I remember an old adage: "Linux is only free if your time has no value."
Like almost all adages, there's truth and falsity here. Like with a Hack, when you begin to work with Linux - it rings true, but when your journey is well underway, you'll see more and more the falsity of that adage. Linux now rocks for me, it's still free and adds value to all that I use my tools for.
But yes. Hackintosh is the way to go if you want a cheaper and faster computer running OS X...
... and you're willing to embark on technical learning, have the time to do so, find others who will lend you support, etc.
I think everybody agrees on that.
Some will disagree.
That doesn't make it the best choice for everybody. I don't know of any pros that want to spend too much time fiddling around HW, reading guides on the net, etc. For many pros needing higher performance than what Mac Pro currently offers, the alternative is a HP Z820 and not a hackintosh.
Generally, true.
It comes down to whether you use your computer for projects, or if your computer is the project.
Initially while you are in the base learning phase, this is true. If you continue down this path, building future systems becomes easy.
The mandatory car analogy:
Today you have a Mercedes (Mac Pro). It's slightly out-dated tech, though rock solid.
Agree that Apple has allowed the Mac Pro to become out-dated technologically while Apple causes us to ponder its fate, but my four Mac Pros are no more rock solid than my selfbuilds. Furthermore, that car analogy is misplaced unless you position it with Mercedes (Apple) placing it's future (that of the Mac Pro) in a similar tenuous/precarious position. That might surely affect future Mercedes purchases.
Now you want better performance, and you have to decide if you buy a BMW (Z820) or decide to build your own American hotrod (hackintosh).
I agree that many of the performance minded among us might see their choice as this limited. My experience has taught me that if you want the FASTEST Hack, then you have to start with the FASTEST Windows computer (but not usually a BWM or Mercedes), either building it yourself or by going on to Ebay where you can find custom built systems (with dealer warranties) which allow you to tweak their bios. You can buy and install addon cards [particularly the ones from Sonnett Tech (for SATA 6, USB 3, Fast Ethernet, etc.) that run out of the box on both Windows and Macs without driver installation] to take care of the issues that plague most selfbuilders (and for audio I recommend the Alesis io2 Express). Going this route you'll get parts warranties that exceed one year, minimize time spent on hardware, and get a very fast system with all of the latest technology working properly. So then it becomes mainly a matter of getting your software installed and tweaking the software and bios. It's like buying a tweakable hotrod.
You'll have a crowd of people telling you "But it's soooo easy to build a hotrod. It's just an engine, a transmission, 4 wheels and a few seats". When you say "But, eh, I just want to drive from A to B", they'll respond "But you'll get more horse power in a hotrod, and seriously, you're stupid if you think it's hard to build your own car. Of course, the first one will be a bit hard, but then you'll know how to do it, and save money on every car afterwards".
It would be atypical for the first hotrod build to be perceived as easy. It depends on one's talents, time, etc. One is not stupid if he/she think that building the first hotrod will be challenging, but there are easing alternatives - buying via Ebay is one. Otherwise, one will not likely see the rewards until one gets the hang of things and completes that first project successfully, unless one is perceptive enough to see the benefits of increasing his/her knowledge base along the way.
Nobody will argue that a hotrod can have more power. Nobody will argue that it's more configurable than a factory BMW. Nobody will argue that it's much cheaper.
Some will argue against each proposition, but they'd be wrong. With Ebay's help, WolfPackPrime0 cost me less than any similarly configured top of the line brand name system with two 6 core Westmeres. As a value proposition (cost vs. performance), I find selfbuilds unbeatable.
But if your reason for getting a new car is to go from A to B every day, the BMW will probably be a better offering. Or even keeping the old Mercedes, which have proved itself.
True for the BMW, but its beginning to look to be true for the old Mercedes only for its life.
Then the hotrod crowd will say: "But actually, I drove 500 miles to a fair last month without any problems, my car is just as stable!". That might very well be true.
True and its internal quote is true, at least in my case.
But for some reason, it seems even people with hotrods have a normal car for daily use. Based on the Hackintosh threads at MR, it also seems the hotrods spends quite some time in the garage or shop, even though the people have access to thorough guides (tonymacx86).
True, but this forum, as well as others, shows that some owners of Mercedes have similar experiences and so have I. Generally, the squeaky wheels post the most whether the forum is devoted to Macs, Hacks, Windows, Linux, etc.
That 100, 1000 or 10000 mechanics tell everybody that "it's so easy to build a better performing car yourself" doesn't convince the people buying a BMW or Mercedes.
Maybe - I own more Mercedes (4), BMWs (15 Dell Workstations), Toyotas [iMacs (3) and MacBooks (3)] and Model-T antique cars (vintage Apple, Atari and Commodore systems) than most and added to my
frozen stable of brand name render slaves is my
growing hotrod inventory. I'm convinced.
Why is half a million people so stupid, that they keep buying factory built BMWs and Mercs every year, when people much more knowledgeable about cars tell them they could get higher performance by building them themselves?
They're not stupid - they're like the vast majority of people who for various reasons (such as, but certainly not limited to, fear, real/perceived time constraints, personality, lack of confidence, lack of perseverance, lack of interest, etc.) chose the path of ease and least resistance, especially when it comes to computer technology.
So yeah. Nobody disagrees that a Hackintosh can be faster than a Mac Pro. But if you want to go from A to B in a reliable fashion, for most people a Mac Pro or Z820 is the best solution.
Disagree with second sentence (but they'd be wrong), but otherwise agree 100% that iMac/Mac Pro, Z820, and other brand name systems are the best solutions for most.
, the link literally gave you a "..." in between all the other stuff that I thought would be there to get you to that link. Here is the proper one, Just click on THE HACKINBEAST. Thanks, later... 
