Update September 2009
lifehacker.com has come up with a more turnkey approach to installing the Mac OS onto a PC using Snow Leopard.
All you have to do is run a utility and wala you have an instant installable copy of SL!

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Haven’t upgraded/updated my desktop mac for some time. The last desktop I have is the Dual 1GHz AGP Mac from 2000.

Here is my Desktop History

Macintosh G3 Desktop
Quadra 840av
Centris 660av
Macintosh Ci
Macintosh SE
Original Macintosh 128k

Looking at the new desktop I was sticker shocked, especially with the Mac OS now on the Intel Platform.

I didn’t wan a full bore 8 core system, but I wanted something that was pretty fast. Unfortunately Apple does not make a product in between a Mac Mini and the Mac Pro.

Luckily I have been following the Hacintosh scene for some time, and it finally has matured enough that I was confident that I can make one myself.

For about $600 I had a $2200 computer.

Parts List:
Intel Core Duo 6600 2.4GHz quad core processor -185
Gigabyte GA-45P-DSR3 Motherboard-110
8GB Memory- 100
500Watt Power Supply- 50
Samsung DVD Drive- 28
Case- 0
200GB SATA Drive -0
OS X Leopard Family Pack- 125

Total: $570

Installing OSX on non Apple Hardware is not plug and play and one needs to fiddle with a bunch of settings and some detective work. Took me about 2 days to get all the necessary config files and drivers installed running and debugged, but at the end I have a stable, reliable Apple running. The only problem I have is some minor video card problems, but everything else works just like a real Macintosh!

Update: March 3rd, 2009

Finally figured out how to upgrade to 10.5.6 in order to use the new iLive ’09 suite and other things.

Previously used a Kalway installation, but I turned to the iPC 10.5.6 install.

With the correct settings for my motherboard, Leopard installed nicely and with some minor tweaks of the audio drivers and Time Machine settings, everything got upgraded using the migration assistant.