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New Mini ITX build

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sumsaykra-z

sumsaykra-z

Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
256
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-Z270N-Wifi
CPU
i5-7600K
Graphics
GTX 1050
Mac
  1. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
It's great to see that this community is still thriving. I built my very first and only Hackintosh years ago with the help on this forum. It was a great experience. However, I have since sold that unit to a younger family member and because of the amount of time I've had on my hands haven't been able to take the time an dedication needed to build a great hackintosh.

I now own a 2012 Macbook Pro with top of the line specs and an old Polycarbonate Intel Mac mini with not so great specs. I'm looking to replace that Mac Mini. At first I was looking for a guide to actually take that polycarbonate housing and gut it to make a killer, nostalgic Mac Mini hackintosh but I haven't found anything useful. I"m still open to this idea if anyone has some information. In the meantime I figured I'll start really simple

A LOT has changed since I was last here. When I left DSDT's were becoming popular but now it looks like, at least for some boards, they're not even needed for a completely functioning unit. Consider my mind blown. I'm really just sticking to the suggested build guide laid out in the Buyer's Guide. While I have more time now I still don't have a great deal of it. So the easier the set up the better. So below are a list of questions. I hope the community won't flame me because these have been asked already and most likely answered 1000 times. Here it goes.

1) In using the Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI mb is it just ready to go out of the box with minimal BIOS changes and no DSDT?

2) The board comes with M.2. Is that an option for a boot drive? The few threads I've found were sort of old but seems there's trouble?

3) Are the Intel graphics sufficient and usable? I don't need a graphics card for this build.
 
sumsaykra-z said:
...
1) In using the Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI mb is it just ready to go out of the box with minimal BIOS changes and no DSDT?

2) The board comes with M.2. Is that an option for a boot drive? The few threads I've found were sort of old but seems there's trouble?

3) Are the Intel graphics sufficient and usable? I don't need a graphics card for this build.
Click to expand...
Welcome back! :thumbup: The forum probably has been reorganized since you were here last.

1. Look at the User Builds and Sierra Desktop Guides forum sections for builds with the Z170N motherboard.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/user-builds.28
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/sierra-desktop-guides.187

2. Right now, using the M.2 with a NVMe SSD is a PITA. Apple uses a modified version of the NVMe protocol. See my Gene build description for an idea what you're in for. However, once bitten, twice sly. I'm using a M.2 ACHI SSD with MyHero build, and it works OOB.

3. The HD530 requires some tweaking, but is now supported with a MultiBeast graphics configuration option. The easiest solution is an entry level supported graphics card. See the tonymac86 Buyer's Guide for compatible cards. Note the newest AMD and Nvidia cards are not yet supported.

Good luck! C U around the campus! :thumbup:
 
Stork said:
Welcome back! :thumbup: The forum probably has been reorganized since you were here last.

1. Look at the User Builds and Sierra Desktop Guides forum sections for builds with the Z170N motherboard.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/user-builds.28
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/sierra-desktop-guides.187

2. Right now, using the M.2 with a NVMe SSD is a PITA. Apple uses a modified version of the NVMe protocol. See my Gene build description for an idea what you're in for. However, once bitten, twice sly. I'm using a M.2 ACHI SSD with MyHero build, and it works OOB.

3. The HD530 requires some tweaking, but is now supported with a MultiBeast graphics configuration option. The easiest solution is an entry level supported graphics card. See the tonymac86 Buyer's Guide for compatible cards. Note the newest AMD and Nvidia cards are not yet supported.

Good luck! C U around the campus! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome back. I know. I know. This has been since JANUARY! I let time slip away. I have since changed my mind about how I want to approach this. I sold my Macbook Pro. Still have that old Mac Mini laying around and it's sooooooo slow. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new build. With this one I will have my kids joining in on the fun. To get started, I have a part list of the build I'm looking at:
Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor
Enermax ETS-T40F-W 105.9 CFM CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-H270N-WIFI miniITX Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Asus GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Video Card
Samsung 840 Pro 512GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400 RPM HDD
PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
BitFenix - Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case
​
I'm going for a mid-high ITX build with a white/snow theme. I'm having the side panel of the case modified with a window. Or I may end up just buying the one Bitfenix offers.

