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Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme | Core i7-3930K | Radeon HD 7970 Ghz 3GB

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Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme
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i7-3930K
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GTX 680
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Asus X79 Rampage IV Extreme | Core i7-3930k | Radeon HD 7970 Ghz 3GB
6 Cores at 4.2Ghz

Mountain Lion 10.8.4

by MK500 and shilohh

Huge thanks to tonymacx86, MacMan, Hexa, and mitchellk without whom this machine would never have been built.
Special thanks to Shilohh for his DSDT work.

WARNING: This guide will ONLY work fully with the specified motherboard and video card because the included DSDT is injected with specific code to support them. However, you may find several steps useful if you own a AMD 7xxx card and are having trouble with install or boot.

front.jpg

Apple OS X Mountain Lion @ Mac Apps Store
Mac App Store - OS X Mountain Lion

Donation to TonyMacX86.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CC3JC8VG8ETHQ

ASUS Rampage IV Extreme LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/Rampage-IV-Extreme-Extended-Motherboard/dp/B0061XSBZ6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131802

Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00603QXPM/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

GIGABYTE GV-R797TO-3GD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008WAMV3Y/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125439

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (8 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q2-32GBZL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231502

OWC 120GB Mercury Accelsior™ PCI Express Solid State Drive (700+MB/s Read/Write) for Boot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008961R68

Antec P280 Case
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005X3E5BO/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129179

Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 140mm and 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00631QFG8/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608024

Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan (quantity: 2)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YSONMO/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004

Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007F9X9OI/

AZIO Bluetooth Dongle
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833340012

Already Owned

Evoluent Mouse Friendly Keyboard
Evoluent VerticalMouse, Vertical Mouse, ergonomic mouse, ergonomic computer mouse, computer mouse, optical mouse, carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive stress disorder, RSI

Evoluent VerticalMouse 4
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042R6FNI/

Comments:

The goal of this system is a powerful 6-core with moderate over-clock (for reliability) and similar noise level to a Mac Pro. I'm have a seperate post for over-clock details here.

This machine is extremely quiet (Mac Pro level) and stable. I run 4.2Ghz with idle temperature is under 40C at 24C room temperature. Under moderate load it runs in the 50s. Under Prime95 (for testing) it will run high 60s.

Working: Sleep, Audio, Video (accelerated), USB 2 ports, USB 3 ports, SATA ports, eSATA hotswap ports, Intel Ethernet.

Not working: iStat/Sensors. Must sleep/wake once each boot. Power management (it stays at 4.2Ghz). On-motherboard bluetooth; replaced with cheap bluetooth dongle.

Installation Steps

1) Install BIOS 3602. This is necessary to use included DSDT (BIOS must match DSDT).

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA2011/Rampage_IV_Extreme/Rampage-IV-Extreme-ASUS-3602.zip

Photos | BIOS Settings

2) Prepare USB stick using UniBeast 2.0.1 and OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 (updated via app store). PLEASE name your USB stick "USB". If you are unfamiliar with UniBeast, follow the steps in "STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive Using UniBeast" here:

tonymacx86 Blog: UniBeast: Install OS X Mountain Lion on Any Supported Intel-based PC

3) Connect your USB thumb drive to the USB port above the white one on the motherboard. Ensure the hard drive you will install to is connected to one of the 6 SATA ports on the Intel bus (NOT the two far left red ASMedia ports). Or use a PCI SSD like mine.

