I'm building my first Hackintosh for about $400, for general use. I don't do gaming although I wouldn't mind playing a game or two. It'll use the Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L motherboard (Intel G31 chipset.) I want a graphics card that will work without trouble. There seems to be a lot of conflicting info; cards will be listed in the HCL but then there will be threads about people having problems. Also, it's hard to find an exact model that's listed in the HCL and is also still for sale at a reasonable price.

Is this ASUS 256MB 8400GS a safe bet? Link It's silent and cheap. Most of the 8400GS models are listed as working well in the HCL, but some people in the forums say they aren't great. I want something that won't give me trouble. I was also thinking of trying an 8600GT such as this XFX on sale: Link I've got all my other parts figured out.

I also might be open to ATI cards, but I was being advised in other threads by Zaap who only knows about nVidia.

I'm curious, what exactly are the problems people claim to be having with supported cards? You really shouldn't have trouble with a fully supported card so long as you use the right install method for the OS, and the right drivers for the card. (IE: EFI studio, NVinject, or whatever).

The 8600GT you linked to is an EVGA, not an XFX. I have that exact card in my current Hackintosh. Never had a problem with it. Running dual 22" monitors at 1680x1050. At $35 after rebate for that card, that's a very good price.

I just did some searches, like for "8400GS" and there were threads about people having problems. Although, I guess that might be true about any card. A lot of cards are listed in the HCL, but with caveats about patching and stuff, things I don't understand.

Yeah, I'll go with the EVGA 8600GT with fan. (I was also looking at an XFX.) I'm just fretting about everything because this is my first and I don't want any difficulties, and also because I don't know how loud the thing will be. My current computer is an eMac though, so it might not be too difficult to get something quieter. (People say the NSK1380 case I'm going to get is reasonably quiet.)

I have 2 of those asus silent cards you linked to and they work fine for me.

Which model?

That EVGA 8600GT went up $10, not that that's prohibitive. Newegg prices really move fast. The hard drive I was looking at went up, but there's this bigger 640GB for about the same price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822152134.