Beginners luck Cube project

[jespera]

Beginners luck Cube project - DISCONTINUED

NOTE: DISCONTINUED due to lack of time!
Hi!
I have now bought my first complete Cube (100 dollars in mint condition with all the accessories, like keyboard, mouse and speakers), and will start my first Cube mod. My previous experience is running hackintosh stable on a Dell D630 laptop.

My goal is a high performance Cube with i7 (4 core Haswell with at least the Intel HD 4x00), 16 Gb ram and a 256Gb SSD. I will not need high gaming power, so I will not go for a separate GPU at this point.

The main question is about the mother board. The suggestions that I have read point towards the Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI but I want to hear about more alternatives. Of course I would like as much as possible on the motherboard to work out of the box.

• is there any motherboard with built-in WIFI that works with OSX?
• is there problems with USB 3.0 running hackintosh with any motherboard?

NOTE: DISCONTINUED due to lack of time!

Regards,
J

 

[kiwisincebirth]

Hi!

The main question is about the mother board. The suggestions that I have read point towards the Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI but I want to hear about more alternatives. Of course I would like as much as possible on the motherboard to work out of the box.

• is there any motherboard with built-in WIFI that works with OSX?
• is there problems with USB 3.0 running hackintosh with any motherboard?

Regards,
J

The motherboard is a tricky decision these days. As an option consider the Intel DQ77KB. While this is Ivy Bridge, the CPU performance isn't significantly less. The advantage is that it is well proven in Cube builds, and can achieve a simple uncluttered mod. The disadvantage is that they are hard to come by. If you live in Australia there is an online retailer will excess stock selling them cheap.

• Generally WIFI comes as a miniPCIe card and there are a few cards that are fully compatible. Of course you need a MB with an appropriate socket.
• There used to be issues, but those have been largely solved these days with a universal driver that is include in Multi beast.

 

[jespera]

Thanks for the fast answer.
I was reading about the DQ77KB the other day, it looks really neat, but saw that it is discontinued and hard to come by. I live in the US so I may have some luck. Does Intel plan a new similar mobo for the Haswell CPU?

 

[jespera]

After some hours of searching I found this thin ITX mobo
ECS H87H3-TI
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...DetailID=1508&CategoryID=1&MenuID=172&LanID=0

Comments on this one?

 

[ersterhernd]

Hi jespera, congratulations on scoring a decent Cube, they are few and far between on Craiglist these days.

One of the key functions you will require on the motherboard is 5V Standby Power. This is necessary for the touch sensor functionality to operate, which is a critical part of the build if you want to keep the touch function on top of the Cube shell.

Different solutions have been used with PicoPSU's, but by far (as kiwi mentioned above) the DQ77KB has a featureset that is nearly perfect for Cube builds. My i7 Cube scores around 13000 on Geekbench 2, and runs very cool in normal operation.

Pioneering a new Motherboard in a project such as this is bold, but risky and potentially more expensive if it doesn't work properly. You only get one chance to cut the I/O shield hole in the bottom of the Cube shell, so it has to be done precisely for the correct motherboard on the first try.


Good Luck!


Ersterhernd

 

[jespera]

Thanks Ersterhernd for your input.
I don't want to have to much hassle with my first build. So I will try to find a DQ77KB somewhere.

Some pictures of unpacking the Cube:

https://plus.google.com/110139422314962590284/posts/JhMoMogGt5a

 

[neilhart]

After some hours of searching I found this thin ITX mobo
ECS H87H3-TI
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...DetailID=1508&CategoryID=1&MenuID=172&LanID=0

Comments on this one?

Yes, I currently do not recommend the ECS H87H3-TI. While this board does run Windows 8.1 and LINUX, it is problematic with OS X 10.8.5 and 10.9. I had to patch the BIOS (PmPatch) to get past the OS X instant reboot problem.

This thin motherboard is also lacking things like the custom options header and on board power LEDs that are found on the Intel thin boards.

When and if I resolve the OS X issues with the motherboard, I will share the solutions that I have found.

Good modding,
neil

 

[kiwisincebirth]

Does Intel plan a new similar mobo for the Haswell CPU?

The motherboard was designed for the AIO (iMac) form factor, but maybe didn't do too well. Intel seems to have moved on to NUC for small form factor, so no Haswell upgrade.

 

[pep_one]

Thanks Ersterhernd for your input.
I don't want to have to much hassle with my first build. So I will try to find a DQ77KB somewhere.

Some pictures of unpacking the Cube:
View attachment 72924
https://plus.google.com/110139422314962590284/posts/JhMoMogGt5a

Wow it's wonderful and cheap... I've buyed my cube 250€ and it haven't original box (that I think is most important) neither speaker, so not a good deal
I'm waiting DQ77KB from 9th october... I wish that arrive soon for start my build!

 

[chaosdesigns]

That motherboard, while discontinued, is readily available on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-DQ77K...602888223?pt=Motherboards&hash=item5d45caf81f

Hope this helps.

chaos