I followed the hardware purchasing guidelines on tonymacx86’s site completely, so here’s what I’ve used:

[Intel] Core i7-4770 (Haswell)
[Kingston] 8GB DDR3-1600 *2 (16GB in total)
[Gigabyte] Z87X-UD5H (F9)
[Crucial] M500 SSD 240GB (changed to an Intel 530 SSD 240GB in the end for no special reason)

I used i7’s internal grpahics HD4600 during installation, and after that I plugged in this card for Resolve’s CUDA rendering:

[Asus] GeForce GTX 670 2GB (Mini version)

I haven’t got a case for this build yet, and the PSU used is an Antec 1300W by Delta.

The software I used includes:

tonymacx86’s Unibeast 3.0.1
tonymacx86’s Multibeast 6.3.0 (Mavericks Edition)
Apple App Store Mavericks 10.9.2
10.9.3 update via App Store

I basically followed the procedure in this guide, who have similar hardware.

The BIOS setting I used is:

Load Optimized Defaults
Wake on Lan = Disabled
Init Display First = IGFX

The detailed steps as follows:

0) Use Unibeast 3.0.1 to make installation USB, Install OSX Mavericks app should be in place in /Application as if downloaded from App Store.
1) Boot to USB installation medium, use “-v npci=0x2000” boot flags.
2) Install as per OSX installer instructions.
3) Reboot via USB, same boot flag.

4) Run Multibeast 6.3.0, select the following:
4.1) DSDT Free
4.2) Without DSDT ALC898
4.3) TRIM patch
4.4) FakeSMC & plug-ins
4.5) USB 3.0 Universal
4.6) AppleIntelE1000e 3.0.4.1a
4.7) iMac 14,2

5) 10.9.3 update via App Store.

6) Re-run Multibeast 6.3.0, select the follwoing:
6.1) Without DSDT ALC898
6.2) TRIM patch

7) Shutdown and plug-in the additional nVidia graphics card.

8) Viola it’s done.

Main hardware components:

[Intel] i7-4930k (*)
[Gigabyte] X79-UP4 (F7) (*)
[EVGA] GT640 (GUI) (*)
[Intel] 530 SSD 240GB (*)
[Dell] PERC H700 (+)
[MSI] GTX760 (CUDA render slave for Resolve) (+)
[Intel] Pro/1000CT GbE

Other hardware components include Lian-Li PC-A79 case, Antec 1300W PSU, dual Dell U2711 display, Avid Artist Color & BMD UltraStudio USB 3.0.

Begin with (*) items.

Software used:

Unibeast 3.0.1
Multibeast 6.2.2 & 6.3.0
Mavericks 10.9.2

Steps:

1) Use unibeast to make 10.9.2 installation USB

2) boot flag: -v npci=0x2000 cpus=1

3) Installation process extremely slow, be patient, watch an episode of tonight show

4) Reboot via USB into new install, same boot flag

5) Run multibeast 6.2.2, install following:
5.1) Without DSDT, ALC892

6) Run multibeast 6.3, install follwoing:
6.1) DSDT Free
6.2) 3rd party SATA
6.3) Trim patch
6.4) EvOreboot
6.5) FakeSMC + plug-ins
6.6) NullCPUPowerManagement
6.7) VoodooTSCSync 6 Core
6.8) AppleRTC patch
6.9) USB 3.0
6.10) Generate CPU State
6.11) MacPro 6,1 profile

7) Add npci=0x2000 & PCIRootUID=0 to Kernel_Flags section of /Extra/org.chameleon.boot.plist

8) If under mainly MS Windows network share environment, open a terminal window and type in “defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true” to disable generating .ds_store and .Trash file/folders over network share

9) Remove USB and shutdown, plug in (+) sign hardware

10) Boot, install driver for Dell PERC H700 (LSI MegaRAID SAS family OSX driver, can be found here)

11) Reboot, see if is alright
11.1) If kernel panic on AppleIntelE1000e 3.0.4, then remove PERC H700, re-run multibeast 6.3.0 and install AppleIntelE1000e 3.0.4.1a (or some other version)

12) Shutdown, plug in all the rest hardware

13) Should be done.

Special note: A previous version of this article states the installation of 10.9.3 Combo Update and possible troubleshooting afterwards, now it has been revoked. Don’t install 10.9.3 update if you’re running a dual nVidia graphics card setup like me. I researched quite a bit and tried several kernel flag at boot, but none can eliminate a previously mentioned dreadful situation: only one graphics card will be sending output signal, and it’s not the primary card I set in BIOS. So upon boot you will find your screen blank and no signal, and the (supposedly slave CUDA render card for Resolve) is now being used for GUI.  Setting PCIRootUID kernel flag can sometimes solve the problem but not always, most likely after 1 or 2 reboot you will find yourself in the same conundrum again. And besides, even if your main graphics card set in BIOS is correctly initiated, the main screen (I have 2 displays hooked up to same card for dual head GUI) will jump around, even if you set primary display to your center screen in System Preferences, after reboot it will probably jump back to left screen. 10.9.3 screws with dual graphics card and dual display setup so badly that I cannot find a way to resolve these issues.

