Originally posted by another user
I. Introduction
II. My Build
III. Part Picking
IV. Building
V. Installing
VI. Troubleshooting
VII. Installing Windows
Originally posted by another user
Whenever I mention about my 'Hackintosh' in the shout-box I usually get asked questions on how to build one, or asked to make a thread on it. So I guess now I've got time I will do so. So lets start with why you would want to run a Hackintosh system.
So the obvious reason is simply because you want to run OS X; this maybe because you prefer using OS X but wish to enjoy PC gaming (which is virtually impossible as no PC game developers really develop games on OS X), other reasons maybe that you simply want to show off your build by saying you have a Hackintosh or you may want access to some exclusive applications only available on OS X such as Final Cut Pro.
However there are certain limitations to building a Hackintosh. Over the years these limitations have got less and less and the process has become a little easier but it is still relatively restricted.
Why is it restricted? Well thats because the overall build is down to if all your components are compatible with OS X. The only other major drawback to running a Hackintosh as well is that there is no support for SLI or Crossfire - if you wish to have an SLI or Crossfire setup then you will have to run the 2 graphics cards as separate GPUs in OS X and then link them when playing Windows.
Originally posted by another user
So before I start I will just mention my build as some of you maybe interested. All the parts I have work flawlessly together creating a seemless OS X experience.
One problem when creating a Hackintosh is that OS X will work 99% of the time but you will have bugs like the computer will not be able to go to sleep or the audio won't work, so if you want to know a build which works with no issues then just make a build based of mine. Anyway here is the build:
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H
CPU - Intel i5 4690k
Graphics - Gigabyte Nvidia Windforce GTX 780
RAM - 16 GB Crucial Ballisix RAM
Power Supply - 750w Corsair 80 Plus Gold
Harddrives - 2x 120GB Samsung Evo SSDs; 1x 1TB Seagate 7200rpm HDD; 1x 2TB Seagate SSHD
Originally posted by another user
So this is without doubt the most important part of creating a Hackintosh, hopefully you will no gain an understanding of what parts are suitable to pick for your build so you can have a 100% functional build like mine.
Here is one site you may want to look at in particular:
You must login or register to view this content. - if you look and see your part on this list you can be 100% sure that it is currently supported - using parts from this list will also guarantee your system will have 100% functionality.
However I am aware you may not want to be restricted to parts on this list so I will go ahead and explain what you should look for when picking your parts.
The Motherboard:
This is the most important part - if the motherboard is supported then you are pretty much ready to go. If your looking for a build which will function 100% properly then you should look no further than motherboard produced by the company 'Gigabyte'. Of course other manufactures of motherboards will work but may lack functionality such as sleep facilities or may require patching. So I would recommend saving time and making life easier for yourself by picking a motherboard from the list. Also as AMD CPUs are generally not supported your motherboard needs to support Intel based CPUs.
CPU:
This is a relatively easy part to pick. Any Intel CPU that has been released since 2010 should work so as long as you stick with Intel your system should be fine. AMD CPUs have very little support so I would not recommend this approach. Just make sure your CPU has an Intergrated GPU if you are not going to buy a graphics card otherwise you will run into various problems.
Graphics Card:
Like the motherboard this is another part you have to be careful about picking. This particularly the case if you plan on using an AMD graphics card as the variant of manafacture can be the difference between a card working and not working - for this reason I would try and avoid AMD cards if you can. Although most AMD graphics cards are supported and can run fine, many people opt for Nvidia cards so you may have trouble finding solutions to particular problems on the web.
Most Nvidia cards should work too if you pick a card from the 900 series. If you go with the 700 series make sure you don't pick a card which uses the GK110B GPU chip as for some reason this does not work.
Extras & Wifi:
If you plan on using WiFi then you are very limited into what you can do as most WiFi cards are not supported by OS X. I will leave a link to a working WiFi card below:
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All hard drives and SSDs should work with no problem and the same can be said for the RAM and any peripheral components. If you plan on installing Windows as well, I recommend by at least
TWO hard drives, this way you will have no problems when it comes to installing Windows.
Originally posted by another user
I'm assuming most of you know how to build a PC - so this step is relatively simple. Just one instruction to bare in mind is when when installing the RAM only install 1 RAM slot before installing OS X. After OS X is installed you can go ahead and install the rest of the RAM.