[SUCCESS] Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, i7 3770K, 32GB, 480GB SSD, 2TB HDD, GTX 670

[dawsman]

[SUCCESS] Dawsman's GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, Core i7 3770K, 32GB RAM, 480+256GB SSD, 2TB HDD, GTX 670

Dawsman's Build: Core i7-3770K - GA-Z77X-UP5 TH - 32GB RAM - GTX 670 2GB OC

Components

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP5 TH LGA 1155 Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LTB3QW/

2x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E 3.0 Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080I06WQ/

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz LGA 1155 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80637I73770K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SZ0EOW

Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0068ZWZY0/

Sandisk Extreme 480GB Solid State Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EKIQYM/

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM Hard Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T3GRN2/

Corsair Carbide Series Black 500R Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E983JW/

Corsair HX750 ATX/EPS Modular Power Supply (750W)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090I9VZI/

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O65JXI/

Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KSBGLY/


Already Owned

Apple Mac OS X version 10.8.2 Mountain Lion
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512?ls=1&mt=12

Lite-On iHBS212 12x Internal Blu-Ray Disc Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XWA3YU/

Crucial M4 SSD 256GB
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W2JL2A/

2 x 24" Apple Cinema Displays
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013FMLXK/

Apple Wired Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDTAE/


Comments:

I decided to build this Hackintosh because I wanted a relatively high-end machine to replace my mid-2010 iMac but couldn't justify the cost of a Mac Pro. I also wanted to have more flexibility in upgrading my system and running different operating systems.

This was my first ever build from scratch, and I'm pleased to say it went smoothly from start to finish. After putting all the hardware together everything worked the first time I pressed the power button, which was a relief! I have 2 24" Apple cinema displays running off the 2x GTX 670's using mini DP to DP adapters. Both monitors also run fine off the mini DP/thunderbolt connectors via the onboard Intel HD 4000 graphics. Everything on the cinema displays works in OSX and Windows (i.e. camera, speakers/volume control, brightness control, USB ports), and all controllable with the Apple keyboard (requires Bootcamp drivers in Windows).

Note that to view the BIOS I have to use the DP/Thunderbolt connector (HD4000) and have something plugged into the VGA port to enable VGA. There doesn't appear to be an option to always enable VGA in the BIOS.

I've overclocked the CPU to 4.3GHz (with turbo boost to 4.7GHz); and the RAM to 1800MHz, without changing the standard timing (9-9-9-24) but I increased the DRAM voltage from 1.5 to 1.55V (Edit: see post #46 in this thread for updated and detailed overclock settings). This took the Geekbench score from a "stock" 14,100 up to 17,000 (see screenshot below), and all is stable. I've done the Prime95 torture test in Windows for 4 hours and been running stable for 2 weeks. The CPU temp never exceed 70 Celsius throughout the test.

Everything that I've tested works bar the wifi PCI-e card which doesn't work under OSX Mountain Lion (bluetooth works but not well). I don't need wifi but you can get a TP-Link TL-WDN4800 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band 5GHz PCI Express Adapter which apparently works out of the box. I had read and was concerned about ethernet issues with Gigabyte motherboards, but despite my concerns it works fine and at full 1 gig speed.

What I haven't tested:

- Thunderbolt :I don't have any thunderbolt devices to test but from other accounts it works except that the devices aren't "hot-swappable".

- Rear audio jacks (but see screenshot below). The optical out works but I'm having trouble getting multi-channel audio from it under OSX....See update section below


I'm successfully quad-booting Mountain Lion and Windows 7 (from the Sandisk SSD), Windows 8 (from the Crucial SSD) and Linux (Ubuntu 12.04, from a 1TB partition on the Seagate HDD) all flawlessly via the Chimera boot loader.

The Corsair 500R case is beautiful, with fans galore (yet it's so quiet) and LED lighting built in. I'm also very impressed with how quiet these modern power supplies are, with the fan only coming on as required which has been rarely so far. Coolermaster fan is also very quiet. The loudest fans other than when the power supply kicks in are the 3x fans on the Gigabyte GTX 670, but even those are quiet by my standards.

I'm very happy with the build overall . Thanks very much to tonymacx86!. I'm happy to answer any questions.