Recently I upgraded my file server to new Haswell i7 platform, so after some switching and swapping job, I end up with an extra LGA775 board. And since it’s Gigabyte made, the notion of building a test hackintosh came into my mind. Luckily I also phased out a case from work machines, so there’s not much buying needed. The original CPU bought with the mainboard is a Core 2 Duo E7400, which is only a Wolfdale-3M class processor, apparently not enough for today’s task. Thanks for the magical LGA771 to 775 converter, Core 2 Duo generation Xeons are extremely cheap now, so I bought a Xeon E5450 for this build, along side is a VGA card, Asus GeForce 210 (1GB), since my mainboard does not have integrated graphics. That’s pretty much what I’ve bought for this build.

So my build is Intel based, including these parts:

[Intel] Xeon E5450 (running@3GHz)
[Transcend] 2GB DDR2-800 *4 (total 8GB)
[Gigabyte] EP43-DS3R (BIOS F10b)
[Asus] GeForce 210 1GB (SILENT ver.)
[TPLink] Realtek 8111E based PCI-E GbE NIC (installed for link aggregation under Win7)
[HGST] 500GB HDD (OSX system drive, 512 bytes sector)

Along with a Lian-Li PC-P50 case and SuperFlower 850W 80PLUS-Bronze PSU.
During installation I used a Logitech USB wireless mouse, Microsoft PS/2 Basic Keyboard and a Datacomp USB mechanical keyboard for input, and a Asus USB external blu-ray drive for loading installation media.

*bold items are the main affecting parts for a hackintosh build

As this hardware is quite old-fasioned for a hackintosh build today, I decided maybe an ancient OSX will fit this hardware better. That’s why I choose Snow Leopard over Mavericks.

So the hackintosh tools I used for this build includes:

Tonymacx86’s iBoot CD
Tonymacx86’s Multibeast 3.10.1 (Snow Leopard Edition)
Retail version of Snow Leopard DVD (version 10.6.0(build 10A432), not the grey DVDs that comes with an actual Mac; or a dmg file called “snowleopard_10a432_userdvd.dmg”)
OSx86 Tools 1.0.150

I first tried to follow the Snow Leopard installation guide on tonymacx86, but neither EasyBeast nor UserDSDT works (I used an allegedly compatible DSDT of EP45-DS3R), and I can’t google of any successful build guide (I’m sure there’s must be some, but as Snow Leopard has quite an age now, it’s probably buried deep) so I’m literally on my own. After 2 weeks of trial-and-error, I find out my build is probably a DSDT-free setup. So my installation is as follows.

Referencing several guides on Snow Leopard installation, I changed these settings in my BIOS:

SATA mode = AHCI
USB Mouse support = ENABLED
Onboard Parallel Port = DISABLED
PME Event Wake Up = DISABLED
Power On by Ring = DISABLED
HPET Mode = 64-bit mode

These are the steps I followed to get an install to my build.

0) Burn the installation media to discs. Namely iBoot CD & Snow Leopard retail DVD.
1) Boot iBoot CD, upon bootloader, swap to Snow Leopard DVD, wait a few sec, press F5 to refresh bootloader and use “-v -f npci=0x2000 GraphicsEnabler=Yes” boot flags to boot into Snow Leopard installer.
2) Install OSX as per instructions on screen.
3) Reboot to iBoot CD, in bootloader choose the freshly installed Snow Leopard partition on HDD.
4) Download and install 10.6.8 combo update as per tonymacx86’s guide.
5) In Multibeast, tick the following options and install:

5.1) Bootloader
5.2) tonymacx86 remixed theme
5.3) ElliottForceLegacyRTC kext
5.4) EvOreBoot kext
5.5) NullCPUPowerManagement kext
5.6) FakeSMC kext
5.7) FakeSMC Plug-Ins kext
5.8) IOAHCIBlockStorageInjector kext
5.9) PS/2 Mouse Keyboard Support kext
5.10) Lnx2Mac’s RTL81xx driver
5.11) ALC8xx HDA kext
5.12) AppleHDA rollback
5.13) ALC888 HDA Enabler
5.14) System type MacPro 3,1

6) Run Multibeast again, this time only tick System Utilities.
7) Run OSx86 Tools, follow this guide to generate the EFI string for GeForce 210, and paste it to org.chameleon.boot.plist in /Extra
8) Add the following keys to your org.chameleon.boot.plist as well:

8.1) <key>Kernel Flags</key><string>npci=0x2000</string>
8.2) <key>GraphicsEnabler</key><string>Yes</string>
8.3) <key>Legacy Logo</key><string>Yes</string>
8.4) <key>Timeout</key><string>2</string>

9) Remove iBoot CD and reboot.
10) Should safely arrive on bootloader on HDD, choose Snow Leopard partition on HDD to boot.
11) If nothing else get wrong, you should be arriving at OSX desktop within 1min. (mine arrived at 30s. sharp)
12) If you are in a Windows-majority SMB/CIFS network sharing environment, you probably would like to add this touch in the end: disable the creation of Mac equivalent of Thumbs.db: .DS_Store & .Trash, etc. by typing this in a terminal:

12.1) defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

Viola you’re done.

