(Success) ASUS Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard, Intel Core i5 3570K CPU, ASUS GTX GTX680-DC2T-2GD5, OS X

[evanhindra]

(Success) ASUS Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard, Intel Core i7 3770K CPU, ASUS GTX680 DC2T-2GD5, OS X 10.8.3

evanhindra's Build: Core i7-3770K - ASUS Sabertooth Z77 - 32GB RAM - ASUS GTX 680

​

Components

Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

Case: Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Military Green Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139015

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

RAM: Kingston HyperX Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX16C10B1BK2/16 {NOTE: I bought two of these!}http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104361

Graphic Card: ASUS GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121634

PSU: SeaSonic X-1250 1250W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109

Storage: SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) {NOTE: I bought two of these!}http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147189

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive {NOTE: I bought two of these!}http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

Keyboard: Das Keyboard Professional Model S for Mac (DASK3PROMS1MACCLI)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZG9T62/

Blu-Ray Drive: ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252



Already Owned

WiFi PCI-E Card: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter, 2.4GHz 450Mbps/5GHz 450Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n, WEP/WPA/WPA2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-704-133&ParentOnly=1&IsVirtualParent=1

Bluetooth Dongle: IOGEAR GBU521W6 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter Multi-Language Version
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=75-983-008&ParentOnly=1&IsVirtualParent=1

Mouse: Logitech M500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104328&Tpk=Logitech%20M500&IsVirtualParent=1

Displays: Dell UltraSharp U2711 27-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor - Max Resolution 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) {NOTE: I bought two of these!}http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0039648BO/

Speakers: M-Audio Studiophile AV30 MkII Powered Monitor Speakers
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051WAM1O/

USB 3.0 Hub: Belkin SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-port Hub
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA03W0N31468


Comments

Just would like to share my build, I owe it all to Vosster and his awesome thread. There's slight differences with my build from his, that's why I thought I might as well share my build. In case there's someone who's interested in using the same parts (or similar)

This is my second (well, first REAL one…) Hackintosh Pro. Got tired waiting for Apple to do a real Mac Pro. I might get the 2013 Mac Pro if Apple's done it right. None of that nonsense 2yr old Westmere CPU on a "2012" model. I'm with Siracusa and Marco, the lack of new Mac Pro is disturbing. Currently, I own a few Macs (2011 iMac, 2008 Mac Pro, MacBook Pro 15, 18, Air), so I'm very comfortable with the OS. I know my way around and comfortable with Terminal. Having said that, I'm a total n00b builder. When I first researched the build, I know very little about building 2013 PCs. I learned a bit more about CPU technologies (different sockets, tick/tock releases), GPUs and just general PC building (case designs, airflow inside a case)

I wanted to get a new computer that can eventually replace my 2011 iMac. Something with decent power but not overkill. I eat/breath from Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop, so that'll be the primary use for the machine as soon as I establish that the it is stable enough as a production machine. For the time being, it's just my gaming (dual boot with Windows) and Plex Media Server rig.

Some of the components I have listed, were taken from my previous Hackintosh build, which was intended solely as an HTPC/small computer. I had a Bitfenix Prodigy case, along with an MITX motherboard.

About the parts:
Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth — I'm aware the popularity with Gigabyte motherboards amongst the Hackintosh community, but I've always been told by my PC geeks that ASUS is the brand to go with. I was very close to buying the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, but decided to go with ASUS Sabertooth Z77 solely because of the good experiences my friends have with ASUS customer service (some say a lot better than Gigabyte). My friends are real hardcore PC nerds, and they all work as product managers at Canada Computers. After closer inspection, I'm glad I went with the ASUS board. It's an extremely well built board. Has less I/O feature than the GA-Z77X-UP5-TH. The ASUS board is lacking in Thunderbolt I/O ports at the back, but it has a Thunderbolt header. The board's marketed as a TOUGH ("TUF") board, has dust seals, etc. I live in a very dusty house, me being a lazy bastard I only vacuum once a week ;P. A few people also commented on how reliable the past TUF motherboards are (such as the Sabertooth X79, etc.). The only caveat to this board, is the dust shield mounted on the motherboard itself may interfere with RAM components/first PCI-E slot, due to its massive physical shape/size.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K — No real reason, other than it's within my budget. Been told that CPUs don't get used much these days and even the i5 is sufficient for my work & even gaming, as a lot of things are often offset to the GPU. I wanted to get the i7 3770K, but seeing reports that it's a bit harder to work with than the Core i5 3570K, in terms of getting sleep/speedstep to work. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll hop onto the Core i7 3770K.

