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eelhead's X79 Build: GA-X79-UD5 - i7-3820 - GTX 670

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eelhead

Super Moderator
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
Messages
3,087
Motherboard
GA-Z170X-Designare
CPU
i5 7600k
Graphics
GTX 1070
Mac
  1. iMac
  2. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
  1. iMac
  2. Power Mac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
eelhead's X79 Build
GA-X79-UD5 - i7-3820 - Zotac GeForce GTX 670
300r_hero_up_1.jpg
Components


GA-X79-UD5
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064Z6Y9G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128531

i7-3820 SandyBridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YM9JSW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E0ZKLQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143

Zotac GeForce GTX 670
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FI5WYW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500266

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E98FVS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139030


Drives

Sandisk Extreme 240GB SSD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EKJ8UI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171568

Seagate Barracuda 500GB HDD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UCAQ1G

Samsung Spinpoint 1TB HDD
(Out os Stock/Discontinued)


Other

Icy Dock 2.5" to 3.5" Sata 6Gb SSD & HDD Converter
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002Z2QDNE
http://www.newegg.com/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994064

KingWin Multi-Bay Internal Rack with 3 Drives for 2 Bay Space SATA Mobile Rack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047BTX4W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817990018

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057FRTPW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067

Corsair Carbide Series Black 300R Mid-Tower Computer Case (CC-9011014-WW)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006I2H0YS/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139016

CORSAIR Hydro Series H60
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MYFOE2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MF11MU

Logitech MX 518 High Performance Optical Gaming Mouse (Metal)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007Z1M50

Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel)
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC007LL/A/apple-led-cinema-display-(27"-flat-panel)

StarTech DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort Video Cable Adapter - M/F
http://www.newegg.com/Product
[AMAZON]http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003N3DTKY[/AMAZON]/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200691


Airport WiFi PCI-e Card Mod
http://x86wifi.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-build-your-own-real-airport-card.html

Apple OS X Mountain Lion
http://www.apple.com/osx/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512?mt=12

Windows 7
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DHLUWK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986


Comments

OK, so this is my first foray into the X79-2011 Socket area - my previous builds are Gigabyte X58 and Asus X58. I was able to get my hands on this stuff so I figure I would slap it together and post what and how I did it, plus what is and isn't working (for me), thus far.

I have been running an AMD/ATI 6870 for a while, and I was having issues with it on Mountain Lion. So, I decided to replace it with a Nvidia 670 as my 27" Apple Cinema Display screen resolution is 2560x1440, and the 6870 was screening and struggling with games set on high. The Zotac 670 puts out 3840x2860 and not just to the D-L DVI, while so many other cards only put it out through that port. Zotac's web page on the product did not specify that port alone. I used the Male DisplayPort to Female Mini-DisplayPort adapter for my Apple Cinema Display; one thing about this connection is that you have ot make sure that it is connected securely because, if it is loose, you get screen flicker and speckles. I have my case in a cabinet, and I have to watch how far back it goes because, if it's too far back, the adapter gets bent and the screen acts up. LOL!

I also have the Airport WiFi PCI-e card mod in my hack. This WiFi card is an older hack that a lot of people have done. I have my system hardwired but use the WiFi for local printing and what not.

I modded my Corsair 300R case, as well. I removed the inside 3.5 bay rack to make sure the X79-UD5 board fit OK; it is a wider motherboard than the case designers envisioned going in there. I had also set in the front 5.25" bays the KingWin Hot Swap enclosure for three drives. As I'm using the Kingwin as my main drive bay, I figure three drives would be all I really need. The H60 cooler fits well inside the case as well with the radiator mounted in the back. I originally mounted the radiator on the front of the case where the 3.5" bays were because there was radiator interference with the Asus Sabertooth X58 board I had originally in there. But, since swapping the board, the radiator fits in the back just by millimeters from the memory module.

So, to install OS X Mountain Lion, I created my UniBeast drive on an 8GB stick (as always)

1) Set Proper Bios settings for installation of OS X

2) Have UniBeast USB thumb drive plugged into back of motherboard, do not use a USB hub and for safe measures use a USB 2.0 port.

3) Nice thing I found out is that this board automatically picked up the drive and booted to it; it has since also picked up my SSD with Chimera on it. Don't know if it has an auto detect, but I didn't have to press F8 or F12 to go to boot menu it just went there.

4) Once at the UniBeast installer page, use boot flags: -v npci=0x3000

5) That should get you right into the installer, and I found for the first time with the 670 that I had full resolution at the install screen, unlike my 6870 when doing installs.

6) Format your drive with Disk Utility of course and continue to install OS X.

