First Time Build/mATX LGA 1155 Overclocking MoBo Advice/Gaming PC & Hackintosh

[FlaviusD]

Hello everyone,

Brand new member to the forum and I need some help from the GURUS!
I've been planning on upgrading my PC from an AMD based system to Intel for a while now, and would like to dual boot with Mountain Lion.
It's my first time, please be gentle.

Current System Specs
Video Card: EVGA GTX680 02G-P4-2680-KR
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition overclocked to 3.8Ghz >> IvyBridge i5 3570K, maybe i7 3770K?
Memory: 8Gigs G.SKILL DDR2 1066 >> ?
Storage: CRUCIAL M4 512GB SSD + 750Gb WD @7200RPM
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Power Supply: 700 watts
Motherboard: Asus M4A785-M >> ?
Case: APEX TX‑381‑C

I've seen people recommend the ASUS Maximus V Gene, but after researching it a little it seems like there are some issues getting features to work. I really like how easily the board should overclock, but set-up seemed more in depth for my first go at this than I was looking for...

General consensus seems to be GIGABYTE is the easiest out of the box. Which is good for me since I'm a n00b when it comes to building a Hackintosh and MacOS in general.

So I need some advice. I'm a PC Gamer and I also do some 3D Modelling, Photo Editing and light Video/Audio Editing.
I want to build a machine that will take advantage of an unlocked IvyBridge CPU (overclocking) and be on the easier end of setting up.
So my questions are:

1) What mATX Motherboard that requires minimal set-up and still supports powerful overclocking (CPU, Mem, etc...) do you guys recommend? I want as many (or all) Mountain Lion features to work, if possible.

2) It didn't appear there were any requirements for specific brands of memory. Is that correct? Is there a recommended brand? Probably looking around 16Gigs DDR3 1600, the lower latency the better!

3) I would like to dual boot with Windows 7 (or maybe triple boot with Ubuntu [is that possible?]) and Mountain Lion. Is iBoot + MultiBeast the best way for beginners? I'm competent with PC stuff (Building, Setup, etc...) but when it comes to this I'm in the dark...

4) Will I have any issues with my GTX 680? Most of the build guides I see use cards several generations old, not sure if that's intentional or if the guides are a little outdated...

5) I connect to the internet wirelessly with a PCI card currently. I know I'll probably need to get a new card with a newer board because most new MoBo's only have PCIe. Is there any WiFi cards I should avoid? Or perhaps a MoBo that fulfills my other needs and incorporates WiFi?

6) I would like to use my Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1, Razer Nostromo, Razer Naga and Logitech G15 (all USB devices). Does anyone know of compatibility issues with any of these on a Mac (err, Hackintosh)?

Final thoughts: I'd like to spend roughly $500 or so on MoBo, CPU and Memory all together. Basically, I'm looking to build a great gaming PC that happens to have OSX on it as well. As I said, it's my first Hackintosh build so I'm really in the dark about all of this. Any additional wisdom that you GURUS wish to bestow upon me is welcome!

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to becoming a member of the Hackintosh Community!

 

[FlaviusD]

Ok, nothing so far :/

I'm leaning towards this set-up

Video Card: EVGA GTX680 02G-P4-2680-KR
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K
Memory: 16Gigs G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Storage: CRUCIAL M4 512GB SSD + 750Gb WD @7200RPM
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Power Supply: 700 watts
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H
Case: APEX TX‑381‑C

Will this work?

 

[Going Bald]

Ok, nothing so far :/

I'm leaning towards this set-up

Video Card: EVGA GTX680 02G-P4-2680-KR
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K
Memory: 16Gigs G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Storage: CRUCIAL M4 512GB SSD + 750Gb WD @7200RPM
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Power Supply: 700 watts
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H
Case: APEX TX‑381‑C

Will this work?

Drop the PSU to 550W and use the money saved for a separate SSD for OS X.
Unsupported Audio chip (VIA) will mean you have to use VoodooHDA - forum search is your friend here - others have gotten the VIA to work.
Otherwise looks OK

 

[FlaviusD]

Drop the PSU to 550W and use the money saved for a separate SSD for OS X.
Unsupported Audio chip (VIA) will mean you have to use VoodooHDA - forum search is your friend here - others have gotten the VIA to work.
Otherwise looks OK

Ok thanks! So it's better to have a separate drive over setting up a partition, then? I was thinking of getting a Sumsung 840 Pro 64GB and putting both OS's on there and having both Windows and OSX use the M4 as storage but not sure if that's even possible.

