[SUCCESS] i7-770 - GA-Z270XP-SLI - 16GB RAM - GTX-970

[debauchery1st]

10.11.6 - i7-770 - GA-Z270XP-SLI - 16GB RAM - GTX-970​

Components

Gigabyte GA-Z270X-UD5 ATX DDR4 Motherboard
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1T2WXL/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Intel Core i7-7700 Desktop Processor 8M Cache, up to 4.20GHz7th Generation (BX80677I77700)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0L41N7/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Desktop Memory Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0134EW7G8/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G DirectX 12 VR READY 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 Video Card
eBay: (used, $195.00+shipping)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NN0GEXQ/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM) - for the OS X
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Western Digital Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10EZEX - for Time Machine and whatever else
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


NZXT S340 Mid Tower Computer Case, Matte Black/Red (CA-S340MB-GR)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T4BWUUY/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


FSP Group Hydro G HG750 750W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Power Supply
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0198QDQHA/?tag=tonymacx86com-20



*Update: Airport 5G Wifi 3-piece solution:


M.2(NGFF) Wireless Card to PCI-e 1X Adapter
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HZ6MNYC/?tag=tonymacx86com-20



Macbook Air 13” A1466 Early 2015 MJVE2 MJVG2
http://r.ebay.com/5hCEJ9


BCM94360CS2 Card To NGFF(M.2) Key A/E Adapter
http://r.ebay.com/pSQqft


Already Owned

Hannspree HF-237HPB 23" LCD Monitor with Built-in Speakers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RJPGAG/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HZDF8W/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard and Wired Mouse Bundle Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B7GV802/?tag=tonymacx86com-20



Comments

The Build
TBD

Installation

Required

UniBeast (El Capitan)
https://www.tonymacx86.com/resources/categories/tonymacx86-downloads.3
MultiBeast (El Capitan)
https://www.tonymacx86.com/resources/categories/tonymacx86-downloads.3
Clover Configurator
http://mackie100projects.altervista.org
RehabMan-FakePCIID-2017-0109
https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-fake-pci-id/downloads/
RehabMan-FakeSMC-2017-0117
https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-fakesmc-kozlek/downloads/​

1. Open UniBeast and create a boot stick for El Capitan
(skip the graphics section, you will be using the Nvidia Web Driver)

2. Open Clover Configurator

a. mount (USB) EFI partition
b. load config.plist from (USB) EFI
c. “Kernel and Kext Patches” -> FakeCPUID -> 0x0506E3
“Boot” -> nv_disable=1
“SSDT” -> iMac 17,1
d. save and exit (leave partition mounted)​

3. Finder -> (USB) EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other

ADD The following kext files:

FakePCIID.kext
FakeSMC.kext
NullCPUPowerManagement.kext​

4. Reboot and Install El Capitan,

IMPORTANT: disable VT-d in BIOS or it hangs at logo.
You may also need to disable the serial port.​

5. Post Installation

a. run MultiBeast
b. Install Nvidia Web Driver
c. Install and open Clover Configurator.

Mount the (Samsung 250 GB HD) EFI partition,
open (Samsung 250 GB HD) EFI/CLOVER/config.plist,
“System Parameters” -> NvidiaWeb
“Boot” -> nv_drv=1​

d. Finder -> (Samsung 250 GB HD) EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other

ADD The following:

FakePCIID.kext (RehabMan's latest)
FakeSMC.kext (RehabMan's latest)
NullCPUPowerManagement.kext​

e. Install other drivers

LAN: IntelMausiEthernet-V2.2.0

https://www.tonymacx86.com/resources/intelmausiethernet.326/​

AUDIO: VoodooHDA

https://sourceforge.net/projects/voodoohda/files/​

GRAPHICS: NvidiaGraphicsFixup/Lilu

fixes the Nvidia black screen issue.
https://redd.it/5y1lot​

Benchmarks
(Medium)


(Ultra)







*Update: Full speed RAM with XMP
(Thanks to fanclub for the tip)

1. Enable XMP in the BIOS of the motherboard
   
   
2. Enable XMP in your Clover config.plist
   

Memory 16 GB 2998 MHz DDR4


GeekBench score with XMP enabled:


it's a significant boost in performance.




*Update: Airport 5G Wi-Fi 3-piece solution:

No additional drivers are needed. Once physically installed, el Capitan detected the card transparently.

