Build Hackintosh Computer

How to build a gaming Hackintosh on the cheap: hardware. The new Mac lineup didn’t offer a perfect fit — the Retina 5K iMac was too expensive, and the new Mac mini simply wasn’t powerful enough — so I set myself a goal: To build a gaming machine with a dedicated video card, capable of running OS X, for around the price of a Mac mini. Ever thought about building your own Hackintosh computer? We have a step by step guide that makes it easier than you ever thought! Since the Apple transition to Intel processors and mostly off-the.

Building a Hackintosh from scratch—that is, installing Mac OS X on non-Mac hardware—has never been easier, and the final product has never performed better. Here's how it works.

Note: This is our third and most recent Hackintosh build (here are the now-outdated first and second). This time, to make things really easy on you, we put together a video walkthrough of the entire process. You can watch the video in its entirety below, but we've also broken up the video next to the accompanying text in each step below.

Build a Hackintosh Mac for Under $800

Update: This post is no longer maintained. For the most up-to-date Hackintosh build, see our always …

The Full Step by Step in Video Form

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Best viewed in 720p. Background music by Pex 'Mahoney' Tufvession.

What You'll Need

Before you get started building your Hackintosh, you will, of course, need a few supplies.

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The Hardware

There's no such thing as a definitive Hackintosh build, and you can find plenty of hardware that will run OS X using this or a similar method, but we're not going to dive into every possible option here. Instead, I've put together a list of the hardware I'm using and that I can guarantee runs like a dream (or at least it does for me). Also, the installation process below is tailored to this hardware; you can still build a Hackintosh using other hardware, but this installation process may not work 100%.

Here's all the hardware I bought off Newegg for this Hackintosh build:

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory x 2 (for a total of 8GB); the amount of RAM you choose is optional.
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5' MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD): This SSD isn't strictly necessary, but in our opinion, SSDs are one of the best upgrades you can make.

In all, the subtotal on Newegg for all that hardware is $1,123.92; skip the SSD and the second set of RAM, and you've still got a solid machine for an even more reasonable $828.92.

Once you've got all your hardware, you'll need to assemble your computer. Putting together the hardware for your Hackintosh is just like building any other computer from scratch. You mount the motherboard to your case, install your CPU, RAM, graphics card, storage and optical drive, and plug in all the necessary cables. It's always a good idea to read over your motherboard's instruction manual, but if you want a little more help, hit up our first-timer's guide to building a computer from scratch.

The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch

If you've never done it before, the idea of building a computer from the ground up can seem…

The Software

On the software end of the spectrum, you'll need a few things. Apart from the obvious (the Snow Leopard install DVD), you'll need to download some files that'll contain the tools that let you install OS X on your machine. The method I'm using to install OS X on our Hackintosh this time around is a new one by a guy called tonymacx86, and it's really great. I've added direct links to the downloads below, but all credit goes to tonymac for the dead-simple tools.

A Mac OS X 10.6 Install DVD (which you can buy from Apple)
MacOSXUpdateCombo10.6.4 package (free from Apple)
iBoot (from tonymacx86; find the iBoot download link on this post below step two)
MultiBeast (also from tonymacx86; find the MultiBeast download link on this page below step three)

I'd suggest downloading everything you need now, and putting MultiBeast, the Mac OS X Combo update, and the post-installation files on a thumb drive.

Install OS X on Your Hackintosh

At this point you should have assembled your PC, and have all the software you'll need to install OS X on your Hackintosh. Now it's time for the fun—and easy—part. The process this time around is surprisingly simple, but I'll still walk you through the process step by step.

Step One: Burn iBoot to a Disc

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Above I told you to download iBootfrom tonymacx86. If you haven't already, unzip iBoot.zip and extract iBoot.iso. Now it's time to burn the file to a CD or DVD. (It's a small bootloader, so a CD will work just fine.)

In Windows: Insert a blank disc, right-click iBoot.iso, and click Burn disc image. Select your disc burner in the next Windows prompt, and hit Burn.

On OS X: Insert a blank disc, open Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app), drag and drop iBoot.iso into the sidebar, and click Burn.

Burning the disc shouldn't take more than a minute or so, and iBoot should be ready to go.

