I think I'm ready to pull the trigger... Double check, plz?

[robwoodward]

Build will be for mostly Video/Photo/Audio editing. No games, yet anyway. Also want to be able to run parallels pretty often without issue.

- Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3? - was deciding between this and the GA-Z68XP-UD4 - pretty sure this board will suffice just fine but any thoughts?
- i7-2600K Processor
- Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3
- Crucial 64 GB ssd 6Gb/s
- Another larger 6gp/s sata drive at some point.
- Antec CP-850
- Antec Performance One P183 V3
- Noctua NH-D14 - Should I go with this or Scythe Mugen 3? Will it fit ok?
- Prob going with GIGABYTE ATI Radeon HD6870 eventually. Do I need it immediately or can I start with the onboard graphics? Do I need this good of a card at all?

Thank you for any feedback - Will be pulling the trigger soon and will post pictures and walk through of whatever I do, if you guys would like that. Thanks a bunch.

 

[powerpcg5]

Your BOM is very similar to my build, except for the SSD.

re: for video use, just know Gigabyte FW have issues after wake up. I would add a firewire card to your shopping list.

Parallels work great (and fast)! Use lnx2mac as the ethernet driver. The other realtek driver has problems with Parallels virtual machines.

 

[robwoodward]

Your BOM is very similar to my build, except for the SSD.

re: for video use, just know Gigabyte FW have issues after wake up. I would add a firewire card to your shopping list.

Parallels work great (and fast)! Use lnx2mac as the ethernet driver. The other realtek driver has problems with Parallels virtual machines.

Yup, I based most of it on yours after I saw your 15k GB scores in another thread, lol.

But I think I am opting for the cheaper board. Any reason you can think of not to? For what reasons did you favor the UD4 board?

Also, do you think the noctua 14 will be an issue? - I noticed you had a different one for some reason. Did you go with vengeance "low profiles" to get it to work?

Do you maybe have a comprehensive walk-through / build guide you did for your hack #1 like you do for #2? I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.

Thank you bunches for helping me without even knowing it - I am so fickle when it comes to picking components but when I saw how everything came together for you with most of these I said "ok, well it worked for him."

 

[powerpcg5]

Yup, I based most of it on yours after I saw your 15k GB scores in another thread, lol.

Cool and I'm only 42X!!! I could go higher but I don't want temps and electric power consumption too high. Breaking 15K points was enough for me.

But I think I am opting for the cheaper board. Any reason you can think of not to? For what reasons did you favor the UD4 board?

When I picked the UD4, it was because it had FW port... and the # of SATA ports available. But in the end, I ended up not using the FW port because of dead FW problems after waking up.

Also, do you think the noctua 14 will be an issue? - I noticed you had a different one for some reason. Did you go with vengeance "low profiles" to get it to work?

I picked my Noctua based on reviews about it's effectiveness AND quietness. I'm using Corsair RAM with the big heatsinks so it's very tall... At first, I installed my Noctua using only (1) fan, because the other fan will interfere with the RAM. -- but later, I said screw it, and added the 2nd fan, and just raised it up a bit so it's sitting above the heatsink. (nobody would see it anyway). I'm doing a Push-Push configuration. (It probably should be Push-Pull and I will compare later which is more effective, but it's working just fine for me.)

Do you maybe have a comprehensive walk-through / build guide you did for your hack #1 like you do for #2? I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.

I didn't do a hack#2 guide because I *CHEATED*. It will be a boring read..... and people probably wouldn't like I got my Hack #1 setup so easily done! LOL!

Basically, I cloned my Intel mobo hack#2, deleted some kexts, brought the cloned disk to my new hack#1 hardware, and booted it up using rboot. Once I got to the desktop, run Multibeast and loaded the new bootloader. Reboot. Done.

I now have a new hackintosh with all programs, settings, preferences, documents, emails, apps all ready and installed. -- then fixed minor issues like firewire, parallels networked bridged, etc.

Thank you bunches for helping me without even knowing it - I am so fickle when it comes to picking components but when I saw how everything came together for you with most of these I said "ok, well it worked for him."

Glad to be of help. My parts list was inspired by the nofilmschool parts list, but with updated motherboards/chip and the new 6870 card.

