| Budget Hackintosh PC Build Project |  |
| Articles - Featured Guides | |
| Written by David Ramsey | |
| Wednesday, 10 April 2013 | |
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Building a Budget HackintoshFull Disclosure: The product samples used in this article have been provided by the vendors listed. Why would you want to build a Hackintosh, when Apple's various Macintosh computers are masterpieces of industrial design? Well, for one thing, those sleek aluminum sculptures are kinda pricey. But even if cost isn't a factor, Apple's aggressive move towards non-upgradeable, non-serviceable hardware annoys the geek in all of us. A 21" iMac looks like a prop in a science fiction movie, but it's glued together like an iPad, and if you want to add more memory or replace a failed hard disk, that's just too bad. While such construction techniques are arguably defensible for laptops and tablets, where the fractional millimeters saved result in lighter, smaller devices, it's disheartening to see Apple apply them to desktop machines. Of all the machines Apple builds, only the Mac Pro is completely serviceable and as expandable as any desktop PC, but it's a very expensive computer whose current decade-old design is becoming dated. We'll see a new Pro this year, but it's unlikely to be any cheaper.
For readers of this web site, the appeal of a Hackintosh is that you can design a Mac work-alike machine exactly as you want it, and can easily upgrade it to boot, since it's just a PC hardware-wise. I've written three previous Hackintosh articles, covering the original X58-based machine in October, 2010, and the updated Sandy Bridge version in August, 2011. In between these two articles I covered the Hackintosh Experience in November, 2010. Today, I'll show you how to build and configure a modern Intel Ivy Bridge based machine using a mini-ITX setup. But first, let me make a couple of things clear:
Onwards... But first, our sponsorsThis article was made possible thanks to generous support from the following sponsors:
Let's take a closer look at these components in the next section, before diving into the build.
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Comments
The case choice probably limited the CPU overclocking. There are some ITX cases where it is even possible to put a cooler the size of a Silver Arrow E or a Phanteks PH-TC14PE on with 3 fans.
See here for an example:
##phanteksusa.com/forum/showthread.php?195-Phanteks-in-my-Prodigy-by-gogosto
With a cooler like that, you'll be getting overclocks comparable to full sized desktops.
The 27" monitors do ship with a big 2560x1440 IPS monitor - there are some cheap Korean ones on Ebay.
I'd have to say, it's probably best to go with a full ATX board and a mid-tower case. Upgrade-ability is perhaps the largest advantage that these Hackintoshes have.
Also, David, about the fact that you have not used an Apple product in a while - you are not missing too much to be honest. There really isn't the big difference that people make there out to be with Apple hardware.
I did cover this in the review...
That said, a full ATX setup does offer more options in this area, at the cost of a much larger system that will probably still only ever use a single slot. And you're more likely to find a case with both USB 2.0 and 3.0 connectors on the front panel.
Still, that's the whole point of building your own system: one that has the hardware you want to use. My first two Hackintosh articles here were on full ATX systems.
It really depends on your priorities I guess - in this case, you opted for SFF over full ATX. If all you need is a GPU (or you use integrated) then you're good. But if you want more, ATX board just gives you more options.
Looking over Apple's iMac line (my buddy has one), you're not missing much. The back of the new iMac has a distinct "bulge" so it's not quite as thin as it appears. Plus to make it so thin they had to use some laptop components (so performance does suffer somewhat).
this is supposed to be a "budget" hackintosh build.
also, i would expect that you would want the most compatible components for a hackintosh
where benchmarkreviews went wrong:
for budget, you included an extra +$110 for a GTX 260. this could have been eliminated if you chose a CPU that had supported on-board HD graphics (HD3000 or HD4000)
example:
i3-2105 (sandy bridge with HD3000) paired with Gigabyte H61N-USB3 will have a very high compatibility for hackintosh. since this is part of tonymac's golden builds, you don't even need to modify / require certain files (such as DSDT)
or
i3-3225 (ivy bridge with HD4000) paired with Gigabyte H77N-Wifi. same compatibility as above. would NOT need a discrete graphics card.
also, really? a $100 power supply? you could get a decent power supply, such as the corsair 430w *modular* for $30 after rebate @ newegg.
geez...
Is the creation of a "Hackintosh" only possible as of the release of OS 10.7 Lion?
Because it seems it would be much less cumbersome to use an earlier version of OS 10 on disc and just "upgrade" to 10.7 once you are up & running.
The mess of obtaining "Lion" from an existing working machine, aborting the install, transferring it to USB and installing it via a third-party utility, seems like an unnecessarily complex method of installing an OS.
