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Building a (sub-$1000) Hackintosh that meets the Oculus Rift hardware requirements – Part I

Hackintosh OS X Oculus

Back at the beginning of March, Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey made controversial statements about Apple’s hardware, specifically the inability of any Mac in Apple’s entire lineup of computers to handle the graphics needs of the upcoming Oculus Rift. At one point in time, Oculus had support for OS X in the pipeline; in fact previous Rift dev kits supported Macs. As time went on, however, it was decided that the Oculus Rift would be Windows-only, at least initially.

It’s with Luckey’s comments, and the lack of initial OS X support in mind, that I’ve decided to put together a Hackintosh machine that meets the minimum requirements outlined by Oculus, yet can still run OS X. In theory, this machine could support the Oculus Rift if the necessary software was made available for OS X. It can run the Rift now if you install a Windows partition on it…

Minimum hardware requirements for Oculus Rift

Here are the minimum requirements as outlined by Oculus:

  • Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
  • NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD 290 equivalent or greater
  • 8GB of RAM
  • HDMI 1.3 (or higher) video output
  • Two USB 3.0 ports

Hackintosh build hardware

As you can see, the hardware that I’ve selected below meets the requirements outlined above. My goal was to build a Hackintosh for under $1,000 that met the requirements for Oculus.

You can feel free to substitute other hardware in to save money. For instance, if you already have a USB 3.0 drive with at least 8GB of capacity, you can use that instead of purchasing a new USB drive. Keep in mind, however, that some items on this list were specifically selected because they meet the minimum requirements outlined for the Oculus Rift. In other words, you don’t want to stray too far, because compatibility issues can arise.

Video overview

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3q5an-8xc]

Read Part II

In the future, I plan on improving this build with additional RAM, better SSD, etc. Of course, I could always go with a faster graphics card as well, likely something from AMD since those cards provide noticeable performance increases for apps like Final Cut Pro X. It can be tedious, but the beauty of building your own PC is that it’s totally customizable and can be upgraded over time.

I opted for an Intel Core i5 processor, because it was relatively inexpensive and still packed a nice punch. Although quite a few in the Hackintosh community have adopted Skylake CPUs to work in their builds, I wanted something that has been tested through and through. More importantly, the Core i5-4590 meets Oculus’ recommended specs.

The folks over at Tonymacx86 recommend this board, which is good enough for me. I decided to go with mATX for expandability, but I almost wish I would have stuck with my first inclination of going Mini-ITX, since it results in a smaller footprint. That said, it’s nice to know that the video card I selected would fit with no issues, and I have lots of room for additional RAM.

Ballistix Tactical RAM is proven to work well in Hackintosh builds. I opted for 8GB, which is Oculus’ minimum requirement.

The GTX 970 meets Oculus’ minimum spec for video cards. It’s also a card that works well in Hackintosh builds. I do plan on at least trying an AMD card since those cards work so much better for Final Cut Pro X.

I didn’t need a huge amount of space for a boot drive, so I opted for the 250GB Samsung 850. It’s a proven drive that plays nice with Hackintosh rigs. If you want to spend a more for a larger drive, there are 500GB and 1TB options available as well.

Although the TP-LINK works well, it features an Atheros chipset which doesn’t work with OS X’s Continuity features. That’s not a huge deal in my eyes, but there are other options that I plan on considering sometime down the road.

This little guy is cheap, and works out of the box with my Hackintosh build. It lets me connect my Magic Mouse to my Hackintosh with ease.

I went with this power supply because it was cheap and outputs plenty of power for my rig. I cheaped out on this, but I wish I would have gone with a modular power supply that was a bit quieter. This supply works well, but there are cleaner and quieter options available that I plan on investigating in the future.

There is a ton of room inside of this case and plenty of room for multiple 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives. That being said, this case is a little larger than I expected.

I wanted a CPU cooler that would keep my processor nice and cool, and I didn’t want to opt for the stock cooler that Intel included with the Core i5. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo has great ratings, and does a good job of keeping the CPU nice and chill.

The flash drive is used to house the software tools that you’ll need to get your Hackintosh going. I like these, because they include LED activity lights. Of course, if you already have USB flash drives with at least 8GB of storage, you can skip out on this.

The Thermaltake case lacks an on board case speaker, which is a necessity in my opinion. Having a speaker lets you hear beeps for POST, which helps you to troubleshoot the boot process. Since Hackintoshes usually require some granular tinkering, you should definitely add a case speaker to your repertoire if your case lacks one.

