GA-Z87x-UD7 TH with AVID HDX and UAD-2 cards

this is a new build for me moving from my trusty but dated Digidesign HD3 on a ASUS based 10.6.8 to a new system:

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD7 TH motherboard
Intel Core i7 4790K cpu
16GB (2x 8192MB) Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 DIMM CL9-9-9-24
256GB Crucial M4 SSD for Mavericks
256GB Crucial M4 SSD for samples
4000GB Seagate Desktop HDD ST4000DM000 for audio files
550 Watt PSU
19" Rack enclosure
(optional: NVIDIA GT 120 video card from old Mac Pro)
single 20" Apple Cinema Display (DVI)

single AVID HDX PCIe card running ProTools HD11
single Uaudio UAD-2 PCIe card

I will document my progress in this thread, at the moment I have all the components together, but haven't been able to start the build as the studio was always busy. Looking forward to getting this running really soon. Any tips and advice very welcome!!

ok, slow progress here, today I copied all audio files to the new 4TB hard disk and got the Mavericks USB Stick ready for installation.

Still looking for a nice and quiet cpu fan that will physically fit into my 19" enclosure. Maximum height above CPU is 150mm which narrows down the choices... currently looking at the "Alpenföhn Brocken 2 Eco", which should be fine.

big progress yesterday:

I booted the Unibeast prepared USB stick and installed Mavericks 10.9.5, no issues and wow what a quick installation, I'd estimate 15 minutes...

I omitted my graphics card and went with the Gigabyte onboard graphics to my little cinema display using a hdmi to dvi adapter, works fine.

After installation went into Multibeast 6.4.2 to install bootloader, Realtek ALC898 audio driver, network driver, trim for the SSD startup disk, no DSDT needed.

Then installed the ProTools HD 11.2.1 software and the UAD-2 card with all my plugins, no problems or glitches whatsoever.

Next step will be installing the HDX card, will report back on how that works out.

ok the HDX card is in and everything runs sweet, it is amazing how fast this machine boots and how quickly ProTools opens and how fast ProTools sessions open.

I do have one little problem with external USB drives freezing the machine upon connect. If I connect them before booting the system everything is fine... will probably find a workaround somewhere on the forums...

Could you please post a Logic Benchmark score at 256 buffer, as suggested on gearslutz forum? I am very curious about the 4790k score compared to 5960x or 5820k. Cheers, m8!

martthie_08 said:

ok the HDX card is in and everything runs sweet, it is amazing how fast this machine boots and how quickly ProTools opens and how fast ProTools sessions open.

I do have one little problem with external USB drives freezing the machine upon connect. If I connect them before booting the system everything is fine... will probably find a workaround somewhere on the forums...

Click to expand...

Cool build!
(ProTools user here too)

For the USB3 problem, install the GenericUSB kext from https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Generic-USB3

Since i use the GenericUSBXHCI_1.2.8d9 all usb3 and usb2 on USB3 port issues are gone. The previous generic usb3 is on Multibeast, and that worked 90% for me. Some USB2 drives wouldn't mount on some USB3 ports and i had a LAcie Rugged that was picky too. But since yesterday when i installed 1.2.8d9 all is as expected; flawless.

hmmm, i haven't had Logic open in years, still on Logic 9...

but if I can do the benchmark with that, no prob, post a direct link to the benchmark setup and I'll let it run!

Which 19" enclosure do you use?

19" Codegen 4HE 4U-500

I had gotten this about 5 years ago for my first build and believe it is no longer available for purchase...