Contribute
Register

Stork's Zorro Build: Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000

Status
Not open for further replies.

Stork

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
13,413
Motherboard
HP 17" 17-by3053cl
CPU
i5-1035G1
Graphics
Intel UHD Graphics, 1920x1080
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac mini
  3. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. Power Mac
  2. PowerBook
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Zorro - Stork's 3rd Build:
GA-Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000


27570-corsair-graphite-600t.jpg
Components

Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H ATX Motherboard with DVI & HDMI, USB 3.0 & FW 400
Amazon

Intel Core i7-2600K Unlocked Processor Supporting HD 3000 Intel Integrated Graphics
Amazon || Newegg

Scythe Mugen 2 Rev B CPU Cooler Superseded by a newer model, the Mugen 3 (SCMG-3000)
Amazon || Newegg

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile While 16GB (2x2x4GB) CML8GX3M2A1600C9W Memory
Amazon || Newegg

OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD SATA III
Amazon || Newegg

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II HD103SJ HDD
Amazon || Newegg

LG CD/DVD Burner Model GH22NS70
Amazon || Newgg

Targus ACB10US1 USB Bluetooth Dongle Adapter
Amzaon

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 for Mac - Silver (920-003472)
Amazon || Logitech Store


Already Owned

Corsair 750HX 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular PSU
Amazon || Newegg

Corsair Graphite Series 600T Case
Anandtech Review || Amazon || Newegg

Apple Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard Family Pack
Apple

Apple OS X Mavericks 10.9 @ Mac Apps Store
Apple MAS

Apple iLife 11 (iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand) and iWork 09 (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) Family Packs.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack.

Apple 23" Cinema Display with DVI and USB/Firewire interfaces. My bad eyes require a crisp, IPS LCD monitor. Got this gem via eBay, "gently used". :thumbup:


Comments:

Update: I haven't update Zorro in a while. However, Son-of-Zorro has been updated to Sierra. See Post #995 for more information.

Background
Updated for Mavericks installation
. This is my third Hackintosh build, and my first Sandy Bridge system. I've turned my 1st Hackintosh into a HacHTPC, moving the guts out of the Cooler Master Elite 341 case and into a Silverstone HTPC case. http://www.tonymacx86.com/golden-bu...ol-p55m-ud2-but-cool-htpc.html?highlight=HTPC My 2nd Hackintosh became my main Hackintosh computer until this system became stable which didn't take but a few months.

Choosing the build components
I was going to wait to get a new Ivy Bridge system, but when Intel push the introduction back to March 2011 from January 2011, I started looking for Z68 based system. A fellow moderator, who knows more about the mobo state of the art than I thought was humanly possible, said he was going to get a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H to play around with HD3000 Intel Integrated Graphics and some serious overclocking (OC'ing). I kept this in mind as I was watching the tonymacx86 gang work on getting HD 3000 working in the Lab. Then, I found a GA-Z68X-UD3H on eBay, "gently used", bid on it and won, getting it for $120 USD shipped! (Some days you're a bug, and some days you're the windshield. Getting the mobo for $120 USD shipped was a windshield day! :thumbup: )

As a side note, I found that it's easier to refer to your system by a nickname, especially when you have several systems, rather than listing the three major components all the time. Since the case and motherboard and power supply are black, I nicknamed this system Zorro. (I've also have a similar system whom I've nicknamed Son of Zorro. :lol: )

I am not a gamer, so my video graphics requirements only needed to support HDTV video and music recording programs requirements. I also don't need to drive more than two monitors. So, HD3000 looked like it would work for me...and it does rather well. I'm still using it for GarageBand and general purpose computing. I saved myself about $100-$150 USD by not having to buy a graphics card. (See the Tom's Hardware Graphics Hierarchy Chart for more information on the tier rankings of graphics cards and Intel's Integrated Graphics.)

A sale on i7-2600K processors popped up, making it affordable vs an i5-2500K processor. The i7-2600K will also give more horsepower to HD3000. (Note of Caution: not all i3/i5/i7 Sandy Bridge processors support HD3000. Be sure to check the description of your processor choice to ensure it supports HD3000, not HD2000.)

Another sale allowed me to snarf up a 120GB SSD cheaper than I had anticipated.