CPU: update — I ended up getting the Core i7 3770K. Just realized that the Core i5 3570K is a quad core, as wher the 3770K is a quadcore with Hyperthreading. Also, the i7 is faster. .

Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 — It took me a long while before I settled with this case. Mostly because I like the number of fans I can chuck in this. I can chuck 10x120mm fans (or a few 140mm, depending how you want it done). Plus, it's within my budget. The case is compatible with Corsair H100i, which is the CPU cooler I went with.

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i —One thing I learned from notice after owning Mac Pros in the past, there's no such thing as "over cooled". I also hangout with enough system admins, that there's no such thing as excessive cooling. The lower the overall temperature, the less likely a system will crash. So, I went with the H100i. I know there are newer closed loop cooling solutions (bigger radiators and; larger, 140mm fans), such as the H110 and NZXT Kraken X60, but their case compatibility isn't that well documented with the case I have. I should also mention, the H110 and X60 are damn near identical, since they're manufactured by the same OEM manufacturer. I actually bought the Kraken X60, only to discover that it cannot be mounted on the C70's top 2x140mm holes, because the Kraken's screws are off alignment with the screw holes on the case (top) by 5mm. I read somewhere that the H110 will work with the C70, but seeing how poorly built the mounting bracket on the Kraken X60 is, I played it safe and went with the H100i. The H100i keeps my i7 at just slightly under 75°C at peak, and about 36°C idle (ambient room temperature is about 18°C). I like those numbers. a lot.

GPU: ASUS GTX680-DC2T-2GD5 —Nothing in particular, other than it's what's been recommended by several of my friends. This card actually runs quieter than the other GTX 680s, for some odd reasons. The box also advertised the card being the quietest. I don't care much. The card itself works out of the box with Unibeast 10.8.2 installation, with the exception of a hiccup after Multibeast installation that triggered the White Screen of Death, which I had to run bootflag GraphicEnabler=No whilst booting into OS X. Vosster also ran into the same issue, which he documented as well (cheers, mate!). Update: after further testing, I realized why my friends recommended this card. Aside from the lack of support for SLI in OS X, this is probably the most powerful single-core card that is supported by OS X as of 10.8.3. Plays BioShock Infinite on 2560 x 1440 on Ultra, with an average FPS above 60fps.

Storage: For primary storage (OS X, Windows) I went with Samsung 840 series SSDs; while their write speed is only in the 200's range, it's probably more than what I need. My Adobe apps documents are no larger than 50MB/document. As for secondary storage (random crap) I went with Seagate Barracuda 1TB drives. I also have a 2TB drive, for SuperDuper backups.

PSU: Seasonic is known for their reliability, quality and performance. 1250W is overkill, but I did get it on a very special discount. Note that this PSU is also 80Plus Gold certified. If you don't need that much of power, you could opt for the 1000W platinum.



Build
I pretty much followed the guide provided by tonymacx86 and Vosster's thread here. Funny thing is, I was able to reproduce every issue he had, and in the same sequence as well! Credits go to Vosster for actually being writing the guide I pretty much followed for my setup:

1. Installed Unibeast with OS X 10.8.2. A relatively drama-free installation. I did not flash my Asus' motherboard BIOS, as others have done here. I did, however, updated the BIOS from Asus' official repo, and I had to do it from Windows 8.
2. I formatted my SSD and HDD through OS X's Installer, using the provided Disk Utility. I used the whatever default setting recommended by the installer.
3. Once the installer is finished, booted into OS X for the first time. Still no drama. I logged into my Apple ID, but bypassed registration
4. As soon as I get on the OS X desktop, I went into System Preferences to turn off Gatekeeper. Once that's taken care off, I ran Multibeast. I went with: Easy Install, Non-DSDT Realtek AC892, and hnak's AppleIntelE1000e Ethernet
5. Removed AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext and NullCPUPowerManagement.kext from /System/Library/Extensions
6. Ran KextBeast using the patch supplied by Mieze here
7. Installed Chimera, then rebooted
8. Ran into the boot0 error. I followed the official guide here, then problem went away.
9. Ran into whitescreen problem, after the grey Apple logo bootscreen. Rebooted the machine, and typed the boot flag GraphicsEnabler=No and I'm back on OS X's desktop. I went to /Extras to edit org.chameleon.Boot.plist, and change the same key I used on the bootflag, from "Yes" to "No". Save the change on the .plist.
10. Ran Chameleon SSD Optimizer to enable TRIM support for my SSD.
11. Installed HWSensors. I downloaded it from Bitbucket, because Github confuses me ;P. I've only installed the .kexts and skimped on the actual HWSensor .app. I went with Bjango iStat Menus 4.

