SkeletalMac - i7 2600K - Z68X-UD3H - 16GB ram - 560 ti 448

[philz]

SkeletalMac​

This the info on my current Hackintosh. One heck of a build but it is quite speedy and I cannot complain even one bit with the stability of it since a few kinks were worked out! I use it primarilly for digital design work. I'm a print and web designer, though as of late also learning solidworks, always do devloping of my own RAW photography, and snip together artistic video snippets. Never has a machine done so well at everything! My previous desktop was a previous gen 27" iMac (with 256 SSD), before that was an EP45-UD3P based Catri hack.

Regardless here are the components:

Silverstone Raven RV-01 case (amazing case, but huge)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163135

Intel i7 2600K running at 4.6ghz turbo boost
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Thermalright Archon CPU cooler (with both 140mm fans, this fan is really tall and wont fit most casses)
http://www.amazon.com/Thermal-right-archon-armor-copper/dp/B004D1VULU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330476189&sr=8-1

16Gb's of Corsair Vengence DDR3 Memory

Zotac Geforce GTX560 ti 448 core special edition (570 with one cuda core disabled, as a result native open CL and better power support in OSX)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500231

Intel 510 120gb SATAIII SSD (more stable than a sandforce)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042

WD Caviar Black 2TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792

WD Caviar Green 3TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236108

Sony OptiArc DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067

Rosewill 401EX NIC (Solves the USB issues, sleep issues, and allows for no kext needed network, and super stable compared to realtek's)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166015

Corsair HX850 850watt Professional PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=Corsair%20HX850

ioGear Bluetooth 2.1 Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU421WM/dp/B006P18W58/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330476738&sr=1-1

Apple Magic Trackpad
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MC380LL-A-Magic-Trackpad/dp/B003XIJ3MW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330476925&sr=8-1

Logitech G700 Wireless Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Gaming-Mouse-G700/dp/B003VAM32E/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330477219&sr=1-1

NEC 2490WUXI2 24" Design Caliber hardware programmable LUT table monitors (Most amazing things ever, I've had many monitors but these will be used till they die, which will be a long long time. They are that good.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002527

Ergotron MX Desk Mount (VESA for monitors)
http://www.amazon.com/Ergotron-Desk-Mount-LCD-45-214-026/dp/B001IWOBGI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330477493&sr=1-1


The Internals of the build:

Shows the case size in comparison to a normal 3.5" HD. Do notice that it's the 90° rotated setup. So cables etc on top.

Hot swappable HD Bays

The "top" of the case with the cables and lone cougar 120mm fan.

The upper compartments guts. below that is just some ~320mm fans (width of the case) and the PSU bay.

Fan Controller​

Install Notes

All I need to get installed is my copy of OSX Lion from Mac app store, the unibeast installer (where i put a copy of multibeast) and install with the usual options:
DSDT based audio
IOACHIBlockStorageInjector
3rd Party SATA and eSATA
FakeSMC
AppleRTC patch
Chimera Bootloader

After that the Nvidia 560 ti 448 core is fully supported but does need some tweaking. There are a couple guides on here that will get you going, no use copy pasting my changes as they are different per-system and per-card. As I run it as iMac 12,1 rather than most peoples Mac Pro 3,1. Much power efficient this way and better performance. Can't complain!


Multi-Screen Setups and OSX

Before the 560 ti 448 core, I had two 6870's in crossfire (which is ignored on mac, the act as two separate GPU's) this allowed me to run 3 screens without having to use a DP->DVI adapter. These adapters will NOT let you color calibrate the monitor, even on the mac side or if you had a LUT programmable monitor. Most people this is not a concern and one card will work.

Another note to consider with multi-GPU setups is that in windows AMD Eyefinity almost never works with crossover unless it's a really old game. Most new releases even take a week to get crossfire support for one screen let alone 3-5! It was annoying enough for me to bail on the Eyefinity setup and sell the 6870's. Now I have two NEC 2490WUXi2's. Can't complain a bit!


