Rationale: Apple designs their computers to be quiet. I don't think anyone wants a noisy computer, but so many computers are. Have you listened to a Windows-based laptop? Eek! Result: I selected a highly-rated case that has variable speed fans and good construction to limit vibrations.

Rationale: Apple designs their computers to be energy efficient. I want to use as little energy as possible. Results:

• Peak of 140 watts during startup
• After login, 99% idle: 101 watts
• Downloading a 200 MB file: 107 watts (network card now in use; CPU at 86% idle)
• Installing Windows 7 (inside Parallels) and upgrading my Aperture library: 110-114 watts
• Importing photos and continuing to install Windows 7: 113 watts
• Editing this wiki: 99-109 watts (not sure why such a large range)

All results gained by watching the monitor of a Kill-A-Watt device. I have yet to compare these results to the behavior of the computer my Hackintosh replaces, an iMac. I haven't tested the energy efficiency of the two LCD monitors I use.

Not sure if it sleeps as well as a Mac - I put it to sleep and only the monitors and the operating system slept; the fans and hard drives continued spinning.

Rationale: I need a fast computer to edit HD videos and edit 10 megapixel photos. Result: I selected a CPU I thought had the highest cost to performance ratio, the Intel Core i7 860 at 2.8 GHz.

• OSx68
• InsanelyMac
• tonymacx86

You will need:

• MOST IMPORTANT: Snow Leopard Retail DVD (not a downloaded copy, the $30 one from Apple)
• Used iBoot-Supported edition (also has ATI and Nvidia editions)
• Used MultiBeast (most helpful for Gigabyte motherboard users)
• The complete instructions for both these programs is at tonymacx86 Blog.
• A ton of patience and skill for online research and technological experimentation

• Read the iBoot+MultiBeast instructions three times before proceeding! This is kind of like cooking: the more you understand the ingredients list and recipe before you start, the fewer mistakes you'll make and the better your outcome.
• Install Mac OS X from drive instead of disc - I prefer to load Mac OS X from a portable, USB hard drive. It will install faster from a hard drive than from a disc. iBoot will support loading from a hard drive - whenever the instructions say insert the Mac OS X installation disc, just insert your USB hard drive. You will image the installation disc onto the hard drive (erasing everything on the drive).
• If you get a kernel panic when installing Mac OS X, restart and when iBoot loads, type in ”-x” and press enter to activate safe mode. That worked for me.
• Always use the latest version of MultiBeast - it tends to get better and easier to use/understand as the versions progress.
• Have an extra, blank hard drive around in case something goes wrong with the installation main hard drive and you want to start over, but in a different way.
• Don't start saving everything to your new Hackintosh until, over two days, it proves to reliably turn on, shutdown, restart, and boot.
• Be patient - getting a successful Hackintosh up and running may take over 12 hours!

• Photos on my Flickr

Part	Description	Newegg Link	Price (at time of my purchase)
CPU	Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield - normal clockspeed is 2.8GHz, can be overclocked via motherboard. 95 watts. 4 cores, supports HyperThreading to double number of cores.		289.99
Motherboard	Gigabyte P55M-UD2 (Micro ATx)	GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard	104.99
Memory	A-DATA Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1600GB2G9-2G (2x)		89.99 (179.98)
Power Supply	Antec EarthWatts EA-380D 380 watts		44.99
DVD Drive	ASUS DVD-ROM SATA Black (I meant to get a DVD burner but I mistakenly ordered this; then I found out that I already had an internal DVD burner)		16.99
Video Card	ASUS EN210 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit DDR2		47.99
Hard Drive	SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5”		74.99
Case	Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower		59.95
Mac OS X	Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6		29.00

Total price before shipping: $848.87

• TDK 8.5GB 8X DVD+R DL 25 Packs Disc Model 48973 - Sometimes you need to burn images of software.
• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 320GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - Secondary drive for Windows installation (a real installation beats virtualization, like Parallels or VMWare, anyway).
• Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive