[Success] GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - Core i3 2115 - 2x nVidia GeForce

[locmer]

tonymacx86 Build - GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - Core i3 2115 - 2x nVidia GeForce 8400 GS - 8 Gb

New Components

Mac OS X version 10.6.3 Snow Leopard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AMHWP8?ie=UTF8

Mac OS X version 10.7 Lion
Apple

Gigabyte Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2133 LGA 1155 Motherboards GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00518M74I?ie=UTF8

Intel Core™ i3-2125 (2x 3300 MHz) HR3I09
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005L9D5X4?ie=UTF8

Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00264GING?ie=UTF8

2x 4 Gb = Corsair 8 GB DDR3-1333 Kit (Light-Retail, CMX8GX3M2A1333C9, XMS3)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RPCLH6?ie=UTF8

OCZ AGT3-25SAT3-120G (Light-Retail, SATA 600, Agility3 Series, MLC, TRIM)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Z0S6SO?ie=UTF8

Jabra A320s Bluetooth 2.0 EDR - USB Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018MFJMI?ie=UTF8

81-Key Slim Portable Rechargeable Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard - White
DealExtreme 29 $

Already Owned

Sun Microsystems 22" LCD screen 265-1435-02

Sun Microsystems 19" LCD screen 365-1420-01

No name case + ATX PSU

Sun Microsystems USB keyboard 320-1365-02 type 7
Google 320-1365

Sun Microsystems USB Mouse 371-0788-01
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NH6YG4?ie=UTF8

Gainward GeForce 8400 GS (512 MB) (4718462009726) Graphics Card
eBay Search For Gainward GeForce 8400 GS

Gainward GeForce 8400 GS (512 MB) (4718462009726) Graphics Card
eBay Search For Gainward GeForce 8400 GS

Comments.
- Planning on DJing with Traktor and composing House/Trance music with Ableton Live.
- Wanted to build a mackintosh as a project.
- Wanted to see how fast SSD HD's are.
- Looked for guidance on what components to pick on this forum, Thanks Tony and all! [/list][/color][/b]

Comments:

I started off utilizing the On chip HD 3000 graphics and I wanted to add an extra graphics card later. So with Intel HD 3000 graphics only:

The IBoot -> 10.6 -> 10.7 route works:

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html and:
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/07/xmove-multibeast-install-os-x-107-lion.html

Also the rboot -> USB stick xmoved 10.7 direct route works:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=168&t=32306

Detailed install notes are here: installnotes.txt

Multi Beast setting
multibeast.jpg

Pretty straight forward as long as you follow the directions well. Some notes (My personal take on it, don't take this is absolute proof).

- 10.7 Lion Installing from a USB stick to a the OCZ SSD takes only 10 minutes. This is incredibly helpful when you mess up and need to start over.
- I started off going the 10.6.2 and upgrading gradually before I discovered there was a direct route for 10.7.2. Its is unclear to me why the 10.6. and slowly upgrade is still the prefered method.
- direct 10.7 install GraphicsEnabler=yes works for on chip Intel HD 3000 graphics
- starting off with 10.6.3 and then gradually upgrading to 10.7.2 GraphicsEnabler=yes does work *not* for on chip Intel HD 3000 graphics anymore. Some extra next edits were needed. http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=26767
- Graphics are by far the hardest to get working properly, specially if you are attempting to do dual video card.
- Lnx2mac drivers are great for Realtek onboard network chipsets! http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/09/lnx2mac-releases-new-rtl81xx-beta.html
- Used the DSDT for the main board from te DSTDT Database http://www.tonymacx86.com/dsdt.php

Other statistics:

- 4 burned DVD;s, iBoot, RBoot, Knoppix Linux to verify PCIe numbering.
- 25 PCIe Video card insertions, to try different Video cards and installation order.
- 150 reboots, to try different graphics related settings.
- 20 new installs, because I mess up so bad booting wasn't possible anymore.
- 40 hours of studying how to setup dual video cards.

I did get dual NVidia GeForce 8400 GS running in the end . I'll detail how in this thread: http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=36049

 

[Stork]

Going from 10.6.0 or 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 should have only been a two step process....well, maybe three steps since you have run UpdateHelper. Get Ready for OS X Lion: Update to 10.6.8 on a Socket 1155 Sandy Bridge System

Be sure to apply this tweaks describe in this thread to get sleep/wake-up working correctly: Latest Tweaks for SB Lion Systems

To get HD 3000 working with one monitor, see my Z68 build description. If want to use two monitors, then, in MultiBeast, also set your System Definition to Mac Mini (see MultiBeast Features Guide, p9).