CustoMac Mini Deluxe Build - i7-4770 GA-Z87N-WIFI Fractal Node 304

[MacMarshall]

I have ordered parts for my first hackintosh, this to replace an old Mac Mini I have hooked up to our main TV, so for media and other:

Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz
Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600
Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE250LW
WD Black WD4003FZEX 4TB (for media)
WD Green WD40EZRX 4TB (for backup)
Fractal Design Node 304
Silverstone Tek Strider ST65F-G (650W modular, 140mm long to leave room for GPU, if I add one)
Silverstone PP05 short cable set
Atheros AR9380 PCI-E Dual-Band 802.11N card
Laptop wireless Mini PCI PCI-E internal antenna (I think the motherboard only has two antenna connections, so might put third in case)
Noctua NH-U12 S cooler (might fool with light over clocking)

I am starting without a GPU, might see how it goes with the HD4600. Any opinions on need for a GPU for what will basically be a HTPC?

I'll report out when I get the parts and put it together!

 

[Stork]

Just follow the tonymacx86 Guide, and you'll be fine. (See Guides menu at the top of this page.)

 

[trs96]

@macmarshall

Just some advice from personal experience. There are 3 very tiny screws holding the metal
HDD bays in place near the front of the case.

It's extremely easy to strip these out even with a #2 phillips head screwdriver. You'll either have to do this very slowly or get a larger phillips driver to do the job. It's a very nice mitx case other than that small annoyance.

Also the HD 4600 gfx should be great for an HTPC, no problems there. The Noctua cooler may
be too big to fit comfortably so get some precise measurements or just go with a smaller low profile cooler.

 

[eagle17]

I just built a mini using that motherboard and a different case.. cant comment on much of the build but for the hd4600, this is a great chipset for most things but I have an existing dell u2711 that will not drive full resolution from hdmi... and the lack of display ports is an issue... in fact there seems to be very few video cards in the buyers guide that support display port... so long story short dont get a dell u2711

 

[pistooli]

Excellent set of components!

I have built two Ivy based computers recently and toying with the idea for a Haswell build from almost exactly the components you have listed (including the Fractal Case)...

 

[MacMarshall]

so long story short dont get a dell u2711

Too funny, I have two of them! Great monitors in general. I would think you could at least get working with a card with dual link DVI?

But this guy will get hooked up to our main TV, a 75 inch Samsung (just 1080).

 

[BingoRingo]

I think this is way too much power for an HTPC. An i7 processor, SSD, 16 GB of RAM? I guess money is not an issue but for an HTPC you could go with an i3 and 8 GB or RAM and it would be more than enough. I use a Mac Mini from 2010 and there's nothing it can't do in this role, with a Core 2 Duo.

Also, no need for a GPU the integrated graphics will be more than enough.