I've got a newly retired machine that I was going to make into an XMBC box but I discovered it won't boot from usb flash.  So I'm wondering if it could make a hackintosh box for my son.  Just how much oomph does a hackintosh need to be usable as a desktop computer?

 

Gigabyte GA-M61VME-S2

Onboard video: GeForce 6100

CPU:  AMD Athlon X2 4400+

RAM: 4 GB ddr2 800

 

Sure it'll have the horsepower..... not sure how easy it is to get AMD to run it however.

I would suggest going to http://www.osx86project.org/ and checking compatibility first. You have to have a mbd/chipset/video that is supported.

I would suggest going to http://www.osx86project.org/ and checking compatibility first. You have to have a mbd/chipset/video that is supported.

 

Darn, not looking good.

XBMC runs on most operating systems.

You don't necessarily need to run XBMC via usb stick, you could just install XBMC on that box and have it launch on bootup...

 

You do have added overhead of the operating system, but that shouldn't make much of a difference if the computer was built in the last 6years...

Best supported hackintoshes are P55 chipsets...  I've got two at home, work a treat. Vanilla install with minimal kexts to get it going. Can install straight off the install DVD.

 

http://tonymacx86.com/

XBMC runs on most operating systems.

You don't necessarily need to run XBMC via usb stick, you could just install XBMC on that box and have it launch on bootup...

 

You do have added overhead of the operating system, but that shouldn't make much of a difference if the computer was built in the last 6years...

 

I didn't want to use a hard drive at all on it.  I have another that only has the flash drive, works well.

For the hackintosh, make sure you check out insanelymac.com forums.  They are a huge help.  Never tried AMD chips before myself, but the items you will need to look into will be the AMD stuff as well as the MB being nForce based.  My hackintosh runs with a nForce based mobo, but there are a few extra steps for the nForce MBs to get everything going.  You may need a few extra kexts that other mobos don't need.

I do have a Biostar G41-M7 that came free with a combo.  Since it's intel and Geforce 6100 would it work as a test for hackintosh?  I've got a Geforce GT 240 in case the onboard woudn't cut it.  I was using the motherboard for unRAID testing so it has a celeron 430 in it for now.  Would an e4300 be enough cpu for hackintosh?

From what I have read and heard you basically want parts that have been used in one mac or another.  Just check out the proc and video card to see if the were ever in a mac.  That way you can run as close to a stock kernel as possible.  Basically a core2 duo w/ a GeForce chipset should be fine.

queeg, my wife's dual-boot hackintosh / XP runs fine on a generic NF4 chipset MB - dual core Opteron - 2 gigs of ram, and an old 8600 GTS series nVidia video card. Try the iDeneb release 1.3 (10.5.5 leopard). We've installed this release on several AMD based machines including a modern Acer laptop with fully functioning hardware. Can't be bothered by installing several times to get it right though :-)

queeg, my wife's dual-boot hackintosh / XP runs fine on a generic NF4 chipset MB - dual core Opteron - 2 gigs of ram, and an old 8600 GTS series nVidia video card. Try the iDeneb release 1.3 (10.5.5 leopard). We've installed this release on several AMD based machines including a modern Acer laptop with fully functioning hardware. Can't be bothered by installing several times to get it right though :-)

 

So your saying it might work on my Gigabyte GA-M61VME-S2?

Yes Sir, exactly.

Finding hackintosh-compatible hardware is a lot like finding unraid-compatible hardware.  Most stuff will work, some won't, and there isn't exactly an exhaustive list for which is which. 

 

When someone comes here and says "I have board XYZ and it's not on the compatibility list.  Will unraid work?", the advise is almost always "Try it and find out".  Same goes for hackintosh builds.