So I'm at the point where I'm ready to start ordering parts. I was asking in the OP about using the M.2 slot for storage but I'm no longer interested in that. The board comes with wifi/bluetooth adapter in that spot but it's my understanding Bluetooth only works. So of course I want the entire macOS experience and want Handoff, Continuity and AirDrop working. There seems to be a complete solution provided by osxwifi.com but that requires a pcie slot. Well, ITX boards only have one and that's where the my graphics card will go. What solution is there for ITX boards? I can't find anything conclusive on that.
 
Make sure your PSU is rated for Haswell or newer Intel processors. Haswell and newer processors have lower idle power requirements, and Bronze rated PSUs typically are not rated for the newer processors. I recommend you get a Corsair Gold rated PSU.

As for WiFi, you can find an adapter for your motherboard for the BCM94360CD WiFi/BT card which is macOS compatible. Kinda like what I did for my Hector build.

I am using a GTX 1060. It has wake-up from sleep problems. The Nvidia drivers are not a thing that Nvidia will brag about as they have minor glitches, too. We're all hoping that the 1060's wake-up problem and the glitches for other Pascal cards will be solved in the High Sierra version of the drivers. There is a thread in the Graphics forum section that describes this 1060 problem and possible solutions for recovering after wake-up.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...060-glitching-after-waking-from-sleep.220670/
I use xxionline's script which I put on the Desktop to get at it easily while the wake-up glitching is going on. A PITA to be sure, but I don't sleep my system too often.
 
Stork said:
Make sure your PSU is rated for Haswell or newer Intel processors. Haswell and newer processors have lower idle power requirements, and Bronze rated PSUs typically are not rated for the newer processors. I recommend you get a Corsair Gold rated PSU.

As for WiFi, you can find an adapter for your motherboard for the BCM94360CD WiFi/BT card which is macOS compatible. Kinda like what I did for my Hector build.

I am using a GTX 1060. It has wake-up from sleep problems. The Nvidia drivers are not a thing that Nvidia will brag about as they have minor glitches, too. We're all hoping that the 1060's wake-up problem and the glitches for other Pascal cards will be solved in the High Sierra version of the drivers. There is a thread in the Graphics forum section that describes this 1060 problem and possible solutions for recovering after wake-up.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...060-glitching-after-waking-from-sleep.220670/
I use xxionline's script which I put on the Desktop to get at it easily while the wake-up glitching is going on. A PITA to be sure, but I don't sleep my system too often.
Click to expand...


Okay. I have a few more questions.
I only recently changed to the GTX 1060. I initially was going with the 1050 (won't be gaming much or at all). Does this card have a similar graphic issue?

I'm not really understanding the wifi/bluetooth adapter. The slot available is m.2. Your build is a mini pcie. Not sure how that would work.
 
I'm not familiar with the GTX 1050 cards. See the Graphics forum section for threads with GTX 1050 in the thread title > https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/graphics.13/

You'll have to get an M.2 adapter for the BCM94360CD WiFi/BT card. Check the User Build and Sierra Desktop Guides forum for a WiFi motherboard similar to the one you're going to buy that had to use the M.2 adapter card.
 
Stork said:
Yes it will work with the M.2 adapter which your motherboard requires. (Note: I did look up your motherboard, and the WiFi/BT is using a M.2 slot. However, you're using two adapters to get the Broadcom card to work. I'd look for a Broadcom card with an M.2 adapter.

Maybe something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Broad...027566&hash=item3a97781396:g:fKMAAOSwtlhWF5ed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BCM94360CS2...537270?hash=item5b27f738b6:g:wIEAAOSw42JZGAtx

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Whoa. Didn't realize this existed! Thanks for all of the help. I'm going to share my tweaked build based off your suggestions here and unfortunately...budget. This rig was supposed to sit between $700-$800. It's now around $1000
 
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