I've been lurking the forum for a few weeks doing research on what should work for me. I think I've come up with a pretty solid build for a Hackintosh, but I'd like all of your opinions first.


I'll be using the Kalyway DVD and 10.5.2 update.

MB: ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Video Card: EVGA 256-P2-N768-A1 GeForce 8600GTS SSC 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

From what I've read, OSX will list the CPU as "unknown". I'm not overly concerned about it as long as the CPU functions properly. Would updating the motherboard to the latest BIOS remedy that? Can I update the BIOS from a USB flash drive? I don't want to buy a floppy drive...even if they're very cheap.

For the video card, am I correct in thinking that 10.5.2 will utilize it properly?



When it comes to command lines and all of that, I'm a total noob. I have no idea what it means when you guys say enter -x -v or whatever. So, as long as someone is making patched installers, I'm good

I didn't list the memory or HD/etc, because IMO that's mostly preference.

Thanks for any input.

You should get the latest SMBIOS kext, look here.

Yeah. You can get it working perfectly with Quartz Express and Core Image acceleration.

Looks like a very nice hackintosh. Best of luck with that!

Thanks for the link. The SMBIOS kext looks very nice.

What's Quartz Express and Core Image acceleration though? I did a quick search and didn't come up with anything. I'll look into it further when I get home.

Alright, I've been doing some more in depth research, and I've decided to post the rest of my build. It seems that it does matter which other parts I choose.

I originally planned on getting 8gigs of RAM, but it looks like more than 3.5gigs will result in kernal panic (What is that btw? It sounds bad). It looks like Dune made a kext (Actually, is there a thread that explains all these terms to noobs?) that fixes this among other issues.

Alright, here's the rest of my list. Let me know if you think I'll have any issues with what I've chosen.

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail

HD: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA-300 Hard Drive - OEM

DVD-R: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM

Thanks again for any input.

Hi,
i've got one Samsung HD501LJ and one WD 500AAKS. In my OSX System (P5K/E6600/4gb RAM)
the WD AAKS performs much better than the Samsung one.

Sorry, I meant Quartz Extreme and Core Image. Quartz Extreme is the Apple technology that draws on screen ui graphics with the graphics card, rather than by the CPU. Core Image is a way to harness shaders on your graphics card for image manipulation and other cool stuff really easily.

I've been having the same issue where my processor is showing as "unknown" when it is really an Intel Core 2 Quad processor on a GIGABYTE EP45-UD3P Rev.16 Motherboard. I know I can use OSX86 tools to change the string information in the "about this mac" section but the system still doesn't recognize it. I am trying to run VMware Fusion which can only be installed on macs with an Intel processor and it thinks mine is a power PC. Is there any way to resolve this? Thanks.