The PCIe 1x card isn't a perfect fit. You may cut the Key A/E Adapter along the perforations where H1 and H3 are written, unfortunately the WIFI card itself slightly protrudes just enough to ruin what may have been the perfect 1-slot solution.

If you have big fingers, the most difficult part will be connecting the antenna to the card. Have patience or ask someone else to connect the tiny little wires...

In the end, I found it easier to install first and connect them afterwards.




As you can see in the photo below, I used 2 adjacent slots
​

 

[bachhu]

Congratulations!
Does everything works?
Any specific reason to Choose i7-7700 (non-K) over i7-7700K ?

 

[debauchery1st]

Congratulations!
Does everything works?
Any specific reason to Choose i7-7700 (non-K) over i7-7700K ?

Yes everything seems to work, it even goes to sleep. That kind of freaked me out at first.

My reasoning for non-K:

I don't plan on overclocking this machine.
- It's fast enough for the software development I do.
- It's capable of running every game available today.
- It's less money out of my pocket.

Until Apple hardware catches up, for compatibility, this build is bound to the SMBIOS iMac17,1

On the bright side, I will have legit options for upgrading this beast. (processor, graphics, and memory)
It's almost hard to remember the last time it was cheaper to upgrade than buy new.

Last, but definitely not least...

"4.20GHz sounds better than 4.50GHz", I thought to myself as I inhaled... ... click... done.​

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Leading-edge build, nicely written up. Thank you. Enjoyed it.

So no wireless or BT then? Using LAN etc ?

Notice the DDR4 RAM running at 2133 (or 2132 as System Report would have it!) Are you running it slower than its rated 3000mhz by choice? This is something I'm doing in my own build, just for added reliability and not actually having the need to run it faster yet.

Oh and thanks for the heads-up on the Nvidia/Lilu kext patches and their use for the 17,1 definition. Very useful indeed!

 

[debauchery1st]

Leading-edge build, nicely written up. Thank you. Enjoyed it.

So no wireless or BT then? Using LAN etc ?

Notice the DDR4 RAM running at 2133 (or 2132 as System Report would have it!) Are you running it slower than its rated 3000mhz by choice? This is something I'm doing in my own build, just for added reliability and not actually having the need to run it faster yet.

Oh and thanks for the heads-up on the Nvidia/Lilu kext patches and their use for the 17,1 definition. Very useful indeed!

The BIOS on this board has a setting for "eXtreme Memory Profile"
It is set to disabled by "optimized defaults". I left it that way. (I too have no need for the speed boost)

However, After reading your question, I enabled it in the BIOS and the OS still reports 2132.
max RAM speed may also be bound to the SMBIOS definition's maximum speed.

Once Apple catches up, we'll know for sure!

 

[debauchery1st]

Leading-edge build, nicely written up. Thank you. Enjoyed it.

So no wireless or BT then? Using LAN etc ?

I'm waiting on a part from China...

I have
http://a.co/2KbSFDI
http://r.ebay.com/5hCEJ9

I'm waiting for
http://r.ebay.com/pSQqft


I'll update the build info when I can confirm that it works without a hitch.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Ok, looks good!

Look forward to updates.

 

[zwartekoffie]

Nice. I have just one quick question about the benchmark. I made a hackintosh, 6700k, 16gb 2400 Ballistix LT, 950 OC WF.. My benchmarks are a little bit higher than your build. I would like to know why. Is this because of the iMac-definition, 14.2 vs 17.1? Can anyone explain me please?

 

[debauchery1st]

Nice. I have just one quick question about the benchmark. I made a hackintosh, 6700k, 16gb 2400 Ballistix LT, 950 OC WF.. My benchmarks are a little bit higher than your build. I would like to know why. Is this because of the iMac-definition, 14.2 vs 17.1? Can anyone explain me please? View attachment 242254

1. Different OS versions.
   • You are running Sierra, I am running el Capitan.
2. Different processors speeds.
   • Don't interpret the 6700 and 7700 as cardinal numbers. They represent the 6th and 7th generations of a specific i7 processor from intel.
   • The K on the end of your processor also means it is unlocked for overclocking.
   • My processor is running at 3.6GHz, while yours is running at 4.1GHz

 

[actionx1]

@debauchery1st does your LAN work? Your motherboard has the same chip as mine Z270X-UD5. Although I can't get my LAN port to work correctly.