Follow along...I'm going to build a hackentosh

Well here goes nothing. Follow along as I attempt to build a dual boot I7 920 Quad Core Hackentosh. I will keep updating this thread with pics and blogs as I build the system. My goal is to build a stable 64 bit Vista Ultimate machine. Then I will overcrank the 2.6 processor to 3.2 - 3.6 ghz and have it stable. After that is complete and working with Vegas Pro software, I'm going to install a second hard drive and attempt to install a purchased OSX Leopard disk. There may be some kernal mods etc and I will post all of those as I go. If I get the second drive to boot osx, then I will go back and attempt a dual boot hard drive.

If all goes well....IF...the box will cost 1200-1400 as opposed to 3400 for the mac store equivalent and be faster. This price includes legal OSX and Vista installs.

Here is the gear so far...

1. Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor

2. Nvidia 8500 GTX+ 512 mb video

3. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Motherboard

4. Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D Dominator 6 GB 4 x 2 GB PC3-12800 1600MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Memory

5. Power supply

6. SATA 1TB hard drive (2)

Im using several online sources for advice and guidance. I will post those as well.

Why bother with Hackintosh when you can get EFI-X USB adapter and update directly from Apple?

Just built a 970 with 9800GT 8GB RAM 2 months ago.

It doesnt support the latest x58 chip set yet.

I got my dual boot up and running about 2 weeks ago now, it's pretty darn fast. I was a good boy and bought the original disk too

The main issue with it is the plug and play instability. i have to reboot to be able to access a newly connected external drive. The Darwin Boot loader is pretty simple to use. If you need the boot cd from insanelymac let me know as i have a copy and the creator isn't always around on that forum.

Steve and others...if you read the post below, this is the approach I am undertaking but I need to get through the technobabble. It has several advantages to the build.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=127330

I loaded up OSX 10.4 something on a 3 year old 3Gig HT Intel PC and it ran fine.

Should be pretty good with a i7 chip.

I used that technique and think it's the way to go, but it was too immature on my Dell notebook. It will probably be easier to pull off on a desktop. It essentially offers the advantages of the EFI-X product without the USB flash part.

How good is the efi-x thingy? i want to use this method as i don't like the Kalyway hack, and don't want to mess around with kext files etc. Does the dongle support everything on the recommended motherboard? The method i have used is buggy and i'm losing faith

How good is the efi-x thingy? i want to use this method as i don't like the Kalyway hack, and don't want to mess around with kext files etc. Does the dongle support everything on the recommended motherboard? The method i have used is buggy and i'm losing faith

I havent used it but I know it doesnt support x58 chip sets yet. Keep watching the thread..I started assembly today.

I'll take a look from time to time but i prefer to look at www.insanelymac.com where the experts can help - there are huge resources over there. I have already built one using the old method and it was ok, just not stable enough over the longer term.

I was asking about the EFI-X dongle (which you arent using) as i want full support. Not as cheap as handcoding but i dont have time to mess around with it

Oh, it's Hackintosh, not hackentosh

Reason for Edit: To sound less grumpy

Well here is the update:

Now Im trying to see what works and doesnt befre I post so as not to devalue the thread...

So far...attempts using the instructions from insanelymac and the gx58 thread have yielded very bad results...a successful boot but nothing else..no graphics, sound, net..etc. So that isnt working as expected.

Tried booting with the ideneb distro with a boot error that I have been unable to work around. Now for the good news...

I do have a successful and stable overclock at 3.6 using the stock cooler. However at 70c under full load that is a little too warm. So I will be upgrading the stock cooler for a 69.00 one. So add that to the cost. Vista64 ultimate is running fine. Exported a timeline in Vegas to Sony AVC went from 10.25 minutes to 7.5 minutes. (almost 30 percent boost) This is from the stock 2.67ghz i920 quad core to the overclock at 3.6 (REALLY 3.54)

I will post the exact bios settings for others. But for now, Im going to try a few more options and advice on getting the Hackintosh (thx) up and running.