Hackintosh Build

[Timman_24]

I decided to stop waiting for Apple to release a new iMac. I did a lot of research over at tonymacx86 and learned that it has never been easier to get OSX running on PC gear. The guys over there just released a list of hardware that is completely compatible. I talked to several people that develop iOS apps about their experience developing on a hackintosh and they've said they havent had any issues. They said, "how do you think most foreign companies develop?"

I went to micro enter yesterday and picked up some gear:

I5 3570k
Gigabyte z77x ud5h
Pc power and cooling 600w modular psu
Western Digital RE4 500GB HDD
Diablotek Fly All Aluminum case

I already have:
Mushkin 2x4Gb ram

I ordered from Amazon:
Nvidia 640 GT
Coolermaster GeminII cooler

I wasn't expecting to buy a video card yet, but when I tried to fire it up, my catleap wasn't supported because the motherboard only had a single link dvi connector... So, I'll have more about the install on Friday.

Making an OSX bootable USB was as easy and downloading ML from the app store and running Tony's USB utility. The install consists of installing ML from the USB, restart, insert Multibeast USB, choose hardware, and done. If you stick to the approved hardware list, it supposedly takes 30 mins to fully install without issues.

I have some pics I'll post later. I'm planning to overclock it to around 4.2ghz. This thing is going to smoke my MBP all for only the cost of a Mac Mini.

Btw, the 660 ti, 670, and 680 are all natively supported in ML as well!

EDIT: Images:

I had some time to upload the images today. Some that I took last night are a little poor. The case looks okay in the images, but its really cool in person. It actually weighs less than the motherboard .

My goodies from a trip to microcenter. Total bill was 586.18 - 40 MIR

All aluminum case. I've always wanted to check an aluminum case out. I would have never ordered this "Diablotek" case from new egg due to the budget nature of it, but seeing it in person at Microcenter changed my mind. It is well constructed, easy to work with, very light weight, has a great brushed finish, has quick connect hardware for the drives, and was extremely cheap. $57 - 20MIR

It is hard to capture the brushed look of this case with a full size image of the case, so here is a close up of the inside. The entire case is brushed aluminum. It looks great in person.

My main PC with its Z68 Biostar motheboard is very jealous of this higher end Gigabyte board. There are tons of connections (4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, eSATA, firewire, DP, HMDI, SPDIF, DVI, dual GB LAN, and 7.1 surroud out on the back.) There are also 2x USB 3.0 headers on the board for external connections. It came with the floppy USB 3.0 panel, which fit perfectly on the front of the case. The PC Power and Cooling PSU was a steal at 69.99 - 20MIR. I also scored an Open Box RE4 enterprise drive for $87.

Picture is a little blurry. I recently bought an 8 channel fan controller for my main computer, so I installed my old Lamptron FC-6. It has 4 fan controllers and 4 temperature probes. I hooked one knob to the front fan and one to the back. I installed a temperature probe to the front and rear as well, so I can see the temperature delta of the incoming and outgoing air.

Here is a good shot of the brushed aluminum on the outside. Unlike other poser cases, this case continues the brushed finish over the entire outside of the case, not just the front panel. The buttons are surprisingly firm and have good feel to them, they definitely do not feel like flimsy buttons that usually accompany a budget case.

All the components are installed and the cables are routed around the back. I was going to get a CoolerMaster 212 CPU cooler, but my measurements did not work out for the case. The 212 is 159mm tall, which is too much for this case.

Amazon shipped my CPU cooler and GPU today, so I should have this finished up on Friday.