Unless your Bluetooth keyboard setup has access at the BIOS/UEFI level, chances are you’ll need a hard-wired keyboard. Amazon makes a cheap keyboard, but if you have a USB keyboard somewhere around the house, then just use that one instead.

Approximate total hardware cost (as of this post): $968. I’ve created a full wish list that allows you to see all of the products outlined above on a single page.

Keep in mind that hardware costs do fluctuate, so it’s entirely possible that the price may be a little bit higher or a little bit lower. Generally speaking, the price should lessen as time goes on.

Software

  • OS X El Capitan – Free for Mac users. Note: you will need access to a Mac to create the UniBeast boot disk.
  • UniBeast – Free (Registration required)
  • MultiBeast – Free (Registration required)

More to come

My main motivation behind this build was to create a workable Mac that featured internal components capable of driving an Oculus Rift. While it’s true that Oculus isn’t planning on supporting the Mac at this time, the point is that there are “Macs” that feature the hardware required to drive the Rift, they just aren’t Macs in the traditional sense.

Hackintosh Build Motherboard

We’re publishing this now, ahead of the build post, so that you can buy the parts needed for building your own and have them ship in time for the next video.

In the next post in this series, I’ll walk you through the software install of this Hackintosh build, including any issues or errors that I encountered during the process. As it stands now, I’m fairly happy with this build. It takes patience, but building your very own Hackintosh is a doable feat.

Keep in mind that you can also dual boot Windows, which makes for a more than capable gaming rig that can outright drive the Oculus Rift with no issues. Stay tuned for more posts in this series, including a software how to, and additional exploration into the exciting world of Hackintosh.

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Comments

  1. Doug Aalseth - 8 years ago

    This is gonna be fun

  2. viciosodiego - 8 years ago

    I would have went with a GTX 980 for better performance, or better yet wait for pascal and buy a gtx 970 for 200 dollars.

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      I would have gone with the 980 if my budget wasn’t an issue. But for this particular build, I wanted to keep it under 1K.

      • redevil1987 - 8 years ago

        Should have went with R9 390, that was one big mistake on your side not to go with AMD

  3. Tayseer (@taedouni) - 8 years ago

    I recommend getting a PCI-E Apple Broadcom BCM94360CD for a better experience.

  4. Jack Bamford - 8 years ago

    Nice build. Ive had a hackintosh for years better than a official mac tbh the newer macs are just garbage better off with a Hackintosh.

  5. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

    Illegal use of an OS. Great. “roll eyes”. Come on, really? Maybe this article should be posted on 9TO5Hackintosh, or maybe not even written in the first place.

    • shareef777 - 8 years ago

      Grow up. If you don’t like articles like this I suggest not clicking said article. Or better yet, get off the internet … you’ll quickly learn that this article is one of the LEAST offensive ones out there.

      • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

        It still promotes the illegal use of a company’s OS. I’m not the one that needs to grow up. It’s those that promote using software illegally that need to grow up. Showing someone how to violate a company’s licensing agreement is offensive and it’s just not professional conduct. How would you like it if you owned or ran a business and there are people showing and promoting how to essentially steal your products? You are taking the childish role here. Seriously. It’s just as bad as someone showing someone how to install Windows without a legal license, it’s the same violation.

    • Neil Murphy - 7 years ago

      I think if Apple cared they would block it

  6. Matthew Judy - 8 years ago

    Very cool… looking forward to seeing how this goes. The one thing that kinda sucks about being a Mac user is that you never get to have fun building your own rig. I get my fix building special-purpose PCs for the occasional client. :)

    One thing worth mentioning… I imagine you’ll cover this in a future post, but it should be pointed out that using OS X in this way violates the user agreement for that software, and such a build is completely unsupported by Apple. Software updates, in particular, become a real pain when running a Hackintosh.

    • vertsub2015 - 8 years ago

      And this whole article is written to run software that isn’t being made to begin with so let’s not get so stressed out.

  7. redevil1987 - 8 years ago

    Wow Jeff, I am surprised here
    Finally, you have decided to join PCMasterRace lol
    About time to realize mac have been underpowered and overpriced for years.
    Congrats on this decent build, and hope you will enjoy a really powerful computer, unlike your previous MacBooks air etc.

