i7-4930K - Asus Rampage IV Extreme - 32GB RAM - GTX 770 4GB [Success!!]

[shilohh]

I've been reading up on the GTX 780 card i was looking to get and it seems that some people have had problems with it, especially with Adobe programs which is one of my main requirements.

So im thinking of going the GTX 770 or 760 4GB DDR5 route, as those are known to work pretty well, im just wondering about getting 2, on the Gigabyte MOBO X79-UP4, there's 4 16x PCIe lanes, so that would mean im then taking up both of those with 2 GTX 770/760 4GB cards, limiting myself to no PCIe slots above 4x for a Raid card or Decklink?

In the Asus RIVE build shilohh states that with the Asus Rampage Extreme Mobo you can get "5 usable PCI-E slots to allow for 2 double width GPUs, a DeckLink card, a RAID card and a Red Rocket card if you'd like." The Gigabyte board i listed as an alternative for the Asus, has 4 16x PCIe slots and 2 PCIe x1 slots, with is 1 more than the R4E Mobo, im slightly confused about how this PCIe configuration would work?

Also if am running 2 UI Monitors for editing, they are going to have to come out of the GPU surely, so i will need 2 cards to stop myself dragging down the GPU performance for programs?

Could you please link to the places where you saw people having issues with 780s.

The 770s have been great for Hackintosh because they are compatible with native os x drivers. Runng 2 GPUs of any kind will most likely require special ACPI injection (via DSDT or SSDT) for glitch free performance.

Gigabyte X79 boards are far less compatible with os x than Asus X79 boards. AFAIK all gigabyte x79 boards require patching and flashing the bios to achieve os controlled speed step which I'm not even sure if anyone has actually done. Get a Asus board if you want X79 or forget about SpeedStep. The usable PCI slot configurations on the RIVE and RIVBE are far more flexible than what you listed.

Multiple monitors obviosly tax a gpu more than a single monitor but application GUIs don't tax the gpu like multimonitor gaming for instance. I wouldn't worry much about that for post production. I'd start with 1 GPU and see if it meets your needs. Then add a second if you need or want more performance.

 

[shilohh]

Hello,

I am looking to build my first hackintosh. I am aiming to build an audio workstation. 10.9.3 will be the OS ill run. Pro Tools will be the main application I use this computer for. I want to build this to be as quiet as possible. I want my machine to be viable as an entry level video editing computer as I want to get into it in the future. Also, ill play video games on this computer but I am less concerned with performance there.

This thread has been incredibly information so far! However, I have a few questions I was hoping to find the answer to:

Mobo:
I want to use ASUS Sabertooth x79 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061XSBZG/) instead of the IV Extreme. Shilohhs first post is very detailed for the IV. Is the Sabertooth very similar in setup, or should I anticipate having to jump through different hoops? And if so, how do I jump through them?

I need the ethernet port to work as Ill be using a EUCON controller thats connected via ethernet

CPU:
The CPU I want to use is the 4930k (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EMHM622/). I want to overclock this to 4.2-4.4 gHz. How do I go about doing this? From my readings, Ive deduced that I have to go into the bios and change a multipler and the voltage. Does anyone have specific numbers I could plugin to achieve reliable clock speeds of ~4.2-4.4 gHz?

Cooling:

Will I be able to have a cool quite system using the Cosair H80i (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0HZMGA/)? Or will I have to go for the H100i? I want my system to be quiet

RAM:

I want to start off with Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB(8x2) (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9CU8/). Is this RAM compatibility? Shilohhs post made it seem as though RAM was finicky. I will expand to 32gb in the future, but for the time being will using only 2 sticks in slot 1 and 4 be okay? Or do I need 4 4gb cards for proper functionality?
GPU:

The GPU I want to use is EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB w/ ACX Cooler (http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=04G-P4-2767-KR). From everything I can find, this card is natively supported so I shouldn't need to do anything special to get this card work, right? I want to use this card to power a 28'' 4k monitor @ 60hz and a 24'' 1080p monitor @ 60hz. Does this card have the gusto to make that happen? Ive read there are some issues w/ 4k @ 60hz on 10.9.3, have these issues been resolved? Or do I need to go to 10.10?

