Mini Beast: GA-Z97N-WIFI - i7-4770k - GTX 770 (2GB)

[Advali]

Hi caseyfriday, I actually have a similar build just like yours (motherboard and case) and I just want to know if you were able to use the usb 3.0 header with the node 304's front panel usb cable even if you have a long video card. I have an R9 280x on my system and I can't seem to use the usb 3.0 header with my gpu on the way so I just opted to use the usb 2.0 header instead.

 

[caseyfriday]

Hi caseyfriday, I actually have a similar build just like yours (motherboard and case) and I just want to know if you were able to use the usb 3.0 header with the node 304's front panel usb cable even if you have a long video card. I have an R9 280x on my system and I can't seem to use the usb 3.0 header with my gpu on the way so I just opted to use the usb 2.0 header instead.

Hey Advali,

It's an incredibly close fit, but the USB3 header did indeed fit, even right next to the monstrous GTX 770.

 

[tjohnston87]

Great post. I have gotten everything you have to work, with similar set-up. However, The only small nuance is my sound pops. I tried the anti-pop. I am afraid to change my custom install with multi beast to a macpro 3,1 as i dont want to chance of my s/n or UUID to change cause of imessage taking me a full day to set-up.

Any suggestion?

 

[Gordo74]

How is your PSU handling the heat inside the case? That seems to be the only fan I hear. It is dead silent at startup, but as the heat builds, it ramps up the PSU fan. I think I may need to put the in a little bit more open space, but I was wondering if you hear the PSU as well.

 

[caseyfriday]

Great post. I have gotten everything you have to work, with similar set-up. However, The only small nuance is my sound pops. I tried the anti-pop. I am afraid to change my custom install with multi beast to a macpro 3,1 as i dont want to chance of my s/n or UUID to change cause of imessage taking me a full day to set-up.

Any suggestion?

Not quite sure - I have sound pops too (in my headphones), but I haven't spent any time trying to fix it, as I usually listen via iPod / headphone amp. I'll soon be building/purchasing an ODAC, so then I won't have to use the audio out at all on the Hack Pro.

How is your PSU handling the heat inside the case? That seems to be the only fan I hear. It is dead silent at startup, but as the heat builds, it ramps up the PSU fan. I think I may need to put the in a little bit more open space, but I was wondering if you hear the PSU as well.

Everything's still remaining incredibly cool. I just picked up all 5 seasons of Chuck on bluray, so I'll be doing some Handbraking from my media server (on CAT5e). I usually let the transcodes run over night, so it doesn't affect my workflow, but I've done a couple during my work, and the machine is actually still completely usable.

Unfortunately, I get 33fps on average ripping BD 1080p to mkv 1080p at RF 20, but in Windows, with the same settings, I get around 60fps. I think this has something to do with OSX not utilizing Quicksync properly - but I read on Anandtech that Quicksync is worse with the HD4600 than it is with the HD4000. I wish handbrake could utilize my GPU for transcodes!

 

[caseyfriday]

Well, I'm having trouble with Handbrake. It's encoding twice as slow on OSX as it is in Win8.1. The handbrake folks have told me it's likely the CPU scheduling in the kernel that's causing this. As a result, I'm going to try running 10.9 as a VM in VMWare in Win8.1, and see if it's usable. If it is, then I can just use Win8.1 regularly for all the heavy lifting stuff I need to do (without working about kernel problems), and not worry about Hackintosh incompatibilities.

 

[jordanobob]

caseyfriday,

I'm considering mounting my two SSD drives to one Node 304 HDD hanging bracket. I like where you have yours placed. Are they secured to the PSU in any way? Thanks.

 

[monipeniminiwini]

Hi !! sorry Casey I have your same mobo and processor (GA-Z97N-WIFI - i7-4770k ) and an Asus GTX 760 .. but I'm having problems with mavericks, I used the original installer from the Mac App Store and the last version of UniBeast , after I copy your MultiBeast preferences but sometimes I have a kernels panic at the beginning,even when I repair the disk permissions , and just sound noise so loud by my sound card (music too but mostly noise) and you said you did nothing to recognize the bluetooth but mine is not working, any suggestion please?? also can you tell me please which kexts and driver do you remove from the Extension folder and if you added some news outside MultiBeast ( like with kext beast for example) ?? Thank you I appreciate it !!!

 

[Mikkka]

Hey there casey,

I was wondering if there was a reason why you decided on the i7-4770k instead of the i7-4790k?

Your build looks really nice. I've been playing around with the idea of building a hackintosh for a while I think I'm actaully gunna do it now finally. My MBA is not build for 3D.

Best

 

[shadowKill]

Hi Casey,

I am very new to the HackIntosh game. I've chosen the GA-H97N-Wifi, which is essentially the same board, without the ability to overclock. As I do not currently own a mac, the only way I could get the OS was to purchase the Snow Leopard OS on DVD for $20. All of the other OSes seemed to be direct downloads as updates. So I was planning on installing Snow Leopard and then updating from there. Since the H97 and Z97 are very similar other than ability to overclock, do you think the same kexts/DSDT would work with my board? If so, is there a way I could get a copy of your modified DSDT to use on my computer? If I update the OS, will the DSDT still be useable and not altered by the update? or will I have to go through the multi-beast program after updating (which I understand doesn't work with Snow Leopard).

Thanks,
Mike