Hackintosh Method: Recommendations and suggested parts lists for building a Hackintosh

Dan Benjamin is a podcaster and software writer, with 20 years of experience. He has written this method with recommendations and parts for building your own computer. hackintosh creator

Hackintosh Method

Straight-forward recommendations and suggested parts lists for building a Hackintosh capable of running macOS Sierra 10.12 (and Windows 10, Linux, etc.).

Sections

Jump to the section you're most interested in.
  1. Disclaimer
  2. Recommended Components
  3. How to Install macOS Sierra
  4. How to Install the Video Drivers
  5. How to get Messages and Continuity Working
  6. Walk-Through Video (coming soon)

Disclaimer

Building this PC is absolutely legal, and it's a lot of fun, too. I offer this guide as instructions and suggestions for assembling the hardware to make an awesome PC which happens to be fully capable of running macOS Sierra. It will also run Windows 10, Ubuntu, Debian, elementary OS, FreeBSD, and many other operating systems quite well. But, unlike most operating systems, running macOS on non-apple hardware violates Apple's End User License Agreement (EULA), and doing so might get you into trouble. Here's a link to the 424 page EULA in case you'd like to review it. So, if you do decide to install macOS onto non-Apple hardware, and to enjoy the benefits of building your own super powerful, upgradeable, and yet shockingly affordable Hackintosh, that's entirely your decision, and I take no responsibility for anything that might happen.

Recommended Components

This is my recommended parts list. When I was researching my Hackintosh build, I found list after list of compatible components with explanations about what might or could work, but no guides telling me what I should get if I just wanted to build a great machine that would just work. After tons of research, watching videos, and talking with experts, I selected, purchased, and assembled a machine based on the components below. Each item represents the best possible, highest quality component that is also compabitle with macOS. They all work very well together, and result in an excellent, stable, reliable, and almost-silent Hackintosh capable of running macOS Sierra (and Windows 10, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, etc.). All of these parts are available from Amazon so you can put in one big order instead of placing multiple orders from different websites. And if you use these links I will receive a small kick-back through Amazon's affiliate program and you will receive my eternal gratitude.

Required Components

You'll need to get each of these to build a fully-compatible, working system. You could buy a less powerful CPU, increase or decrease RAM (to a maximum of 64GB), or get multiple or different sized hard drives if you choose. but these are what I used and recommend.
CPU Intel Core i7 6700K 4.00 GHz Unlocked Quad Core Skylake CPU $338.78
Motherboard ASUS Z170-A ATX DDR4 Motherboards $144.99
RAM Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Kit (8GBx2) RAM $104.99
CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Liquid CPU Cooler $99.99
Power EVGA Supernova G2 850W Fully Modular Power Supply $119.59
Audio Sabrent USB Audio Card $9.99
Bluetooth IOGEAR Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter $11.29
Wi-Fi TP-Link Wireless Dual Band PCI Express Adapter $35.90
Hard Drive Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD $98.00
USB Stick SanDisk Cruzer 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive $6.49
Read the rest here.

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