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“HackinMouse” Skylake H110 Econo Rig | i5-6500 | GA-H110M-A | 16GB | RX560

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Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
163
Motherboard
GA-H110M-A
CPU
i5-6500
Graphics
RX 560
Mac
  1. iMac
  2. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. Android
mots's "HackinMouse" Econo Rig:
i5-6500 - GA-H110M-A - 16GB - RX560


Notice 2: Upgrade to Catalina - see the following post. Now also running i5-6500 (plug and play upgrade)

Notice: Upgrade to Mojave - see the following post.
HackinMouse Mojave Upgrade - i3-6100/GA-H110M-A/RX 560/16GB

Components

Zalman ATX Mini Tower PC Case T4
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O07448S/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Gigabyte GA-H110M-A (rev. 1.0)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0165YUDTM/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

EVGA 430W Power Supply 100-W1-0430-KR
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H33SDR4/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Intel i3-6100
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015VPX2EO/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB Single DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) DIMM 288-Pin
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UFBZOVE/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Patriot Torch 120GB SATA 3 2.5 SSD
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OTY083M/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Already Owned

EVGA GTX 950 2GB (recently purchased)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013WQCC8Q/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Other stuff I had just sitting around:
  • Gateway 22” 720p HD Monitor (HDMI)
  • Logitech mini speakers (USB powered)
  • Apple keyboard (USB wired) - like new from an iMac.
  • Shhh Mouse (wireless - plug dongle into keyboard)
  • Optical drive/DVD burner (internal) from 2012 Asus PC (mounted and installed after the initial install, plug and play). The Zalman T4 has a built in optical drive door with eject button. This gives the machine a more professional OEM look.
  • 1 TB 7200 RPM Seagate HDD (mounted and installed after the initial install, plug and play) - using 500 GB partition for Time Machine and the other 500GB for data.


Comments

This is my second Hackintosh build. I call this one “HackinMouse” because it is smaller and more efficient than my first build. It also turned out to be nice and quiet. See my first build here:

"HackinWorth" Value Rig: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/h...i5-6500-ga-h170-gaming-3-gtx-950-16gb.197912/

My goals for this build were as follows:
  • Build a useable i3-6100 Skylake “econo” build from Amazon components that would cost no more than $300.00. I went about $11 dollars over budget (pre-tax). I decided to pick up the Amazon Prime Rewards card and save another $70. Final cost, including tax was $257.24.
  • System will be used mainly for Internet browsing and other light duty use.
  • Utilize the EVGA GTX 950 from the “HackinWorth” build since my son is replacing the GPU in that rig with a GTX 970. The GTX 950 will allow some decent gaming capabilities that rival many so-called gaming laptops. With the added price of the GTX 950, that brings the my total cost to just over $400.
  • Finally, I wanted to use the other peripherals we already had.
In order to meet the stated “econo” budget, I needed to veer off the buyer’s guide with a couple of the components. Hopefully this will help someone else that doesn’t have the $$$ to shell out for expensive components. Sure, the components are not the best, but that was the whole idea of this build. If you are tempted to start upgrading the CPU/motherboard/case/power supply/SSD etc., you will quickly find yourself nearing $500-600 with the GTX 950. At this point, you will want to look at a system more like my i5 “Value” build. I will say that, if I built this system again, the only thing I would change would be the Patriot 120GB SSD and replace it with a Samsung EVO 120GB.

At first, I wanted to go mini-ITX with the motherboard and spend $50-70 on a “cube” case, but I quickly realized this would quickly take me over budget. This also makes it a bit trickier with cooling, GPU length, and future expansion depending on which case you go with. I decided that the mATX was the way to go for my economy build since there are some decent form factor mATX cases that are around $30-35. Once I found the slim mATX Zalman case with nice built-in optical drive support for $32 and the Gigabyte H110 motherboard for $50, meeting the budget became a reality.

As expected, the Realtek ALC887 audio and Ethernet adapter didn’t work out-of-the-box, but these were easily solved using the methods shared below. If you want to use the onboard GPU (HD 530), traditional sleep (using RAM) will not work appropriately. You can force the computer not to sleep System Settings/Energy Saver, or you can force hibernation (using disk) instead true RAM-based sleep. Once I installed the GTX 950, the sleep issue was no longer a problem.

What Works?
Everything I have tested thus far! (Ethernet, audio, USB 3, front headphone jack, GPU acceleration, shutdown/restart, sleep/resume short and long term, App Store, USB Mic, Optical drive). The system is very stable and has never crashed. I am very happy with this configuration.

What Doesn’t Work?
Nothing that I know of thus far! Still testing...I don’t use iMessage, so I haven’t tried that. I’m sure it can be made to work using the normal methods etc.

