Roubignol’s Skylake build : Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH - I7 6700k - GTX 980

[roubignol]

roubignol's Build: Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH - I7 6700k - GTX 980​

Components

Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 TH Thunderbolt 3 Motherboard
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B014Q5D12S/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

be quiet! Straight Power 10 CM
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00NC4IRTC/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Ballistix Sport LT 64GB Kit (16Gox4) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) Memory
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B019X3T5KA/?tag=tonymacx8607-21][/noparse]

INTEL Core i7–6700 k 4,00 gHz
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B013HRLTAC/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Be quiet! Dark Rock 3 Ventirad
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00HPX7IKU/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Gigabyte GTX 980 N980XTREME-4GD Graphics Card
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01842BP3Q/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Samsung SSD 512 GB Série 850 PRO 2,5" S-ATA 6.0Gbps
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00LF10KTO/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Seagate ST2000DM001 Desktop HD 2000 Go
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B008FXHKVQ/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda Desktop HD 1000Go
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B005T3GRNW/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Corsair CMFVY3A-16GB Flash Voyager 16GB USB 3.0 High Speed
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00HR8AP76/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

NZXT H440 Case
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B015XQL6PI/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

Logitech HD Pro C920 Webcam
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B006A2Q81M/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

IOGear - GBU521 - USB Bluetooth plug
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B007GFX0PY/?tag=tonymacx8607-21


Already Owned Components

- Apple Cinema Display 23’’
- Samsung P2770FH 24’’ display
- Mac Pro early 2008
- Apple keyboards & mouses


What works:
- Sound
- Graphics
- USB 2.0 & 3.0
- Sleep
- Ethernet
- Bluetooth

What doesn’t work:
- iMessages & Facetime.

Not tested yet:
- Thunderbolt


Comments

Hi all. I’m a French graphic designer working on Macs for over 20 years. My good old Mac Pro (early 2008 rev 3.1) starting to really show it’s age,

I found myself looking to replace it with a new machine. Having encountered multiple hardware failures (screen, graphic cards, mother boards on recent iMacs, I immediately discarded the iMac option, believe the cooling in those machines isn’t up to intensive tasks. I also found the latest Mac pros really expensive for 3 years old & outdated components, and while the form factor somehow is pretty, I hate having dozen of external hard drives ruining my always limited desk space.

I finally decided to jump in the hackintosh world.

The purpose of my build will be mostly graphic and motion production (adobe suite, after effects) and audio production (live, logic…)…


Installation :

I followed the latest TonyMac guide: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ierra-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.200564/ to the letter and lurked on some threads around here with a similar configuration. I must say it worked like a charm.
I still have to read and learn a lot to make the whole system optimal and will certainly have a lot of questions for you guys,
But I must admit i’m super happy with the results so far.
I even tried some overlooking at 4.6 ghz i’ll have to stress test, but it seems to work for now.
And will have to install and test all my software…

To be continued, but in the meantime, I’ll like to thank the whole tonymac community for the amazing work and resources that have permitted me to build this system without any advanced technical knowledge.


Edit log:
- 11.6.2016 : thread start
-11.9.2016 : edited what's working (dual screen on the GTX 980, sleep, Ethernet, Bluetooth) and what doesn't (removed sleep)

 

[roubignol]

I did some quick benchmarks :

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Great build. Well done!

You have used high-quality components - something I really appreciate. That Be Quiet cooler looks like it means business.

As for the overclocking, compared with what is available in genuine Mac Pros I wonder if you will need to bother. You have a better chance of keeping the Hackintosh reliable too. I even under-clock my own memory to keep the stress low!

 

[roubignol]

Thanks UtterDisbelief

Yes, I tried to choose quality components in the hope for better lifespan… time will tell if the extra 300/400 € where worth it
Regarding the overclock, it sure is a test. Something I've never done and was curious to try out.
I'll try to conduct serious tests before I use the system as a production machine for sure.
I'll take good note of that downclocking option too, thanks.

 

[GBouerat]

Hello, I'm French too,

have you try to enable VT-d and run VirtualBox ?

I'm an Android developer, and I think to build a hackintosh to replace my Mac Mini 2012, but I need VT-d to run Android emulators like Genymotion.

 

[roubignol]

Hi GBouerat.
Didn't try to enable Vt-d as it seems recommended to disable it during instal.
Never ever tried any kind of virtualisation yet,so I'm afraid I won't be of any help, sorry.

 

[davidhildreth]

I see you haven't tested it yet, but do you expect the TB3 ports to work?

 

[roubignol]

Hi David
I have no TB3 (or 2) device at my disposal. Apple system profiler doesn't show any TB, so I guess it's not working for now.

 

[southlegend]

This guide fixed my iMessage & Facetime on the first try - hopefully it does the same for you https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/an-idiots-guide-to-imessage.196827/

Also, may I ask how you did your OC? When I try and OC using the BIOS I only get half of my ram recognised in OSX.

 

[roubignol]

Hi Southlegend.

Concerning the overclock, I followed a video on Youtube that unfortunately I didn't bookmarked, but basically,
I'll I did was changing the CPU Clock ratio setting in the second column from "auto" to "46", and change the X.M.P from "auto" to "profile 1".

Sleep & Wake is working since I edited my config file with Clover configurator and checked "FixShutdown", "FIX_WAK" in the Acpi panel and selected "darkwake=0" in the boot panel.
That's good news.
I installed the Adobe CC suite and played a bit with After effects, seems the machine is working without problems.
I tried some game too, Borderlands 2, highest settings, the game experience was smooth.

I now will try to get the FaceTime and messages fix working for me this afternoon, and if it works as good as the rest of te good tips flowing around here (I'm pretty optimistic) , I should have a 100% working Hackintosh.

Note to sysadmin : It seems I can't edit my original post, I always get this error message :
"Your content can not be submitted. This is likely because your content is spam-like or contains inappropriate elements. Please change your content or try again later. If you still have problems, please contact an administrator.'