My first hackingtosh!!!!!

[LEONARDE11]

My first Hackingtosh!!!!! Starting My Journey...

Hi there, I'm looking to build my first Hackingtosh over the next few weeks,

i was hoping to post all my findings and difficulties here. I want from this project an affordable and reliable machine, that is powerful to keep up with my studies as i progress at university as a graphic designer and media/video designer. I aslo want this machine to be a gaming beast. I also think this will be a really fun experience building my first computer as i have always been interested in this sort of thing.

anyway, firstly these are the parts i have managed to source over the internet, i havent gone too crazy with my parts and kept them relatively the same as the tony mac guide. i am a bit of a Noob so i thought if i post each step and get as much advice as possible so hopefully this build should be as painless and fun as possible without any headaches lol

edit: (I am updating my build as i learn more! advice welcome!!!)

CPU - i7 3770K √
MOBO - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H √
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 16GB √
Power - Seasonic X-750 Gold √
Cooling - Cool Master V8√
GPU - GTX 770 2GB √
HDD - 2X Crucial m4 128Gb (for windows/OS boot drives) √
WIFI - TP-Link PCI Express Wifi Adapter 400Mbps √
DVD - OcUK 20xDVD √
Case - Fractal Design Define R4√
Fans - Corsair AF120 x2√
Accessories - Bluetooth - IOGear Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter√

3TB HDD (for use as backup/time machine for system)
Monitor - Cinema Display 27"

so what do you guys think????
please any advice is really welcome! thanks very much!
hoping to keep this thing active throughout the whole build... will post polls and pictures as things start to take shape

 

[Nathan991]

Your build looks good. The corsair 650D is by far my favorite case (currently using it now) It can fit EATX motherboards, even though its an ATX case. I see you are going with water cooling, which is good as ivy bridge CPUs run hot. Good luck!

 

[LEONARDE11]

thanks a lot! yea its really nice case if only it was a bit cheaper lol if i can get one second hand it would be ideal

 

[LEONARDE11]

Some pretty good sites for anyone building their first Hack.

Power calculator to see the watt needed for your rig http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/

GPU benchmark comparisons http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/407

also if anyone has the parts i have listed bellow and are looking to sell please PM me!

 

[changerrs]

dual booting from one ssd will make your life a little more complicated. I would just get 2, 60gb ssd's and put an OS on each ssd

 

[LEONARDE11]

@Changerrs Great advice man, will be doing that instead (updated OP)

@Nathan991 was planning to do some over-clocking to get a bit better performance, hence the watercooling

edit: (In the end i decided with air cooling, cheaper and just a effective for my budget)

 

[zaptoons]

Build looks great. I've built an almost identical setup, and it makes for a great machine.

One question- what are you spending on those 60GB SSDs? I'd compare with a good deal on 128GB SSDs from a decent brand and see if you're really saving all that much halving the capacity. I say because I find 128GB to be perfect for an OS install, all of the apps you'll need, scratch disk space, and some breathing room. 60GB and you'll likely be doing a lot more disk management to keep from running out of space.

 

[LEONARDE11]

I've seen a number of OZ 120gb SSD's go for around £50 on ebay, was planning to go the same route and pick up two 60's. I could always get a 120gb for my osx install if you think that would be more appealing to me, as I wil have adobe programmes on it too.

 

[LEONARDE11]

Thinking about changing the motherboard to the GA-Z77X-UD5H instead of the GA-Z77X-UP5-TH to save some $$$, whats the pros and cons? i dont really know which MOBO to get exactly, just want one thats good for my needs and has some future reliability and suits me for my needs for the price. if its cheaper, and does the same stuff id be happy to buy....(tbh i dont know if i need or will ever use the thunderbolts but maybe its good for a year in the future????) mainly ive just been looking at other builds and the tony mac site for research. what would you guys recommend? thanks guys mad reps for any help!
picture of GA-Z77X-UD5H for some visual goodness peace

 

[aaron97]

Thinking about changing the motherboard to the GA-Z77X-UD5H instead of the GA-Z77X-UP5-TH to save some $$$, whats the pros and cons? i dont really know which MOBO to get exactly, just want one thats good for my needs and has some future reliability and suits me for my needs for the price. if its cheaper, and does the same stuff id be happy to buy....(tbh i dont know if i need or will ever use the thunderbolts but maybe its good for a year in the future????) mainly ive just been looking at other builds and the tony mac site for research. what would you guys recommend? thanks guys mad reps for any help!
picture of GA-Z77X-UD5H for something visual goodness peace

View attachment 57475

Stick with the UD5H, the only difference is thunderbolt. As of now only very few expensive displays use thunderbolt. But you have to use the integrated graphics, so its completely pointless because who wants an exspensive monitor if they have to slow integrated graphics. The only other common use for thunderbolt is for like hard drives, but USB 3.0 is plenty fast for hard drives, so your choice. But I would save the money and get a UD5H