Installation Notes

Update for High Sierra installation, see post #194

BIOS Settings
(DEL to enter using USB keyboard)
  • Load optimized defaults first, then:
  • Set EFI Boot = On (default to EFI boot)
  • Set Secure Boot = Off
  • Set Fast Boot = Off
  • Set Virtualization VT-d = Disabled
  • Set ErP = Enabled - this is necessary to allow shutdown to work properly, i.e. not reboot seconds after shutdown. ErP Support determines whether to let the system consume less than 1W of power in S5 (shutdown) state. When the setting is enabled, the following four functions will become unavailable: PME Event Wake Up, Power On By Mouse, Power On By Keyboard, and Wake On LAN.
  • Set OS Type to “Other”
  • Set XHCI Handoff to Enabled
  • Memory - I used the “Performance” setting for RAM in the BIOS. I have a 2400 module for a motherboard that only supports 2133 RAM frequency, this is not an issue. I went with an 8GB module instead of 2x4 GB so I can upgrade to 16GB later. See notes in Clover config.plist below to allow the OS to properly see the 8GB RAM. If you do some research on Single vs Dual Channel, Dual Channel doesn’t give double the performance in case you are wondering, the performance increase is is actually negligible.
  • Make sure the I/O controller (i.e. Super I/O) is disabled in the BIOS.

UniBeast Installer
  • 16GB USB3 stick - create as usual per instructions: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/u...pitan-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.172672/
  • Used front case USB3 port to boot (use F12 to select a drive, but you can just let it boot if using BIOS defaults without any other bootable drives).
  • Used vanilla process to get initial system installed.
  • Did not need to disable the NVIDIA card using the bootloader parameter nv_disable=1.

MultiBeast Post Install
  • Used MultiBeast for El Capitan 8.2.3
  • Do NOT install ALC887 audio as suggested in the Installation Guide.
  • Quick Start, choose UEFI Boot Mode - install the Clover bootloader to internal SSD only
  • Drivers/Network/Reaktek/RealtekRTL8111 v2.2.1 (check)
  • If you want the HD 530 to work without glitches/artifacts, make sure you check the Intel HD 530 under Customize/Graphics Options. I used this mode before I installed my GTX 950 and the HD 530 was working quite well, but without sleep as mentioned above.
Audio - Realtek ALC887
  • No drivers should have been installed by Multibeast
  • Backup stock OSX AppleHDA.kext just in case. It is located in in /S/L/E
  • Mount EFI Partition using Clover Configurator.
  • Use Clover Configurator and check “FixHDA” under ACPI
  • Reboot.
  • Download and run audio command script by toleda (audio_cloverALC-110_v1.0r10.command): https://github.com/toleda/audio_CloverALC (directions at the bottom)
  • In System Preferences/Sound, choose “Internal Speakers” as “Output”
  • Reboot and you should have sound.
Video Driver - if you install the GTX 950
  • Nvidia Web Driver - download from Nvidia
  • Used latest Web Driver 346.03.15f02 for 10.11.6
  • http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/n...cs-drivers-for-os-x-10-11-5-346-03-10.193172/)
  • Clover config.plist add boot argument nvda_drv=1
  • Reboot
  • The Nvidia control panel always says it is using the Default OS X Default Graphics Driver, but it lies. I don’t show the Nvidia icon on the menu bar because it doesn’t show the correct card anyhow.
Generate an SSDT file for CPU Power Management
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/quick-guide-to-generate-a-ssdt-for-cpu-power-management.177456/

Ran the script from as describe here:
https://github.com/Piker-Alpha/ssdtPRGen.sh

Placed the SSDT.aml output file into:
[EFI Partition]/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/SSDT.aml

TRIM
Enabled TRIM support for the SSD.

From a Terminal session:
Code:
sudo trimforce enable

A reboot is required after enabling TRIM support. To confirm that it is working, check the status in About this Mac/System Report.../SATA Devices. Click on the SSD device on the right and note that TRIM support is now enabled.

Clover Configuration
I used Clover Configurator 4.30.0 for viewing/editing my config.plist and for mounting the EFI partition.