But I should probably poke around the forums some more instead of asking lol...

I already own most of what was listed there:

Current System Specs
Video Card: EVGA GTX680 02G-P4-2680-KR
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition overclocked to 3.8Ghz >> IvyBridge i5 3570K, maybe i7 3770K?
Memory: 8Gigs G.SKILL DDR2 1066 >> ?
Storage: CRUCIAL M4 512GB SSD + 750Gb WD @7200RPM
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Power Supply: 700 watts
Motherboard: Asus M4A785-M >> ?
Case: APEX TX‑381‑C

I just need the new MoBo, CPU and memory.
As far as audio goes, I was hoping to use my X-Fi Usb for audio, so I don't really care if onboard works or not. Assuming the X-Fi does work, of course...

6) I would like to use my Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1, Razer Nostromo, Razer Naga and Logitech G15 (all USB devices). Does anyone know of compatibility issues with any of these on a Mac (err, Hackintosh)?

 

[Going Bald]

Ok thanks! So it's better to have a separate drive over setting up a partition, then? I was thinking of getting a Sumsung 840 Pro 64GB and putting both OS's on there and having both Windows and OSX use the M4 as storage but not sure if that's even possible.

A single 64Gb would be too small for both at once anyway. You cound use the 64Gb for the OS you use least and have the least files for and use the M4 for the other. I would suggest a platter drive for storage - no need to waste flash drive space on just file storage.

As far as audio goes, I was hoping to use my X-Fi Usb for audio, so I don't really care if onboard works or not. Assuming the X-Fi does work, of course...

Maybe this will help:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3622064?start=0&tstart=0

 

[StickyS]

128gb SSD for Mac, 256gb SSD for Windows(games). Don't know whether the Asus Maximus V Gene is hackintoshable, if it is, its the best mATX board out there. Compromise 5% on the gpu to a 670 FTW for an i7 3770k. I have OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's, fastest on the market and mine work flawlessly. Using them for a dual boot now, but two 256gb's.

 

[FlaviusD]

128gb SSD for Mac, 256gb SSD for Windows(games). Don't know whether the Asus Maximus V Gene is hackintoshable, if it is, its the best mATX board out there. Compromise 5% on the gpu to a 670 FTW for an i7 3770k. I have OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's, fastest on the market and mine work flawlessly. Using them for a dual boot now, but two 256gb's.

StickyS, I have the GTX680 and Crucial m4 512 Gig already.

I already own most of what was listed there:

Current System Specs
Video Card: EVGA GTX680 02G-P4-2680-KR
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition overclocked to 3.8Ghz >> IvyBridge i5 3570K, maybe i7 3770K?
Memory: 8Gigs G.SKILL DDR2 1066 >> ?
Storage: CRUCIAL M4 512GB SSD + 750Gb WD @7200RPM
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit
Power Supply: 700 watts
Motherboard: Asus M4A785-M >> ?
Case: APEX TX‑381‑C

I just need the new MoBo, CPU and memory.

But it does look like most everyone prefers putting OSX on a separate drive entirely, eh? So I guess I'll add that to the list!

Maybe this will help:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3622064?start=0&tstart=0

Thanks Going Bald, that link is dynamite! Much appreciated!

 

[Going Bald]

128gb SSD for Mac, 256gb SSD for Windows(games). Don't know whether the Asus Maximus V Gene is hackintoshable, if it is, its the best mATX board out there. Compromise 5% on the gpu to a 670 FTW for an i7 3770k. I have OCZ Vertex 4 SSD's, fastest on the market and mine work flawlessly. Using them for a dual boot now, but two 256gb's.

If you are referring to this one - http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/MAXIMUS_V_GENE/#specifications then yes, it is what you call hackintoshable - http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...3770-hd4k-32gb-ram-hotswap-hdds-10-8-2-a.html

Get an MSR unlocked BIOS for it here: http://biosrepo.wordpress.com/asus/z77/