- Joined
- Oct 26, 2012
- Messages
- 1
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
- CPU
- Intel i7 3770K
- Graphics
- Gigabyte GTX 660 TI OC
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Henmac's Orihime: i7 3770K | GA-Z77X-D3H | GTX 660 Ti OC | 16GB RAM
Components
Intel® Core i7-3770K Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SZ0EOW/
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R21KBC
Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti Windforce 2X OC GPU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UG2W20/
Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 16GB Kit
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EWUO22/
Corsair TX650M 650W PSU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E98I0G/
Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005UBNN76/
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB HDD (x 3 pieces)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VFJ9MK/
Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl Casing
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HD3CTI/
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O65JXI/
Samsung S27A850D 27" LED Monitor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076Q2FJU/
Belkin BT Dongle
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E96JBK/
Logitech M705 Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TG75EG/
Logitech C525 Webcam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WO8HQ4/
Already Owned
NuForce Icon 24bit/96kHZ USB DAC & Amp
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002R3OFRW/
Travagans 3" bookshelf speakers + AEGO M Subwoofer
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000GJEUNI/
Apple Wireless Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDO4U/
Apple Mountain Lion
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512?mt=12
Microsoft Windows 7 Home
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DUCMT2/
Comments:
I have been an Apple user since 2004, had a few iMacs & MacBooks along the years. My current iMac is 2008 24" model with 8800GS. While my current 13" MacBook Air is the latest 2012 model.
Like many people, I have been eagerly waiting for a new iMac since June this year. However, I'm disappointed with the latest super slim iMac. I'm worried about the heat in such a cramped case. My 2008 iMac is so hot that it fried my GPU & LCD panel, which fortunately, both were replaced for free by Apple. Apart from that, I foresee Apple charging a lot of money for the BTO to upgrade for i7, 3TB Fusion Drive & 680MX GPU.
So I decided to built a Hackintosh after considering the cost & benefits. I will use this machine for mostly photo & video editing and some occasional gaming on Windows.
For video editing, I chose 3770K with overclocking in mind. I knew i7 2600K is cooler, but I prefer to use newer gen CPU. Initially I wanted a Z77X-UD5 but it was out of stock everywhere locally so I picked the Z77X-D3H. As I'm using USB DAC, the sound chip didn't bother me much. As for GPU, I picked GTX 660 Ti for casual gaming session on Windows. The Fractal R4 is a beautiful case, with excellent built & sound proofing. It is also great value for money compared to other silent casing, CM Silencio 650 & Corsair Obsidian 550D.
"Orihime" is the name I gave to my iMac, which carried over for a few generations. Orihime means Weaving Princess in Japanese folklore & also the name of the star Vega. I decided to keep using the name on my frankenMac. The beautiful princess has been hit by an ugly stick.
Installation
I mostly followed the tutorial by Crantea Mihaita, as he is using the same D3H motherboard & has comprehensive guide on enabling the audio.
http://mehigh.biz/hackintosh/mountain-lion-on-gigabyte-ga-z77x-d3h-tutorial.html
On my Mac
- Created Unibeast on USB stick, I then copied both Multibeast & OSXUpdCombo10.8.2.dmg into it as well.
On the Hackintosh
- Loaded Optimized Defaults & disabled Internal Graphics on BIOS
- Since I planned to dual boot Mac & Windows on separate drives, I first installed Windows 7 with the OS X drive disconnected. After that I disconnected the Win drive & reconnected the OS X drive to install ML.
- Everything went smoothly. After rebooted with USB stick, I installed 10.8.2 & ran Multibeast
MultiBeast Configuration for Mountain Lion
Performance
The CPU is running stable at 4.6Ghz, resulting in Geekbench score of 16191.
Cuda has also been installed & utilized by CS6.
Overview:
Audio: As I'm using USB DAC which works OOB, I didn't do the extra steps to enable the VIA sound chipset as I feel its unnecessary at this time. Maybe I'll wait for more stable solution. If you would like to enable it on yours please see this tutorial: http://mehigh.biz/hackintosh/mountain-lion-on-gigabyte-ga-z77x-d3h-tutorial.html
USB: The lower 4x USB 3.0 ports at the back are not working, the rest works although I can't confirm whether the USB 3.0 ports are working at full speed.
Sleep: No USB ejection issue when waking up. I can wake it up with my Logitech M705 & everything is normal. Except when using Belkin BT dongle, the Mac wont wake up.
Bluetooth: Still on the topic on BT dongle, the Belkin one doesn't work on BIOS & Chimera screen, any suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Mouse: Works OOB, no driver required.