Step Two: Adjust Your BIOS

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Now that you've got the iBoot disc ready, it's time to turn on your soon-to-be-Hackintosh and adjust the BIOS so your computer's OS X-friendly. So make sure you've plugged in a keyboard, monitor, and power, and fire it up.

Note: At the time of this guide, I'm using the latest BIOS for this motherboard: P7P55D-E-PRO-ASUS-1002.ROM.

When you get to the first boot screen, press the Delete key to open up your BIOS. Once inside, you'll need to make a few adjustments.

On the first BIOS screen, arrow down to the entry labeled Storage Configuration, hit Enter, and change 'Configure SATA as' to AHCI. Press Escape once.
Next, arrow over to the Advanced tab, then arrow down to the section labeled Onboard Devices Configuration. Hit Enter, find the Marvell 9123 SATA Controller entry, and set it to AHCI. Press Escape.
Now arrow over to the Power section and set Suspend Mode to S3 only.
Finally, arrow over to the Boot tab, hit Enter on Boot Device Priority, and set your first boot device to boot first from your DVD drive, then set your second boot device as your primary hard drive.

Hit F10 to save your changes and exit the BIOS.

Step Three: Boot from iBoot into the Snow Leopard Install DVD

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When your system restarts, put the iBoot disc you burned above into the DVD drive. Assuming you set everything correctly in your BIOS, iBoot should boot into the screen below.

When you get to this screen, eject your iBoot disc, insert the Snow Leopard install DVD, and press F5 on your keyboard. In few seconds, the iBoot disc in the center should be replaced by a new disc labeled Mac OS X Install DVD. (If it doesn't right away, wait a few seconds and hit F5 again.) Once it does, hit Enter, and your computer will boot into the Snow Leopard installation wizard.

Step Four: Format Your Disk and Install OS X

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After a minute or two of loading up, you should be looking at the Snow Leopard installation wizard. Select your language and continue. Before you get started with the installation, however, you'll need to format your hard drive so you can install OS X. So, from the file menu at the top of the screen, select Utilities -> Disk Utility.

Once Disk Utility loads, click on your hard drive in the sidebar and select the tab labeled Partition. Set the Volume Scheme drop-down to 1 Partition (unless you have a reason for wanting otherwise), name the volume whatever name you want, and set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Now click the Options button and ensure that GUID Partition Table is selected as the partition scheme.

Now that everything's set, hit Apply. When you're prompted for confirmation, click Partition.

In twenty seconds or so, your drive should be formatted and you'll be ready to install OS X. Quit Disk Utility, and continue with the installer.

The installation is completely straightforward, so just follow along with the default settings. When the installation finishes (the time will vary—it always claims it'll take 30+ minutes, but is normally done in 10 to 20), you'll most likely see the Install Failed screen pictured below.

Don't panic! This is all part of the process. Just click restart, put iBoot back in the drive, and this time, when your computer restarts, iBoot's Chameleon bootloader will give you the option to boot into your new installation. Select it and hit Enter.

Step Five: Update but Don't Restart

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The first time OS X loads, you'll see Snow Leopard's fancy welcome video. Once that's done, OS X will walk you through the setup wizard, during which you'll enter in your username, location, etc. Just follow along.

Once you're finished with the setup, you're finally at your new Hackintosh desktop. Since you probably want to use the most up-to-date release, you'll want to update your Hackintosh before adding the finishing touches.

At the time of this writing, 10.6.4 is the most current release, so if you didn't already download the update package above (remember, we told you to put it on your thumb drive?), grab the MacOSXUpdateCombo10.6.4 package from Apple, double-click on the DMG, and run the installer.

When the combo update finishes, you'll be prompted to reboot. Don't reboot your computer—at least not yet. You've got one thing you need to do first.

Step Six: Run the MultiBeast Package

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Remember the MultiBeast download from tonymacx86 that we grabbed earlier and stored on a thumb drive (along with other post installation files)? It's time to use it.

Make sure you've plugged your thumb drive into your Hackintosh (or just re-download the files if you forgot to save them to a thumb drive) and open MultiBeast. This tool will allow you to boot from your hard drive going forward, so you don't need to use iBoot every time you want to boot up OS X.

On the Install MultiBeast screen, tick the checkboxes next to EasyBeast and System Utilities, then click Continue. When the EasyBeast installation completes, eject the iBoot disc and restart your computer. Once you've rebooted, you've got one more step to go.

