Its done. I have managed to install Leopard OS X 10.5.2 onto my custom built PC with no glitches (except sound input, more on this in the software half of the blog). I am splitting the information on to 2 different blog entries.
The first entry, which is this one, is about the hardware setup and the second one is the installation steps.
My hardware consists of the following components:
- Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2 (aka Intel Bad Axe 2)
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHZ 4MB Cache Processor
- OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 X 2GB) DDR2 800 PC2 6400 RAM
- SeaSonic 600W Modular Power Supply Unit (PSU)
- SeaGate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB 32MB Cache SATA Hard Drive
- Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 512MB DDR4 256 Bit Graphics Card
- Samsug SATA DVD Burner with Light Scribe
- Zalman CNPS 9700NT 110mm CPU Cooler
- Samsung 226BW Black 22″2ms DVI Wide Screen LCD Monitor
- Logitech DiNovo Edge 2 USB Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard
- MassCool Sytrin HDD Cooler
- APC 10Feet 11 Outlets
- Arctic Silver Thermal Material Remover
- Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Generic Cable Ties
- Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Full Tower Computer Case
I am extremely satisfied with my choice of hardware. If there was one thing I would have done different, it may have been the motherboard. At the time of purchasing, the Intel Bad Axe 2 was slated as the most compatible motherboard with the Mac OS X Operating System. Apparently it has come to light that the DFI motherboards are completely 100% compatible with Mac OS X. So why do I regret the purchase?
Well for one, the DFI supports 45NM processors, and have a faster front side bus. The Intel Bad Axe 2 on the other hand does not support the faster Front Side Bus speeds, and does not have support for the 45NM processors. How this translated into costs for me?
My Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHZ 4MB Cache processor cost me about $200 on eBay. If you search hard enough or if there is a promotion going on, you can get the 45NM Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0GHZ 6MB cache for $189. More cache, more GHZ for a lower price. hmm.
Regardless the motherboard is awesome. I have read forums about people being able to over clock the 2.66GHZ processor to 3.4 GHZ. Thats my next mission.
Extremely impressed with the Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Casing. A very well built casing. Its HUGE. The Logitech DiNovo keyboard is a dream to type on. Its thinness, smooth surface, and the built in mouse trackpad on the keyboard is just awesome.
Here are pictures of the components and the final assembly (after clicking on a picture, press ESC and then click anywhere on the screen to view next picture):
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Could you supply the model# of the DFI motherboard that is 100% compatible with Mac OS X. I could not find it on the osx86 site.
Thanks……….Arthur
Sorry it took so long to get back to you Arthur. The DFI motherboard that is 99% compatible with a hackintosh install is called the Blood Iron.
You can find more details here: Fully working DFI Blood Iron