Resources:
[EFI Partition]/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/SSDT.aml

config.plist
  • Acpi:
    • FixHDA (checked)
  • Boot:
    • dart=0 (already present as a default, disabled VT-d. Not really required as it should be disabled in the BIOS already)
    • nvda_drv=1 (only add this after Nvidia drivers are installed)
    • On Sierra I suggest you boot with darkwake=8 or darkwake=10. Also make sure you leave Power Nap off under Energy Saver in System Preferences.
  • CPU: defaults
  • Devices:
    • Audio = 1
  • Disable Drivers: defaults (nothing)
  • Gui: defaults
  • Graphics: defaults (Inject Intel is all that is checked)
  • Kernel and Kext Patches: defaults and whatever was enabled by audio_cloverALC-110_v1.0r10.command script and the HD 530 Multibeast install. I added nothing manually here:
    • Apple RTC (checked)
    • Asus AICPUPM (checked)
    • KernelPm (checked)
    • KextsToPatch (5 total) - nothing manually added.
      • AppleHDA (3)
      • AppleAHCIPort (1)
      • AppleIntelSKLGraphicsFramebuffer (1)
  • Rt Variables: defaults
  • SMBIOS:
    • iMac14,2
    • Memory definition required, or OS only sees 4GB.
    • Slot 0, 8192, 2133, Crucial
    • System Parameters: defaults (Inject Kexts = Yes, Inject System ID is checked)

Now upgraded to Sierra and Gigabyte BIOS F20
See posts #50 and #66 for details:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...h110m-a-gtx950-8gb.199438/page-5#post-1393687
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...h110m-a-gtx950-8gb.199438/page-7#post-1413238

Clonezilla Disk Imaging
Being a Linux geek, I decided not to purchase an Apple specific backup utility to supplement the Time Machine backups. At first I was tempted to purchase SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner since they seemed to be OS X staples for many. I'm sure they are great products from what I have read. But, after doing some research, I found that Clonezilla would be best for me since this single utility can clone/image OS X disks just like it can for Linux and Windows.

I also found that the aforementioned OS X specific backup utilities don't actually backup the bootloader EFI partition. Their "bootable" recovery drives actually need to have a bootloader installed manually onto the cloned drive. While this is a non-issue for many, and is easy to do post-backup, there is an extra step to to get Clover installed and properly configured to boot the OS. And, since I prefer to use network storage as backup media for disk images, Clonezilla is a better and simpler option for me. And, it is free!
  1. Download Clonezilla and create a bootable USB flash drive (follow the instructions at http://clonezilla.org/). I used the 64-bit (AMD64) alternative Ubuntu-based version.
  2. Boot from USB (F12 at BIOS screen, choose Clonezilla USB device)
  3. Follow their instructions to clone your disk in the preferred manner. In Clonezilla, I mount my Samba share on my fileserver and clone my SSD disk image to network, just like I can do for Linux and Windows machines. Restoring is just as easy. If you should ever need to, simply restore the disk image of your choice and you have your whole rig back up and running again in no time. Since it backs up the EFI partition as well, there is nothing to do after the restore.
  4. Properly shutdown Clonezilla and remove the USB flash drive.
  5. Reboot into OSX as normal.

Benchmarks

64-bit Geekbench 4:
Screen Shot 2017-01-02 at 10.31.03 PM.png

32-bit Geekbench 3:
Screen Shot 2016-08-03 at 12.27.18 AM.png

Heaven 4.0 (default settings):
Screen Shot 2016-08-07 at 1.04.10 PM copy.png

Hahaha, I didn't realize the "HackinMouse" was posted\tweeted by tonymacx86. Pretty cool!

Screen Shot 2017-04-02 at 10.36.49 AM.png
Screen Shot 2017-04-02 at 10.38.45 AM.png
 

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Hi, thanks for the comments and input. For the money, these little machines are quite powerful and can do pretty much anything 90% of the population will need them for. Add in the GTX 950, and it you probably hit the 95th percentile.

I came across the Newegg complete build you listed when doing my research. I believe I found it on the deals page or somewhere here. It seems like a good deal, and I was considering it. The reason I decided not to consider it was because the Zalman case and EVGA power supply were getting better reviews on Amazon than the Raidmax case/PS combo on Newegg. Too many one star reviews on Newegg for the Raidmax product, and I also found others recommending Zalman over Raidmax for the cheaper cases. The motherboard in the combo is a similar H110 model from Gigabyte. I didn't need USB-C, so I went with the cheaper model. I also wanted to save that $70 with the Amazon Prime Rewards card offer...so that also weighed in as I tried to keep with Amazon.

I'm sure both MB's will work fine with OS X. Sleep/wake works great with the GA-H110M-A, but the HD 530 is what will cause you some issues. The HD 530 doesn't work with native OS X sleep using RAM, yet, as mentioned above, so hibernation to disk is your only choice for now and that is somewhat of a new hack.

I also considered the G4400 vs the i3-6100 in my process. Who wouldn't at nearly half the cost! The HD 530 vs HD 510 iGPU and the 4 vs 2 threads is partially what kept me from taking the leap. Whether true or not, I also read somewhere that there may be additional hacking required for the G4400/HD 510 device in order to get it working. At the end of the day, and since the i3-6100 was in the buyers guide, I decided to spend the extra money and take the safer route with the CPU. I may also want to run Linux in the future using only Intel video, so I wanted the more powerful iGPU just in case my son decided to keep the GTX 950.

