Voltechs

So I was laid off from work about a month ago, which along with the inherent problems unemployment brings, I lost my primary computing tool. I was supplied with a MacBook Pro 2.4GHz. Was a nice computer. I don't regret selling my PowerBook G4 (god I don't even remember how fast it was). I put the money I saved from selling the mac a while back towards a new computer recently.

I built a hackintosh. This thing is a beast.

* Computer Case: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025">NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower</a> $79.99
* Widescreen LCD Monitor: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236028">ASUS VW222U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) with HDCP support</a> $199.99
* Memory: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190">G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)</a> $124.99
* DVD Burner: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173">SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q</a> $28.99
* Hard Drive: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262">Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s</a> $54.99
* GPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130376">EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCIx 2.0 x16 HDCP/SLI Ready</a> $192.99
* Motherboard: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128351">GIGABYTE GA-EP45C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel</a> $134.99
* CPU: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041">Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W</a> $319.99
* Power Supply: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182097">Rosewill 950W 80Plus Certified, SLI CrossFire Ready Active PFC</a> $254.99
* Combo Deal: I got a combo deal on my case and Power Supply, which got me -$150.00 off the price.

Total: $1,241.91

Let me tell you, this baby screams. I had to spend about a week using a 400MHz G4 tower gathering information about the hackintosh and whatnot. Quite a poor ratio of signal/noise out there on this, but I managed to wade through most of it and come out ahead. Had to scrounge up the right kexts and bootloaders, as well as some drivers for my graphics card (which significantly improved its performance. I would recommend (if you're a power user which, if this is interesting to you at all you probably are) going with a 320GB hard drive. Also if you plan on using windows, might as well grab yourself another hard drive while you're at it. Now, keep in mind, this $1,241.91 *includes* a monitor. Honestly the only thing that didn't include was a keyboard and mouse. Things which I already had. I'm really in love with my computer. I know it pretty much inside out, it was cheap (comparatively with apple computers) and it is FAST. 4 cores, at 2.8Ghz each... I mean... I can't get over it. I love it.

My only other regret was the monitor I got. It's not a bad monitor by any measure. Its built in speakers is a bit lacking, but if you're an audiophile you really shouldn't be using them anyway. My only qualm with it is that it has no USB ports on it, but that was my fault. Lack of foresight. It would have been really nice to get a monitor which had an A to B USB cable running up to it that I could then connect my peripherals to. See, I have a standing desk so my computer is on the ground and I have limited cord-length for USB. Anyway. Good luck if you decide to build a hackintosh.

Oh one more thought. I bought a SYBA Firewire PCI card so I could have FW800, but I can't get the drivers to work with it (i.e. there are no drivers) which is a big bummer, so yea. I don't have FW800, only 400. Bummer.