Overall this is pretty easy built, considering I have not touched DIY PC for more than 8 years. I have run it for almost a week now & it is rock solid.
Henmac's Orihime: i7 3770K - GA-Z77X-D3H - GTX 660 Ti OC
Components
Intel® Core i7-3770K Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SZ0EOW/
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R21KBC
Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti Windforce 2X OC GPU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UG2W20/
Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 16GB Kit
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006EWUO22/
Corsair TX650M 650W PSU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E98I0G/
Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005UBNN76/
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB HDD (x 3 pieces)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VFJ9MK/
Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl Casing
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HD3CTI/
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O65JXI/
Samsung S27A850D 27" LED Monitor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076Q2FJU/
Belkin BT Dongle
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E96JBK/
Logitech M705 Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TG75EG/
Logitech C525 Webcam
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WO8HQ4/
Already Owned
NuForce Icon 24bit/96kHZ USB DAC & Amp
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002R3OFRW/
Travagans 3" bookshelf speakers + AEGO M Subwoofer
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000GJEUNI/
Apple Wireless Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDO4U/
Apple Mountain Lion
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512?mt=12
Microsoft Windows 7 Home
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DUCMT2/
Comments:
I have been an Apple user since 2004, had a few iMacs & MacBooks along the years. My current iMac is 2008 24" model with 8800GS. While my current 13" MacBook Air is the latest 2012 model.
Like many people, I have been eagerly waiting for a new iMac since June this year. However, I'm disappointed with the latest super slim iMac. I'm worried about the heat in such a cramped case. My 2008 iMac is so hot that it fried my GPU & LCD panel, which fortunately, both were replaced for free by Apple. Apart from that, I foresee Apple charging a lot of money for the BTO to upgrade for i7, 3TB Fusion Drive & 680MX GPU.
So I decided to built a Hackintosh after considering the cost & benefits. I will use this machine for mostly photo & video editing and some occasional gaming on Windows.
For video editing, I chose 3770K with overclocking in mind. I knew i7 2600K is cooler, but I prefer to use newer gen CPU. Initially I wanted a Z77X-UD5 but it was out of stock everywhere locally so I picked the Z77X-D3H. As I'm using USB DAC, the sound chip didn't bother me much. As for GPU, I picked GTX 660 Ti for casual gaming session on Windows. The Fractal R4 is a beautiful case, with excellent built & sound proofing. It is also great value for money compared to other silent casing, CM Silencio 650 & Corsair Obsidian 550D.
"Orihime" is the name I gave to my iMac, which carried over for a few generations. Orihime means Weaving Princess in Japanese folklore & also the name of the star Vega. I decided to keep using the name on my frankenMac. The beautiful princess has been hit by an ugly stick.
Installation
I mostly followed the tutorial by Crantea Mihaita, as he is using the same D3H motherboard & has comprehensive guide on enabling the audio.
http://mehigh.biz/hackintosh/mountain-lion-on-gigabyte-ga-z77x-d3h-tutorial.html
On my Mac
- Created Unibeast on USB stick, I then copied both Multibeast & OSXUpdCombo10.8.2.dmg into it as well.
On the Hackintosh
- Loaded Optimized Defaults & disabled Internal Graphics on BIOS
- Since I planned to dual boot Mac & Windows on separate drives, I first installed Windows 7 with the OS X drive disconnected. After that I disconnected the Win drive & reconnected the OS X drive to install ML.
- Everything went smoothly. After rebooted with USB stick, I installed 10.8.2 & ran Multibeast
MultiBeast Configuration for Mountain Lion
Performance
The CPU is running stable at 4.6Ghz, resulting in Geekbench score of 16191.
Cuda has also been installed & utilized by CS6.
Overview:
Audio: As I'm using USB DAC which works OOB, I didn't do the extra steps to enable the VIA sound chipset as I feel its unnecessary at this time. Maybe I'll wait for more stable solution. If you would like to enable it on yours please see this tutorial: http://mehigh.biz/hackintosh/mountain-lion-on-gigabyte-ga-z77x-d3h-tutorial.html
USB: The lower 4x USB 3.0 ports at the back are not working, the rest works although I can't confirm whether the USB 3.0 ports are working at full speed.
Sleep: No USB ejection issue when waking up. I can wake it up with my Logitech M705 & everything is normal. Except when using Belkin BT dongle, the Mac wont wake up.
Bluetooth: Still on the topic on BT dongle, the Belkin one doesn't work on BIOS & Chimera screen, any suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Mouse: Works OOB, no driver required.
Overall this is pretty easy built, considering I have not touched DIY PC for more than 8 years. I have run it for almost a week now & it is rock solid.
Last edited by a moderator: