mperryz24 Build - GA Z77-DS3H rev 1.0 - Intel Pentium G2120 Ivy Bridge, PNY nVidia 9600GT

[mperryz24]

mperryz24 Build: Pentium G2120 Ivy Bridge CPU - GA-Z77-DS3H - 8GB RAM - GTS 450

Components:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MB Z77-DS3H rev 1.0
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R21JWC/

CPU: Intel Pentium G2120 Ivy Bridge boxed using stock fan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093H8K1C/

Case: Rosewill Challenger ATX Mid-Tower
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YVJJ5Y/

Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 TR-500 500W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153165

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148499

Front Panel: VANTEC UGT-IH203 2-Port USB 3.0 Front Panel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999246


Already Owned:

PNY GeForce 9600 GT Graphics Card 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM 128bit - PCI Express 2.0 x16 - DVI-I
SSD: 2- Micron RealSSD C300 MTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM
Hard drives: Seagate Baracuda 7200.12 1TB HDD 7200rpm ST31000528AS, WD 500gb WD5000AACS
Logitech Wireless Mouse M305
Apple's Mountain Lion from App Store
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Professional 32bit and 64bit
DVD-RW: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AB
Gear Head USB Keyboard
Displays: Acer X241W 24" 1920 x 1200 monitor
Samsung Syncmaster Bl19BSSB 1280 x 1024 monitor


Comments

I am a first time poster, but I want to give a HUGE thank-you to the tonymacx86 team and contributors that have been a wealth of information in helping me with these builds and troubleshooting!! Thank-you!

I used the Budget CustoMac roughly as a starting point

This is my second Hack/Win machine using Gigabyte and Intel, the previous MB was the GA-P965-S3 and worked well, except sleep. This new set-up works great after getting through a few bumps installing ML from USB (had to use -X safemode) and because the CPU graphics is HD2500: I had to hook a monitor to the MB VGA AND the nVidia9600GT card DVI>VGA output to install ML and see what was going on! After installing audio and a few other things using Multibeast (see picture) it runs great, sleeps, BUT no USB 3.0, so I turned off xHCI so all USB ports work at 2.0. I do not have a USB 3.0 device to try yet, but have a USB 3.0 drive on the way. I read that the USB 3.0 will work, but are not backward compatible with 2.0 ...I hope someone figures that out!

Edit: Turned xHCI back on and my 3.0 drive is recognized on the front USB 3.0 ports, but no USB 2.0 devices are recognized. Also, darkwake=10 allows autosleep!

 

[DBP]

Congrats on the build!

no USB 3.0, so I turned off xHCI so all USB ports work at 2.0. I do not have a USB 3.0 device to try yet, but have a USB 3.0 drive on the way. I read that the USB 3.0 will work, but are not backward compatible with 2.0 ...I hope someone figures that out!

With both XHCI and EHCI Handoff enabled, USB 3.0 should work fine. However, you'll find that while the USB 3.0 ports work fine with USB 3.0 devices, if you connect USB 2.0 storage devices to them those devices will not be recognised properly.
But, if you connect an external USB 3.0 hub to one of the USB 3.0 ports on the motherboard, all the ports on that hub will handle both USB 2.0 and 3.0 devices with no problem.


But that really is a rat's nest inside that case isn't it?
If you mount the drives rotated 180 degrees (so their connectors are to the other side) that would mean that to connect/disconnect drives you'd have to take off the other side (and then this side to remove/insert drives) but it would have advantages. That mess of power and SATA cables could be tucked away behind there (some care in not tangling cables will help minimise the space it takes up).
This does have the cosmetic advantage of making the inside of your computer look neater, but it also has the practical advantage of improving airflow.

On a related note I would tie back that loose power cable near the CPU fan. If that moves and stops the CPU fan from rotating you might be very sad!

 

[mperryz24]

*mperryz24 Build - GA Z77-DS3H rev 1.0 - Intel Pentium G2120 Ivy Bridge, PNY nVidia 9600GT

Congrats on the build!


With both XHCI and EHCI Handoff enabled, USB 3.0 should work fine. However, you'll find that while the USB 3.0 ports work fine with USB 3.0 devices, if you connect USB 2.0 storage devices to them those devices will not be recognised properly.
But, if you connect an external USB 3.0 hub to one of the USB 3.0 ports on the motherboard, all the ports on that hub will handle both USB 2.0 and 3.0 devices with no problem.


But that really is a rat's nest inside that case isn't it?
If you mount the drives rotated 180 degrees (so their connectors are to the other side) that would mean that to connect/disconnect drives you'd have to take off the other side (and then this side to remove/insert drives) but it would have advantages. That mess of power and SATA cables could be tucked away behind there (some care in not tangling cables will help minimise the space it takes up).
This does have the cosmetic advantage of making the inside of your computer look neater, but it also has the practical advantage of improving airflow.

On a related note I would tie back that loose power cable near the CPU fan. If that moves and stops the CPU fan from rotating you might be very sad!

Thanks! I like your advice about turning the drives around! I'll do that because I'll never need to swap in/out The USB 3.0 isn't a big deal, I'd just like it to be 100%. I'll put a picture up after I kill the rats!

 

[mperryz24]

*mperryz24 Build - GA Z77-DS3H rev 1.0 - Intel Pentium G2120 Ivy Bridge, PNY nVidia 9600GT

Ok, I changed my mind about turning the drives around... I change stuff fairly often! I instead, spent some time doing some wire management!