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Ericidi's build: Core i7-4770k - GA-Z87MX-D3H - GTX-770 SC

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[Succes] Ericidi's build: Core i7-4770k - GA-Z87MX-D3H - GTX-770 SC

Ericidi's build: GA-Z87MX-D3H - Core i7-4770k - GTX-770 SC

Screen Shot 2013-11-02 at 20.27.17.png

Components

Note: I did not buy the components from Amazon or Newegg. Links provided are the same components though.

Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CU4L4XG/

Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/

EVGA GTX-770 SC Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D78Q2D6/

Fractal Design Node 605 Case
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LHF4F4/

Fractal Design Newton R3 600W Platinum Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LHF4WM/

CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) Memory
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EWUO22/

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NB8WR0

Western Digital Black 1TB HDD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036Q7MV0/

Pioneer DVR-TD11RS Optical Drive
Not on amazon.com

Dell Ultrasharp 23" 1080p Display DVI-D-VGA-DP 4xUSB2.0
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LN1JEC


Commments

This build is very similar to Tonymacx86's Haswell mATX build, with the addition of a GTX-770 Graphics card. This build can be found here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/golden-bu...ell-matx-ga-z87mx-d3h-i7-4770k-hd-4600-a.html

The installation went super easy, thanks to UniBeast and MultiBeast. I assembled everything, but kept the drive cages outside of the case and only connected the SSD. I also left out the GTX for the installation.
The reason for this is that there's a support bar running from front to back in the center of the case. This has to be removed to be able to insert the GTX into the first PCI-e slot. As this bar is needed to hang the HDD cages, I left them out.

The only BIOS settings I did are "Optimized Defaults", followed by X.M.P. to Profile1, AHCI and EHCI Handoff enabled.

The installation itself did not require any boot flags whatsoever. No errors, no problems. Thanks to UniBeast this worked beautifully. :D
After rebooting (from USB to OS X on SSD), I installed MultiBeast with this configuration:

Screen Shot 2013-11-02 at 20.09.58.png

Next I shut everything down, popped in the GTX-770, connected both drives, assembled the drive cages and closed up the case. The BIOS figured out that PCI-E slot 1 had to initiate first, so no changes were needed there. I changed the boot order to SSD first and it booted up from hard drive like it was nothing in under 10 seconds (Wow! :eek:). Everything is detected the way it should, as you can see in this screenshot:

Screen Shot 2013-11-02 at 18.00.02.png

Every major item works:
- Sleep
- iMessage (Don't have a webcam, so I can't test Facetime)
- App Store
- Sound
- Network
- Optical Drive
- External Audio Interface (Focusrite Scarlett 2i4)
- Speedstep (8, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)

What doesn't work the way it should:
- Front card reader in case
Only works when there are no external storage devices connected at boot. Probably a BIOS/USB issue, as BIOS hangs a moment when booting with connected external HDDs.

With the case's fan controller on low, I'm getting 30°C idling (not really idling, but using Safari, iTunes, etc.) temperatures and around 90°C running Prime95.
The GPU is bit hotter at 55°C, but it doesn't go over 85°C running Unigine Heaven. Do note: it is also connected to an HDTV, so it constantly running two displays.

Unigine Heaven benchmark:

Screen Shot 2013-11-03 at 20.04.00.png

BlackMagic Disk Speed test:

Screen Shot 2013-11-03 at 10.35.40.jpg

In all, I'm pretty happy with this build. It's my first completely from scratch build and it only took about 4 hours to get everything up and running properly. Major thanks to the tonymacx86.com team for the tools though. :thumbup:

Have a nice day!
Charlotte.


Edit log:

2013-11-03: Changed IGP to disabled in BIOS and ran Heaven benchmark again: results updated.
2013-11-04: Issue with card reader updated. Works when booting without external hard drives now.
 
Great build. I really like the look of your case. Perfect for an HTPC. Congratulations.
 
Thanks guys! ;)

The only thing I'd like to get working is the front I/O.
Front audio works, front USB also, but only for flash drives. Other things (iPhone, USB HDD, ...) do not seem to work. They get power, but that's it. Or maybe they don't get enough power and won't read (HDD light is on, but that's as far as it goes). A mouse does work though. So I'm starting to think it's a power issue.
Front card reader also does not work a.t.m. :(

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ciao!
Charlotte.
 
Thanks guys! ;)

The only thing I'd like to get working is the front I/O.
Front audio works, front USB also, but only for flash drives. Other things (iPhone, USB HDD, ...) do not seem to work. They get power, but that's it. Or maybe they don't get enough power and won't read (HDD light is on, but that's as far as it goes). A mouse does work though. So I'm starting to think it's a power issue.

