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[Success] BigJ's CustoMacPro Asus Z97-DELUXE(NFC & WLC) / Intel 4790k 4.0 Ghz

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Joined
Nov 17, 2014
Messages
30
Motherboard
Asus Z97-Deluxe
CPU
I7 4790-k
Graphics
GTX 760
Mac
  1. iMac
  2. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. 0
BigJ's CustoMac Pro:
Asus Z97-Deluxe (NFC & WLC) / i7-4790K / GTX 760 / 16 GB / OSX 10.10.1​

Components


Asus Z97-Deluxe (NFC & WLC) - simply because it includes the Asus ThunderboltEX II Duo card bundled in the pack.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K2MATEI/

Intel Core i7-4790K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPRWAX8/

Asus GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II OC -2GB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DBPKEOI/

Corsair CMY16GX3M2A 1866 C9R Vengeance Pro Series 16GB (2x 8GB)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D2LGRO2/

Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3W1726/

Seagate Barracuda 1 TB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T3GRNW/

Apple USB DvD Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008AL9VXI/

Corsair Builder Series CXM 750W Semi-Modular PSU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ALK3KEM/

Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 Case (CC-90110300WW)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6GINF4/

IOGear GBU521W6 - Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GFX0PY/

Corsair H100i Hydro Series Cooler (240mm radiator)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZN2NH6/


Already Owned

Steel Series WoW MMO Gaming Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005L38QHA/

Apple Thunderbolt Display 27''
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YLCKYA/

Apple USB Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDTAE/


Comments

1. My objective was to build a mac that was also capable of decent gaming (eg. WoW in Ultra with 45FPS in most places and no stutters and lags)

2. I also wanted something very stable with most things working (almost seamlessly)

3. I really wanted to take advantage of the 27' Apple Thunderbolt Display that I already had.Installation

Instructions: (follow this order exactly, don't skip ahead)

- Build your PC without the thunderbolt card (keep it outside) and boot in windows (I have a separate Windows 8 SSD from another PC I just popped in to get me started)
- Use a non thunderbolt monitor at this stage
- Update your BIOS to the latest version 2XXXX
- Load all your motherboard drivers and tune the board so it's running a really nice windows machine
- Install the Thunderbolt drivers for windows
- Power down PC and install the thunderbolt card
- Boot into windows (to activate the thunderbolt card in the bios)
- Restart and go into Bios make these changes:
Boot>Security>Other OS
Advanced>Thunderbold Config>
Security - set to none
Cache - 128K​
- Plug in the Thunderbolt Monitor and then turn on PC
- Boot back into windows and see your thunderbolt monitor come alive as well as your standard monitor

Now we have a machine that's ready for OSX.

Follow these instructions to get a UniBeast bootable USB and stick it in the front USB panel (http://www.tonymacx86.com/445-unibeast-install-os-x-yosemite-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html)

Step 4 (in the instructions link above): you may get some kernel panics - it has to do with memory. Use "-maxmem 4096" as a boot argument if you have 16gb like me

Install OS X and then restart. Use the USB stick to boot and then select your OS X Installation on your hard drive to boot.

NOW STOP Following the directions above - before you get to MultiBeast step 6.

Use your separate mac to ensure you have a iCloud account/iTunes ID/Apple store ID/FaceTime, etc.

Input those in the relevant places of the install of OS X (eg. when it prompts you - don't skip, input at this stage) This will guarantee you can use iMessage/FaceTime/iTunes/etc,etc etc

Now install MultiBeast (download here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/downloads) I used the following config which I have attached to this post. (Load and then build)

Working:
- Thunderbolt display with hot swap most items (as long as they have been previously identified in windows) Beware: if your computer goes to sleep you loose FaceTime camera, mike and sound
- Audio: Front plate as headphones - with kexts from MultiBeast
- Thunderbolt display audio as USB (OOB once you recognize it in windows)
- Thunderbolt display FaceTime HD camera and Microphone (OOB)
- Discrete Video Card (OOB)
- Ethernet on-board (OOB)
- Intel SATA chipset requires kexts from MultiBeast
- USB 3,0 onboard (OOB)
- iMessage/Facetime/AppStore/Itunes (everything works just fine as long as you input your email address (iCloud accounts) before multicast and while installing OSX rather than after. Naturally then never log out of iCloud, etc)


Not Working
- Sleep function
- Built in WiFi
- Didn't try to get built in Bluetooth to work because the little £5 IOgear device is so small and so inconsequential, and it works OOB.

If anyone can help me to get the Wi-Fi working and the sleep function I would be really grateful. Otherwise, a really solid system here, no crashes, no issues, just don't let it go to sleep (disable), or the bluetooth, the Thunderbolt screen's sound (speaker/mike/camera) all stop working).
 

Attachments

  • Multibeast.tiff
    135.8 KB · Views: 432
  • Try 1.mb
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Hey BigJ,
Glad to see you have a successful build, I just built a similar machine (Asus Z97m-Plus, 4790k, gtx 760) but I'm running into some kernel panics during install. I've tried the following boot flags and get kernel panics each time:

-x
-x -v
-x -v npci=0x2000
-x -v maxmem=4096 graphicsenabler=no pcirootuid=1
-x -v npci=0x3000 pcirootuid=1 pciroot=1 cpus=1
-x -v maxmem=4096 npci=0x3000 graphicsenabler=no pcirootuid=1 pciroot=1 cpus=1

I already have Windows 8 setup on a separate SSD and it runs great OOB I haven't tweaked anything in BIOS (running BIOS version 2202) other than the settings listed in the unibeast install guide.

After reading through your post I'm wondering if it has something to do with my graphics card/display? I'm using an Apple 27" LED cinema display (the older one, not the thunderbolt display) connected to the DisplayPort with with a mini-DP to DP adapter. This is the only thing that differs in our builds. Could this be the cause?
 
It looks great. Is your thunderbolt monitor running off the graphics card even though it's plugged into the motherboard?
 
It looks great. Is your thunderbolt monitor running off the graphics card even though it's plugged into the motherboard?

Nope.

The thunderboltEX II Duo card that comes bundled with the motherboard, connects to the discrete video card (eg. the Nvidia GTX 760) and then you can plug your thunderbolt monitor into it.
 
Hi bro,


Can we connect thunderbolt storage device through this? does it work?
And what about Apollo 8 Thunderbolt soundcard?
My sabertooth 990fx r2.0 has a TB header but thunderboltex 2 dual not recognized even in WINDOWS
If z97 deluxe works with thunderbolt connectivity i ll make my new hackintosh with that.
 
Yes man everything thunderbolt that would work on a normal mac (e.g. external storage) works through this thunderbolt combination.

I have done tons of research and this is the closest you can do to replicate a real mac thunderbolt setup.

Beware I have since switched to a clover build and everything runs native with a ssdt and the toleda sound fix. Video card/wifi/ethrnet/tb etc all run native.

If I had a choice, in hindsight, I would have not gone with the apple thunderbolt monitor because apple screwed it up with their hardware bios update 1.2 which makes the monitor sometimes crash the sound driver and usb driver. (built in usb sound in monitor) As long as you just use external speakers plugged into the motherboard this problem won't crop up so you are all good.

I even upgraded to 10.10.3 all native, no changes required only had to do the toleda sound patch once again.

Lots of info on this thunderbolt set up here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-h...ex-ii-pcie-expansion-card-testing-thread.html

And the SSDT file is here all tested specifically for this motherboard.

Toleda audio patch is here

Good luck!
 
Wow!! Super cool bro !!! My next reply wud be with z97 deluxe thunderboltex combo for sure !!!
 
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