- Joined
- Oct 23, 2011
- Messages
- 52
- Motherboard
- Asus P8Z68V Pro-GEN3
- CPU
- i7-2700k
- Graphics
- Radeon HD 6870 (iGPU HD 3000)
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
Here's my latest build, a small form-factor Mini-ITX-based HTPC!.
After researching small-form factor cases, mobos and PSUs, I decided to go for the Intel DH67CF. Under load, it performed the best as far as keeping temperatures low. The other alternatives were Gigabyte, ASRock, Asus and Zotac, but the Asus couldn't be found, the Gigabyte ran too hot, and the Zotac is a bit long in the tooth.
For the case, I decided I wanted to use a full ATX PSU, so in order to achieve that, I went with the Lian Li PC-Q08 case. A larger footprint than some of the others I considered, but it has greater internal drive expandability options, and more room to circulate air considering the mass of cables coming from the full-size PSU.
BASIC SPECS:
• Intel DH67CF/i5 2500k
• Lian Li PC-Q08
• 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 1333MHz RAM
• Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850
• Corsair GS600 PSU
• Corsair H50 Hydro series cooler
• Scythe slim (12mm) 120mm fan
BUILD:
The most fun part about these Hackintoshes is building them. Except when you try these small form factors. This was a much tougher operation than I expected. The main reasons why were the tiny screws (6 per side) holding the sides to the case body. No thumbscrews, so I had to be VERY deliberate so as not to strip the screws.
Not a lot of room to work with, and I ended up having to go through a couple of rounds of putting it together once I realized that I needed a slim cooling fan to blow into the radiator, in order for the PSU to fit. As you'll see in the photos, I literally had to wipe my case clean of bloodstains once I got everything put together...
OS X INSTALL/BOOT:
Piece of cake with my 10.7.3 UniBeast USB stick. No DSDT, so the MultiBeast enables consisted of Intel network Gigabit, ALC892, the usual npci=0x3000, darkwake=0, Graphics Enabler=Yes; and not much more. Gfx card recognized without any ATI Frame Buffer designation.
LINGERING ISSUES:
Two issues are really getting my goat and I haven't been able to figure them out:
• Box won't power off via Apple Shut Down select. The OS turns off, yes, but the box stays on, and on, and on. For about two minutes, then it shuts off, but then turns right back on. Anyone have any ideas???
• USB problems. NOTE: EVERY SINGLE BUILD I've done, using Gigabyte, Asus and now Intel boards, HAVE ALL HAD USB problems. What is it? USB is just a freaking low-wattage power source. Why is it freaking out these boards -- and that's BEFORE the hand-off to OS X. I can't even get into BIOS with my USB devices plugged in. The error I get at every startup is:
WARNING: No Keyboard Found. (Doesn't matter which USB port I plug into)
So I can't get into BIOS, but if I do nothing, the boot proceeds and once it gives me the startup OS X screen, I can type in my password and use the keyboard normally.
I don't understand. My old PPC MacMini had 20+ USB devices plugged into it, with a series of 3 hubs. Never had any problems with USB. Here though, on ALL my builds, drives disappear when mounted, unmount themselves, or in many cases, I can't even start up the system if I have them connected. A major pain... And yes, of course, I've fooled with enabling/disabling the USB options in BIOS. Nothing has made a difference.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Check out the pics in my attached PDF. They can be enlarged. I was concerned about having sufficient exhaust, since I had to change the usual exhaust outlet at the top of the case to an intake outlet to cool the H50 radiator. But according to the Mac program Temperature Monitor, everything looks OK; HDD is 30-33°C and the 4 Cores are between 27-33°.
Overall 64-bit Geekbench score is 9403 without any overclocking.
CLOSING:
I like this small form factor so much I bought another Lian Li Q08; this one the black aluminum model, and a i7-3770 CPU and Intel DH77DF board. Using UniBeast 1.2 and Bridge Helper, I got it to install 10.7.3 but it won't boot; it makes it to the Apple Screen and I get the spinning sprocket, but the next screen, instead of the dark gray background with Login window, is a solid white screen with the cursor frozen. I believe that is the part of the boot sequence where the Mac OS windowserver process takes over. but I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to take out the Graphics card and see if that makes any difference so that I can at least get to the desktop and run MultiBeast. Will post follow up if I have success.