Info Screens:

CUDA-Z showing supported GPU's

About This Mac, Curious does anyone know why it wont show above 4.3Ghz? It's a peculiar issue...​

Bonus Info

Now I admit, quality monitors are out of most peoples budgets... But there are many that will get new screens with a new build. Might I suggest saving money for a nice display (Like NEC's PA series or 90 series monitors?).

The two NEC 2490WUXi2's that I have are amazing screens, very little anti-glare coating (which causes a sparkle effect), best of breed IPS panels, and true 1920x1200 resolution. You'll be amazed what 120 pixels can do! It's the difference of squinting and not seemingly. Now I've used everything from NEC's 20WMGX2's (Cult favorite, near CRT input lag and response times), Apple Cinema displays (20, 24, and even 27" iMac) and dells U3011 30" screen. These two NEC's are the best. No questions asked, and they are from 2009! Newer isn't always better and you can even pick them up sometimes off of NEC's refurb store for sub $450. That's a steal.

Just food for thought

 

[Stork]

The NEC 2490WUXi2 monitor is an outstanding monitor. I have terrible eyesight and can tell the difference in monitors. The NEC 2490WUXi2 presents the clearest, crispest fonts in its native resolution of any monitor available. Of course, when properly calibrated, it is photographers' and movie editors' must have monitor. Needless to say, I'm envious.

 

[philz]

The NEC 2490WUXi2 monitor is an outstanding monitor. I have terrible eyesight and can tell the difference in monitors. The NEC 2490WUXi2 presents the clearest, crispest fonts in its native resolution of any monitor available. Of course, when properly calibrated, it is photographers' and movie editors' must have monitor. Needless to say, I'm envious.

Thanks! Yeah they are great screens. I really do think that the monitor(s) you choose is the #1 thing (might be just me ). It's the window to your machine They're both calibrated to boot

On a sidenote, anything anybody wants me to add to this just ask. Will get some shots with it on the desk but awaiting a new camera...

 

[fies76]

Looks good, how did could you get your Geforce GTX560 ti 448 to work?
I had no luck so far!

 

[philz]

Looks good, how did could you get your Geforce GTX560 ti 448 to work?
I had no luck so far!

The thing to know about a 560ti 448 core is that it's a 570 not a 560. So follow anything for a 570/580 and you should be good. As it's the same architecture as a 570 just with one CUDA core disabled.

If you need any other help just shoot me a reply!

 

[fies76]

thx, for your reply,
no luck so far...
i installed the offical nvidia drivers, but no changes,
monitor goes standby...

could give some hints and kexts
thx

 

[philz]

thx, for your reply,
no luck so far...
i installed the offical nvidia drivers, but no changes,
monitor goes standby...

could give some hints and kexts
thx

I did, the edits are dependent per system so I can't just give you the kext. I did everything the same as a 570, and possibly enabled OpenCL manually but I don't think I did. The edits are even stickied at insanleymac and all over this forum.... Maybe I'll make a thread on it

 

[Admiral_Zot]

I asked the question: "Why would installing the Rosewell NIC make the USB and sleep problems go away?"


Following your suggestion, I searched the phpBB Search forums, Searching for all terms or use query as entered, including subforums, all results, subjects and text, using three separate groups or words,

1st time) Rosewell NIC USB sleep problems
2nd search) Rosewell NIC USB sleep
3rd search) Rosewell NIC

. . . and the only results that were returned was MY QUESTION.

I certainly would have expected more results, (at least the initial post too?) but that's what happened for me.

Searches in General tuning and Networking returned no results at all.

Thanks for any help.
Adios for now.

 

[Stork]

Admiral, Sir. Have your Exec do a forum Search, Sir. Or, Sir, look in the General Tuning or Networking forum section. faq.php?sid=1c5e35f3dff9e0a0927c5988ccd0c8b3#f0r0