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Hackintosh Computers

G

Graemezee

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 14, 2009
24
0
A UK website is offering H3 i5 at £969.99 GBP. My son really needs an intel based machine to run After Effects CS5 his alternative is to buy a mac mini. He already has a powemac G5. Any one brought one of these or have any advice for anyone considering buying one. His only requirement is to work on After Effects CS5

H3 i5
i5 quad core 2.66 Ghz
8Gig
1Tb

The system ships with OSX snowleopard 10.6.5 fully configured and working and of course we also ship your own retail boxed copy of OSX.
All the Hackintosh H3 i5 systems come equipped with

Wireless Networking
Bluetooth
Firewire
DDR3 1333Mhz triple channel memory
ATI Radion 5770 (1 Gig) Graphics
Sata 3 storage disk

On the surface seems a logical option They have a H1x system £4899.00 a similar spec mac pro would be £9433.01 may be worth a punt on the £969.99 GBP system just to see how effective it is. As the top spec macs are getting well out of my financial reach.

Any thoughts much appreciated.
 
I'd build my own machine (and I do have a hackintosh) before I bought one from a company. While they can be excellent deals, I'm not sure what the UK's laws on companies selling hackintoshes are. If your son is willing to put in a little work (very little, in fact – Google a place such as TonyMacX86 or InsanelyMac), he can find a machine that'll suit his needs for less than that company is selling.
 
Would be interested in the quote you mentioned do you have any contact details
 
If you are confident in building one yourself, you can build that exact same hackintosh for around £600.
 
I would not buy a Hackintosh if you aren't comfortable building it yourself. If something goes awry, and it eventually will, you won't be able to reinstall the OS.
 
PM me for the details of a hackintosh builder (also PCs) who gives warranty and support...
 
brentsg said:
I would not buy a Hackintosh if you aren't comfortable building it yourself. If something goes awry, and it eventually will, you won't be able to reinstall the OS.
Click to expand...
Have you built a hackintosh? I've had mine for nearly a year, and the only issues I've had with it are ones I would have had with my Mac Pro had I done the same things. You can reinstall the OS as many times as you like – to think you can't is absurd.
 
Given how sensitive and buggy After Effects CS5 is, I would not run it on a Hackintosh... I've heard of issues in the past.

Get an iMac. Same price range, much less trouble. Runs After Effects CS5 like a dream.
 
Also be warned Apple Legal may find and take a dim view of this company, and then sue the heck outta them (even if they dont win they could easily consume the company, and then your supporting a configuration that could easilyve been built dodgily, or not to spec).
 
chrismacguy said:
Also be warned Apple Legal may find and take a dim view of this company, and then sue the heck outta them (even if they dont win they could easily consume the company, and then your supporting a configuration that could easilyve been built dodgily, or not to spec).
Click to expand...

While this is a lesser concern imo, Apple has been known to force recalls on companies they sue for selling Hackintoshes.
 
If you need a powerhouse on the cheap and aren't afraid to get your hands dirty, I would say go for it (with the hackintosh, that is). But it sounds like for your needs you could get away with an iMac, or maybe even a mac mini, and save yourself the trouble.
 
Mackilroy said:
Have you built a hackintosh? I've had mine for nearly a year, and the only issues I've had with it are ones I would have had with my Mac Pro had I done the same things. You can reinstall the OS as many times as you like – to think you can't is absurd.
Click to expand...

Absolutely I have, and from the sound of it I used it for considerably longer than you have to date. It was great and cheap, but once I began to have issues it wasn't nearly as simple as the real deal.

In my opinion a person that isn't comfortable building a hackintosh should not be running one.
 
brentsg said:
Absolutely I have, and from the sound of it I used it for considerably longer than you have to date. It was great and cheap, but once I began to have issues it wasn't nearly as simple as the real deal.

In my opinion a person that isn't comfortable building a hackintosh should not be running one.
Click to expand...
Did you keep messing with things? If you aren't constantly messing around you won't have issues. Did you use a hacked kernel? That'll mess you up too. The state of the art in building and running a hackintosh has advanced considerably since 2009.

