i7-4790 /GTX 770 Video Editing/Color Grading Rig: Which Mobo?

[jeffbbz]

So I've been lurking around Tonymacx86, ****** and other hackintosh spots for months learning and in anticipation of when I would get enough cash to finally make my first hackintosh. This hackintosh will primarily be for color grading in Davinci Resolve and editing with probably FCPX (but maybe premiere, I haven't decided yet as I'll be upgrading from FCP 6)

I've got it basically narrowed down to stuff I think will work (chosen from the buyer's guide and browsing the forums) but I'm stuck on which motherboard I should go with:

My Choices are between the GA-Z87X-OC, the GA-Z87-UD5 TH, or the GA-Z97X-UD7 TH

I really want to go for the GA-Z97X-UD7 TH because its the newest and has thunderbolt 2 but the fact that that its a Z97 scares me as a newbie. So then I thought maybe the Z87-UDH5 so I could still have some kind of thunderbolt (although not 2) or just give up on thunderbolt (I don't have any thunderbolt peripherials yet) and also save a few bucks and get the Z87-OC.

I also am trying to decide about the CPU:

CPU: i7-4790 3.6 or i7-4790K 4.0

I don't think I really care about overclocking and the K version is more expensive so I was thinking of getting the non-K to save some money.

Okay here is the rest of the build:

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

Boot Storage: Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Other Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case

Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer

​

Wifi: TP-Link PCI Express Wifi Adapter

Bluetooth: GMYLE Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter

Firewire: Syba Low Profile PCI-Express 1394b/1394a (2B1A) Card, TI Chipset, Extra Regular Bracket SD-

Plus some monitor, probably one of the 27" Korean ones.

So the questions:

1. Which Mobo? Misosoup7's in progress GA-Z97X-UD7 TH / i7 4790K / 32GB / GTX 770 is almost the exact same build as mine if i choose the Z97 and seems to be going okayish, right? Likewise, eMMeBee's Z97X-UD5H / i7 4790K / 32GB / GTX 770 4GB. Should I go with that Mobo instead? (giving up TH but saving some money and still having a newer Z97?

There are also more and more similar builds popping up. Do you think a noob like me can handle a Z97 build at this point?

Or should I stick with the Z87s and then which one? abc123kazu's Z87X-UD5 TH - i7-4770K - GTX770 is pretty close to this build and seems alright...so is mg23's Z87-OC, 4790K build.

I really want to go for the Z97 but am still a bit afraid. Aside from thunderbolt is there any real difference between the three as far as hackintoshes are concerned?

2. If I do go with a thunderbolt Mobo is it still true that I have to install windows first to get it working? I don't have windows and don't really want to install it if I don't have too. Is there a workaround?

3. CPU? Is there really a difference between i7-4790 3.6 or i7-4790K 4.0? In performance or in hackintosh compatibility? Do most beginners think they won't overclock and then later want to?

I hope this was clear enough and not annoying. Thanks!

 

[miniTO]

I just finished a GA-Z87-OC build with a 4790k and I have to say I am glad that I didn't go with the Z97 board at this point. That said they both can work so I don't think there is a wrong route. Nonetheless, I always like to go the route of less frustration when it comes to building a Hack.

The installation was a breeze once I worked out the proper BIOS and Multibeast settings to stabilize the processor with turbo engaged. The only thing was I had to generate a SSDT to get power management working with the 4970K but that wasn't that hard. Sleep is working natively which is very important to me as it bugged me to no avail when it wasn't working 100% on my previous builds

IMO if running OSX is you priority then having native power managment support in OSX for Z87 trumps the benefits of Z97's performance improvements. Especially considering they both run devils canyon at this point. The only issue with Z87 at this point is the boards are getting harder to find and are usually at a bit of a premium as a result.

As for the 4790 vs the 4790k they will both work but I think the performance difference is worth the the extra cost of the k version IMO.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

As for giving up Thunderbolt it all depends on your application. If its simply for storage I don't think its as important as on a native Mac that has limited to no expandability when it comes to internal drives. Depending on your case there is no reason you couldn't do almost everything internally including any RAID configuration a hackintosh.

Good luck...