Optional Build stuff, for Dual Booting Windows 8
I wanted to install Windows 8, for the occasional gaming that I do.

1. I installed Windows 8 Pro, I went the weird route. I burnt the Windows 8 .iso (.iso came directly from Microsoft's site) using Disk Utility on my iMac. A standard DVD-R did the job just fine.
2. I formated the second SSD in OS X, as a FAT32 partition.
3. Then I powered off the machine to disconnect all drives associated to OS X (unplugging the SATA connector).
4. Booted into BIOS to select the Windows 8 DVD to boot. It's listed as two different options, one is a "plain", and the other is a UEFI-labeled I used the non-UEFI.
5. Installed Windows 8 as normal.
6. After I finished installing Windows 8, I just disconnected the drive again, as I haven't really had the chance to read to properly dual boot OS X and Windows 8 using Chimera. I read something about Windows 8 writing crap into the GUID partition table. I could be wrong.

Here's the MultiBeast setup I used to:

​

Summary & Notes:

Fully Working:

• GPU works natively as of OS X 10.8.2. Just remember to set GraphicsEnabler=No on MultiBeast to save you the hassle.
• Onboard Ethernet, Front Panel Audio ports (both headset & microphone ports, through Motherboard's Audio header), Sleep & Speedstep on the i5 3570K
• All USB 2.0 ports at the back work just fine. I "converted" my case's front panel USB 3.0 ports into USB 2.0, read below.
• Front panel USB 3.0 on the Corsair C70, is connected as a USB 2.0, through the USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 header adapter provided (can't remember which provided the adapter, either the Case or the Motherboard)
• Mac App Store works. I re-downloaded some of the apps I purchased from my iMac successfully
• iMessage works
• iStat Menu 4, with HWSensors. Picks up ALL sensors, including the temperature on each core on the CPU, GPU temp, fan speeds, Northbridge temp, fan speed, etc.
• OS X. Seems that it's working like it would on a normal Mac. AirDrop, Screen Sharing, picks up my Synology NAS without having to setup anything unusual. Yay!
• GPU performance seems great. Able to run StarCraft 2:Heart of The Swarm just fine!

Untested:

• USB 3.0, but it should work? I have no USB 3.0 peripherals. Others have gotten it to work

• . EDIT: I tested it with a Belkin USB 3.0 Hub, seem to work just fine with my random various USB 2.0 peripherals. All USB 3.0 ports seem to work, except the back USB 3.0 ports next to the eSATA ports.
• Using Chimera to dual-boot OS X and Windows 8 Solved
• HDMI Port — too lazy to drag the machine all the way to the TV, but I'll report back. I promise. Just for this awesome community
• Audio Ports at the back I/O. I just assume it should work.
• SATA Ports at the back I/O
• Bluray drive, haven't got a Bluray drive to test. I'll pop-in a PS3 drive and see what happen. I also have not tested DVD-Playback. I really have gone physical-media-less this past few years.
• Actual work using Adobe apps. ;P

Not Working:

• The WiFi card seem to be behaving oddly. OS X is not seeing my 5GHz APs. It works just fine on Windows 8 (able to see both 2.4GHz and 5GHz).

Solved

• The two USB 3.0 ports, next to the red eSATA ports don't seem to work. The other USB 3.0 ports work just fine. I have yet to test these two ports with USB 3.0 devices though. For now, I'll assume these won't work. I'll keep an eye on it.

To be done:

• Merge my OS X drives (SSD & HDD) into a Fusion Drive
• Setup proper dual-boot environment on Chimera.
• Test all of USB 3.0 ports.

Screenshots from About Mac & System Reporter:

GeekBench & LuxMark Scores:



Build Pictures




​

Updates:

