Acolyte57 Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Hey guys, I'm new to this board. I've just spent the entire weekend reading up on installing MacOSX on an Intel machine. Basically, I'd really like to run Mac OS X for a while to see if I'd be willing to switch. But paying $650 for a Mac Mini just to get a taste is a bit too expensive. I saw the $200 hackintosh site and that is kind of exactly what I had in mind, a reasonably cheap way to get Mac OS X running alongside my main Windows machine for a while and see if I'm willing to give up XP (and maybe Vista) and buy a real Mac as my next computer upgrade. Thing is, I can't get a good read off the forum about how well such a machine runs. Everyone seems to be trying to get bigger and faster and more expensive components running, which is exactly the opposite of what I need. In fact, considering some of the references made to it, the $200 Hackintosh seems more like a proof-of-concept rather than a viable machine. So I was wondering if you could all comment on the machine I want to make (which is more or less the $200 machine in a prettier box). Basically, what I need to know is: Can I run Mac OS X on this machine and get a usable experience out of it, comparable to at least the basic Mac Mini, from which I can decide on further conversion to Mac OS X? It's shaping up like this: Asrock P4Dual-915GL m-ATX MoBo Intel Celeron D 340 (2,93 ghz) Proc BenQ DVD Drive 80GB Samsung PATA HD 512MB Dane Elec RAM Antec Minuet m-ATX case With some rough pricewatch-use and calculations I get out around somewhere in the 250 euro range. I'm splurging on the Minuet case because I already have a Sonata. This machine should not be louder than the Sonata is, or it'll drive me crazy. The DVD drive, HD and RAM are just the cheapest non-noname units I could find locally. So what's the verdict guys? Can I give this system a go? Are there known problems with this setup I should know about, things that would seriously be off-putting to using the Mac? Should I consider some very different components? I'm open to all suggestions here, you're the experienced ones. I want my first Mac OS X experience to be all right, yet affordable (And if you're wondering what I'll do with this system if I do decide to buy a real Mac afterwards... once I add 2 Hauppauge 150 LP's I've got a fine little machine to run Windows Media Center on and put in the common room... We're poor college students, not a penny should go to waste ) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexidecimal Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Might want to jump to a gig of ram but that isn't a bad little hackintosh.. Thought those ASRock boards are hard to come by. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-97538 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavemonkey50 Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 My $200 machine runs wonderfully. While it sucks for thing like Photoshop, it's perfect for what I use it for, a multimedia machine. Regarding your specs, I would recommend just one thing. I would get more RAM. If you want to stick to your budget, get a slower CPU. The difference between Celeron CPU speeds is marginal, so don't feel bad with a slower one. OS X is a memory hog, so the more memory you can get, the better. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-97539 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acolyte57 Posted April 17, 2006 Author Share Posted April 17, 2006 Yeah, I know the Asrock boards are scarce but so far I haven't seen another m-ATX boards with the same chipset for the same general price. The whole $200 idea is a bit reliant on it Sadly the Celeron prices don't seem to vary too much over the whole, with the lowest I could still get (the 325) being only about 15 euro apart from the 340, while a decent stick of 512 MB costs about 40. So I figure I'll just have to accept having to buy an additional stick Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-97629 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritchie Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 don't stack on the CPU between 2.6 and 3.2 it's a little bit the same... The problem is the board that has 915GL or 915G (GMA900) chipset.. and is hard to find cause they move forward to 945 chipset... Be careful though because there are boards on the market refurbished that might have problems... Other than ASROCK you can find MSI, INTEL and GIGABYTE at the same price.. All of that are matters in the case of cheap solution.. Otherwise I'll suggest 945 chipset with GMA950 and DDR2 so you can run VISTA's AERO as well Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-97726 Share on other sites More sharing options...
quixos Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 i bought an Asrock 915GL motherboard, and used my own P4 3.0Ghz Northwood, and 1.5G ram. the performance of the board is (HalfLife2 x800gt) excellent, and the OS experience is flawless. total of 60 dollars to try out OS X. i'll only be happier when i buy my powermac. ram is key to smooth, frustration free performance with OS X, it's been that way since the beginning. i don't understand at all why they are selling mac mini's with so little ram, it misrepresents what OS X is capable of doing, and it's really shooting themselves in the foot. with the system you are building, you really should spring for the extra ram, even if it makes the total price higher, for a superior "mac" experience. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-97745 Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlepr Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Acolyte57, On the dvd I would suggest a LiteOn DVD-/+R DL 1693S because it just works. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-98070 Share on other sites More sharing options...
myzar Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 i would suggest 1gb of ram and anything but a celeron Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-98081 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acolyte57 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 Since everyone is adamant about the RAM I've decided to spring for 1gb of RAM. On the processor front, the Pentiums and Duo's are at least twice as expensive as the Celerons. Does it make that much of a difference for Mac OS X? The price hike on the RAM I can just about afford, but doubling the price on the processor really hurts my price margin Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-98133 Share on other sites More sharing options...
kernalzero Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 I tried sticking to the $200 budget for a cheap mac and I ended up dropping $560...opps! It was worth it though, still thinking about ordering more DDR because like everyone has said - OSx is RAM hungry so get more and try to get a P4 if you can. You can play the 'well if I upgrade to this, it'll only cost $x more.' I did that and ended up paying more than expected. enjoy Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15208-how-well-does-a-200-machine-perform/#findComment-98162 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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