MultiBeast Configuration for Mountain Lion

For the MultiBeast configuration, the compulsory selections are User DSDT or DSDT-Free installation, Audio and Network drivers, and GraphicsEnabler=No. The rest I chose for my own reasons. NullCPUPower Management was required so my actual (overclocked) processor clock speed is shown in "About this Mac", note that I also had to disable speedstepping in the BIOS (see updates section below). I chose the Mac Pro 5,1 system definition because I wanted a Mid-2010 Mac Pro in "About this Mac", IMPORTANT: delete the AppleTyMCEDriver.kext otherwise you will get a kernel panic. If left unchecked the default system definition is Mac Pro 3,1, which works fine, and you don't need to delete any kext files. Once installed and prior to re-booting I modified the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file as follows in order to get the Intel HD4000 Graphics working:

1. Insert the following device-properties key and string into org.chameleon.boot.plist:

<key>device-properties</key>
<string>8800000001000000010000007c0000000200000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff0400100000006d006f00640065006c0000001a000000496e74656c20484420477261706869637320343030302c0000004100410050004c002c00690067002d0070006c006100740066006f0072006d002d006900640000000800000005006201</string>

2. Also insert the Graphics Mode key and string, and set it to your monitor's resolution. Mine is shown below:

<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1920x1200x32</string>

3. In the BIOS, set the internal graphics to auto, set IGFX to initialise first, and set IGFX memory size to 32MB (try 64MB if you get a kernel panic).

The BIOS settings should allow the internal HD4000 graphics and discrete nVidia graphics to run simultaneously in both OSX and Windows.

Note that the downside of initialising the internal graphics first is that you can only view the BIOS and Chimera boot menu on a monitor connected to the internal graphics.

Miscellaneous Screen Shots

About this Mac (shows the "base" processor clock speed?):
Note: For some reason 4.3GHz is the maximum that can be shown in "About this Mac"

Hardware (shows the turbo-boost clock speed):

Audio (I've only tested the optical out, but the rest should work):

Graphics (shows both onboard and discrete):

Geekbench (processor speed is screwy due to the OC):

Updates

​

9/1/13: Got AC3/DTS working via the optical out. Simply installed XMBC and from within the software set audio output to optical/coax, speaker configuration to 5.1 (that's my configuration) and audio device to built-in digital. Thanks to papageientaucher for the suggestion!

28/1/13:

1. Updated Multibeast configuration to reflect that NullCPUPowerManagement.kext is not required to display true processor clock speed in About this Mac. Without it, manual sleep/wake works. Auto sleep still doesn't work.

2. Below is a screenshot of my new modified "About my Mac". I followed the guide at the following link: http://www.tonymacx86.com/mac-software/32971-about-mac-custom-image.html?highlight=Mac+Custom+Image?

​

 

[Vapour360]

Hey, Dawsman!!

Firstly congrats on your new build!! Its a beast, and its much like my Hackintosh Im still trying to get up and running!

I bought all my Hardware this Xmas to be ready to rock by Jan! Im from South Africa BTW!

I have the same hardware as you barring hard drives! Core i7-3770K - GA-Z77X-UP5-TH - 32BG Corsair Vengeance Ram - Leadtek GTX 670 2GB Carbide 400R chasis! Corsair H40 water cooler, 1xSSD 1x2TB HDD - TP link wifi card!

I have followed your steps exactly, BUT, it seems that after I follow your HD4000 graphics steps, I get a Kernel Panic every time! 3 times now!?

However, the most important thing Im craving is Abobe software to SEE/RECOGNISE my GPU for accelerated performance! In my previous installs of ML I had the GPU recognised by the Adobe APPS (After Effects etc) but after restarting it would unrecognised/only use CPU, this would change every time i restarted the machine?

I was just wondering if you knew why or you have a correct way of installing/applying this fix!!

Well thanks in advance and I hope to overclock my machine soon, once its stable!
Hope to hear from you soon!!

 

[dawsman]

Hi Vapour360

Thanks!

A couple of hours ago I clarified the instructions with regard to modifying the BIOS. You need to set the internal graphics to auto, set IGFX to initialise first, and set IGFX memory size to 32MB. I don't think it was very clear before. I hope my previous unclear instructions weren't the cause of your kernel panics!

If you did follow the above instructions and are still getting the kernel panic, then I'm at a loss as to what's causing it. I got the kernel panic the first time when I had GraphicsEnabler=Yes and no device properties in org.Chameleon.boot.plist. As soon as I added the device properties the kernel panics ceased. The alternative for you to try is GraphicsEnabler=No, no device properties and no GraphicsMode setting and see if you can reboot without a kernel panic.

Edit: make sure you have the latest BIOS for your motherboard. I think it's F11 - that's what I have.

Good luck! Let me know how you go.

 

[Vapour360]

Hey Dawsman,

Thanks for the fast reply!!

Good news, I am up and running! I was not deleting the AppleTyMCEDriver.kext file, and as i deleted that I booted perfectly!!

There are 1 or 2 things that are confusing me, I am using BIOS F11. Snap!