7) After the install is completed, restart your system again using the boot flags; -v npci=0x3000
and of course you have to enter all your info and register your computer.

8) Now you can run MultiBeast (MB). I ran EasyBeast and then checked off;

Audio/Without DSDT/ ALC898
Miscellaneous/FakeSMC Plugins/ Plugins & HWMonitor Application (if you so choose, this is optional, I use to monitor temps)
Network/Intel - hnak's AppleIntel
Customization/Boot Options/GraphicsEnabler=No (nVidia is supported OOB with GE=No)
Customization/Boot Options/Instant Menu (Optional Choice, I like to have it wait for me to choose OS X or Win)
Customization/Boot Options/PCI Configuration Fix (Adds the npci=0x3000 to org.chameleon.Boot.plist)

Screen Shot 2013-01-12 at 12.11.59 PM.jpg
OK! So, the only thing that we don't have thus far is Sleep (no power management yet) and Audio. Even after choosing the correct settings in MB, audio still no worky but I use the USB out to my Apple Cinema Display, so I have sound through that.

Here is the GeekBench stuff, To be honest I don't know squat about any of this but I did it and posted it for you of you to see lol

Screen Shot 2013-01-12 at 12.16.27 PM.png


All I have to do is go back into BIOS and set the XMP for my memory as I have 1600MHz sticks but it is set at 1333MHz speeds, an easy fix.

I also went into my Extra folder to Themes and edited the theme/plist to accommodate my screen resolution of 2560x1440 so the Chimera and boot screens look good.

And here is a pic of my org.chameleon.Boot.plist

Screen Shot 2013-01-12 at 12.25.03 PM.png

OKs, so there you have it - my GA-X79-UD5 Build! Feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments or set me on the correct path if I have messed anything up here. LOL! Thanks to MacMan and Tonymacx86.

Thanks for Looking
eelhead :)
 
Seems a fairly solid build, although the 1333 MHz RAM speed will be dragging your Geekbench score down.
Mind you, that's a 32-bit GB score so 64-bit will be even higher.

I'm curious: the i7-3820 is listed as "3.6 GHz, turbo to 3.8 GHz". Geekbench usually lists the non-turbo speed. Do you know why it's listed it as 3.7 GHz? You didn't mention overclocking it.

I think most people who go for X79 builds seem to do it because they want big, fast systems. Even with 10 MB cache, the i7-3820 is slower than the i7-3770K (same number of cores/etc) so the main advantage would seem to be the ability to support up to 64 GB RAM. But you're not using that. So why did you go this route? Technical reasons or just "cos you could"?
Was it cheaper/more expensive than using a Z77 board?

Similarly I'm not sure why you needed the Airport to "use the wi-fi for local printing and what not." Is your LAN port not connected to the same subnet as your local WiFi? Or was it just "cos you could"?
 
Nice build, congratulations.

Your geekbench score is too low, due to the memory as DBP said. I got 14,100 stock (64-bit) with a i7 3770K and Vengeance 1600MHz RAM. As a start you can up the DRAM frequency in BIOS from 1333MHz to 1600MHz because your RAM is 1600MHz. I've overclocked mine to 1800MHz (see my build thread for more info), and overclocked my processor, and now get 17,100 in Geekbench (64-bit).

Cheers
 
Hi guys, thanks for the reply.

I got the memory bumped up with the XMP profile, I had forgot to do this after setting this all up.
I am unsure as to why it said 3.7GHz as I did not OC the system in anyway, plus I have not gotten into the full OC stuff yet. It is something I will read up on before I go tinkering with it.

I got the board and CPU as a combo for a major steal is why I have this set up now. I was not in the market but an opportunity came up I couldn't resist, plus it was time to move up lol. I do a lot of gaming and I have been running this the last two days with no issues what so ever and it is nice and quiet, unlike the Sabertooth X58 and 6870, that 6870 was screaming lol

The WiFI mod was a left over from my G5 Mod that I no longer have and I put it in here for giggles. I didn't want to just put it in a drawer somewhere lol
 
Nice build Eelhead! When will we get another podcast!?!? :headbang:
 
Nice Build :headbang:

but i expect MAC PRO CASE :D
 
Nice Build :headbang:

but i expect MAC PRO CASE

Thanks!! !
The Asus Rampage Gene IV is what I am going for in the Mac Pro case :D


nice one ,:thumbup:
u beat me to a 2011 build
is there a fix for your sleep issues yet...
Thanks,

I was suppose to try something yesterday for sleep (lol totally forgot yet again), hopefully I remember today, if it works I will post here :)
 
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