First build : coherent or overstretched ?

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and the hackintosh world, but after some hard reading (thanks already for all the info posted !) I want to change my iMac late 2009 by a hackintosh.

Use :
- heavy excel 2013 charts (over 500K cells with multiple pivot table).
- 3D (blender) non professional use. I'm not looking at a rendering monster but my patience just can't keep up with my imac late 2009.
- Photo/image (let's say Adobe suite without coffee breaks every 2 minutes). Light video (no more than iMovie projects).
- A bit of gaming, my wish is Word of Warcraft on ultra (on OS X native 27 inch resolution, not planning to install Windows so far), far fetched as you can see .

I have 2 more needs :
- A long lasting setup, if possible around 5 years without investing heavily in it every year.
- No noise ! I would like it to be as silent as an imac if possible.



After reading many guides and subjects, I put that project together :

* System : Apple OS X Yosemite (already owned).

* Display : iMac 27 inch late 2009 (already owned) in target mode via Displayport.

*Motherboard : GA-Z97X-GAMING 3 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K2RQDXY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20

*CPU : Intel Core i7-4770K http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20

*GPU : EVGA GeForce GTX760 SuperClocked w/EVGA ACX Cooler 2GB GDDR5 256bit http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-2765-KR/dp/B00DHW4HXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416178495&sr=1-1&keywords=EVGA+GeForce+GTX+760+Superclocked+ACX&pebp=1416178498347

*RAM : Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416178555&sr=1-1&keywords=Corsair+CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10+Vengeance+16GB+%282x8GB%29+DDR3+1600+Mhz&pebp=1416178558848

* SSD : Samsung 840 series 250Go (already owned)
* HDD : Western digital green 2To (already owned)

*PSU : Corsair RM Series 850 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-80PLUS-Gold-Certified-Power-Supply/dp/B00EB7UIXM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416178904&sr=1-1&keywords=Corsair+RM850&pebp=1416178907520

* Case : Fractal Design Define R4 http://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Define-Cases-FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL/dp/B008HD3CTI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416179040&sr=1-3&keywords=Fractal+design+define+R4

* Wifi : TP-Link PCI Express Wifi Adapter http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GMPZ0A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20

* Input : Apple magic trackpad (already owned) + Mad Catz M.M.O7 (already owned) http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Catz-M-M-O-7-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B008PQK26I/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416179219&sr=1-3&keywords=mmo7

* bluetooth : any adapter, in fact I was looking for something that could allow Handoff to work, but it seems it's quite difficult.




Since all those parts are picked form the buyer's guide, I guess there shouldn't be any compatibility issue (I'm planning to run with Clover, looks like it's the way to go for the future ?). My questions are the following given that I wouldn't be against shaving a couple of euros, or reallocating if needed :

- CPU : i5 Vs i7 makes around 100€ difference, but I feel limited by my current i5 2,66Ghz.

- GPU : seems like a good one all around (perf, heat, noise...), but it's already a bit old, so I'm wondering if I should get something a bit stronger even if a bit more expensive.

- Alim : here I'm just lost, I guess with power the more the better, but do I need the 850W ? even if I think about future upgrade in 4-5 years, I believe it would rather be a new GPU than a second GPU. Not sure dual cards would matter much for my current use (maybe for blender, but for final rendering I'll use farms anyway, so it's just viewport and spot rendering to check everything goes well).

- The case : it's been quite a headache actually. I could shave 35€ and go for an Aerosol DS Cube http://www.amazon.com/AeroCool-MicroATX-Removable-DS-Cube-White/dp/B00H4PSFQ0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1416179991&sr=8-7&keywords=aerocool+ds with a Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8HNGXS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20 I'm really not sure what the best would be here, price is the same. I don't quite get the ATX / mATX difference aside the size and connectivity a tad more limited.

I'm opened to any suggestion, please kindly note that I live in Europe so I may not have access to everything here, and I'm more intent on reducing the budget than increasing it !

It's been quite long, sorry for that, and if anyone is still awake at this point thanks a lot for any input you may have !

Fumomono.

A little bump to make really sure before ordering, I guess the fact that no one jumped to comment means there is nothing out of the ordinary which is already a good point for me !

Thanks,

Fumomono.

Everything looks pretty good but here are a couple of comments. Why get a 4770K when you can get a 4790K for the same price? The 850W PSU is overkill. You can easily get away with something in the 600W range.

Thanks for your reply !

16€ difference between both CPU... Thanks for mentioning it, there are so many references around I just missed it I guess, much better indeed to go for 4790K (by the way, I thought K was for overclocking, but I don't see a regular 4790 at 4Ghz, that's strange).

And very good news for the PSU, I'll go with the 650, that's always 40€ saved.