Thanks in advance for any input.
After researching small-form factor cases, mobos and PSUs, I decided to go for the Intel DH67CF. Under load, it performed the best as far as keeping temperatures low. The other alternatives were Gigabyte, ASRock, Asus and Zotac, but the Asus couldn't be found, the Gigabyte ran too hot, and the Zotac is a bit long in the tooth.
For the case, I decided I wanted to use a full ATX PSU, so in order to achieve that, I went with the Lian Li PC-Q08 case. A larger footprint than some of the others I considered, but it has greater internal drive expandability options, and more room to circulate air considering the mass of cables coming from the full-size PSU.
BASIC SPECS:
• Intel DH67CF/i5 2500k
• Lian Li PC-Q08
• 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance 1333MHz RAM
• Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850
• Corsair GS600 PSU
• Corsair H50 Hydro series cooler
• Scythe slim (12mm) 120mm fan
BUILD:
The most fun part about these Hackintoshes is building them. Except when you try these small form factors. This was a much tougher operation than I expected. The main reasons why were the tiny screws (6 per side) holding the sides to the case body. No thumbscrews, so I had to be VERY deliberate so as not to strip the screws.
Not a lot of room to work with, and I ended up having to go through a couple of rounds of putting it together once I realized that I needed a slim cooling fan to blow into the radiator, in order for the PSU to fit. As you'll see in the photos, I literally had to wipe my case clean of bloodstains once I got everything put together...
OS X INSTALL/BOOT:
Piece of cake with my 10.7.3 UniBeast USB stick. No DSDT, so the MultiBeast enables consisted of Intel network Gigabit, ALC892, the usual npci=0x3000, darkwake=0, Graphics Enabler=Yes; and not much more. Gfx card recognized without any ATI Frame Buffer designation.
LINGERING ISSUES:
Two issues are really getting my goat and I haven't been able to figure them out:
• Box won't power off via Apple Shut Down select. The OS turns off, yes, but the box stays on, and on, and on. For about two minutes, then it shuts off, but then turns right back on. Anyone have any ideas???
• USB problems. NOTE: EVERY SINGLE BUILD I've done, using Gigabyte, Asus and now Intel boards, HAVE ALL HAD USB problems. What is it? USB is just a freaking low-wattage power source. Why is it freaking out these boards -- and that's BEFORE the hand-off to OS X. I can't even get into BIOS with my USB devices plugged in. The error I get at every startup is:
WARNING: No Keyboard Found. (Doesn't matter which USB port I plug into)
So I can't get into BIOS, but if I do nothing, the boot proceeds and once it gives me the startup OS X screen, I can type in my password and use the keyboard normally.
I don't understand. My old PPC MacMini had 20+ USB devices plugged into it, with a series of 3 hubs. Never had any problems with USB. Here though, on ALL my builds, drives disappear when mounted, unmount themselves, or in many cases, I can't even start up the system if I have them connected. A major pain... And yes, of course, I've fooled with enabling/disabling the USB options in BIOS. Nothing has made a difference.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Check out the pics in my attached PDF. They can be enlarged. I was concerned about having sufficient exhaust, since I had to change the usual exhaust outlet at the top of the case to an intake outlet to cool the H50 radiator. But according to the Mac program Temperature Monitor, everything looks OK; HDD is 30-33°C and the 4 Cores are between 27-33°.
Overall 64-bit Geekbench score is 9403 without any overclocking.
CLOSING:
I like this small form factor so much I bought another Lian Li Q08; this one the black aluminum model, and a i7-3770 CPU and Intel DH77DF board. Using UniBeast 1.2 and Bridge Helper, I got it to install 10.7.3 but it won't boot; it makes it to the Apple Screen and I get the spinning sprocket, but the next screen, instead of the dark gray background with Login window, is a solid white screen with the cursor frozen. I believe that is the part of the boot sequence where the Mac OS windowserver process takes over. but I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to take out the Graphics card and see if that makes any difference so that I can at least get to the desktop and run MultiBeast. Will post follow up if I have success.
Thanks in advance for any input.