Display:
The 4K display Ill be using is ASUS PB287Q 28-Inch Screen (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KJGY3TO/)

Storage:

Ill be using the trusty Samsung 850 250GB (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U/) for my boot and I have some spare drives ill use for storage

Wifi:

TP-LINK(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GMPZ0A/) I've seen this card in 1150 builds, but not in a 2011 build. Will it work?

ThunderBolt:

I haven't been able to find much on ThunderBolt for socket 2011 builds. Are there any solutions? are there any PCIE cards that are functional? Are there any MoBos coming out in the near future that will have TB?

I want to future proof my machine and I for see my self using TB drives for audio as well as a TB interface

Power:

Even though ill be over clocking, will Corsair Professional Series 760W (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0HZMEM/) be able to quietly delver enough power to all my components, or should I go for a 850W PSU?

Case:

Ill house everything in this NZXT(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBXC/) case. Does anyone have experience with this case? Will I be able to have an easy build and a sturdy quiet system with this case?

I'm curious about some hyper specific compatibly. Has anyone used any of these?

I'm using:
Pro Tools 11.2.2
MOTU Track 16 Interface
NI Komplete Ultimate 9
Waves Gold V9
Ozone 6
Artist Mix EUCON Controller
Maschine NI Controller

Thank you all for reading! I appreciate any and all feedback.

Ill be sure to report back with any further findings. I will be building in the next weeks. I intend to write a very detailed post on my experience to continue to grow the hackintosh community.

Thanks again!

-Will

The Sabertooth X79 may require some different Dsdt patches and I don't remember if I addressed or solved this in my dsdt guide.

Overclocking done correctly, has voltages carefully tested for the individual system. See Asus's X79 and IvyBridge-E overclocking guides at the asus ROG forums.

A large air cooler with quiet fans will cool better and quieter than the closed loop liquid coolers you mentioned. Read tests and reviews.

You can use just 2 sticks if you want. see the MoBo's manual for proper configuration. If you want to expand in the future, you'll want to remove the ram you stated with, sell it or give it away and buy a tested matched set for your upgrade. Please read the asus ram guide I linked to in the op. I've seen best results with GSkill ram.

That GPU probably won't cut it for 4K 60, especially multimonitor. Definitely not gaming. Look for user reviews.

If if you want wifi look at the asus x79 delux or RIV black edition instead of the sabertooth.

No Thunderbolt for x79.

 

[SteveAtkinsFilm]

Could you please link to the places where you saw people having issues with 780s.

The 770s have been great for Hackintosh because they are compatible with native os x drivers. Runng 2 GPUs of any kind will most likely require special ACPI injection (via DSDT or SSDT) for glitch free performance.

Gigabyte X79 boards are far less compatible with os x than Asus X79 boards. AFAIK all gigabyte x79 boards require patching and flashing the bios to achieve os controlled speed step which I'm not even sure if anyone has actually done. Get a Asus board if you want X79 or forget about SpeedStep. The usable PCI slot configurations on the RIVE and RIVBE are far more flexible than what you listed.

Multiple monitors obviosly tax a gpu more than a single monitor but application GUIs don't tax the gpu like multimonitor gaming for instance. I wouldn't worry much about that for post production. I'd start with 1 GPU and see if it meets your needs. Then add a second if you need or want more performance.

Hey shiloh thankyou very much for responding!

I went through a lot of 780 threads across other forums including here, as i was looking at getting the 780 strix 6gb, people got some of them working eventually but it just made me wary as its my first build and i want a stable machine as possible, so i think going with 770s would be better for me as if i double up in the future i can reach 8GB ram instead of hitting only 6gb with the 780 strix.

These were 2 of the posts that made me wary from here -
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/115731-gtx-780-ti.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/103048-gtx-780-crashes-premiere-pro-cc.html

I'll stay away from gigabyte boards then, after reading this thread and your (incredibly well written and helpful!) guide, i was thinking of trying to get an R4E or R4EBE anyway, as i want flexibility with PCIe slots for the future.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Leumas1311]

Hello, Ive been working on setting up my own system based on your guide and because of life I have been a long time in getting to where I am now. Anyhooo, I've followed your guid for creating the USB install drive and making the proper settings in the BIOS. Yet every time I start installing Mavericks I get the same problem.
My issue is that once I select boot from mavericks installer it goes into the apple boot up sequence and then gets stuck on the white screen and spinning rainbow wheel of death I am really confused as to what I might be doing wrong here. Ive checked BIOS settings, Ive checked to make sure I'm doing the USB drive correctly, I really don't know what I'm doing wrong! So, if anyone knows what I'm doing wrong PLEASE respond and tell me... I feel like a bumbling idiot because I had a previous install installed about 6 months ago... and now I don't remember what I did!