USB_drive.jpg

4) Power on your computer and hold F8. Select the USB stick and type the following when the Chimera screen comes up (just start typing and the box will appear):

Code:
-v cpus=1 npci=0x2000 GraphicsEnabler=No

5) Format your hard drive GUID with two partitions. The first large partition should be named "OSX" and standard journaled format (you may rename later). The second partition should be as small as possible and FAT format. Quit Disk Utility. Install the OS as usual. Move your mouse from time to time so your screen doesn't go to sleep.

disk_utility_3_7970.jpg

disk_utility_1_7970.jpg
disk_utility_2_7970.jpg


6) On reboot, hold F8. Select the USB stick again and choose it when Chimera comes up, then type the following (just start typing and the box will appear):

Code:
-v cpus=1 npci=0x2000 GraphicsEnabler=No

7) Open Terminal in the same way you opened Disk Utility above. Run the following two commands:

Code:
mkdir /Volumes/OSX/ati_backup
mv /Volumes/OSX/System/Library/Extensions/ATI7000Controller.kext /Volumes/OSX/ati_backup/

8) Quit Terminal and Restart your computer.

9) On reboot, hold F8. Select the USB stick and when the Chimera screen comes up select your newly installed Mountain Lion disk. Then type the following:

Code:
-v cpus=1 npci=0x2000 GraphicsEnabler=No

10) Go through the normal OS X first time setup steps (user account, etc.).

11) Drop shilohh's DSDT file below onto your desktop. Decompress the zip by double-clicking. You need this for built-in audio, video, USB, and sleep.

Shiloh's DSDT for 7970

12) Install MultiBeast - Mountain Lion 5.3.1 as seen in image below. If you have an SSD that requires TRIM support, then check the appropriate option under TRIM.

MultiBeast Configuration for Mountain Lion
multibeast_settings_7970.jpg

13) Download 898 Audio kext from here, drag kext to desktop. Download VoodooTSCSync kext from here, uncompress and move kext to desktop. Also download SleepEnabler from here, uncompress and move kext to the desktop. Then run the following command in Terminal:

Code:
cp -r /Volumes/OSX/ati_backup/ATI7000Controller.kext ~/Desktop/

Then install using KextBeast as shown below. You do not need to do "rollback" or anything else, as installing this Kext is equivalent to a rollback. The DSDT takes care of the rest.

Kextbeast Installation
kextbeast-install_7970.jpg

14) Download Chameleon Wizard from here to install updated boot0 file (needed to avoid crazy characters at boot). Launch Chameleon Wizard and allow it to update. Make sure your Target Partition at bottom is your new Mountain Lion disk. Click the Boot0hfs bullet. Then just click the Install button.

chameleon_wizard.jpg


15) You are ready for your first boot. Go to Apple -> Restart... and hold F8 to select your newly installed drive. You can unplug your Unibeast USB stick now. When the Chimera menu comes up, hit the down arrow on your keyboard to select "Boot Verbose" and hit enter to boot.

boot_verbose.jpg

16) At the white/black screen after boot completes (HD access stops), put your computer to sleep using the power button. Be patient after hitting power button; it can take up to 2 minutes to go to sleep the first time. Then wake it back up and you should be up and running. You will need to do this at each boot until the ATI 7xxx issue is fixed. Subsequent sleeps (once booted) are quite fast (few seconds), and 2 minutes is worst case at boot. It's often much faster.

geekbench_20841.jpg

LuxMark_7970_3GB.png

Heaven_7970_3GB.png


FAQ:
Q: If I'm just fixing an existing build; can I add the FAT partition without reformatting my drive?
A: Yes! In Disk Utility, just select your existing drive and click "Partition" on the right. Then click the little + below your Partition graph. Then proceed with the instructions.

Q: Why the heck do I need this little FAT partition?
A: The small FAT partition is needed in combination with the Chameleon Boot0hfs to get around the Boot:(bunch of strange characters here) bug that happens if you have a single AMD 7xxx card installed as primary (and no other video). My guess is Chimera will eventually be updated and this won't be needed any more. It's a very solid workaround for now.

Q: Can I use the new Chimera 2.1.1 now that it has "Added AMD 7xxx graphics card detection"?
A: No, you must switch to Chameleon using the Chameleon Wizard method in the build instructions. The new Chimera does not fix the garbled-text at boot issue. This issue is fixed in my instructions by using the Boot0hfs method and having a small FAT partition. Hopefully this workaround won't be needed forever; but it works well for now.