I see it typically recommended to use patched AppleHDA over VoodooHDA. While VoodooHDA can be the easier route, AppleHDA should generally give better audio quality and higher sound volume from what I have read (no experience here in the real world though). I am using patched AppleHDA on this build and my "Value" build, and audio has been loud and clear, no pops etc. The Clover patching method I used for AppleHDA survived the 10.11.5 to 10.11.6 update on both of my machines, however VoodooHDA may have a better chance surviving OSX updates in the long run from what I gather.
 
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Update August 20, 2016
I couldn't be happier with my "econo" build thus far. Last weekend, I added a 23" HP 23es IPS 1920x1080 (T3M74AA#ABA) display for $111 to replace my old Gateway 720p monitor. This puts the total cost of the current system with the monitor around $525. For general usage such web browsing, email, watching videos etc., this little i3 Skylake system is every bit as good as compared to my more powerful i5 Skylake "value" build, but at $325 less. It's only when you get into higher end gaming or video editing etc. that a more powerful system is really needed.
 
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Thanks for posting your builds. I can attest there is a market segment for "budget" builds. My Win7 system was starting to show its age and its upgrade to Win10 was annoying enough to prompt me to spend my money for a hack build. I went with a safe choice of i3-6100 and gigabyte h170m-ds3h with 16gb ddr4 ram bundled in a deal at the local computer megastore. With only HD530 graphics I've come to accept the quirky no audio over hdmi and avoiding sleep but I'm sure someone will figure out a method to fix. This site has been great to follow for the tips and instructions. With the money I've saved, I'm eyeing the 27" monitors out there.
 
Thanks for posting your builds. I can attest there is a market segment for "budget" builds. My Win7 system was starting to show its age and its upgrade to Win10 was annoying enough to prompt me to spend my money for a hack build. I went with a safe choice of i3-6100 and gigabyte h170m-ds3h with 16gb ddr4 ram bundled in a deal at the local computer megastore. With only HD530 graphics I've come to accept the quirky no audio over hdmi and avoiding sleep but I'm sure someone will figure out a method to fix. This site has been great to follow for the tips and instructions. With the money I've saved, I'm eyeing the 27" monitors out there.

Thanks, I completely agree about this market segment. Hopefully they will get the HD530 completely figured out soon, that will ever further boost the "budget" segment. It is plenty capable for general usage. It amazes me how well these builds are working, the "econo" build in particular. I can't get my son off the "value" build, so I built this one, LOL. My wife is ready for him to go back to school so she can get it on it more often, LOL.

P.S. After reading your post, I realized that my model number for the monitor I listed was missing the last part with the # suffix. Without it, it was pulling up the 27es . Since I was sticking with a 1920x1080 monitor, I purposely stuck with the 23" because of the higher PPI (95 PPI vs 81 PPI with the 27"). The HP 23es looks beautiful for the price paid...something to think about when choosing between the 23 and 27 inch budget 1080 monitors, depending on how it will be used. If used for the typical close up PC viewing, I would recommend sticking with the 23 inch.
 
Ah, one of the charms of OSx is the beauty of the display. For me, getting older means needing a bigger image for more comfortable viewing, the extra sharpness may be a bonus. I use a 24" monitor now and have zoomed the icons/fonts a bit. I did see in the store those ultrawide 2560x1080 displays and 4K but I think those are not for me.
 
Very nice guide!
Do you think that the ga-h110m-s2h working good like the -A model? Vendors, here in italy/eu, dont sell the -A model. thank you
 
WOW!!! Thank you very very much! I followed your guide and succesfully builded my mac with this specs:
Gibabyte H110M-H DDR4 / i5 6500 / GTX 960 / Kingstone ssd 120gb / ddr4 fury kingstone 16gb
 
WOW!!! Thank you very very much! I followed your guide and succesfully builded my mac with this specs:
Gibabyte H110M-H DDR4 / i5 6500 / GTX 960 / Kingstone ssd 120gb / ddr4 fury kingstone 16gb

Awesome, you are welcome. Great job!

Very nice guide!
Do you think that the ga-h110m-s2h working good like the -A model? Vendors, here in italy/eu, dont sell the -A model. thank you

Thanks. I don't see why the ga-h110m-s2h would not work, it is very similar...my guess would be that it will work fine since it has the same chipset/LAN/audio. If you are still a bit nervous to take the chance, perhaps do some Google searches for this model including the search term "hackintosh" and see if you can find others already using it. Good luck!
 
Just got a very good deal with a combo price of $99, saved about $150!!! And just found about this site!!! So excited for this project!! Thanks a lot for posting this!!!


Photo-2016-09-07-11-42-20_4363.jpg
 
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