The installation process with Snow Leopard still requires the creation of a magic USB key, so it's not really any easier than the Mountain Lion method. Also, every system upgrade you apply on the way to upgrading from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion will either break something or render your machine unbootable, and each upgrade will nuke something different, so in general it's a lot easier to go with the latest OS from the start.
The one advantage of the Snow Leopard install is that you can do it without access to another Mac. Of course, first you have to find a Snow Leopard disk.
In a nutshell: Making a Hackintosh requires patching parts of the OS. Upgrading the OS with Apple updates may replace some of the patched code. Therefore things might break, requiring you to re-install the patches.
Problem is, if I read you correctly, the only time you can upgrade is once a (free) third-party patch is made available. :(
However, upgrading to a new OS release (10.8.x to 10.9, say) might require more work.
##tonymacx86.com/section/295-customac.html
There's at least 3 that I'm aware of: Niresh, Hazard, & iAtkos.
An Apple approved method? Well, not exactly...
I followed your instructions to a T. Then I scoured the tonymacx86. I've tried removing the AppleIntelCPUPowerMa nagement kexts to no success.
Do you have any suggestions?
The install procedure is VERY different to what is outlined here.
I completely agree with paul. Bad component choices. It's absurd to give a sample build based on what you were able to get for free rather than what is most compatible. Your disclosure does not clarify that there are more compatible components.
The responsible thing to do would be to take this article down or at LEAST put a warning at the beginning that this is NOT a recommended build for 10.8.3. And that there ARE builds that support sleep.
And if the ONLY reason to go with the $100 power supply is because it allows for more space.
I've read through the TonyMacx86 thread you cited. It's much less detailed than my build instructions, but the overall flow seems to be the same. Since these instructions worked for you, could you point out the difference that enabled you to get past the kernel panic? I can always amend the article to reflect this.
It would be nice if all the review sites had large piles of cash sitting around that we could use to buy all the hardware we review, rather than what vendors choose to send us. Perhaps we could start charging for our articles...
And yes, space considerations were the reason behind the choice of the SFX power supply. I thought I explained that pretty clearly in the section on components. I do specifically mention that the Cooler Master case supports ATX power supplies, so you can use whatever power supply you want.
1. Make sure your BIOS is the latest version. FWIW, the BIOS on my board is version 1001.
2. Some people have said disabling VT-d in the BIOS cured it. Not applicable since this mobo doesn't have VT-d.
3. Others say that resetting the BIOS to its factory defaults fixed it. Of course if you try this remember to make sure your SATA ports are set to AHCI and that your boot device is correct.
4. One person said adding fakesmc.kext worked. You can find this in Multibeast: Drivers & Bootloaders->Drivers->Miscellaneous->FakeSMC.
I think #4 is your best bet. Give it a try.
Reinstalling it won't hurt anything, but if you already have it, it probably won't help, either.
Let me know.
Let me know how it turns out. If worse comes to worse you can ship it to me and I will MAKE IT WORK.
I'm at the point where I have a stable install, but no audio and no power management. I did it following these instructions (and some of the instructions here -- like 4k sectors).
#tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-guides/72439-guide-asus-p8z77-i-i5-3570k-mountain-lion.html
Many differences in BIOS setup and multibeast. Then I had to hard code my resolution (1080x1200x32) in that boot plist file. (Writing from my phone).
To get audio (essential) and power management you have to flash the BIOS (which I consider to be beyond the threshold of a "simple" install). I haven't done it yet, but this looks like a good set of instructions...
##tonymacx86.com/golden-builds/97645-pjalms-mini-server-i7-3770-p8h77-i-hd4000-working-ivy-bridge-powermanagement.html
Well, actually, I did try on my own machine to get power management working, but haven't had any luck there, which is why it's not in this article. But again, simply installing the audio driver as I describe works fine, really.
BTW, the link you posted was a guide for the P8Z77 board, which has different audio (among other things) from the P8H77 board in my article. This would explain the "many differences"...
##tonymacx86.com/248-building-customac-customac-mini-2012.html
So like I said, I already returned by 3220 and ordered a 3225. I decided to return my asus p8h77 and order a gah77 because apparantly gigabyte mobos rock with osx.
Well, I go to the store to return my motherboard and they would not want to accept the return because they claimed that there were two bent pins. I do not know how in the hell that happened! Anyway, if you're seeing this issue of cpu uknown 0x3a when booting and can only boot in safe mode, it may be worth your time to verify that the cpu is properly seated and that all the pins are straight and functional.
I probably could have made this build work like David Ramsey did if I paid some more attention to the seating of the cpu but it's too late for me now as I already ordered new stuff.
Processor : Intel(R)i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Mother Board :Intel DH77EB
RAM : 8GB
Graphic Card :NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 (2GB)
Can i install mac os X 10.8 on this PC