How to Build a "Hackintosh" Mac

A hackintosh is a custom-built Macintosh computer (Mac) that can run a patched version of OS X Leopard. The high price tag for Apple computers may have kept you from buying a Mac. Luckily, you can create a custom Mac computer, or Hackintosh Mac, for a fraction of the price. This tutorial will show you how to build a Hackintosh Mac.

1. Purchase the hardware for your Hackintosh. To do this, you will need to do some shopping around. You can find a good list on a Newegg wishlist. You don't have to limit yourself to the items on this wish list. Feel free to customize your Hackintosh.

2. Once you have purchased all of the hardware, you can start putting your Hackintosh together. The first thing you need to do is install the motherboard and CPU. You can install the motherboard just as if you are installing a PC's motherboard. However, you will need install the heat sink a bit differently. The Intel heat sink found on the wish list connects directly to the motherboard, so all you have to do is pop it in place.

3. The next thing you need to do is install your RAM. When installing RAM, you need to make sure you install it in matched pairs that come in the same package.

4. After installing your RAM, you will need to install the GeForce 7300GT video card. You can install this just as if you were installing any PCI Express card.

5. Now you need to install the hard drive. Your hard drive should be a SATA drive. To connect a SATA drive, you will need to connect one of the power supply's SATA power cables to the drive and then connect the drive to the red SATA connector located on your motherboard.

6. Before installing the operating system, you will need to tweak your BIOS. Go to the ASUS download site and download the latest BIOS version for your ASUS motherboard. After downloading, save the file to a USB flash drive. Boot up your build and enter the BIOS setup. Find your BIOS file and install it. Once the BIOS updates, your computer should restart.

7. You are now ready to install Mac OS X. This is the tricky part. You will need to find a disc image called Kalyway Leopard10.5.1 SSE2 SSE3. You may need to use a torrent client or file sharing program to find the file. Once you have found the disc image, save it to a DVD. This specific DVD contains the Leopard install disc with EFI software that will let your hardware work with OS X. Boot your computer with this disc and follow the on-screen instructions to install Mac OS X.