Buying...

I hate shopping.

I realize I'm unique in that stance, but it's true. I don't just go out and buy things. Spending money is something that requires utmost due care and attention. And with this project there are so many loose canons. This shopping experience has felt like trying to balance huge stacks of plates on either hand.

Shopaholics make it look so easy

So what am I balancing? Parts that work in a hackintosh, with parts that fit in my computer, are within budget, are good quality, and are the best price. And I'm figuring that out while comparison shopping 4 different sites.

• NCIX
• NewEgg.ca
• TigerDirect.ca
• Memory Direct

I plan on using one shop to buy everything, and price matching to get the best price. Oh, and as you can tell, I'm based in Canada. Where, despite the parity, we pay about $10 to $20 more than Americans.

Tonymacx86 is a really helpful website for Hackintosh noobs like me and on it is a list of recommended parts you can buy that won't kill you when trying to install OS X (though there is still risk of that). It makes deciding the motherboard and CPU easy.

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3P $75

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570K $226

But everything else... Well, there I have way too much choice.

Currently I'm in the middle of a sales transition day. So I don't know if I should just wait until tonight to see what changes. Oh my! this is exhausting. I cannot wait for this part to be over. I'll let you know what I get in another post.

Dismantleation

Taking apart the PowerMac is actually a fun and straightforward process. In fact I think it's  the easiest step in this whole adventure. Everything else is probably going to be a headache.

Now I could go through and tell you step by step how to take things apart, but I simply don't have the time for that. See the best option would be to just link you up to the official Apple Power Mac service manual. It, in a very clean and concise way, tells you how to dismantle a Power Mag G4, and it goes all the way up to the Quicksilver model.

You can find it here.

There will be lots found as you dismantle the Mac. Like the thick layer of dust that had grown on the side of the case between the plastic cover and metal underneath. It almost looks like a filter. Ironic.

And then there's the tape that held some of the cables in place. Those pieces are quite tough to pull off. Plus there is one still hiding underneath the AirPort mount. Which will be removed, let me tell ya.

But now with everything out and the case emtpy it's time to visualize how everything will fit. To help me with that I got an old MicroATX board from a friend to see how things fit in that case. I'll save all that for another post. But as of now I have a lot of decisions to make.

The List

So what exactly am I hoping to do? Well I want to build a Mac, literally. It's a strange logic. Gut an old Mac, build a PC inside it, and then reinstall the latest OS X. The reason is that the old Apple design is still beautiful today, and it deserves to live on, not end up in Guiya.

But that will require a lot of time, and investment. And so I need to plan what exaclty I'll need to make this project to work.

I've already got my start in an obviously used PowerMac G4, and as pictured in the previous post a beautiful Apple Studio display. Which is missing it's hind leg.

My budget for this project is $800. Ambitious? Probably. So, what do I all have to get with that amount of money:

• A miracle
• Motherboard
• Intel CPU (with Integrated Graphics 4000)
• RAM
• Nvidia GPU
• Blu Ray Burner
• Power Supply (I may have that)
• Apple Pro Keyboard + Mouse
• Stand for Apple Studio Display (or just another screen)
• ADC to DVI adaptor (ug!)
• OS X

Getting these parts will be a slow process as I indecisively figure out what is best for me, which I'm sure I'll blog about.

Coming up next though, is cleaning and disassembly.

A PowerMac and a Dream

It all started with a visit. My friend was showing me around her house (I'm a bit of an Architecture buff) and I noticed sitting in a corner a translucent PowerMac G4. Oh, how it reminded me of my childhood longing for a candy coloured iMac to land in my room.

I did end up getting a candy coloured iMac. But by then it was so old it was useless. And I always thought of upgrading it with new computer components. That's no easy task; and it requires a knowledge of electronics that I don't have.

But what about one of these? A PowerMac G4. All I have to do is gut it and pop in new modern PC components. How hard can it be?

Well, we're about to find out.