Step Seven: Copy Custom Kexts to Extra Folder, Manually Add Sound and Ethernet Kexts Using Kext Utility

Now it's time to use those other post-installation files you downloaded earlier. So dive into the folder named Post Install and open the folder named Extra/Extensions. In a separate Finder window, navigate to the /Extra/Extensions folder at the root of your drive (in Finder, you can just type Cmd+Shift+G, type /Extra/Extensions, and press Enter).

Now drag all the files from your thumb drive's Extra/Extensions folder into your hard drive's Extra/Extensions folder. Enter your password when prompted, and let Finder replace any files that already exist.

Finally, navigate back to the Post Install folder on your thumb drive. Inside you'll see three files: An app named Kext Utility and two kext files named VoodooHDA.kext and RealtekR1000SL.kext. Drag and drop VoodooHDA.kext onto Kext Utility (enter your password when prompted), and you'll see a window like the one above. Once it says Done, you can quit Kext Utility (click Cancel), and then this time drag and drop Realtek R1000SL.kext onto Kext Utility. (Basically this installs custom audio and Ethernet extensions to your system so they work as you'd expect.)

Step Eight: Restart and Enjoy!

Now that you've updated and installed a few extensions customized to your hardware, you're ready to restart your computer, boot directly from your hard drive, and enjoy your new Hackintosh.

A Note on Performance and Other Loose Ends

I've been using this system for a couple weeks now, and in all my testing, everything's been working like a charm. If you're interested in benchmarking, here's how my build fared on Xbench (spoiler: the total score was 303.38).

As I mentioned above, you don't need to buy a pricey SSD (a regular hard drive will work fine), but the system with the SSD is fast, especially on startup. I've added a handful of startup applications to my login items, including apps like Chrome. When my system boots, all of my startup applications are running before my desktop fades in from blue—it feels more like resuming from sleep than rebooting.

Another thing to note: About this Mac identifies the processor as i5, but it's a superficial issue. You could manually edit the text file that populates those fields, but I won't go into that here.

Finally, keep your iBoot disc handy. In the event something does go flaky, especially if you end up having any problems booting directly from your hard drive, you'll likely want that iBoot disc on hand for troubleshooting.

Huge thanks go out to my Hackintosh-helping pals Onetrack, Stellarola, and Davide, to tonymacx86 for his great tools and work, to videographer extraordinaire Adam Dachis, and to the Hackintosh community.

Adam Pash is the editor of Lifehacker, loves to tinker, and can't bring himself to buy what he can build himself for less. You can find his work daily on Lifehacker, or follow @adampash on Twitter.

I recently decided it was time to get a proper desktop computer. I needed it predominantly for work, but I wanted it to be powerful enough to play the latest games in 1080p without worrying about stuttering or terrible frame rates.

The new Mac lineup didn’t offer a perfect fit — the Retina 5K iMac was too expensive, and the new Mac mini simply wasn’t powerful enough — so I set myself a goal: To build a gaming machine with a dedicated video card, capable of running OS X, for around the price of a Mac mini.

I set a budget of $650 for my build. That’s $150 more than the base model Mac mini, but $50 less than the midrange model. In this piece, I’ll take you through the components I purchased and why I chose them, and how I put them all together. Next week, I’ll show you how I installed OS X to turn my DIY gaming rig into a Hackintosh.

Best gaming Hackintosh hardware

Intel Core i3-4330 — $134.99

On paper, the Mac mini boasts a better chip than the Intel Core i3-4330 I chose because the Apple machine is rocking an Intel Core i5. But you shouldn’t trust the paper. Here’s the big difference: The Mac mini uses a notebook or “mobile” processor, whereas the one I’ve chosen for my build is a proper desktop CPU.

As a result, the Core i3-4330 supports more RAM (32GB versus 16GB), has better integrated graphics (not that I’ll be using those) and a bigger cache (5MB versus 3MB), and more importantly, it’s faster. Both chips are built using the same 22-nanometer manufacturing process, but as you would expect for a desktop CPU, the Core i3 requires more power.

This chip is ideal for my system because it provides more than enough power for writing posts for Cult of Mac, and it’ll handle games like Far Cry 3, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and just about anything else I can throw at it. It’s also fine for resource-intensive apps like Photoshop and Pixelmator, though if you’re into editing HD videos, you may want to look at something a little more expensive.

I was planning to pick up the slightly cheaper Core i3-4130, but it was out of stock on Amazon, so I went for this one instead. Both are just fine for this build, so if you want to save a bit of cash, you can go for the 4130 instead.

Corsair Vengeance 8GB — $75.99

Corsair’s excellent Vengeance series of DDR3 RAM is clocked at 1,600MHz, and it’s ideal for what I’ll be using it for. I went with 8GB (2x4GB) for my system because it’s enough for me, and it keeps me within my budget. If you can afford 16GB or even 32GB, get as much as you can.

You will find cheaper RAM on Amazon, but I chose Corsair’s because it’s a reliable brand and I know it’s going to serve me well.

As is always the case when buying computer components, you want the biggest bang for your buck while avoiding cheap and unreliable parts. Sure, you might save $20 by choosing a low-cost brand you’ve never heard of, but if your RAM gives up during the first three months of use, your whole build is useless until you replace it, and you’ll likely end up spending more in the long run.

Western Digital Blue 1TB HDD — $49.99

Because I’m on a tight budget, I’ve opted for quantity over speed when it comes to storage. Those with more cash to spend will be far better off choosing a solid-state drive for their build, but they can be very costly — particularly if you need plenty of space.

A 1TB, 7,400 rpm Western Digital Blue drive costs just $49.99, and it provides enough room for stacks of digital content. I’ve partitioned mine so that around 700GB is afforded to Windows — which is what I’ll use to play games — and the rest is for OS X.

If you want to, you can add a second drive to the mix so each platform has its own, assuming you’ll want to run Windows and OS X like I am. Or, as I mentioned above, you could get an SSD instead and install your operating system on that. This makes for super-speedy boot times and a much faster system overall, and you can combine it with a cheaper HDD for storing larger stuff, like your iTunes library and your Steam installs.

MSI Z97 PC Mate Motherboard — $99.79

I did a lot of research before choosing this motherboard, and I challenge you to find a better option that’s this affordable. The PC Mate gives me everything I need and more — including 12 USB ports (eight USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0); Ethernet, HDMI, VGA and DVI ports; two PCI-Express slots and two PCI slots.

It also boasts six SATA III connections, support for up to 32GB of DDR3 RAM over four slots, support for 4K Ultra HD monitors, and AMD CrossFire compatibility — so if you want to, you can combine two AMD video cards for an even greater gaming experience.

In addition, this board uses the latest LGA 1150 socket for Intel’s fourth- and fifth-generation processors, and it supports overclocking, so if you’re into pushing your CPU to its limits, it will let you do so. More importantly — for me, at least — it’s also compatible with OS X.

What more could you want? And all this comes from a board that costs less than $100.

Corsair CX430 Power Supply — $42.99

I’ve chosen Corsair again for the power supply because I’ve read terrific things about the company’s PSU lineup. The CX430 is definitely an entry-level option — hence its tiny price tag — but it is bronze-certified for power efficiency, and it provides enough juice for all of the components I’ll be using.

Before choosing your PSU, use a service like PCPartPicker to work out how much power you’re going to need for your machine. If you have a high-end graphics card, an extra-powerful processor or multiple storage drives and optical bays, you’re going to need more than me — and the last thing you want to do is end up with a custom computer that won’t work properly because it isn’t getting enough power.

Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 270X OC — $168.99

The graphics card is one of the most important parts of my system, and also one of the most expensive components on my list. Since I’ll be using my machine for gaming, I wanted a card that would let me play the latest titles in 1080p on high settings — and I didn’t want to have to worry about lag or stuttering.

The Radeon R9 270X has been an excellent choice so far.

In Far Cry 3, I’m able to play on “ultra” and get at least 50 frames per second. In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, I have almost everything set to high and anti-aliasing enabled, and the game rarely drops below 70fps. Older games like Grand Theft Auto IV will give you even more, while a title like Counter-Strike: Source will deliver up to 300fps.

I’ve been putting the 270X through its paces for more than two weeks now, and it’s never disappointed me. You can definitely get better cards if you’re willing to spend more, but right now the 270X provides a great gaming experience, and it costs less than $170.

Like everything else in this build, the 270X is also compatible with OS X, which is essential if you’re building a Hackintosh. In fact, it’s pretty much on par with the AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics chip used in the high-end Retina 5K iMac, with the 270X edging it ever so slightly in GPUBoss benchmark scores.

