For all intents and purposes, I am a noob.

However, I am a "brave" noob who loves macs but is disappointed with apples prices and their options. I've done my research on hardware and the installation process, yet I still need some guidance.

Here's what I am building:

- GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard
- Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz Quad-Core Processor
- CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 Triple Channel Kit
- ATI HD 4870 1GB

Here's the guides I'm looking at:

[GUIDE] Retail OS X Install (10.5.6) on Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (Core i7) Mobo - InsanelyMac Forum

Retail DVD Guide, 10.5.6, PC-EFIv9 installer, EFI studio, Vanilla or Voodoo, GA-P35-DS3P (L,R), DS4, or OS X Compatible board - InsanelyMac Forum

...and a couple others for reference:

How To: Install OS X on Your Hackintosh PC, No Hacking Required

Hack Attack: Build a Hackintosh Mac for Under $800

So...literally, how do I get started?

I don't want to cut corners. I'd really like to use the retail installation with the partitioned drive with the scripts from the 1st guide, but the tutorial assumes too much for me.
Do I HAVE to have a working mac handy? (and a sata-to-usb cable?)(because I don't).
Do I modify the bios like the lifehacker articles?
How do I get the GUID Partitioned disk?
Am I supposed to make the boot 132 disk? (and when do I use it?)
Is the above method even best?

I hate asking for step-by-step help like this because I can usually figure things out, but this is really new territory for me and there's probably steps that I don't even know about.

Hopefully I can get some good responses and thanks in advance.

Man you dont need to MOD your BIOS, just need to follow the 1st link that you post, once you boot into the installation go to disk utility and you´ll be able to do the partitions, and yes you need to do or found a 132 bootloader for your mobo, maybe he share the info or someone else in the same thread, please push yourself a bit.

Check munkys guide or check another guides for 132 bootloader, munkys have lots of useful info, learn about DSDT pach, Voodoo kernel, the bootloader, GUID, time to read!