 

[pointman]

I am putting together the specs for my Audio/Video machine. Here is my wish list
http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2GCELZO2O1KSP/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o

 

[robwoodward]

Yup, I based most of it on yours after I saw your 15k GB scores in another thread, lol.

Cool and I'm only 42X!!! I could go higher but I don't want temps and electric power consumption too high. Breaking 15K points was enough for me.

[quote:ray65y1k]But I think I am opting for the cheaper board. Any reason you can think of not to? For what reasons did you favor the UD4 board?

When I picked the UD4, it was because it had FW port... and the # of SATA ports available. But in the end, I ended up not using the FW port because of dead FW problems after waking up.

Also, do you think the noctua 14 will be an issue? - I noticed you had a different one for some reason. Did you go with vengeance "low profiles" to get it to work?

I picked my Noctua based on reviews about it's effectiveness AND quietness. I'm using Corsair RAM with the big heatsinks so it's very tall... At first, I installed my Noctua using only (1) fan, because the other fan will interfere with the RAM. -- but later, I said screw it, and added the 2nd fan, and just raised it up a bit so it's sitting above the heatsink. (nobody would see it anyway). I'm doing a Push-Push configuration. (It probably should be Push-Pull and I will compare later which is more effective, but it's working just fine for me.)

Do you maybe have a comprehensive walk-through / build guide you did for your hack #1 like you do for #2? I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.

I didn't do a hack#2 guide because I *CHEATED*. It will be a boring read..... and people probably wouldn't like I got my Hack #1 setup so easily done! LOL!

Basically, I cloned my Intel mobo hack#2, deleted some kexts, brought the cloned disk to my new hack#1 hardware, and booted it up using rboot. Once I got to the desktop, run Multibeast and loaded the new bootloader. Reboot. Done.

I now have a new hackintosh with all programs, settings, preferences, documents, emails, apps all ready and installed. -- then fixed minor issues like firewire, parallels networked bridged, etc.

Thank you bunches for helping me without even knowing it - I am so fickle when it comes to picking components but when I saw how everything came together for you with most of these I said "ok, well it worked for him."

Glad to be of help. My parts list was inspired by the nofilmschool parts list, but with updated motherboards/chip and the new 6870 card.[/quote:ray65y1k]

Thanks again for the elaborated response - It's appreciated. So with the vengeance blues with the big fins, you had no issue with the noctua?? I was going to get the low profile ram but if I don't need to I won't - Because I may want to OC the ram. I just want it all to fit. I probably am going with the coolermaster hyper 212 + now, it's cheap and has raving reviews.

Also, if I am not doing any video editing / transcoding stuff immediately, just image editing / design work - Do I need a dedicated card immediately? This board has the onboard video and should be ok with the hd3000 or no? If I can put off that $200 until later, I would rather do that for now.

But otherwise, I should just go for it?? I have been going back and forth, back and forth... lol

 

[powerpcg5]

So with the vengeance blues with the big fins, you had no issue with the noctua?? I was going to get the low profile ram but if I don't need to I won't - Because I may want to OC the ram. I just want it all to fit. I probably am going with the coolermaster hyper 212 + now, it's cheap and has raving reviews.

There is one minor issue, the 2nd fan interferes with the tall heatsinks on the 1st RAM slot.

Basically, what I did is just raise the 2nd fan a bit so it's sitting on top of the RAM heatsink. So my 2nd fan is sticking up 3/8" above the Noctua heatsink.

Here's a photo taken though the front drive grill. Notice the 2nd fan is offset up a bit (equivalent to height of RAM heatsink).

I could probably reconfigure the heatsink so the fans are on top and bottom, instead of front and back. That would fit without problems I think.

Also, if I am not doing any video editing / transcoding stuff immediately, just image editing / design work - Do I need a dedicated card immediately? This board has the onboard video and should be ok with the hd3000 or no? If I can put off that $200 until later, I would rather do that for now.

I don't have experience with HD3000 so no comment.
Actually even a GT240 (or equivalent) is enough for dual monitor setup, and good enough for a bit of gaming.
Why did I buy a 6870? I don't like playing the buy cheap, buy twice game. For me, it's a reasonable budget for the amount of power I'm getting, so I like to get it over with. Buy it, install it, forget about it.