First Hackintosh and Build in general. i7-3770, Z77X-UD5H

[jester969]

SSD: Crucial M4

Specs that I'm not so certain with:

RAM: 1600Mhz RAM and above seems like a waste(my opinion). Your RAM is fine.

PSU: 650W PSU : Seasonic, Corsair, Antec,

HDD: Both will work preference is the only choice.

CPU Fan: It's ok. Other options Hyper212+ or EVO.

Controllers: No problem.

Monitors: AOC 2436, Asus or Dell. We have a monitor thread in this section for ideas.

Graphics: 550Ti, 580

 

[jester969]

The RAM is ok but to buy expensive RAM just b/c it has higher speed frequencies. :

The 650w is totally fine for a system like this. Make sure it is modular.

Those CPU coolers were just suggestions. It should work just as fine.

I cant find the monitor thread, it's not in the Choosing Compatible Components Thread.

Here it is all nine glorious pages.

https://tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=48986

Check slickdeals.net for deals or forgot the other site wfj use to post.

The EVGA are a good choice and it depends on if you need the 2GB or 1GB for what you are doing with your machine.

 

[Going Bald]

Unless you are going to run a large overclock any ram over 1600 is wasted. OS X wants to run at 1333 bas but you can select the XMS profile for 1600 ram in BIOS and it will run at 1600 just fine on ivy bridge. Any higher and you have to OC the CPU to get the memory bus speed up.
So any good 1333 or 1600 MHz memory will work fine. Best brand and style is a matter of personal opinion and experience. Personally, I prefer Corsair first, Crucial next and then G.Skill.

For the board, an alternative to Gigabyte board Gordo recommended is the MSI Z77A-G45 or its counterpart in mATX the Z77MA-G45. Fully supported with a modified BIOS or speed stepper kext.

For processor, if you do not plan to OC, get either the 3770 (77W) or the 3770S (65W).
They are the same price at NewEgg and $40 less than the k model.

For the SSD, the Samsung 830 series has better reviews than the Crucial M4 or the OCZs.

 

[p4madeus]

Unless you are going to run a large overclock any ram over 1600 is wasted. OS X wants to run at 1333 bas but you can select the XMS profile for 1600 ram in BIOS and it will run at 1600 just fine on ivy bridge. Any higher and you have to OC the CPU to get the memory bus speed up.
So any good 1333 or 1600 MHz memory will work fine. Best brand and style is a matter of personal opinion and experience. Personally, I prefer Corsair first, Crucial next and then G.Skill.

This is not true. The GA Z77 UD3H will run higher clocked RAM at its full speed via the XMP profile without any special overclocking/tinkering. I just helped a friend build his hackintosh using this exact mobo and we found a really good deal on 2133mhz RAM ($100 for 16gigs).... just went into the BIOS and turned on the XMP and now its running @ 2133mhz... no adjustments to the processor or any other clocks.

OS X is perfectly capable of utilizing any RAM faster than 1333mhz so long as your hardware supports it... the 2011 MacBook Pros are a perfect example...if you install RAM faster than the stock 1333mhz it is recognized and runs at full speed (up to 1866mhz is known to work I believe) because the hardware is capable of handling it, and thus OS X recognizes & utilizes it.

If you can find a good deal on higher clock RAM buy it. It will increase the overall performance of your system, especially for intensive tasks such as video editing which you stated you will be doing (and also happens to be one of the main purposes of my friend's new hackintosh). Money well spent.

 

[Gordo74]

Any RAM over 1600 on a 1155 system does NOT speed it up (less than 2% difference between them) and therefore is a waste of money..

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory ... y-bridge/9

 

[p4madeus]

Any RAM over 1600 on a 1155 system does NOT speed it up (less than 2% difference between them) and therefore is a waste of money..

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory ... y-bridge/9

Actually the "multi-tasking" test, probably the most relevant of them all (really who uses Gimp seriously?) showed the biggest gains... ~ 9.3% better performance with 2133 vs 1600... if you can find a deal on 2133 kit as I did making it only a few bucks more than a 1600 kit it's definitely worth it. Not to mention those tests were done on a Sandy Bridge rig with the older P67 chipset, not a Z77 Ivy Bridge.

 

[Coupz]

Forget your 750W power supply, your build as mentioned in your first post will not need even 200W without a GPU. Even with the best GPU (GTX 680) a system like this won't need more then 500W!
Same some money and buy a better CPU cooler then NZXT, like Noctua UD14(12), Thermaltake Silver Arrow or Evo 212+

You would need 1050W as you mentioned for 3-way-sli with GTX 680's and with this setup you won't even brake that PSU, it would have still enough power.

 

[p4madeus]

As far as your PSU, I would try this site out:

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

I've seen others like it, but this one is pretty comprehensive. Fill it in for your specs, and include all future upgrades you plan on doing by putting those items in as part of your build even though you won't have them right away. That way when you do upgrade you won't have to swap out your power supply.

Based on your general ideas, I think 500W would be a minimum, however chances are you will eventually add more upgrades down the road (better gfx cards, more hard drives, etc), so I'd shoot for 550-600 to future-proof it.

 

[Coupz]

If you really think of SLI of these cards, then go with a 700W PSU.
I've seen on another website that their hole system with the 560 TI's in SLI needed 580W.

 

[mrubenb]

@Going Bald,

I'm not sure if the 3770S will work just yet. I am on an ASRock H67M-ITX and a 3770S and I get a "This is an unknown CPU" while booting the installer! Have not found my way around it yet...

Unless you are going to run a large overclock any ram over 1600 is wasted. OS X wants to run at 1333 bas but you can select the XMS profile for 1600 ram in BIOS and it will run at 1600 just fine on ivy bridge. Any higher and you have to OC the CPU to get the memory bus speed up.
So any good 1333 or 1600 MHz memory will work fine. Best brand and style is a matter of personal opinion and experience. Personally, I prefer Corsair first, Crucial next and then G.Skill.

For the board, an alternative to Gigabyte board Gordo recommended is the MSI Z77A-G45 or its counterpart in mATX the Z77MA-G45. Fully supported with a modified BIOS or speed stepper kext.

For processor, if you do not plan to OC, get either the 3770 (77W) or the 3770S (65W).
They are the same price at NewEgg and $40 less than the k model.

For the SSD, the Samsung 830 series has better reviews than the Crucial M4 or the OCZs.