    • viciosodiego - 8 years ago

      Macs are overpriced and underpowered.
      At least they are more stable then windows based crap out there.

      • Damian Walusz - 8 years ago

        Well, EL Captain is stable and OSX overall, this has nothing to do with macs hardware, which is the same as PC hardware. Underpowered and overpriced is a perfect description for all Macs. However, I really have a soft spot for macs because the OSX is super stable. I am a proud owner of MacBook Pro 2010, but all the powerful work is being done on PC of course.

    • vertsub2015 - 8 years ago

      Overpriced can be debated. First, apple machines may not have the most powerful components you can find, but they tend to use newer components than what is on the market. Sure you might find more powerful broadwell chips out there, but using skylake is just going to bump up the price. Second, compare apple’s prices to what sony used to offer and you’ll find that apple was on par if not cheaper. No wonder why vaio went out of business. Third, look at the resale value. No custom build or pre-built rig gets the same return 5+ years later when compared to an apple product. With apple you don’t have to compromise, you just get what you pay for.

  8. 98cobra - 8 years ago

    I really don’t know where the Oculus guys were coming off on this. The late 2014 iMac has an AMD 290. I got the upgraded 295 in mine. Its a 5k display, but it has no problem downscaling if necessary. Most games don’t support 5k etc.

  9. Mark Granger - 8 years ago

    “the exciting world of Hackintosh” which is a little too exciting for me. You either have to disable critical security updates or your computer can wreck itself. Even if you do everything right, the time you will spend figuring out and working around issue makes it not worth it. However I do like the implied purpose of this news story: Apple had better release a real desktop computer, not a laptop wrapped in a screen, or it is going to lose market share fast. VR is not some passing fad. It is going to be huge and you can’t do it on a Mac.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

      I’m sure Apple will release new products that will have the proper GPU to run this, it’s just a matter of time. As far as VR? Right now, it’s a small market. I don’t really see it as taking over the world type of product. Look at the failure of GoogleGlass. It failed. Even Sony’s version hasn’t done anything. It’s just not needed by everyone. It’s a novelty gaming device, it reminds me of 3D TV, it was exciting in the beginning, but the reality is that people simply don’t really use 3D glasses when watching TV. I see it as a POTENTIAL device for engineering people, but for anything else? it’s more of a novelty type product.

      As far as Apple’s concerned, having the GPU is just a matter of time. Right now, Apple is just caught in that time period where they don’t have a computer with the GPU that Oculus requires, but that doesn’t mean they won’t. I’m sure the upcoming MacPro upgrade, when that hits the market, it will will. I also see future laptops and iMacs having powerful enough GPU’s to run things like this, but it’s just a matter of time on when they’ll release those products. It’s not like people are lining up to buy these things. So, there is time, it’s not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination.

      Well all see what new Macs are released in the upcoming months. Apple is in the middle of clearing out inventories of current Macs which happens right before a new product refresh.

      And if it makes you feel any better, I believe Apple is in R&D of their own similar product. When and if they make that announcement is anyone’s guess, but based on recent Tim Cook remarks, they might have something next year. Remember, all of this stuff is very much in it’s infancy. Even Microsoft is only taking orders for $3,000 Development versions of Halolens, and there really aren’t that many games to actually run, so it’s got many years until this market matures.

      I personally don’t have a NEED for these things. I also don’t know anyone that’s really that interested in them either. Gamers? They will buy anything they can brag about to their friends as that goes with the territory.

      What cracks me up is they are only using an i5 processor, how special is that? It’s just the GPU, which is forth coming. That’s the ONLY thing that Apple doesn’t have currently. By the end of the year, probably most, if not all, of their products will have been refreshed and we’ll see which ones have the GPU’s to run this specific device, which is only one brand.

      To say that Apple doesn’t have a REAL computer is just nonsense. They have REAL computers, they just don’t have one with the GPU requirements of this specific device. They have computers with much better CPU’s than this thing needs, so that’s not the issue. It’s just the GPU and nothing else.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

      I have a question. What is the percentage of all of the current PC’s that are in use that have the GPU’s to run this thing? I would say that of ALL of the current PC’s that are owned and in use, that only less than 1% have the requirements to run this thing. That’s not saying much about the PC market either. Most PC’s don’t come with a proper GPU to run this device either, and there are a ton of PC’s that can’t run it. How many laptops are there that have the GPU requirements to run this device? Do you have a list of them? if there are, there’s not a lot of different models and they are most likely very expensive laptops that most people aren’t buying.

