouble to find one, so seeing that many successful 10th gen builds are appearing online tells me that I should be fine and gives me a few more years of upgrades.

I think I will go with an ASUS ROG Strix B460-i Gaming, I have found a build with "everything works" and it is even 6€ cheaper than the H470i.

I could go even cheaper (-50€) with the same chipset from AsRock (ASRock B460M-ITX / ac ). Though there is only 1 M2 slot so expansion would be a bit limited, ports are also reduced but for a cheap build it would work quite well I think. There is a successful build that is very close to what I plan.

 

[Jamesbond007]

Thank you for your answer. I prefer to go with the 10th gen because 9th is from 3 years ago already and I have seen some builds with 10th gen that are working fine so it gives me hope. I have already experienced the choice of a "previous gen" build with my own hackintosh and later when I wanted to upgrade my CPU I had trouble to find one, so seeing that many successful 10th gen builds are appearing online tells me that I should be fine and gives me a few more years of upgrades.

I think I will go with an ASUS ROG Strix B460-i Gaming, I have found a build with "everything works" and it is even 6€ cheaper than the H470i.

I could go even cheaper (-50€) with the same chipset from AsRock (ASRock B460M-ITX / ac ). Though there is only 1 M2 slot so expansion would be a bit limited, ports are also reduced but for a cheap build it would work quite well I think. There is a successful build that is very close to what I plan.

9th generation Intel CPUs were released in late 2018 and 2019 so they are about 2 years old, not 3.

Suit yourself. For CPUs, it may be possible to use the next generation (11th) CPUs on current Z490 / H470 motherboards but you should not expect any more upgrades in that direction as Intel will most likely change the CPU socket again at that time.

 

[Milhooz]

9th generation Intel CPUs were released in late 2018 and 2019 so they are about 2 years old, not 3.

Yes sorry, I have updated my message while you were replying.

 

[dovh]

Hello, have you managed to get it up and running?

I’m trying to install Catalina and Big Sur on very similar build but wit no luck so far. (H470-I gaming, 10400, rx580) but I can’t even get to Mac OS install screen, it always gets stuck at open core boot.

 

[croce87]

Hello, have you managed to get it up and running?

I’m trying to install Catalina and Big Sur on very similar build but wit no luck so far. (H470-I gaming, 10400, rx580) but I can’t even get to Mac OS install screen, it always gets stuck at open core boot.

I follow, i have the sane issue, it stucks on Apple logo.