Again, another moderator called my attention to the new (at this time) Corsair Vengeance Low Profile White 2x4GB, 1.35v (!), CLS 9, memory modules which had glowing reviews and great headroom for OC'ing. Additionally, the modules are fin-less which means I can use the Scythe Mugan 2/3 CPU cooler which all my fellow moderators swear by. Later, I bought another 4GB pair when they went on sale.

My choice of a case deserves an explanation. After assembling my 1st system into the Cooler Master Elite 341 case, I swore that I would get a larger case that has 1) excellent cable management, 2) excellent cooling and silent operation (bigger cases have more and/or larger fans which could create a wind tunnel) and 3) room for future upgrades. So, in early 2011, I read reviews at Tom's Hardware, Anandtech, Overclockers and other sites that frequently reviewed the better products. Once I narrowed it down to a few cases, I ask several of my fellow Moderators as to why they made their choices. From this information, I purchased the Corsair 600T case. The 600T is a large case - it surprised me when I took it out of the box. :eek: It's 23.30" deep x 10.40" wide x 20.00" tall! I have an end table next to my Lazy Boy that's 20" deep x 14" wide x 22.5" tall. I'd use the 600T as an end table, putting a lamp on it if it didn't have an exhaust fan and controls on the top of the case. But, boy oh boy! Is this a beautifully made case, or what?! Read the reviews.

When I researched how to size a power supply for a future system, I learned that the size of the PSU is primarily due to the graphics cards, especially if you have more than one graphics cards. Again, Tom's Hardware has a guide on PSU sizing. While I doubt that I'll have two or more graphics cards, I decided to have some reserve power available in case my child within me takes over, and I become a game geek. So, I picked Corsair 750HX Modular PSU. It has turned out to be way overkill for my needs. I would now recommend nothing larger than a 650 watt PSU.

Build Installation
Since the GA-Z68X-UD3H is an ATX board and the 600T is huge, all the components fit with ease - lots of room inside the Corsair 600T.

27571-600tinerds.jpg

I've had Zorro running Mavericks for a year, so I installed Mavericks over Mountain Lion on a test partition. (I won't upgrade my 10.9.5 system until...well, I don't like it's GUI.) See this Post for how I did this Mavericks installation.

If I was installing OS X from scratch, there are two methods to get to a system running Mavericks. First methods is to install Snow Leopard using the tonymacx86 Simplest Mac OS X Installation Guide and, then, install Mavericks using the Mavericks UniBeast Guide. I used these methods several times, and I've never had a problem. I printed out the instructions and checked off each step with a pen or pencil so I don't inadvertently skip a step. :thumbup:

The second method is easier if you have access to a Mac - a friend's or a Mac at a local school, library or college/university - you can use that Mac to create an account on the Apple Mac App Store (MAS), download Mavericks from the MAS, download UniBeast for Mavericks and create the UniBeast USB thumb drive. Be advised that you may have to get the Mac's administrator to help because most of those institutional Macs are locked from users installing or running non approved apps on the Macs available to the public.

Lastly, download MultiBeast for Mavericks and the DSDT for the Z68X-UD3H motherboard from the tonymacx86 DSDT Database for the F12 BIOS. Rename the DSDT to DSDT.aml, and put both MultiBeast and the DSDT on the UniBeast USB thumb drive.

With the UniBeast Mavericks USB thumb drive built and inserted into a USB port, it's time to make some minor changes to the BIOS and install Mavericks. I booted into the BIOS to update to the latest BIOS version, F12, and setup the BIOS per the tonymacx86 iBoot+MultiBeast Installation Guide. (Just use this older installation guide for the BIOS setup. Use the Simplest Mac OS X Installation Guide for the Snow Leopard Installation.) A word of caution, don't use the UEFI Beta BIOS for this motherboard as it results in more problems than it's worth; we've tested the UEFI Beta BIOS and all of us who have this motherboard have returned to the F12 Award BIOS.

In the Advanced BIOS Features, change the Hard Disk Boot Priority and First Boot Device to the UniBeast USB thumb drive. We'll change these two setting back to the Mavericks drive after the installation process has been completed.

