Kappy's LanBox Build - Core i5-3570K, GA-Q77M-D2H, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GT-640-4GB

[skapplin]

Kappy's Build Number Five - Core i5-3570K, GA-Q77M-D2H, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GT-640-4GB​

Components

Apple OS X Mountain Lion @ Mac Apps Store
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-lion/id444303913?mt=12

Gigabyte GA-Q77M-D2H Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502

Intel Intel Core i5-3570K Processor 3.4GHz 6 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

EVGA 04G-P4-2647-KR GeForce GT 640 4GB 128-bit DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130819

OWC 120 GB Mercury Electra 6G SSD
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDEX6G120/

SeaSonic 520 Watt Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147081

GEIL Black Dragon 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 MHz
http://www.amazon.com/GeIL-Black-Dragon-Dual-Channel/dp/B0077HG6TI/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1363753541&sr=1-2&keywords=geil+black+dragon

ThermalTake LanBox Lite Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147081

Seagate 320 GB Momentus 5400.6 RPM 2.5" SATA II Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148532

TP-Link PCI Express WiFi Adaptor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-704-133&ParentOnly=1&IsVirtualParent=1

Sonnet 3-port FireWire 800 PCIe Card Adapter - 3 x 9-pin FireWire 800 IEEE 1394b FireWire External - Plug-in Card
http://www.buy.com/prod/sonnet-3-po...adatper-3-x-9-pin-firewire-800/213456249.html


Already Owned

LG Flatron E2290 21.5" Monitor - No longer made

Apple MB110LL/B White USB Wired Standard Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English (USA)
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB110LL/B/apple-keyboard-with-numeric-keypad

Logitech MX Anywhere Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104694&Tpk=mx%20anywhere&IsVirtualParent=1

Comments

I used the BIOS setup outlined in thelostswede article, Quick guide to configuring the UEFI on Gigabyte's 7-series LGA-1155 motherboards. I used MultiBeast 5.2.1 to configure the org.chameleon.Boot.plist:

The motherboard's BIOS was updated to the current F2 version that provides some substantial changes from the F1 version. Although the CPU is an Intel i5-3750K which is unlocked for overclocking, the Q77M-D2H board cannot be overclocked. If one prefers to overclock, then use one of the Z77 series. GeekBench scores were typical for this processor at around 10,500. This makes the computer nearly as fast as my 2006 8-core 2.66 GHz Mac Pro that ran about 12,000. Not too shabby given its size.

I plan to install a 1 or 2 TB hard drive to replace the tiny notebook drive that's now installed, but that is what I had handy at the time.

A number of components I used are no longer available, most notably the ThermalTake LanBox Lite. However, there are a number of smaller boxes that would be suitable including at least one from ThermalTake. The Q77M-D2H motherboard seems well suited to a moderate priced build in a smaller case with reduced cooling capabilities. It's an mATX format board with 4 slots for expansion. It has one PCIe 3.0 slot and one PCIe 2.0 slot. One PCIx slot and one PCI slot. Perfect for accommodating a decent GPU that does not require two slots. I settled on the Nvidia GT[X]-640 because EVGA made one that only required one slot. I would have preferred the GTX-650 or GTX-650 Ti card but there are none that only use up the space of a single slot. I used the PCIx slot for the wireless card. The PCIe 2.0 slot was used for the Firewire card.

I have done some minor tweaking of the BIOS and as soon as I can figure out how to make those images I see posted elsewhere, I will attempt to add those to this write-up.

 

[Stork]

...I have done some minor tweaking of the BIOS and as soon as I can figure out how to make those images I see posted elsewhere, I will attempt to add those to this write-up.

You'll need to prepare a USB Thumb drive formatted with FAT in Disk Utility. You can then:

• Use the F12 key in the BIOS to take a screen snapshot for each BIOS screen, and the BIOS will ask you if want to put each picture on your USB drive;
• When done, exit the BIOS and load OS X;
• Since the BIOS makes a file name based upon date/time, change the file names to reflect the BIOS screen name;
• Select all the BIOS pictures, right click to open in Preview
• Preview will show all the files in the left sidebar - select them all;
• Use Preview's batch capability by changing one file to a size more conducive to web showing > 72 dpi and a width no larger than 768;
• Unfortunately, there's no batch Save As, so you'll have to individually Save As (Hold the Option Key while selecting File > Save As) the files into a new folder as a ".png" file (or .jpg, etc.); and
• Upload them into your Profile's Album (you may want to create a public sub Album) in the reverse order that you want them to appear in the sub Album.

You can post each BIOS screen snapshot from the Album using the Album's

 

[skapplin]

Stork,

Thank you for delivering that helpful information. I will treat it with care and kindness.

Also, thank you for removing the dupe post. Not sure why that happened but I could not remove it myself. I figured someone would come along and handle it on my behalf.

I am leaving the country for five months, but upon return I will endeavor to update this build with the additional pics.

 

[Stork]

Have a good trip. God speed!