If I may, could you please confirm me the difference ATX/mATX is only about the size and number of connectors ?
The aerocool DS Cube http://www.amazon.com/AeroCool-MicroATX-Removable-DS-Cube-White/dp/B00H4PSFQ0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1416179991&sr=8-7&keywords=aerocool+ds is quite appealing to me, but that means using an mATX card, I'm thinking GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8HNGXS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20
Seems that it makes a nice non-bulky and relatively silent build, with 2 SSD bays and 2 HD bays I could even make a dual boot system if I ever needed windows for something.

Last but not least, how is temperature managed on a hackintosh ? On my iMac it was first automatic, then I used HDD fan control because I put a SSD/HDD in a fusion drive. But for a hackintosh, is there any need to have a software control the case's fans ? I'm quite sensitive to noise, but I don't want my system to burn either, and after a couple of days of render the GPU might think about getting hot

Fumomono said:

Thanks for your reply !

16€ difference between both CPU... Thanks for mentioning it, there are so many references around I just missed it I guess, much better indeed to go for 4790K (by the way, I thought K was for overclocking, but I don't see a regular 4790 at 4Ghz, that's strange).

And very good news for the PSU, I'll go with the 650, that's always 40€ saved.


If I may, could you please confirm me the difference ATX/mATX is only about the size and number of connectors ?
The aerocool DS Cube http://www.amazon.com/AeroCool-MicroATX-Removable-DS-Cube-White/dp/B00H4PSFQ0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1416179991&sr=8-7&keywords=aerocool+ds is quite appealing to me, but that means using an mATX card, I'm thinking GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8HNGXS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20
Seems that it makes a nice non-bulky and relatively silent build, with 2 SSD bays and 2 HD bays I could even make a dual boot system if I ever needed windows for something.

Last but not least, how is temperature managed on a hackintosh ? On my iMac it was first automatic, then I used HDD fan control because I put a SSD/HDD in a fusion drive. But for a hackintosh, is there any need to have a software control the case's fans ? I'm quite sensitive to noise, but I don't want my system to burn either, and after a couple of days of render the GPU might think about getting hot

Click to expand...

I think that case is really sharp looking too...been thinking about building a system in one myself. Basically, mATX just has less expansion slots (4) and is physically smaller. Unless you're running multiple graphics cards you likely won't miss the extra slots (in a nutshell). Modern motherboards have excellent fan controls that are located in the BIOS...

I'll give you a feedback on the case once it's all up and running !

I'm just trying to see if I can fit a gtx 970 in my budget instead of the 760 before ordering, not sure wether it's worth the money (that's an extra 100€ here). Yet 4Gb seems better for the future. Might also be a bit more trouble installing it since it's not natively supported I think.

Well, the order is in, final config :
- Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5
- Core i7-4790K (thanks again !)
- MSI GeForce GTX 760- Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz
- Samsung 840 series 250Go
- WD green 2To
- Corsair RM 650 Watt
- AeroCool MicroATX Cases DS-Cube Black
- IOGear Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter

Given the price of the gtx 970 and it's lack of native compatibility I chose to drop it for now, better play it safe since it's the first one and I need it to work asap and be very stable. Also went for MSI over Evga for the 760 as reviews were better.

I have an old airport express that I plan to use as a relay to get internet (the box is way too far to draw cables), does it provide the same functions as a dedicated wifi card (Airdrop and wifi Samsung printer notably) or should I add a TP-link card for that ?

And lastly, the computer will be far from the iMac I'll use as display, can I just use USB extensions for the keyboard, mouse (Ratz 7 memo)... or do I need an USB hub ? Forgive that question which looks particularly dumb, but I'm not too sure how happy a hackintosh is with USB in general.

Thanks !

I'd very much like you to keep us posted, as I'm particularly fond of this colorful case.

On the topic of using an Airport Express as a wifi adapter plugged into the ethernet port, it should work out with any kind of routers, as per the quite recent threads found on internet. Beware that Airport Express usually have their own MAC address (I mean different from the one of your computer) ; in that case just add it to your MAC filter if set on the router.

Cheers for the crash test.

Hi,

Well, the crash test wasn't too bad, here are the promised feedbacks !

- Ethernet for the hackintosh to the Airport express : works like a charm for internet and shared computer on the same network, no Airdrop nor anything fancy though. By the way, my network is the following : (bad) ISP modem/routeur linked via ethernet to an Airport express distributing WIFI over the house, second airport express as repeater with USB printer on it (makes a nice server without investing in a WIFI printer since I had that old Airport lying around). All easily configured via the Apple Airport setup application.