Next, since I am using HD3000 on-board, Intel Integrated Graphics, I had to set one Advanced BIOS Features parameter - On-Chip Frame Buffer Size. I had greater than or equal to 8GB RAM, so I set it at 480MB+2MB for GTT. If you have 4GB RAM, set it to 384. I also turned off the Full Screen LOGO Show parameter.
27572-hd3000settings.jpg
For more information on using HD3000 (and HD4000 on Ivy Bridge motherboards) see this excellent primer on Intel Integrated Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000/4000 For Beginners.

Additionally, since my memory does not have Gigabyte default memory parameter settings, I had to change the XMP Profile from Default to Profile1.
27573-advmemsettingsxmp.jpg

Save the BIOS settings with F10 and boot into the USB Mavericks installation thumb drive. At the Chimera boot screen, you should see your UniBeast drive and your designation drive. Choose the UniBeast drive to begin the installation process.

If you're doing a fresh installation, follow the tonymacx86 UniBeast Installation Guide. If you're installing over Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion, then proceed with the installation, skipping over Step4-6 in the Guide. If you are updating Mavericks, see post #730 for my procedure. :thumbup:

After the installation is though, the Mavericks installer will reboot the system. Since you still have the BIOS set to boot from the UniBeast installation USB thumb drive, you select the Mavericks drive this time instead of the UniBeast thumb drive.

If the installation completed correctly, you should now be seeing Mavericks' Desktop. First, click on the Finder drop down menu, and, in the General tab, check all boxes as shown here:
70605-mavericks-finder-preferences-1.png
You now should see your UniBeast USB thumb drive. Copy MultiBeast and the DSDT.aml files from the thumb drive onto the Desktop.

Before running MultiBeast for Mavericks, open the Security & Privacy Preference Pane in System Preferences, which is located in your Dock, and:

72633-security-pane-1.png
:ch: In the lower left corner, click on the padlock and type in your Admin username & password;
72634-security-pane-2.png
:ch: Click on the General tab if it isn't already highlighted;
:ch: Click on the "Anywhere" radio button under "Allow applications and downloaded from:" and
:ch: Close the System Preferences window.​

Next, run MultiBeast using the following choices:
:ch: Click on the Quick Start icon in the top left hand corner.
70619-mb-6-1.png
:ch: Now click on the UserDSDT since you be using the tonymacx86 DSDT from the Database.
70620-mb-6-2.png
:ch: When you select the UserDSDT option, MultiBeast asks you for the location of the DSDT which should be on the desktop.
70621-mb-6-3.png
:ch: After selecting your DSDT, you can see what the UserDSDT default kexts/drivers will be.
70622-mb-6-4.png
:ch: Now, choose the ALC889 audio driver for the Z68X-UD3H motherboard.
70623-mb-6-5.png
:ch: The FakeSMC kext/driver was part of the UserDSDT selection above; so all we need now is the motherboard plug-ins and the HWMonitor app. Also select the USB 3.0 Universal kext/driver.
70624-mb-6-6.png
:ch: Lnx2Mac's Ethernet driver completes the Driver selections.
70625-mb-6-7.png
:ch: Next is the Customization category. Here I only need the required i7 SSDT. If you don't have a "K" processor, you can skip this step. No other Customization options are needed.
70626-mb-6-8.png
:ch: Now, click on the Build category and see your configuration.
74831-soz-mb-6-9.png
:ch: But, we're not done yet - we have to save our configuration for future use. :thumbup:
(I have attached my MultiBeast configuration file for those who would like to use it.)
70628-mb-6-10.png

:ch:Now, you're done. Click on the install button.

:ch: Reboot into the BIOS and change the drive Priority and order. Save the BIOS with F10 and boot into Mavericks.

To summarize what all will be loaded from these MultiBeast 6 selections:
Quick Start > UserDSDT - /Users/Stork/Desktop/DSDT.aml
Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > With DSDT > ALC889
Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v5.3.820
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v5.3.820 Plugins
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v5.3.820 HWMonitor Application
Drivers > Misc > USB 3.0 - Universal by Zenith432
Drivers > Network > Realtek - Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx v0.0.90
Drivers > System > AppleRTC Patch for CMOS Reset
Bootloaders > Chimera v2.2.1
Customize > Boot Options > Basic Boot Options
Customize > Boot Options > Generate CPU States
Customize > Boot Options > Hibernate Mode - Desktop
Customize > Boot Options > Use KernelCache
Customize > System Definitions > Mac Pro > Mac Pro 3,1
Customize > SSDT Options > Sandy Bridge Core i7
Customize > Themes > tonymacx86 Black​

Whoopie! We're up and running Mavericks! So, all's well with Zorro and me. :clap::clap:

27575-roomofillcompute.jpg

What's left
Not much. All apps work as they're suppose to work. The printer drivers work great. My Apple iSight Firewire webcam works with iChat. iMessages doesn't work, yet, but I'll get going when I haven't anything better to do.

