[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K, GTX 580

Components

Apple Mac OS X version 10.8 Mountain Lion
Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion - Apple Store (U.S.)

Gigabyte Intel Z77 Dual Thunderbolt ATX Motherboard with BT4.0/Wi-Fi (GA-Z77X-UP5-TH)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LTB3QW/

EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Superclocked 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Limited Lifetime Warranty Graphics Card, 015-P3-1582-AR
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BDOR6U/

Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068ZWZY0/

Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SZ0EOW/

LG Electronics GH24NS90B 24 X SATA Super Multi DVD+/-RW Internal Drive - Bulk without Software - Black
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00632SB2I/

Cooler Master Cosmos II - Ultra Tower Computer Case with Aluminum and Steel Body (RC-1200-KKN1)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006P88VNE/

WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD30EFRX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JJLW4M/

Corsair Enthusiast Series 850-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX850
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MYFODS/

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00272NHOK/

LCD Display - Tft Active Matrix - 27 Inch - 2560 X 1440 - 300CD/M2 - 5 Ms
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050X2YZQr

Apple Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Keyboard-Numeric-MB110LL-VERSION/dp/B005DLDTAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1355395735&sr=1-1&keywords=apple+keyboard

Apple Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TLTH7K/

TP-Link Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter with 3 x 2dBi Antenna (TL-WDN4800)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GMPZ0A/

Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CWCH100)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051U7HMS/


Comments:

I own a small home business, and have been in business for over 9 years. I build historic model ships and write detailed instructions on how to build the models.

I've always needed a fast computer with lots of memory because I often have multiple programs running such as Adobe Photoshop, Intuit Quicken, Apple Numbers and Pages, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Apple iMovie. At times I film my model construction and then edit the movies to create a new DVD product.

Years ago I switched from a Windows PC to a Mac because I kept having so much trouble with the Windows OS crashing or locking up (you know the story, I'm sure). Ever since then I've used a Mac (and sleep much better at night). It didn't take long before I outgrew my 27" iMac and started adding external hard drives because I needed additional storage space for all of my data.

More recently, when I upgraded my iMac to Mountain Lion, I began having problems with it recognizing my older external hard drives. I decided it was time for a complete computer upgrade. However, I already had the latest iMac Apple offered (until the newest model was recently released) and a Mac Pro was out of my budget. That's when my research revealed that I could build a Hackintosh for much less money and have the ability to upgrade as needed.

Actually my first Hackintosh was a few months ago using the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H motherboard with the hardware shown above, but I was never able to get everything to work with that board for some reason. The USB 3 ports didn't work correctly, and sleep would not work whatsoever. When I read Alpha's build log on this motherboard and the success others were having with it, I decided to upgrade to this new board. I also thought that the additional Thunderbolt ports would be useful at a later date for upgrading to larger and faster external hard drives.

The build was as smooth as I ever could have imagined. I followed the standard tonymacx86's procedures already outlined in this forum for creating my boot USB drive using Unibeast. After the install to my SSD I ran Multibeast 5.2 which can be see below.


I'm pleased to say that everything in this system works perfectly. The GTX580 worked out of the box with no additional drivers being needed. Sound works perfect both on the back using the motherboard plugin sockets (green for speakers and red for microphone) and on the front using the case sockets.

USB 3 ports show 5GB speeds although I don't have any USB 3 devices right now to fully test them.


Geekbench score is 1485.


Sleep works perfectly as well but not autosleep which has already been documented as being due to a setting in BIOS that turns off CPU EIST, however it has also been stated that if you disable that setting, your CPU runs at full speed all of the time. I prefer not to do that so the autosleep feature does not have to work for me.

This hardware combination works great for me. All of my software works including Parallels because I also use Autodesk Inventor from time to time and there isn't a Mac version of that software. I'm running Windows 7 using Parallels.

Finally, I'll comment on the Cosmos II case - I just thought it looked really cool! That being said, it's expensive and it's big, really big. I've read some negative reviews about this case and most of those comments have to do with the drive bay doors breaking. I guess if you really manhandled them you could break them but I have had no problems with them. My Corsair water cooler radiator fits nicely in the top of the case, and I love the ability to remove my two main hard drives which contain my data and my backup from the front of the case without having to open it. Whenever I travel and leave home overnight, I take those hard drives with me in case someone breaks into my house and steals my computer. I can replace the computer but I can't replace my data. Only the OS and apps are installed on the SSD.

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

Well done - looks like a nice clean build!

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

I absolutely love the case you are using. I know it's supposed to be insanely huge! Do you have. Any pics of the interior? When I built my rig the sales guy said this case was overkill but I love nonetheless. Great build! Now you can overclock the CPU a bit and get more performance. I have a very similar setup to you but am using the UD5 and not having any problems. OC to 4.5 and getting GB scores over 17,000

Enjoy in good health!

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

monty007 said:

I absolutely love the case you are using. I know it's supposed to be insanely huge! Do you have. Any pics of the interior? When I built my rig the sales guy said this case was overkill but I love nonetheless. Great build! Now you can overclock the CPU a bit and get more performance. I have a very similar setup to you but am using the UD5 and not having any problems. OC to 4.5 and getting GB scores over 17,000

Enjoy in good health!

Click to expand...

Sorry but no, no interior photos right now but I'll try to snap some in the next week and post them. I can tell you that it's pretty neat and clean inside. The radiator is in the upper part of the case and out of sight. Most of the cables from the power supply go behind the motherboard on the motherboard side of the case (where there is plenty of room) and then come back out on the side of the motherboard where they connect. I love the two front HD trays that open effortlessly on the front of the case allowing me to remove the drives easily and take them with me. Those wires are also hidden and come out right next to the SATA ports on the motherboard. Very clean.

I haven't tried OC'ing but would like to do so if I could get some good starting point info on the changes I need to make in the BIOS. I'm not experienced in OC'ing so I don't want to mess with settings when I don't know what I'm doing.

Thanks for your comments.

Bob

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

Very nice build ShipBuilder! I have an almost Identical build I'm just working out the kinks with, only difference is I'm using a SanDisk Extreme 240GB SSD and I'm using a 660ti as my graphics card. BTW, isn't the 32GB of Vengence Ram just beautiful?

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

markyd said:

Very nice build ShipBuilder! I have an almost Identical build I'm just working out the kinks with, only difference is I'm using a SanDisk Extreme 240GB SSD and I'm using a 660ti as my graphics card. BTW, isn't the 32GB of Vengence Ram just beautiful?

Click to expand...

Yes indeed, and it sure suits my need. 32 gig is probably overkill for me but occasionally I do shoot a lot of videos and edit them into one so the extra memory comes in handy for that.

So far I have no complaints about this setup whatsoever. Everything works just great. If you didn't know better, you'd swear you were on a real Mac.

Take care,

Bob

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

Hello! Excellent assembly, whether prompt the exit to earphones on the forward panel works for you?

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

Hi AndyXXX,

Yes, the front earphones and microphone work but you have to go into system settings and change the output and input ports.

Take care,

Bob

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

What there to choose? Earphones in the list aren't present if not difficult show on screenshots what to change in system settings. Thanks.

[SUCCESS] shipbu1lder's build of GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7-3770K

Great build!
do you have any problem with your mouse or keyboard?
and what Bluetooth adapter you using?