Last week I wrote how you can build your own Mini Mac Pro 2013 edition for about €600. Don’t need so much processing power? Then that kind of money can also buy you a second hand Core2Duo Mac(Book). So what are the options these days when you want to build a 100% OSX compatible hackintosh on a budget?
Budget Hackintosh
The configuration suggestion below, ain’t based on my wisdom. It’s gathered from several Hackintosh forum resources of TonyMacX86. Some refer to this configuration as a “PovoMac” (insiders know what I’m talking about).
PovoMac Early 2013 configuration
Consisting of key components;
Micro ATX Mainboard
GigaByte GA-B75M-HD3. Price: ± €60
Computercase
Matter of taste really. Cheapest & Smallest Micro-ATX case I could find with built-in 400W PSU, is the MS-Tech LC-02. Price: ± €40
CPU
Cheapest CPU I could find is the Dual Core 2.6 GHz Celeron G1610 boxed cooler. I’m not sure if the boxed cooler fits this case. Leave a comment with tips! Also sells — like most components — for > €40. CPU benchmark score: 2609.
Videocard
Although the Celeron has a built-in videocard, it’s been reported to not work well with OSX. So you can either upgrade to an I3-3225 (CPUbenchmark.net score 4381), or get a cheap PCIe videocard: Asus GT610 Silent. Price: ± €40.
Memory
2GB is rather limited, you’ll need at least 4GB to take full benefit from OSX. Just get the cheapest dual channel DDR3 RAM you can find. Price: ± €35.
Harddrive
Something you shouldn’t be saving money at, is the harddrive. Or actually solid state disk. The best budget SSD at the moment is the Kingston V300 120GB SATA600 SSD, with write speeds of upto 450MB/s. Price: ± €90.
Total
Total spend: ± €300.
Additional resources & recommended reading
- PovoMac; Cheapest Mac Ever
- The Always up-to-date Guide To Building a Hackintosh
- Build the Mac Pro that you wish Apple Released
- Building CustoMac Buyer’s Guide May 2013 <– Must Read
- 4 Cheap 2012 Hackintosh Builds worth your Money
- My Dutch / NL WordPress Translation contributions: October 2022 - October 9, 2022
- My Dutch / NL WordPress Translation contributions: August 2022 - August 23, 2022
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Communities I have been 'hanging out' regularly over the past two decades.
- Nomadlist.com since 2022-04
- Empire.Kred since 2021-07
- Karma-Lab.com since 2019-01
- Invision Community since 2018-05
- Insanely Mac since 2018-02
- eGPU.io since 2017-04
- Tech Inferno since 2016-08
- forum.VestaCP.com since 2016
- WordPress.org since 2015-12
- Couch Surfing since 2014
- BitcoinTalk.org since 2014-03
- Warrior Forum since 2013-07
- Empire Avenue since 2013
forum.OSXLatitude.comsince 2011-08- Envato (i.e. CodeCanyon) since 2011-07
- TripAdvisor since 2010-09
MoneyMakerGroup.comsince 2007-03- HardWare.info since 2003-08
- SynthForum.NL since 2001-11
- gathering.tweakers.net since 2000-11
Note: links go to my profile on those respective sites. Connect with me if you like.
- EarnWithEarnie.io since 2022
- EarnWithEarnie.net since 2018
- BestProfitsTeam.com since 2017
- CycleClubMembers.com since 2015
- BestSTIFORPteam.com 2013-2021