- TP-link WN881ND : was kind of a bitch to install (had to go find a .kext over the web because those on this website didn't work, and I didn't know how to extract kexts from Multibeast, which I think has the one I used. But since I used Clover, I wasn't sure it would appreciate me running Multibeast), but now works perfectly, gave me Airdrop, and of course internet via WIFI. I need to test it more, but I've got some latency spikes. Could be my ISP though.

- Display : iMac 27' late 2009 via cable miniDP->DP on the GTX 760.
N.B. : I got the sound working but it's very poor and can't use OS X controls at the moment, which sucks. Only way to adjust the sound is to use the volume selector embedded in the video or software. Bleah.

- Hardware installation : fingers still hurting The case opens on both sides and on the top, that's very very useful to move around. But I never managed to plug the ATX power cable into the M/B with a satisfying "clic", I'm missing 1mm and I really can't push nor wiggle it any harder without breaking the M/B. Well, it was so hard to remove anyway that I don't think there is any issue, but I'm not satisfied. If someone thinks it can be a safety issue (aside from an unwanted disconnection), please let me know.

- The case :

* Well built in my opinion, the plastic touch gives a good feeling. Just the front panel clips that are all plastic, better not break one. I took the all black one because it's in the living room, but otherwise I was very fond of the colored ones. I would not advise anything white though, I think it might look ruined in no time with this kind of plastic.

* Large : it has been a very long time since I used a compter case, but that one seems quite big to me even if it's mATX. Height is definitely inferior to usual ATX case, but not by that much, and width is more important in my opinion. However the form factor is quite nice and it's easily forgotten in the room.

* Horizontal M/B : I really liked that, makes it very easy to install and work on it, especially with the 3 openings. The alignement of the screws for the M/B could be a bit better, there is a little tension there but only for 1-2mm. I was able to use every screw on the M/B

* Volume repartition : 2 levels : on the bottom PSU / 1 rack for 2 HD 3,5 / 1 rack for 2 SSD. Above : M/B and the rest. There is a hole in the plate separating both levels dedicated to cable management, really useful.
Since I don't plan to add a superdrive nor a removable HHD, I removed their supports (well thought, couple of screws), better airflow and more room to work with.
It seems to me that there is a lot of room for the CPU cooler with that setup. I just used the stock one because I don't plan to overclock, and it looks quite empty, which is better for the airflow.

* Still mATX : there are only 4 removable grids for the cards connectors. Given that the GTX 760 takes 2, it means it's either dual GPU SLI/crossfire OR 1 GPU + 1 small extension card (got my TP link there). Might squeeze a second small one but it will be so close to the GPU fans that I don't know how the airflow will like it.
I don't know if the GTX 760 it particularly big, but that's something to keep in mind.

* Be careful : the space for the PSU is tight, it worked for my Corsair RM 650 but I definitely wouldn't take anything bigger. The space between the PSU and the plate isn't that big but airflow seems ok. Oh, and don't even think about putting the PSU in and then plugging cables unless you have Yoda helping you. Cables from the PSU will fill all the space available on the bottom level, leaving the top level quite clean.

* Front pannel : LED, power switch, reset switch, 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, headphones micro jack work fine. Mic micro jack not tested.

* Airflow : 1 big fan on the front, one smaller on the back. You just don't hear them under normal load, my iMac makes more noise I need more testing under heavy load, but the global impression so far after 800Go of data transfer via ethernet while playing Wow (settings ultra on the mac client) is that it's very quiet. I'll also take a closer look at the temperatures, but it doesn't seem hot at all (house is at 23-24°C).
N.B. : I read somewhere some people complaining about the rear side fan being noisy, might be different series, on mine you really need to put your hear on it to know it's working.
N.B. 2 : the case can handle 2 more fans on the top, then you replace the plain top plate by a grid (with filter) one included in the box. I probably won't use it since I left so much space inside the box, I guess it might be useful for superclocked extremely cluttered mega rendering systems


That's about all I can think of, if you have any question I'll do my best to answer ! I think it's common practice here to post the build in the user build forum once it's a success, I'll do it as soon as I find some time because I had too look around quite a bit to set the whole thing up correctly and I need to give credit to all the people that helped me through their various posts or work on software/kext... I understand that the Clover team doesn't want to waste infinite time with specific builds infos, but I believe it's the main reason behind the apparent difficulty of Clover. On paper, having all the post installation handled by MultiBeast seems to much easier. Clover requires the user to understand what he's doing at least to a minimum.

Great job you pulled here ! I'll wait to be reading your build description, in particular concerning the softwares issues (and the pics). Still got some hard times learning all this .kext and DSTD stuff, how does it work, when do you need it, where to get it, bla bla bla. But it is always good to have a feedback on the hardware part as well.

(I agree with you about the white cases, you're doomed to see dust painting a grey layer all around your air vents.)