Reddit mentions of Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

How much do you want to spend? Do you want to do any gaming on this PC?

You can build a better computer for cheaper, but the Apple Mac mini is pretty small and powerful enough for recording audio. It's $600.


You can build a better machine for a lot less, though:

• CPU: Intel i3-2100 - $125
  
• MoBo: ASRock H61DE/S3 - $76
  
• RAM: PNY Optima 1x4GB - $25
  
• PSU: SS-350ET 350W - $43
  
• Case: NZXT Gamma - $40
  
• Hard drive: 1TB 7.2k RPM SeaGate Barracuda - $100
  
• Disc burner: Sony DVD burner - $24
  
• TOTAL: $433
  
  The Intel i3-2100 CPU is just about the best bang for your buck.
  
  The ASRock H61DE/S3 motherboard has 5.1 surround sound, S/PDIF optical audio output, Gigabit ethernet, USB 2.0 (but not 3.0), DVI, VGA, and HDMI video output. If you don't need surround sound and optical audio output, we can get something about $20 cheaper here.
  
  SeaSonic power supplies are high quality. 350 Watts will be plenty for this build.
  
  The NZXT Gamma case is the best you can get for only $40.
  
  This build doesn't have a video card. Built-in graphics will work fine unless you will be doing 3D modeling or 3D gaming.

Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K - £174.94

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - £26.65

Motherboard: Biostar TZ75B - £69.99

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP CL9 1600MHz 1.35V DDR3 - £28.00

Hard drive: Toshiba 3.5" 7200RPM 1TB - £55.00

Graphics card: EVGA GTX660 Ti - £224.99

Case: Antec One - £44.09

Power supply: OCX ModXStream Pro 500W - £48.66

Optical drive: Sony 24x DVD Burner - £13.99

Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64 bit - £39.95

Subtotal - £726.26

Delivery - £4.99

Total - £731.25

Follow this guide to install Windows. You can also get 4.04% cashback from Novatech through this site which equates to £9.09 off the graphics card. You won't need extra cooling fans; computers don't really get that hot at all.

EDIT: The memory's gone out of stock literally as I was pricing up your built. Let me rearrange things. Ok, get this memory instead, it's practically exactly the same, from the same supplier, same price and should have been in stock yesterday which means it's coming very soon: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m2a1600c9

For the most part everything looks solid to me. You've made good choices on the mobo, CPU and GPU, and those are most important when it comes to hackintoshing. Just a few quite notes:

• You probably don't need a 650w PSU, you would be fine with a lower wattage one and save 10-15 bucks. The 650w will allow for better expansion in the future however.
  
  
• You're going to want a better WiFi adaptor than that. At least one that supports 802.11n, which is the next standard after 802.11g (what the one you picked supports). When you've picked a newer card, double check on TonyMac or InsanelyMac forums to see if the card is compatible. If you still want to go the cheaper route, this USB dongle is cheaper and higher performing than the 802.11g card you've got right now. And it works flawlessly in OS X and Windows.
  
  
• Replace your optical drive with this one. It's been proven 100% compatible with hackintoshing. A lot of other optical drives have issues with power management which could render your desktop unable to sleep or use Speedstep properly.

Yeah, I wasn't quite sure which optical drive I should get. He wants to be able to read/write on cd/dvd. How's this? As for the processor, I spoke with him and he said if it will make a significant difference he's willing to go over the budget a bit. I was planning on getting this. According to PCPartPicker, it's 5 dollars cheaper at 'SuperBiiz', but I'm not quite sure how trusty worthy that site is. Am I better off buying it from Newegg?

Current possible build
CPU - either http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Phenom-3-2GHz-Processor-Boxed/dp/B002TQYUAE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323880323&sr=8-2
or http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Phenom-Processor-Socket-Warranty/dp/B0056D5AMY/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

the second is cheaper but only 1 in stock when I checked.

Motherboard - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002LFYYAY/?tag=pcp0f-21

Ram - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004ROIDJA/?tag=pcp0f-21

Power supply - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000H9KRY8/?tag=pcp0f-21

Cd-drive - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0057FRTPW/?tag=pcp0f-21

Case - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-source-210-white-mid-tower-gaming-case-with-120mm-fan-w-o-psu

Graphics card (Amazon very expensive, this site much better) - http://www.ebuyer.com/254405-asus-gtx-560ti-directcu-ii-1gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-mini-hdmi-pci-e-engtx560-ti-dcii-2di-1gd5



the only thing left to get is a hardrive, I have been informed that any SATA hardrive 5400rpm or 7200 rpm will be fine but apparently it is very hard to find them at good prices at the moment...
this is the cheapest I could find on amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-160GB-7200RPM-Internal/dp/B001CIREXA/ref=sr_1_63?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1323884784&sr=1-63