With your BIOS settings I have to plug my DVI screens cable DVI into the mother board to see the boot screen? Will this still use my 670? Because when I click "about this mac/more info" it says I am using the Intel HD4000 instead of the GTX 670?

I also don't know if this will work good in windows, playing far cry 3? (plugged into the mother board)

EDIT: When I have the BIOS setup as yours is, I have to have the DVI cable plugged into my mother board, not the GTX 670 and just before it reaches the grey screen with logo, TWO short lines saying error .... appear! but it boots fine! Is this strange?

I filmed the boot sequence and the 2 error lines are:

ERROR:dcbtable_version is 0x1
ERROR nVidia ROM Patching Failed!

Any help on this would be awesome!!

Excuse me if these are silly questions!!

But thanks so much man, for the fast reply!!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[dawsman]

Good news Vapour360.

Yes, the unfortunate thing about initialising the internal graphics first is that you need to be plugged into internal graphics to see the boot screen. I have two monitors (cinema displays), and plan to have one hooked up to one of the mini display (thunderbolt) ports on the motherboard and the other to the display port on the GTX 670 when I eventually get the MDP to DP adapter I ordered!. That way I'll see the boot screen on the one connected to the MDP. When I boot into OSX/Windows, I'll have the monitor connected to the GTX 670 as the primary monitor so it will be using the GTX 670.

If you only have one monitor, now that you have everything up and running, perhaps you would be better off disabling the internal graphics and initialising the GTX670 ("PCIE" in BIOS) first? Then you *may* be able to see the boot screen. If not, try the HDMI or displayport if your monitor has those connections. This will probably solve your problem with Adobe software too - it can't use the internal graphics if they are not enabled!

 

[Vapour360]

Hey,

Oh ok I see!! Yeah I Intend having my other display hooked up soon!! Although I can work smoothly off one!
If i set the "BIOS Init Display First" back to "Auto" it uses my GTX 670 to display the boot screen and boots fine!! This how ever does take away HD4000 graphics in system profiler, as well as those 2 ERROR lines while booting!!

Should I leave the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file as is with the changes you have described? or should i revert back to normal?

In the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file Having graphics enabler set to yes with the device properties string, and BIOS set to PCIE it still boots perfectly!!

I think I will try install the latest CUDA drivers, reinstalling adobe and testing if it cocsistantly recognises the GPU GTX670!

Thanks so much for your help man, been pulling some of my hair out trying to find a stable Hackintosh build/guide such as this!!
Really appreciate the feedback help and support!!

 

[dawsman]

I'd leave the org.chameleon.Boot.plist as it is (i.e. keep the modifications) just in case you have to revert back to the internal graphics for troubleshooting.

I think you have a good setup now - I wouldn't worry about not having the HD4000 enabled/visible in system profiler. I reckon your Adobe software will work perfectly with the GTX 670 now too.

Thanks for the feedback on my build instructions - I'm glad they are clear enough for someone else to repeat.

 

[Vapour360]

Ok Good news!! Left it all as is!

It boots in seconds and is the most stable Install I have had since starting! Can confirm that the TP LINK wifi card you listed (I have it) works natively out the box with this build!

I will write back tomorrow once I have CUDA and Adobe apps installed and up to date, and tested the GPU support!!

Great build and great instructions!!
Thanks once again for the help!

Chat soon

 

[dawsman]

I'm constantly amazed at how stable this build is as a Hackintosh. I guess that's the benefit of using precisely the hardware recommended by tonymacx86.com in their CustoMac section!

I might have to grab one of those TP-Link wifi cards. I don't really need wifi but it would be nice to have everything working.

Vapour360 - I assume the TP-link card doesn't have bluetooth (like the one included with the motherboard). Do you have bluetooth? I think there is a USB bluetooth adapter listed in the CustoMac section but I'd prefer to have an on-the-motherboard solution. I guess you could keep the included wifi/bluetooth card installed (and disable the wifi?) but I've found the bluetooth doesn't work very well - I tested the Apple wireless mouse and trackpad and the movement of the mouse cursor wasn't smooth.

 

[dawsman]

Glad to hear everything is working like you wanted Vapour360.

Question - can you view the BIOS when connected to the GTX 670?

Something else you may want to do is enable TRIM on your SSD assuming that you're booting OSX from it (first check in system profiler under Serial-ATA - TRIM support to see if it is already enabled). I did this yesterday. This improves SSD performance and helps prevent progressive degradation in performance over time (in case you're not already aware).

I followed this guide: http://digitaldj.net/2011/07/21/trim-enabler-for-lion/

Finally, give your system a few days to ensure stability, then get to some overclocking! You should do well with your water cooler.