For me, I'm still testing everything from Intel 8 Series to 400 Series. Here's an old thread example of my 8 series "2013 CustoMac Mini" build which still runs the latest MacOS Monterey. Pretty good for an almost 10 year old build.
CustoMac Mini 2013: GA-H87N-WIFI - Core i3-4340 - Intel HD 4600
CustoMac Mini 2013 GA-H87N-WIFI - Core i3-4340 - Intel HD 4600 Components Gigabyte GA-H87N-WIFI http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D94X4DO/ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128626 Intel Core i3-4340 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EUUPKB0/...
www.tonymacx86.com
What is your oldest Hackintosh still in use?
I first came across the idea of a Hackintosh somewhere on the internet and quickly latched onto tonymacx86.com.
My wife still owns a late model iMac iSight G5 computer, the only 64 bit PowerPC Apple made. It still is a brilliant machine but showing its age (it currently runs Linux but could easily revert to Leopard) and so she became interested in the Mac mini. I have never liked the mini, overpriced, underpowered and runs too hot.
I persuaded her to let me build a Hackintosh. This was back in 2013.
Following the build notes on tonymacx86 I built the following:
Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI mother board; Intel Core i3-3225 processor; Zalman CNPS2X low profile cpu cooling fan; 2 x 4Gb Corsair 1333 Mhz DDR3 sticks; Sandisk 120Gb SSD; Western Digital Green 1Tb HDD; TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 N900 WiFi card.
Thermaltake Element Q case cw 200W ps; Apple wired keyboard with numeric key pad; Apple wired mouse
The machine was built in November 2013 and Mavericks was installed using Clover.
I retired that machine only recently, running Mojave and OpenCore. It cannot be upgraded without a change of graphics card. I have never used external graphics cards. The Intel onboard graphics have always been OK for us. We use Photoshop and various video editors - currently ShotCut is favourite: open-source, multi platform and kept up to date – all without issue. It now runs Linux in a different box with lots of disk and Thunderbolt analogue video capture card as a dedicated video machine.
I have since built various Hackintoshes using Clover and lately OpenCore which I find is much easier to use and update.
I have built machines using the excellent HP Elite 8300 USDT machine which I bought on eBay for £100. This computer also has an IVY BRIDGE processor, an i7-3770S with HD4000 graphics and 8Gb RAM. It is so good, I bought a second machine to use with W10 Pro. This one has an i5-3470S processor and 8Gb RAM. This processor has HD2500 graphics so an external graphics card would be needed to run MacOS. I think the IVY BRIDGE processor was a good design and runs well.
A particular favourite is my NUC8i3B which is attached to a 27 inch monitor and is good for Apple TV and other streaming TV.
My last Hackintosh build is a 10th generation Intel machine which I built using bits from my second Hack built in 2014. This one uses:
Gigabyte Z490i AORUS ULTRA mobo; Intel core i9-10900 processor running at 2.8GHz using UHD Graphics 630; 32Gb RAM in 2 sticks; 500Gb SSD system drive; total 2.5 TB HDD; 2 x 1TB PCiE SSD; Noctua fans; a big red Aerocool case with 400W ps. (more than is needed). This machine runs many tasks faster than my Apple despite having a slower processor. This will probably be my last Hack now Apple have ditched Intel. All the current hacks except the HP are running MONTEREY 12.5 very well.
As some other correspondents have said, our enthusiasm for Hackintosh has not stopped us buying Apple products. We have always liked Apple, just not the price! We still have no iPhones but have iPad Air, iPad mini, iMac computers, 21.5 inch and 27 inch – my pride and joy – Intel 10th generation 10 core 20 thread i9 at 3.6GHz, 72Gb DDR4 memory and 4Tb SSD, nano coated screen. I bought this machine as an Apple refurb. when they stopped making them. It is a great machine if only because of that superb 5k Retina nano-coated screen which Apple now sell as a monitor-only for £1750.