But I still encounters instabilities in my build, namely programs will randomly terminate, upon running javascript, firefox will stop responding, and a extremely slow playback on YouTube (yet playing Apple trailers via Quicktime is smooth). And iTunes 11 won’t work, just use 9 or 10.

1. Clerks 2: traditional American plot, happy ending.
2. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema: well-made stable documentary.
3. The Ring Finger: The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes without ornamental scenes.
4. Digital Shorts Competition C: (n/a)
5. Linda Linda Linda: popular & predictable plot, Kashii Yuu & songs are GREAT.
6. Scent of Thai Male: totally experimental. rated X only because genital scenes.
7. Mind Game: early Mushi-Production style; unclear ending; causality scene to dense.
8. Cream Lemon: runaway part is weird.
9. Ramblers: Japanese style ordinary; structure & narration highly finished; powerful ending.
10. Waiter: Good(but not perfect) metaphysical plot. eeeee part is so good, and so does the Japanese; Leading actor not doing much acting.
11. The Caiman: bravo! viva Nanni Moretti. A harsh left-wing critic. He still can’t resist having a role.
12. Princess: A high level monk’s revenge.
13. The Postmodern Life of My Aunt: lively characters: good script & good actors.
14. Klimt: 120% stream of consciousness; imaginary dialog with self; viewing need clear concentration.
15. A Comedy of Power: Chabrolish film; script not as powerful as The Flower of Evil; no beginning nor ending.
16. Miss Little Sunshine: pure emotion that sells well.(this is what Hollywood does) conventional American popular plot, yet structurally & narratively mature; grandpa is good.
17. Love Sick: unclear & confusing on brother’s part.
18. This Film is Not Yet Rated: Great! should dig out more info, file a law suit or so.(like Michael Moore)
19. Fear X: Is Peter real or just imaginary?
20. Pingpong: bravo incest!!(both hands up)
21. Free Jimmy: fairly stable story line.
22. The Journey: first half: very primitive narration, not until the latter half it became more modern; music is undispensible in India films, thus too purposely.
23. Hazy Life: flat life glimpse.
24. Last Days: sleeping. Very Gus Van Sant: an acted documentary.
25. Su-Ki-Da: perfect in composition, but scored 0 in plot. a so slow love story, yet not as slow as Bela Tarr’s attempts. not to the extreme caused its failure.
26. Suite Dreams: nice multi-character comedy: the most important thing for watching movies is fun.
27. Time: every normal film has to have an abnormal character.(neo European films excluded)
28. Paprika: cannot understand ending, else fairly good.
29. Scrap Heaven: hentai enough. wanna punch Odagiri Joe badly. viva Kuriyama Chiyaki!!
30. The Minder: final climax is GOOD.
31. Tough Enough: somewhat ordinary & flat teenager film.
32. A Curtain Riser: a talkative dialectic.
33. Dans Paris: slept over 2/3 … similar to Francois Ozon films.
34. Shortbus: traditional growing-up film plot. happy ending. theatrical metaphor(blackout) rethink the life you’re living. about what’s really the truth beneath.
35. Days of Glory: Good Job. French version of Band of Brothers, Save Private Ryan Good start for understanding racial problems in France.
36. Allegro: animated parts are good. narration is similar with previous film, but did not surpass it.
37. Frozen City: wanna punch the neighbor and his wife. does every northern European film has to be this blue? suicide predictable but its failure unpredictable.
38. Lunacy: half animation half movie; full of madness; half truth is a lie. cutie meats.
39. Breakfast on Pluto: a lovely drag-queen queer cinema.
40. The Bothersome Man: Good Job. both good and bad for the ending; mayor of hell is interesting, and so is killing oneself on the rail.
41. Always–Sunset on Third Street: tear-making popular plot. even making tears with very first music.(and I can recognize Ueno Station…)
42. The Science of Sleep: so cute! animations’ good.
43. Taxidermia: why pig? meat scene is in par with Lunacy; last scene shocking, taxidermizing self is cool!
44. Candy: too orthodox(about drug) but realistic. predictable A-B-C structure.

Hmm, what I wanna say is only:

If one person has no talent, cannot be an artist, one still can be a fine craftsman / technician, since this world also need “fine craftsman / technician” badly.

That’s it.
(This is such an one-line article.)

***

Anyways, these are only some murmurs without context.