I've been lurking around for a while wanting to do this, and since I recently came into some cash I've decided to go ahead and build a hackintosh. I've only ever replaced a few PC parts over the years (never built an entire computer), but I've got a knowledgeable roommate who should be able to help me out on that end.

I use my current Mac primarily for HD video editing, and I'd need a hackintosh with the power to do that. In addition, I'd like to be able to play PC games as well, so I'm looking for a fairly powerful machine. I'm willing to spend about $1200 tops, give or take some. It doesn't have to cost that much (I'm definitely not opposed to spending less money, heheh), I just want a Mac I won't have to upgrade for a while.

I've tried to do my research on everything, but there are a few things I'm still a bit sketchy on. I'd like to use a retail version of Leopard: will it be 100% compatible? It seems like I read something about trouble with 10.5.6 or something, and I just want to make sure I'll be able to download all the updates without worry.

Also, is it possible to have a microphone input? I know Macs (for whatever reason) don't have them, and it'd be great to use a non-USB headset. Definitely not required, but it'd be a great addition.

Will I be able to use boot camp and/or parallels with Windows? I have a copy of XP, but if Vista was necessary I'd be willing to settle with that. As I said before, I'd like to also boot into Windows to play PC games.

Getting to brass tax: I'd like you to pick the components of the computer. I know about the hardware combo topic, and if I'm forced to choose one of those then I will, but I'd really like someone to give me an even more complete list of what I'll need. As I said before, I'm not experienced at putting a computer together, so I'll need to know everything I'll need. That includes things like a case, usb/firewire ports, wireless card, bluetooth, dvd drives, etc.

Ideally, I'd like links to the products on Newegg or a similar site. Obviously, I need all of the components to work together. I really hope it's not asking for too much, but I need the huge list of everything just because I'm so new to all of this. In return for the help, I'll take pictures of my assembly.

Things that, while aren't essential, are preferred, include:

• 4+ GB of RAM (I don't know if 6 is overkill or not)
• 1 TB HDD (or 2x 500GB, preferably high speed to deal with HD editing)
• plenty of usb ports
• 2 or more firewire ports
• cardreader
• wireless card
• bluetooth

For the most part you can let your imagination run wild with the setup. I just want to make sure everything will work and work well (and do pay attention to the power needed: I got screwed with that one time >.<). As I said before, if you can build me a friggin' sweet hackintosh (within the budget), I'll take pictures of the entire process. I hope it's not asking for too much, I just need a very complete list since I'm so new to everything.

Check the sticky for combos, now if you wanna may sure that you have mic, buy an audio card compayble with osx, boot camp wont work on osx86 is pc for god just dual boot, parallel or vmware will work, you can win or linux there, is really fast. For blutooth and wifi check the hcl the link is in the sticky or google it, good luck