Sub-500$ Hackintosh with Gigabyte GA-G31M-ESL2

[jdratlif]

I thought I'd share my thoughts for anyone looking for a cheap hackintosh.

 

HEC mATX Case w/ 485W Power Supply - $50

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ESL2 Motherboard - $53

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz - $197

G.Skill DDR2 800 4 GB (2x2 GB) RAM - $46

Asus nVidia GeForce 8400 GS - $33

Western Digital 500 GB SATA HDD - $65

Sony SATA DVD+-RW - $25

 

Total: $470

Shipping will vary depending upon free shipping deals with NewEgg. Mine put it around $497.

 

The case works great with the motherboard. The power supply has 2 SATA power connectors. The motherboard comes with 2 SATA connectors. The video card does not need a PCI-E power connector, which is good cause the power supply doesn't have one. The case comes with plenty of screws for the OEM HDD and DVD+-RW.

 

There was a $10 rebate on the video card I haven't got yet. You could get a cheaper HDD if you wanted. Mine was chosen for the rating, size, and cache. You could get a cheaper processor too. I wanted a Quad Core with Virtualization instructions.

 

The motherboard only supports 4 GB RAM, and only DDR2 800, so my setup is pretty much maxed out as it is.

 

Everything works for me with Leopad 10.5.6. Restart, Shutdown, Sleep, Time Machine, Ethernet, Sound, Video. Here's my setup post: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=156172

 

Thanks again to all the people who helped me figure this stuff out.

[SBOB]

Thanks for your tips.

I had decided to also get that motherboard and today did some impulse shopping at a 'local'(1 1/2 hr drive because i couldnt be bothered waiting 3 weeks for it to come more local ) computer fair...

 

 

Motherboard - Gigabyte G31M-ES2L

CPU - Intel E5200 2.5GHz Dual Core

GPU - Gigabyte Nvidia 8400GS

RAM - 4GB(2x2GB) Kinsgston DDR2 800

HDD - 1TB Samsung 7200rpm SATA

DVD - Asus Sata DVD-RW

Case - Gigabyte GZ-M3 (not my first choice but very very limited choice..the only bit im not 100% happy with but seriously...its a case )

 

All up(in local Aussie $, so divide by about 100 for US$ )

= about $610

 

Have all the ingredients, now I just need to try following some recipes to bake this Hackintosh

 

Ill try your guide, Ive got the retail of 10.5.6 coming at the moment...

[Zaap]

Nice system. Thanks for posting back with your results.

[zim2dive]

Not meant as criticism, but I think you undersell this system by assuming the quad-core proc in the price.

 

If you drop the quad core to an E5300 (2.5GHz?), you still have a system that will beat an $800 Mac Mini, at around $330-$350 in cost.

 

When that is available, I don't know why folks even both looking at the $250 atom based hack's when you get so much more proc power with this (and the better 8400gs graphics).

[jdratlif]

Not meant as criticism, but I think you undersell this system by assuming the quad-core proc in the price.

 

If you drop the quad core to an E5300 (2.5GHz?), you still have a system that will beat an $800 Mac Mini, at around $330-$350 in cost.

 

When that is available, I don't know why folks even both looking at the $250 atom based hack's when you get so much more proc power with this (and the better 8400gs graphics).

 

Yeah, that's true. I mentioned it in my notes. $500 is a just magic number for me.

[MyRightEye]

Not meant as criticism, but I think you undersell this system by assuming the quad-core proc in the price.

 

If you drop the quad core to an E5300 (2.5GHz?), you still have a system that will beat an $800 Mac Mini, at around $330-$350 in cost.

 

When that is available, I don't know why folks even both looking at the $250 atom based hack's when you get so much more proc power with this (and the better 8400gs graphics).

 

Because some people simply do not need much processor power. I do work where the CPU is idle 99% of the time when it's at it's peak. Why spend more than I need? For me, as long as it boots and runs, it's fine by me.

 

And then again, I am looking at building a totally kick-butt machine soon as well, for a very different purpose.