How to build a MAC?

[Neotriple]

Are there any special parts I need to build a MAC for a friend besides buying the MAC OS?

Will any ASUS, Corsair/Crucial Mobo/RAM work on a MAC, or are there certain RAM, and certain Motherboards I have to buy?

 

[Mex]

An Intel-based Mac, right? I believe there is a certain motherboard feature that you must have or else OS X (Or whatever it is) will not load. Problem is, I don't remember what that technology is, so let me look for it.

 

[Mex]

Here we are - Extensible Firmware Interface, otherwise known as EFI.
http://www.intel.com/technology/efi/

It's a kind of "replacement" to the standard BIOS. Frankly, I don't know where you might find a motherboard with this pre-loaded or a file with which you can overwrite a standard BIOS.

Is there any reason you need to build it? Because if not, you might just be better off buying him a Mac striaght from Apple. I have no idea whether you just need a board with EFI or if it runs deeper than that.

 

[Neotriple]

It's for a friend, and I don't want to buy it from Apple. They are a waste of money.

But, anyways, there HAS to be some sort of Pre-loaded motherboard!

 

[reaper]

It's for a friend, and I don't want to buy it from Apple. They are a waste of money.

But, anyways, there HAS to be some sort of Pre-loaded motherboard!

If your friend want a Mac, then he should buy it from apple, for I havent heard anyone custom built a Mac. Apple is extremely arrogant about their products so they dont share their technology to anyone. If he wants performance and cheap, PC would be better.

 

[3lfk1ng]

You wont find mac products to build a mac from scratch, if you want a mac you'll have to buy an overpriced boat anchor from apple.

I suggest you save some serious money and build a pc. I have an $900 laptop that runs circles around my girlfriends $1400 mac laptop(we bought ours within a week of eachother) and she has had to take it to mac mechanic (local mac repair shop) at least 4 times already(Faulty "logic board" as they call it, bad battery, cd rom drive issues, and now she needs another "logic board") Shes still waiting on the logic board and the battery to arrive...

Get a pc, and save yourself a lot of trouble.

 

[blueeyesm]

Until EFI replaces BIOS (Which, last I read, wasn't happenning until about 2008-09), the only way you can "build" a Mac is to use a booting hard drive image that uses EFI within its own boot loader.

http://www.uneasysilence.com/os-x-proven-hacked-and-running-on-an-ordinary-pc/

Your milage may vary.

As for Apple hardware being a waste of money, Apple grooms their hardware designs to work and be esthectically pleasing, as well as easy to work with on the inside. Most PCs I still see today in mass production are generically designed with minor tweaks applied to the case, i.e. ATX. Sure, specialized companies like VooDoo may use UV reflective plastics, tubes on the cables etc., but they don't have the control over their designs to alter the motherboard to their tastes.

You pay for what you get.

 

[breedalot]

i belive i saw somthing about intel puting presure on manufatures to use efi as it is suported under vista or somthing but my memory is a little hazy you may be able to get one early next year b4 vista. Then again if you live in the uk just get a us mac on import its much cheaper!