Q: Can I just select the ALC898 checkbox under Drivers - Audio - Realtek ALC8xxx in MultiBeast install?
A: No. For some reason this does not work with any of my tests. If you follow my instructions you will have fully working audio on first boot without selecting any Audio options in MultiBeast.

EDIT LOG:
2013-03-27 : Welcome to my working ATI 7970 build with just one video card. This CPU + GPU is a screamer!
2013-03-28 : Updated images and fixed error in Chameleon Wizard step.
2013-03-28 : Fixed misc. typos and removed an un-necessary step (changing ATI kext visibility when already visible).
2013-03-29 : Removed un-necessary step. Fixed a few typos.
2013-03-29 : Centered image and clarified sleep notes. Added new Amazon link to SSD.
2013-04-04 : Added FAQ.
2013-03-30 : Updated red warning at top.
2013-07-14 : Updated FAQ regarding Chimera 2.1.1
2013-07-14 : Updated build for OS X 10.8.4, Unibeast 2.0.1 and MultiBeast - Mountain Lion 5.3.1
2013-08-06 : Updated FAQ regarding audio.
 

Attachments

  • R4E 3602 ATI-7970_DSDT.zip
    13.3 KB · Views: 1,530
Last edited:
Thanks Ritey! I'm a bit of an X79 advocate; so I wanted to prove that you could do a full install with one of the newly supported AMD 7xxx cards. It took me a while to figure it out and test thoroughly -- and then to document. I must have installed OS X like 20 times. But it's a very consistent process now.

This GPU is very fast. And I've had up to 4 displays running simultaneously without problem. I hope the sleep/wake trick becomes un-necessary at some point; and then it will be perfect.
 
Thanks Ritey! I'm a bit of an X79 advocate; so I wanted to prove that you could do a full install with one of the newly supported AMD 7xxx cards. It took me a while to figure it out and test thoroughly -- and then to document. I must have installed OS X like 20 times. But it's a very consistent process now.

This GPU is very fast. And I've had up to 4 displays running simultaneously without problem. I hope the sleep/wake trick becomes un-necessary at some point; and then it will be perfect.

------------------------------------------------

You have done an amazing job! The ATi video IMO is superior to Nvidia for photo editing, which is the main reason I want a good Hackintosh.

The sleep/wake issue should not interfere with having a dual boot system should it?

I've got another SSD on the way because of your success. :D

Ritey
 
The sleep/wake issue should not interfere with having a dual boot system should it?

I put in a 1TB WD black drive and installed Windows 7. I just hold F8 and power up and choose the Windows drive. No problem!

I do recommend you disconnect your Mac drive when you install Windows. I've seen Windows corrupt my Mac boot on multiple occasions. Once installed they live together without problems though. It's just best to keep them on separate drives.
 
5) Format your hard drive GUID with two partitions. The first large partition should be named "OSX" and standard journaled format (you may rename later). The second partition should be as small as possible and FAT format. Quit Disk Utility. Install the OS as usual. Move your mouse from time to time so your screen doesn't go to sleep..

-------------------------------------------------------------------

What is the purpose of the extra (small) partition?
 
The small FAT partition is needed in combination with the Chameleon Boot0hfs to get around the Boot:(bunch of strange characters here) bug that happens if you have a single AMD 7xxx card installed as primary (and no other video). My guess is Chimera will eventually be updated and this won't be needed any more. It's a very solid workaround for now.
 
Appreciate the post...came in use when trying to update and install a 7970, the install is ok but the graphic drivers are not working right, I couldnt get the terminal commands working wondering if you know a work around now that im post installation to try and get the graphic drivers working correctly im not getting any display res's only a forced 1450 res because I checked the 1080 in multibeast
 
I have the same 7970 but another motherboard (sabertooth x79) can I use the same Shiloh's DSDT for 7970 .Or do I need another one
 
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