In my opinion, a person who isn't comfortable building a computer (not just a hackintosh) should sit down and learn about it – it's not hard. I'd never built a computer before I built my hackintosh.
 
Mackilroy said:
Did you keep messing with things? If you aren't constantly messing around you won't have issues. Did you use a hacked kernel? That'll mess you up too. The state of the art in building and running a hackintosh has advanced considerably since 2009.

In my opinion, a person who isn't comfortable building a computer (not just a hackintosh) should sit down and learn about it – it's not hard. I'd never built a computer before I built my hackintosh.
Click to expand...

The other issue is that when you're working with pro apps, differences in the video drivers/subsystem can causes issues. Hackintoshes are running much better in terms of GPU drivers now, but there are already enough issues on a real Mac, and I've seen issues crop up specific to GPU acceleration on Hackintoshes with Premiere/After Effects.
 
Mackilroy said:
Did you keep messing with things? If you aren't constantly messing around you won't have issues. Did you use a hacked kernel? That'll mess you up too. The state of the art in building and running a hackintosh has advanced considerably since 2009.

In my opinion, a person who isn't comfortable building a computer (not just a hackintosh) should sit down and learn about it – it's not hard. I'd never built a computer before I built my hackintosh.
Click to expand...

That's a fair point, mine was built in '08-09 and retired in '10. And to the point just made, I think it was video card drivers that finally brought mine down. At that point, I hadn't been following "the scene" so I had to quickly choose between figuring out the current state of the art on the hackintosh front, or just buy a Mac Pro. I ended up limping on a MacBook Pro for a bit and then throwing down the cash, and I'm glad I did.

There's really no sense in running anything mission critical on a hackintosh in my opinion, unless it's something you enjoy in addition to saving $$. If it's non-critical, or a hobby machine then it doesn't matter.
 
goMac said:
The other issue is that when you're working with pro apps, differences in the video drivers/subsystem can causes issues. Hackintoshes are running much better in terms of GPU drivers now, but there are already enough issues on a real Mac, and I've seen issues crop up specific to GPU acceleration on Hackintoshes with Premiere/After Effects.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I wonder if that's just from people using GPUs Apple doesn't supply, and if the problem would go away if they used a card such as the GTX 285 or AMD's 5770 and 5870.

brentsg said:
That's a fair point, mine was built in '08-09 and retired in '10. And to the point just made, I think it was video card drivers that finally brought mine down. At that point, I hadn't been following "the scene" so I had to quickly choose between figuring out the current state of the art on the hackintosh front, or just buy a Mac Pro. I ended up limping on a MacBook Pro for a bit and then throwing down the cash, and I'm glad I did.

There's really no sense in running anything mission critical on a hackintosh in my opinion, unless it's something you enjoy in addition to saving $$. If it's non-critical, or a hobby machine then it doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
Haha. To each their own. I also run my hack as a Windows machine so if the OS X side goes down I've still got a bootable OS. I also have a backup that I test QE/CI updates on (I have a 4890 that I originally bought for use with my Mac Pro - no matter what system you use, whether hack or Mac Pro, it needed those updates).

I've read of a lot of people who do use their hackintoshes for mission-critical jobs, and all the more power to them. They tend to stick to known hardware and don't update very often, though. Others I know built a hack and then switched to a Mac Pro or iMac because they liked OS X so much.
 
to the OP

i would really recommend waiting a month or so and getting one of the updated imac.
 
I have an OS X server hackintosh box that's has about 20 days of uptime and does all my local network functions. As long as you get the right hardware, all you'll need is a simple boot disk and your retail OS X disk, you'll be at the desktop in no time.
 
SWAN808 said:
PM me for the details of a hackintosh builder (also PCs) who gives warranty and support...
Click to expand...

