Br0wnBear's 2nd Hack! GA-Z77X-UD5H + i7-3770k + Radeon HD 6850

[Br0wnBear]

Br0wnBear's Build: GA-Z77X-UD5H + i7-3770k + Radeon HD 6850​

Components

Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155 Processor
http://microcenter.com/product/388575/Core_i7_3770K_35GHz_LGA_1155_Processor

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5h LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Motherboard Rev 1.0
http://microcenter.com/product/386359/GA-Z77X-UD5H_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Motherboard

Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW180A3K5 2.5” 180GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167115

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5” Internal Hard Drive
http://microcenter.com/product/3316...0Gb-s_35_Internal_Hard_Drive_WD1002FAEX_-_OEM

Corsair Hydro Series H100i Water Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181032

Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139013

Corsair AX860i 860W Digital ATX12V/EPS12V SLI/Crossfire Ready 80 Plus Platinum Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139041&Tpk=AX860i

Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (4x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (On Order, currently using 8GB of the vengeance blue from my previous build until i get the new ones in)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233239

TP-Link TL-WDN4800 Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter
http://microcenter.com/product/383917/TL-WDN4800_Wireless_N_Dual_Band_PCI_Express_Adapter


Already Owned

-Samsung 24” LED SA300/SA350 Monitor
-Logitech Wave Keyboard & Mouse
-Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 (Recycled from my previous build. I replaced my previous build with a Zotac GT 640 2GB DDR3)


Comments

i decided to build a 2nd hack this year. It was really fun the first time around, which was roughly about a year ago. This time around i got some higher end components and spent a bit more to get a rock solid hack that will last me awhile. My First Hack: http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...d2h-i5-2500k-w-rad-hd-6850-oc.html#post223563

The Intel 520 is Super fast, enough said. I boot to the desktop screen in about 10 seconds. When i first installed the Corsair Hydro Series H100i Water Cooler, it made some light gurgling like noises, but after being on for a bit, it goes away. Overall though, it is a very nice upgrade to my H60. The fans are quiet and move a lot of air.

The Corsair Vengeance Series C70 computer case is, well, a fantastic case, and I have plenty of room for upgrades, and good cable management on the back. Great looking case too.

The Corsair AX860i PSU is fully modular, which helps with cable management. But, it is more of an investment purchase, i don't necessarily need the power, but i got it at a cheap price.

The TP-Link TL-WDN4800 Wireless PCI-e card is tonymacx86 recommended and is fantastic card - extremely fast. I see about 10-15 mbps speed bump in speed tests vs. my "make your own apple wi-fi card."


Installation
-Created Unibeast thumb drive using this guide, using 10.8.2: http://www.tonymacx86.com/61-unibeast-install-os-x-mountain-lion-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html

-Upgraded my Motherboard BIOS to F14: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...?pid=4139#bios

-Configured my BIOS settings according to Tonymacx86 Rec: http://www.tonymacx86.com/99-quick-g...55-boards.html

-Installed with out either Radeon HD 6850 or TP-Link Wireless card installed (i do this mainly because, in past experiences, OS X always picks up the wireless card as "en0" instead of the Ethernet port, and because of this i am never able to get icloud to work properly. Installing the wireless card after has solved the issue for me)

-Multibeast 5.2 Settings (Did it all in one install)

UserDSDT or DSDT-Free Installation
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Audio -> Realtek ALC8xx -> Without DSDT -> ALC898
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Disk -> 3rd Party SATA
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Disk -> TRIM Enabler -> 10.8.1+ Patch
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Miscellaneous -> FakeSMC & FakeSMC Plugins (Both)
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Network -> Atheros - Shailua's ALXEthernet
Drivers & Bootloaders -> Drivers -> Bootloaders -> Chimera v1.11.1 r1394
Customization -> Boot Options -> 1080p Display
Customization -> System Definitions -> Mac Pro -> Mac Pro 3,1
-Shut down, install Graphics Card, and boot

-Set up icloud & app store

-Shut down, and install wireless card

-Boot, and enable wireless card. System Preferences -> Network

-Also, for the Radeon HD 6850 card, i added the following codes to the boot.plist

<key>AtiConfig</key>
<string>Duckweed</string>
<key>AtiPorts</key>
<string>4</string>

This enables the use of the DVI Port & Display Ports for Dual Display

And.....Voila!

Perfectly running, very stable.

What works
-USB 3.0
-Full graphics card support
-USB 3.0 devices in USB 2.0 ports & vice-versa
-Green audio port on the back
-HD 4000 works with MacMini 5,1 system definition (DVI & HDMI ports)
-iCloud, AppStore, iTunes Store
-Sleep (with the use of the app "Jettison" from the App Store)

Untested
-eSATA


So far it is very quiet and stable. I will post benchmarks once i get my 16GB of RAM later this week. Thanks again to tonymacx86 & the entire community!

EDIT: Removed, both "kinda working" and "not working" sections. Added "Sleep" to the "What Works" heading.

 

[aditya_g8]

Hey , Thanks a lot for the build instructions. Did you manage to get HDMI audio working on gigabyte hd-6850? I have the same build, and looking for hdmi audio

 

[caraguia]

"Green audio port on the back"



Really work in rev. 1.0?