That is strange, you would expect the motherboard to supply plenty of power to these sockets without any problem. Looks like a USB extension cable run from the rear of the machine might be the best short term solution for ease of use. The other option would be to try a powered USB hub.

Front card reader also does not work a.t.m. :(

How does it connect to the motherboard and is it showing up in System Information?


Adrian B
 
That is strange, you would expect the motherboard to supply plenty of power to these sockets without any problem. Looks like a USB extension cable run from the rear of the machine might be the best short term solution for ease of use. The other option would be to try a powered USB hub.

How does it connect to the motherboard and is it showing up in System Information?


Adrian B
Ok, weird thing. The card reader did not show up, so I switched the internal connection to a different header.

This makes the card reader work, but only if my other three external hard drives are not powered on at boot (they are on a different power socket, so I can switch them off). When I switch them on, the card reader and all hard drives work (also when removing and reconnecting a SD card), regardless of which one is used first. :confused:

I have also noticed that the bios waits a long time at the Gigabyte splash screen while booting with external drives connected. I'm not sure they are related, but it seems like they are. Booting with "Full Screen Logo Show" disabled reveals nothing, though. :problem:

Since I don’t reboot often (just sleep mostly), I can live with this situation. Here's the system info:
Screen Shot 2013-11-04 at 20.48.28.png

Still no advance on the front USB ports though. I don't really need them, but it would be nice to get them working perfectly.

Ciao!
Charlotte.
 
One thing that I am wondering is if you were to remove the GenericUSB 1.2.6 kext and replace it with the latest 1.2.7 version would that solve any problems?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/genericusbxhci/files/

This should be in the next update for MultiBeast, you can if you wish install it now to try it.


EDIT - I see that there is a bios update for your motherboard that covers USB, which version are you running at present?
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4490#bios

Adrian B
 
One thing that I am wondering is if you were to remove the GenericUSB 1.2.6 kext and replace it with the latest 1.2.7 version would that solve any problems?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/genericusbxhci/files/

This should be in the next update for MultiBeast, you can if you wish install it now to try it.
Is the next MB update due anytime soon? The first moment that I can do this is the weekend anyway. :rolleyes:

EDIT - I see that there is a bios update for your motherboard that covers USB, which version are you running at present?
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4490#bios

Adrian B
Currently on F2 as it turns out. Thanks for this. Is a proper change log available for that update? Or at least which issues it fixes?
I don't really feel comfortable flashing the BIOS, as even Gigabyte's website says it may be dangerous. I'd like to know that there is real change the update will solve the issues and not make things worse before attempting to flash the BIOS.

And after downloading it appears this is an .exe file, which is windows only as far as I know... :banghead:
Is there a Mac-only way to open the file? I don't have Windows at the moment.

Thanks!

Charlotte.
 
Is the next MB update due anytime soon? The first moment that I can do this is the weekend anyway. :rolleyes:

It should be soon enough, next week or two I would imagine.

Currently on F2 as it turns out. Thanks for this. Is a proper change log available for that update? Or at least which issues it fixes?

Only the text that is shown in that link - I have not seen anything else

I don't really feel comfortable flashing the BIOS, as even Gigabyte's website says it may be dangerous. I'd like to know that there is real change the update will solve the issues and not make things worse before attempting to flash the BIOS.

I think dangerous is a bit strong - its UEFI and like bios needs to be done correctly. The motherboards have a twin UEFI bios in case of error. If you would rather wait then that is fine, but the fact that Gigabyte have released a USB fix points to there being a USB problem in the first place. Whether it is related to your problems I am not able to say.

And after downloading it appears this is an .exe file, which is windows only as far as I know... :banghead:
Is there a Mac-only way to open the file? I don't have Windows at the moment.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/175-new-uefi-updates-gigabyte-s-high-end-z77-boards.html


Adrian B
 
I think dangerous is a bit strong - its UEFI and like bios needs to be done correctly. The motherboards have a twin UEFI bios in case of error. If you would rather wait then that is fine, but the fact that Gigabyte have released a USB fix points to there being a USB problem in the first place. Whether it is related to your problems I am not able to say.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/175-new-uefi-updates-gigabyte-s-high-end-z77-boards.html
Thanks for the link! Didn't know it was a 7zip archive. I feel kinda stupid now. :rolleyes:
Stuffit expander was installed, but apparently you have to force it to open that file.

I'd actually rather wait until the next MultiBeast update with the new USB kext and see if that solves anything, if not, I'll try the BIOS update. ;)

I'll post again with the results whenever I do this. Thanks for all your help so far. :thumbup:

Wish you all the best!

C.
 
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