Most importantly, GarageBand works with both my external PreSonus Inspire and Firebox interfaces and HD3000 is satisfactory for recording. I'm a Happy Camper! :D

Updates
May 25, 2015. Successfully update to Yosemite (10.10.3) by adding a graphics card. See Post #869.
September 20, 2014. Updated to Mavericks 10.9.5.
February 25, 2014. Updated to 10.9.2. See post #730.
December 16, 2013. Updated to 10.9.1. See post #702.
October 22, 2013. Updated the build description for Mavericks installation.
 

Attachments

  • MB6 Load for Mav GM.mb.zip
    144.1 KB · Views: 582
Last edited:
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

:clap:
Awesome build!
Love the case and of course the monitor :D
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

Stork said:
...Long story short - I got with the rest of moderators and tonymacx86 and used some "experimental" add-ons to the "org.chameleon.Boot.plist" file in the /Extra folder. (See this post in the General Tuning forum section for the parameters which will be incorporated into MultiBeast v4.1 shortly: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36044 ) Sleep/Wake-up now works...

stork you are so awesome :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:
got my sleep working with the above link
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

I must admit that I'm just the messenger. Tonymacx86, MacMan, Lin2Mac, Beelzbozo and several other moderators worked for weeks to find the solution. Please consider making a contribution to tonymacx86 forum to help continue the goodness that results from our work - doesn't have to be much, buy us a virtual beer.
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

This looks like a fun build, can't wait to find out how the HD 3000 and the OC goes. The CPU Cooler you got looks like it gets really good reviews. Be interested in hearing about temps there as well!
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

Pictures please! ;)
Great build! :)
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

Works board all??
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

Very interesting. Have you got any video artifacts yet? I want to find why the CustoMac Mini suffering from this issues. Maybe the problems caused by the PSU, Mobo or the HD3000. But if for you works, it isn't be the HD3000. Have you got any idea for it?
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

I'm a total newbie to Hackintoshing but I've been using Macs for 26 years. Signing up for this forum forced me to list my components but I don't have any yet. This build looks very much like what I want to do. I want to replace a 2007 2.66 Ghz Mac Pro.

I have 12 GB of RAM in my Mac Pro and was wondering if the 8 GB of RAM in this build could be increased to 16 GB without any problems? Any advice appreciated.
 
Re: Stork's Sandy Bridge Z68X-UD3H - i7-2600K - HD3000 - Lion

Hello, EddyMac. I, too, am a long time Apple user. Got my MBA with an Apple IIc+ in the early 80's. I still have my 1st Mac, a Mac SE/30. I built my first Hackintosh in September 2010 and haven't looked back.

Now, my build is for general purpose computing. I'm not a gamer even though I'm may get into OC my build. Right now, I don't need a graphics card as the on-board/on CPU Intel Integrated Graphics is working fine for me now, and the i7-2600k will help OC the graphics as well. But, I haven't pushed GarageBand or my other recording software, yet.

Yes, 8GB of memory is sufficient for the majority of Mac OS X users. However, if you're into heavy breathing :eek: my expression for Photoshop or Final Cut, then 16GB of memory will work. Did you see the memory I chose, and the reason why I chose it? Lower voltage memory doesn't need the fins which interfere with CPU coolers. :thumbup:

Take a look at Build #4 in the tonymacx86 Recommended Sandy Bridge Builds (link my signature block as is other good reading). Build #4's mobo went out of production, IIRC, just recently. Amazon & Newegg are using the GA-Z68XP-UD5 in its place as it's more an ethusiast mobo and has the capability for a SSD/HDD cache. It also has the Integrated Graphics built in for using HD 3000 graphics. See this Gigabyte page for more info: GIGABYTE Z68 Series Motherboards
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top