I don't think you should be trying to get you or your mates business on this forum, do you? We've already established your hackintosh builder is expensive in my own thread.
 
I just want to echo what others have been saying; that is, it's not hard to build a hackintosh (and save a lot of money) if you're willing to do your homework first. But if you can't be bothered, you're better off going with legit Apple hardware.

Things have changed drastically in the last few years. I did my first hackintosh in 2007, right before Leopard came out. I installed Tiger on a Sony Vaio SZ. The process involved getting a patched copy of OSX from some dubious online sources and installing it with special "kernel hacks" that basically force the hardware drivers into the system. I downloaded about 5 different patched copies from different "hacking groups". Some failed during install, some refused to boot, and only one actually worked. I used that version on my Vaio for a few months. It would kernal panic and crash about once a week. I redid the process when Leopard came out but things weren't much better. Soon after, I sold the Vaio on eBay and bought a macbook pro.

Flash forward to a few months ago, October 2010. I find out that there is a new community (tonymacx86) that has created a simple bootloader to install OSX. I decide to give it a try. I buy $800 worth in computer parts from newegg, gigabyte mobo, core-i7 quad 2.8gHz, 8gb ram, caviar black, blu ray drive, and a $30 retail copy of Snow Leopard. Put it all together, pop in the bootloader, pop in the installation CD, it installs as if it's a normal mac computer. Restart, run software update, now I'm running 10.6.6 native. I've had it running in my living room (as a media server) for 4 months now. No crashes, not one. Solid as a rock. Backs up with my time capsule, all other macs in the house see it as a mac pro. Couldn't be simpler.
 
hsj2011 said:
I don't think you should be trying to get you or your mates business on this forum, do you? We've already established your hackintosh builder is expensive in my own thread.
Click to expand...

1. He's not my mate - is a company I found that I have had nothing but light discussion with about a build for myself (which Gaemezee can attest to). I was passing on the details as having shopped around for companies that do pro Hack builds with warranty and support - it is the cheapest Ive found.

2. You didnt establish it was expensive at all. Actually - you incorrectly and slightly rudely dismissed my helpful comments which I took the time to write. You didnt read my post properly in that other thread because the £1000 build included an SSD drive and 3 1TB drives, and would make a stable Hackintosh available to use now-rather than a patched Kernal Sandybridge. You also ignored the fact you were comparing a self-build with a company build machine with 1 yr warranty.

So get your facts right - and try to be a little more grateful if someone tries to offer opinion.
 
mrblack927 said:
I just want to echo what others have been saying; that is, it's not hard to build a hackintosh (and save a lot of money) if you're willing to do your homework first. But if you can't be bothered, you're better off going with legit Apple hardware.

Things have changed drastically in the last few years. I did my first hackintosh in 2007, right before Leopard came out. I installed Tiger on a Sony Vaio SZ. The process involved getting a patched copy of OSX from some dubious online sources and installing it with special "kernel hacks" that basically force the hardware drivers into the system. I downloaded about 5 different patched copies from different "hacking groups". Some failed during install, some refused to boot, and only one actually worked. I used that version on my Vaio for a few months. It would kernal panic and crash about once a week. I redid the process when Leopard came out but things weren't much better. Soon after, I sold the Vaio on eBay and bought a macbook pro.

Flash forward to a few months ago, October 2010. I find out that there is a new community (tonymacx86) that has created a simple bootloader to install OSX. I decide to give it a try. I buy $800 worth in computer parts from newegg, gigabyte mobo, core-i7 quad 2.8gHz, 8gb ram, caviar black, blu ray drive, and a $30 retail copy of Snow Leopard. Put it all together, pop in the bootloader, pop in the installation CD, it installs as if it's a normal mac computer. Restart, run software update, now I'm running 10.6.6 native. I've had it running in my living room (as a media server) for 4 months now. No crashes, not one. Solid as a rock. Backs up with my time capsule, all other macs in the house see it as a mac pro. Couldn't be simpler.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. What hardware configuration did you use for that?
 
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