 

[shilohh]

@Leumas1311,
Try boot without caches. You will get a verbose print out just like using -v. Pay attention to where the system freezes and when it does freeze, give it a good 5-10 minutes to see if it goes any further. Take and post a clear readable picture of where the screen freezes.

 

[SteveAtkinsFilm]

I have another couple of quick questiosn if anyone can help me out please (think im definitely getting my head more round things now, going to purchase my parts and start build within the next few weeks - going for your complete build shilohh from the OP but with GTX 770)

As mentioned going with the GTX 770 4GB now, but im stuck between which to buy -

I can get either
Gigabyte GTX 770 4GB DDR5
or
EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked 4GB DDR3

Would the fact that the first one is a gigabyte card matter when I'm getting an Asus RIVE Mobo?

And am i going to notice a difference between the DDR3 & DDR5 if i go with the EVGA GPU?

Also im getting a 250GB SSD, so thinking of having a 1TB HD with a copy of the fresh original boot drive once im fully setup and running smoothly,= (f i get there!) as a backup in case i need to do a clean reinstall. Then use the rest of the 1TB HD for Timemachine? Ive done some searching and cant seem to see any problems with doing this but just want to check!

Can anyone suggest a good SAS PCIe RAID card also?

Thankyou!

 

[Leumas1311]

@Leumas1311,
Try boot without caches. You will get a verbose print out just like using -v. Pay attention to where the system freezes and when it does freeze, give it a good 5-10 minutes to see if it goes any further. Take and post a clear readable picture of where the screen freezes.

Thanks so much! All I did was boot with the -f flag and it booted right up! So, now I have a 10.9.5 installation of OS X Mavericks... What would be the recommended way of updating to Yosemite? Should I just reinstall it with the USB? Or try and update through the app store? Anyhow, many thanks to you for your work and continuance to help people like me who really don't know what we are doing

P.S. Just remembered, which file do I need to edit to make sure I don't have to put in the boot flag each time I boot up?



This is what I get when I try and boot from my Yosemite installer USB. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Booting without caches does not change anything.... I'm stumped!

 

[sebtech]

Hi,

After installing the last nvidia drivers (343.02.02f02) my issue is still here.
Randomly, one of my monitors or two of them are not detected after os x startup. Sometimes that's all my screen who are in safe mode. I have to restart or to access through a vnc connection.
When one of them is up, I just have to turn off and on again the other one to be detected.

Anyone have the similar issue here ?

GTX Titan Black
10.10.2

 

[paulo_paulo]

So I managed to get working installation with this guide using maverick 10.9.4 and Asus R4E, GTX 780 and i7-4930k. But adding another card (750ti or 670) make system unbootable. Is there a way to add another gpu in Clover?

 

[koteto]

Hey Cwith,
Thanks for writing. I got lost in projects and couldn't reply back.

Problems still occur and it still annoys me a lot.
- I am using the Web Drivers.
- I am running the latest BIOS, using CC 2014
- I have 26gb for Adobe and 6GB for the other apps.
- The RAW is the one Shilohh uses in his build GSkill Ripjaws Z (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682023150 )
- In AE, the software just doesn't render. After a few frames it stops, finishes and it says it failed rendering when on the render queue. When rendering on the timeline, it just doesn't render the frame. It doesn't do anything. I was able to realize that it specifically does that when there is Twitch applied and when Lens Flares from Video Copilot, or Magic Bullet (anything really) is applied. The funny thing is that it's random. Sometimes you apply the plugin and you don't problems, but other times it doesn't playback or render.

Maybe I should do fresh reinstall, add another 770 and try that way? At this point of my struggle I almost feel that going back to the Macbook Pro or switching to Windows would save me more time.

I hope you can help me!

Thanks,
Teo