      Has anyone tried to use a PCI card GPU card with a Thunderbolt 2 PCI chassis? I wonder if that would work. Maybe they should try that.

      • Steam surveys suggest that 5% of steam users have GTX 970`s factor in those who have more powerful Nvidia GPU`s and those who have AMD cards and its likely that at least 10% of steam users fulfill its minimum requirements. though there really isnt an absolute minimum for this thing. as long as you can run the game you wish at 2160×1200 and get 90+ fps, you`re good to go.

      • jowens1259 - 8 years ago

        I just got my son’s approx. 2 year old PC. It is oculus vr ready. I don’t even have a 970 in it. Or a 290.

  10. Scott Schroeder - 8 years ago

    Apple should be offering more options to it’s fans for less money.

  11. Shawn (@oldblue910) - 8 years ago

    People who build Hackintoshes generally spend more time fixing issues with their computer than they do actually using it. The only reason to actually build one is “because I can.” Beyond that, buy a Mac and actually enjoy using it.

    • Brandon Stiefel - 8 years ago

      I think some former PC owners can’t let go of the “I must have control over the inside parts of my computer” and “There has to always be something I can fix!” mentalities when they switch to Mac. Prior to moving to an iMac, every desktop I owned I built myself. It got to a point where there was always something I could “make better” and I eventually hated using my PC. Now that I’m on a Mac, I just use it. If anything goes wrong, I don’t have to spend hours researching why it broke and how to fix it. That’s what Apple Customer Support is for. My computing time is much less stressful now that I have learned that I don’t “need” to tinker with my computer to use it.

      P.S. I agree with the commenters above about the article being a little improper. It would be like writing an article saying “Here’s how to download Windows by Bit Torrent and bypass the activation.” Sure, anyone with some knowledge can do it, but I bet any reputable Windows website would frown upon such an article.

      People don’t buy Macs for gaming. You don’t buy a Ferrari when you need to tow a boat. You buy a pickup truck. So, you need to do gaming or VR stuff? You buy a Windows PC. I don’t understand the whole “I wish I could game on my Mac” crowd. But that’s just me.

      • vertsub2015 - 8 years ago

        You don’t need to download windows via bit torrent. You can just download the installer straight from microsoft and then bypass using your activator of choice.

    • Marie-Louise Overgaard - 8 years ago

      I am sorry, but after having built several Hackintoshes myself, I just don’t agree with your comment. My Hack has been running smoothly from Day 1, I have never had any issue with it. And I use it daily as my main workhorse.

    • Grayson Mixon - 8 years ago

      This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

      Some people need a car to just get around. Even if it’s a cool sports car, they just need to get around faster.

      But for some people, working on their car is a hobby. If it runs perfectly, it’s boring. They are always tinkering, fixing, upgrading, changing out, customizing. It’s fun for them.

      For the kind of person who builds a computer, fixing it is part of the fun.

  12. vkd108 - 8 years ago

    “yet can still run handedly run the Mac OS.”

    Say, wha?

  13. Does this build have wifi capabilities or just ethernet?

  14. Coleman Reyna - 8 years ago

    Will increasing the specs change a lot of the install process? Like keeping the motherboard the same, but adding more ram, maybe a 980 (other than driver differences) and adding an i7?

    It seems to me that motherboards are the culprits hackintosh issues (correct me if I’m wrong). aside from downloading the proper drivers from nvidia, does changing the ram, processor and GPU effect the install process a lot? In other words, would I still be good to follow this tutorial and not experience any issues.

    I know that this is a vague questions, so here are the exact specs I’d like to see in this build:

    CPU: any i7
    RAM: 32 gb
    GPU: preferably a 980

  15. Melvyn Depeyrot - 7 years ago

    I’m getting impatient for the build-it video…

  16. Melvyn Depeyrot - 7 years ago

    Reposting this here : Can I use a amd fx-8350 and gigabyte am3+ mobo instead?

Author

Avatar for Jeff Benjamin Jeff Benjamin

Jeff is the head of video content production for 9to5. He initially joined 9to5Mac in 2016, producing videos, walkthroughs, how-tos, written tutorials, and reviews. He takes pride in explaining things simply, clearly, and concisely. Jeff’s videos have been watched hundreds of millions of times by people seeking to learn more about today’s tech. Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube to catch Jeff’s latest videos.