Custom built Desk with watercooling

[Metalcored00d]

Hi forum

After seeing this awesome piece of custom modding (http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/desk-pc-unity-desk.188588/), I literally shat bricks!

Just everything about the build is beautiful! I contacted the maker and asked him if he wanted to share his sketchup designs, which he didn't. So I just decided to basically start building the same thing, but this time OS X style.

This build will probably be the most challenging one I've ever done!

As always, I first looked in my current build what I could re-use:
* Intel Core i7-3770K
* Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB (My Time Machine)
* Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB
* Samsung EVO 250GB SSD @ 6GBps

Then came the list of things I would need. I need to stress that I want every piece of hardware to be either black, red or both. That's why I chose these parts:
* Corsair Vengeance 2400MHZ 16GB DDR3 RAM
* Asrock Fatality Professional-m Z77
* 2x Asus Radeon HD 7850 2GB DDR5 in crossfire

For the custom watercooling, I chose aquatuning.nl and I ordered all my cables and accessories as well. I'll go for red Aerocool Shark fans to cool the 360mm radiator. I also ordered red sleeved cables, anti-vandal switches etc.

Update

Finally managed to take some pictures of the parts I'm using :')

Yosemite 10.10.1 Installation Guide

A. Pre-install

1. Getting a stable overclock

In order to obtain a stable overclock on this board, I used the following guide :
http://www.overclock.net/t/1198504/...-guide-sandy-bridge-ivy-bridge-asrock-edition

Note: in the guide it says: “To get "Max", type in 10000 and press Enter”. On this mobo, max value is 500.

2. Creating a Unibeast USB drive with Clover

A. Use Tony’s guide:

​

http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-desktop-guides/144426-how-install-os-x-yosemite-using-clover.html

Note: in my case, I installed Clover in the ESP on my USB drive. Because that means that it is 100% UEFI.

B. This UEFI method requires a small tweak in our BIOS; Advanced  ACPI  CSM  Disabled.
​

3. Clover Settings

I started off with the standard config.plist Tony provided. In my case I had to add the following flag: “ig-platform-id=01620007”. What this does is disable the intel GFX card and forces the system to use my AMD Radeon HD 7xxx cards.

Source:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/...ary-display-airplay-mirroring.html#post721605

4. DSDT finetuning

A. Edit dsdt/IGPU/"AAPL,ig-platform-id"
​

“0x07, 0x00, 0x62, 0x01”​

Source:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/...ary-display-airplay-mirroring.html#post721605


B. Install

Reboot and choose the new option "install OS X" by typing the spacebar
and selecting "with injected kexts".

In my case it just went straight to installing and rebooted when succesful.

This time boot back to your SSD/HDD with "injected kexts".

C. Post-install

1. Kexts

A. Network

​

B. CPU --> modified IOPlatformFamily --> needed for SSDT, created in “native power management”
​

Replace inside the file in this kext: IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext ▸ Contents ▸ PlugIns ▸ X86PlatformPlugin.kext ▸ Contents ▸ Resources ▸ Mac-FC02E91DDD3FA6A4.plist. If you don’t the multiplier stays stuck on 0x8.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/customization/78216-new-imac13-2-smbios-plist-print.html
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...-locked-msrs-and-hp-envy-15-j063cl-i7-4700mq/

C. Audio
​

Multibeast --> ALC898 without DSDT

D. USB 3.0
​

On this particular motherboard, there are 4 Intel USB ports and 2 Asmedia 1042 ports. The intel ones work OOTB, the Asmedia don’t. That’s why I used a Generic Kext for USB 3.0, which handles all ports. However, in order to make it work completely on our z77 board, we need to add a bootflag to Clover “gux_defer_usb2”.

Source:
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/286860-genericusbxhci-usb-30-driver-for-os-x-with-source/

2. Clover Settings

Now that we’ve installed some patched kexts, we need to fine tune our Clover config.plist. I added the following flags; “XCPM”, “gux_defer_usb2”, “dev-kext-mode=1”, …

Also, under SSDT --> “DropOEM=YES”

3. Native Power Management

Create an SSDT using the following guide:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...vericks-native-cpu-igpu-power-management.html

In my case I had to type “-w 3 –f 45” --> I have an i7-3770K and its frequency is overclocked to 4,5 GHz.

Reboot and be happy!!

Note

I added my own DSDT, IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext, SSDT and config.plist --> Do not use these unless you have exactly the same mobo as I do, with a Core i7 3770K overclocked at 4,5GHz

Thanks to the devs for their hard and dedicated work!
Grtz
Metalcored00d

 

[neilhart]

Okay! You have my attention. The project that you have taken on is major and I will follow your progress with expectation. The link was a very interesting read.


Good modding,
neil

 

[Metalcored00d]

Day 1 and 2

Day 1:
I must seriously remember to take more pictures! So basically day 1 revolved around buying the mdf wood panels and sawing them. Once finished, the actual build started with the desk itself; sawing out the small part where my chair will be.

Day 2:
Cut out holes for the airflow. The idea is to take in air where my chair will be, and to push it out through the radiator at the left side.

 

[neilhart]

That is a great start.

Would you share a little about your work space and tool set that you have? For example the work table is an interesting piece that I am not familiar with and even the corner clamps took me a second to see what they were.

Good modding,
neil

 

[alancurry]

It looks like a Paulk Work Bench or one modeled after it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJoGTf6KL8s

Alan

 

[atlantis852]

Sounds cool. Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Metalcored00d]

That is a great start.

Would you share a little about your work space and tool set that you have? For example the work table is an interesting piece that I am not familiar with and even the corner clamps took me a second to see what they were.

Good modding,
neil

Hey Neil

The tools etc are mostly custom built and will be shared at the end when I put all my pics online . Since I'm not the only one taking pictures I can't access most of them, yet .

Grtz

 

[Metalcored00d]

It looks like a Paulk Work Bench or one modeled after it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJoGTf6KL8s

Alan

That's exactly what it is! It's filled with holes so you can always create a height difference between the case and the work bench (very handy while glueing ).

Grtz

 

[Metalcored00d]

Day 3

It's coming together! We glued all parts together now! We also started to create a false wall, which will create a gap between the actual back of the desk and the motherboard. That way, we can easily get rid of lots of cables!

The next thing to figure out is where the PSU will be mounted.

Grtz
Metalcored00d

 

[neilhart]

Okay I will hold on the tools. You are making excellent progress as compared to the speed of my projects.

With a project this size the PSU could be hidden off in a rear leg or ... it will be interesting to see where it does land.

Good modding,
neil