• Mar 24, 2013 — Solved WiFi issue: I got 5GHz to show up on SSID list, by changing the 5GHz channel on my router control panel. Check this thread here.
• Mar 24, 2013 — Figured out the Multi-Booting situation. Since I installed Windows 8 on a separate SSD, I managed to dual-boot "properly". I disabled Fastboot in Windows 8. Read here how to disable fastboot in Windows 8.
• Mar 25, 2013 — OS X was showing my RAM as 1333MHz. Turns out it's a setting I have to enable via my Motherboard's BIOS to get it to run at 1600. While I was setting this up, I noticed that my RAM also has XMP support, so under A.I.Tuner, I turned it on to XMP, with Profile #1.
• Mar 27, 2013 — Updated to 10.8.3, this time without any problem. All I did was update using the combo updater provided by Apple, then restart as soon as the installer done its thing. Once back on the desktop, I reinstalled Multibeast, selecting only the Audio kext. Then after, I reinstalled Chimera; don't forget to reinstall Chimera. Restart. Then re-ran Chameleon SSD Enabler, to re-apply TRIM patch. All is well.
• Mar 28, 2013 — Decided to update to the i7 3770K, added more RAM (16GB more), and upgrade the Power Supply. Moving the i5 3570K, and the old PSU to another rig that will be strictly a PlexBox!
• Mar 29, 2013 — Finally setup a Fusion Drive on the OS X. I had to wipe the Windows 8 SSD & HDD, to merge them into a logical volume, then which I dump my SuperDuper clone onto. After I ended up with a "newly restored OS X", I took the previous OS X SSD, and reinstalled Windows 8 on it. In case anyone's wondering I was following the guide from guide from TonyMacx86 forum by neilhart
• Mar 30, 2013 — Added internal photos. Discovered the two USB 3.0 ports next to

 

[dxnice27]

Hi evanhindra, I am curious about the DSDT part. There is no DSDT file for z77 when I checked yesterday so how were you able to proceed with installation? (Sorry if I missed this in your guide!) Just to clarify when you said you did not flash your bios, does that mean you didnt download a DSDT file for your board?

Also, did you have windows 8 already installed when you did this? I only have one ssd with win7 installed (and one hdd) and I plan on installing mountain lion on the ssd. Will I come across issues this way?

 

[Stork]

He used the EasyBeast option in MultiBeast which doesn't require the use of a DSDT.

 

[dxnice27]

Thanks Stork! Just ordered a gtx 670, will try this build when it gets here.

 

[dxnice27]

I get the white screen of death during restarts and GraphicsEnabler=No does not work. Last I checked, GraphicsEnabler is set to No in the plist as well. 1/10 times typing boot flag GraphicsEnabler=No might work. This is weird. I followed this guide step by step. Also tried PCIRootUID=0 with no luck.


Boot verbose shows that I stop at:

AppleIntelE1000e(info): Link is up 10mbps full duplex, flow control: Rx/Tx

Any suggestions?


Edit: I found the fix. I guess I went one step ahead in this guide and chose GraphicsEnabler=No in Multibeast during the first run through. But reinstalled and followed everything stepped by step and changed it via plist instead as stated below. Everything runs smoothly!

 

[davidkarji]

Hi,

I'm an absolute newbie attempting to build a hackintosh with the same MB (ASUS Sabertooth Z77) and CPU (Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz) as the OP. I got my Unibeast installed on the USB drive but when i try to boot it, i get a black screen. Tried all the flags but nothing helps.

I have 2 XFX Double D FX797GTDFC Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition and i'm wondering if that's the problem to all this.

the ATI/AMD 7000 series are not supported! I recommend getting a GTX 600 Series. The GTX 670 and 680 are Great!!

 

[dxnice27]

the ATI/AMD 7000 series are not supported! I recommend getting a GTX 600 Series. The GTX 670 and 680 are Great!!

I agree, my GTX 670 works flawlessly following this guide. (I have the same hardware)

I wonder if OP will update to 10.8.4

 

[evanhindra]

I agree, my GTX 670 works flawlessly following this guide. (I have the same hardware)

I wonder if OP will update to 10.8.4

I apologize for not reading the thread! I hope you've got your questions answered!


I just updated to 10.8.4, the same procedure is pretty much the same with updating to 10.8.3! Too early to tell if I'm running to any issue. But everything looks good so far.

EDIT: I re-enabled TRIM through Multibeast, using the 10.8.3 patch; as Chameleon SSD Optimizer wasn't doing it this time. Multibeast' TRIM patch works out well.

 

[jnlzr]

so im stuck at the load screen after i update to 10.8.3.. its just the apple logo and the buffer wheel spinning... i did everything correctly from your post and before the update was about to reboot the system without a problem...

any ideas???


and Great post btw!

Jimmy

 

[wclef]

I have a question. My build is almost the same ( processor and graphic card are différent but that's about it ) i can't seem to configure sleep wake properly since i have added in the IOBluetoothFamily the info for my bluetooth dongle.

when i put it to sleep, it will wake up right after. But before the modification, it would go to sleep but when i would wake it from sleep, the keyboard (Apple USB) would freeze; i would have to un plug it and re plug it.

And ML shows an un properly unmounted external drive when i put it to sleep / followed by instant wake thing that does not happen on my MacBook Pro

thank you in advance for the help