If you’re not going to be gaming or performing other video-intensive tasks, you could leave the graphics card out of your build to significantly reduce the cost. The Core i3 processor I’ve chosen — like most modern Intel chips — has integrated graphics, so a dedicated GPU isn’t necessary if you won’t use it.

TP-Link TL-WN851ND Wi-Fi Card — $21.95

I need Wi-Fi in my machine so I’ve chosen to add a Wi-Fi card. However, this is completely optional. If you’re going to be sticking with Ethernet, it’s an unnecessary expense.

You can also buy Wi-Fi adapters that’ll plug into your USB slot, but in an effort to keep my machine looking relatively tidy, I’ve chosen an internal PCI adapter instead.

Corsair SPEC-01 Case — $49.99

All these components need to go into something, and I’ve chosen the Corsair SPEC-01 as my case. It looks fantastic, with a window on its side that lets you peer into your machine. It has plenty of space for additional fans and drives, and offers two USB ports and audio in and out connectors on its front.

Most importantly, the SPEC-01 is big enough to house the motherboard I’ve chosen, and that’s something you need to check when buying your case. It’s no good buying a pretty little mini ATX case if your motherboard and graphics card won’t fit into it.

Other than that, choosing a case is all about personal preference. I think the SPEC-01 looks good, but if you don’t, simply pick another.

Total cost: $644.68

Hackintosh Download For Pc

Using these components, I’m $5.32 under budget, and I have a machine that makes the $699 Mac mini look like a toy. Not only will it tackle everyday tasks with ease, but thanks to its powerful graphics card, it’ll let me play the latest games in high-definition as well.

Note: These prices were accurate at the time of writing, but component prices fluctuate all the time. Some may cost more, others may cost less when you go to buy them.

Optional extras and alternatives

The components I’ve listed above — with the exception of the Wi-Fi adapter — are essential if you’re building a gaming Hackintosh. You may choose variants of all these items depending on your own needs and budget, but you’re going to need some form of all of them.

However, there are some alternatives you might prefer, and some optional extras you may wish to add if you have the money. I’ve listed some below.

Solid-state drive — $60+

Adding a solid-state drive (SSD) to your build is one of the simplest ways to improve its speed. As I’ve already noted, however, SSD drives aren’t cheap. There is a workaround if you have a bit of spare cash, however.

Hackintosh Build Computer

You can pick up a 120GB SSD like the Kingston Digital for $59.99 and combine it with a 1TB HDD. You can then install your operating system and the files you’ll use most frequently on the SSD — bringing faster boot times and a snappy computing experience overall — and then put all your movies, music, photos and games on the HDD.

If you have plenty of cash to spare, you can buy a larger SSD like the 500GB Samsung 840 EVO for $239 and put everything on it.

Corsair Air Series AF120 Twin Fan Pack — $20.99

Your system can’t be too cool, but it can be too hot. If you’re only using the components I’ve listed above, you should be fine with the single 120mm fan that comes included with the SPEC-01 case — after all, the processor, video card and power supply all have fans of their own.

However, if you add additional components and want better airflow, this Corsair Air Series twin pack is a cheap upgrade at just $20.99. These fans match the one that came with the case, so they look terrific once installed.

LG Internal Blu-ray Optical Drive — $44.89

Want to watch Blu-rays on your machine or burn DVDs? This internal drive from LG gives you the ability to do that for less than $45. Bear in mind, however, that this drive will read Blu-ray discs but not burn them. If you want the ability to do that, you’ll need to spend around $10 more on the LG WH16NS40 Blu-ray Rewriter.

Corsair CX750M — $89.24

If you’re going to add extra storage drives, optical bays, fans and other parts to your build, you’re likely going to need more power. The Corsair CX750M is bronze-certified, just like the power supply I’ve chosen for my build, and it’s modular, so you can use only the wires you require and keep your machine looking tidy.

Windows 8.1 (64-bit) — $101.11

If you want to install Windows on your machine as well as OS X, you’re going to need a copy of it. I recommend going for the latest version — Windows 8.1 — but if you’d prefer, you can pick up Windows 7 instead and save yourself around $10.

Putting it all together

Hackintosh Build Guide

Once you have all of your components, it’s time to open them up and put them all together. We’ll take you through that process in the second installment of this series.