- Joined
- Dec 15, 2012
- Messages
- 82
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH
- CPU
- i7-3770K
- Graphics
- RX 580
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
[SUCCESS] Dawsman's GA-Z77X-UP5-TH, Core i7 3770K, 32GB RAM, 480+256GB SSD, 2TB HDD, GTX 670
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.
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:
2. Also insert the Graphics Mode key and string, and set it to your monitor's resolution. Mine is shown below:
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.
Dawsman's Build: Core i7-3770K - GA-Z77X-UP5 TH - 32GB RAM - GTX 670 2GB OC
ComponentsGIGABYTE 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:
Code:
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>8800000001000000010000007c0000000200000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff0400100000006d006f00640065006c0000001a000000496e74656c20484420477261706869637320343030302c0000004100410050004c002c00690067002d0070006c006100740066006f0072006d002d006900640000000800000005006201</string>
Code:
<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
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?
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?