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[SUCCESS] P1LGRIM’s Progress Build: i7 4770K - GA-Z87X-UD3H - 16GB RAM - GTX760

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P1LGRIM

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Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
26,454
Motherboard
Lenovo ThinkStation p700
CPU
2x E5-2620 V3
Graphics
RX 560
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac mini
Classic Mac
  1. Power Mac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
P1LGRIM’s Progress Build: i7 4770K - GA-Z87X-UD3H - 16GB RAM - GTX760

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Components

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Lian Li PC-K56B Black Lancool Series Case Amazon-uk


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Corsair LP RAM 16GB Amazon-uk - i7 4700K Amazon-uk - Arctic Cooling CPU Cooler Amazon-uk

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Corsair CX750M PSU Amazon-uk - Sandisk Extreme 240GB SSD Amazon-uk

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Star Tech 5.25” Hot Swap Rack x 3 Amazon-uk - 2.5” Drive Adaptor (already owned)

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Seagate Barracuda 1TB Hard Drive Amazon-uk - ASUS GeForce GTX760 DirectCU II OC Amazon-uk

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LiteOn IHAS124-04 DVD Drive Amazon-uk - Cherry Electrical G82-27020GB Keyboard Amazon-uk

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Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Motherboard Amazon-uk

Already owned : Acer P225HQ 21.5” Monitor - USB Mouse - 2.5” SSD/HDD adaptor for Hot Swap Rack


Comments
The purpose of this guide is to present the parts and steps required to enable someone to successfully complete the build with ease. It may not be the most efficient way but it is really simple and quick and will provide a solid foundation to expand upon.

I built this machine as a workhorse choosing the components with this purpose in mind.

The PC-K56B case is decent quality at a reasonable price and provides opportunities for good cable management which was a first for me. No more throwing all of the bits into the box as quickly as possible in a race to hit the power button and get started. I assembled it slowly and restarted several times until I was satisfied it was as tidy inside as I could make it. I can see how people get OCD over this.
I was a little concerned about heat and thought that I could always remove the lower drive cage to accommodate water cooling if required.

I was torn between liquid and air cooling but I think that my innate fear of mixing fluids with electricity swayed me in favour of the air cooler option. I saw several recommendations for the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13, it looks a little ungainly (to me) but seems to cope admirably.

My choice of CPU cooler pretty much dictated the low profile memory - My concern being that the cooler might foul any module I might add in the closest slot at a later date.

I am sure that the Corsair CX750M power supply is overkill but I wanted sufficient capacity if I decide to add another graphics card in the future. The hybrid modular design means that if you don't need a particular cable set then just don't plug it in, which contributes greatly to reducing the clutter inside the case.

The Hot Swap Racks are a must have in all of my builds now - They make everything so much easier.
If I want to run Windows, I just pull out the OS X disk and replace it with a Windows one with no risk of one Operating System contaminating the other and none of the issues of multi booting. Likewise, if I want to make a copy of a drive, I just pop a disk into an empty tray and make a clone to it. All without having to open the case. With the adaptor I can enjoy the same advantages with 2.5'' disks and SSDs.

I chose the GTX760 for its performance and because it works right out of the box.

I know that DVD drives are a little superfluous nowadays but I'm old fashioned and quite like having one.
I still have a lot of stuff on CDs and DVDs and although I have portable USB DVD drives, for the small outlay it's convenient to have it included. There's plenty of room for it in the case too.

Preparation
I installed all of the components except for the Graphics Card and the 1TB Hard Drive into the case.

On my MacBook Pro :
I Formatted a USB Flash Drive FAT.
Downloaded the F8M BIOS for the GA-Z87X-UD3H Motherboard from Here.
Copied the F8M BIOS to the USB Flash Drive and upgraded the BIOS from the F7 version that the Motherboard came with.

I downloaded OS X Mavericks Version 10.9.1 from the App Store.
Downloaded UniBeast from Here.
Created a Bootable UniBeast USB Flash Drive as per STEP 2 of This Guide.
Downloaded MultiBeast from Here.
Downloaded Chameleon Wizard from Here.
Created a UTILITIES folder on the UniBeast Flash Drive and copied MultiBeast and Chameleon Wizard to it.

Installation
Insert the UniBeast USB Flash Drive into a USB port.
Power on and press the Delete key to enter the BIOS setup screen.
Set Optimised Defaults - Save and Exit.
When the system restarts press the F12 key for the boot menu - Select your Unibeast USB Flash Drive and press Enter.
When the Bootloader screen appears, press the Spacebar and then type -v -x and press Enter.
Eventually the Welcome screen will appear - Choose your Language and Press Enter.
Prepare the SSD as per STEP 4 Part 6 of This Guide
After you close Disk Utility follow the prompts to complete the installation of the Operating System.
The system restarts and when the Bootloader screen appears type -v -x then select your SSD (with the arrow keys) and press Enter.
Follow the prompts to arrive at the desktop.
Drag the UTILITIES folder from the UniBeast USB Flash Drive to the Desktop.
Eject the UniBeast USB Flash Drive.

Configuration

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From the UTILITIES folder run Multibeast and make the selections shown

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To enable iMessage run Chameleon Wizard From the UTILITIES folder. Make the selection shown and click Apply

Shutdown

Disconnect the power lead and install the Graphics Card into the PCIEX16 slot.
Disconnect the monitor lead from the Motherboard and reconnect to the Graphics Card - I used DVI throughout - VGA is not supported.

Reconnect the power lead and switch on.

The system will boot to the desktop where the GTX760 is correctly recognised in About This Mac without any additional action.

At this point you are up and running with a basic build - Now is the time to install your applications and begin to tweak performance.

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For those who are interested, here are the sources and costs of the components.
All parts were new and boxed with the exception of the IR board.
 
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Reserved for additional information.


Airdrop
Enabled Airdrop via Ethernet - See mac.tutsplus.com tutorial
Enter the following in Terminal and then Restart :
Code:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1


Recovery Partition
Created a Recovery Partition to enable Find My Mac.


CUDA Driver
Installed CUDA Driver Version: 6.0.37
Currently CUDA Driver Version: 6.5.18


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Some benchmarks before I tweak anything​


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Replaced the two fans that came with the case with two Arctic Cooling F12 PWM 120mm Case Fans
I wanted four pin connectors - Cost on ebay (for two) £11.25 including delivery.​


Changed System Definition to iMac14,2 and upgraded to OS X 10.10 Yosemite with a fresh install.


Upgraded the BIOS to F9a.
Upgraded the BIOS to 10b.


I saw some posts recommending the HP NC360T Ethernet cards so I thought I'd try them.
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Disabled the on-board LAN card in the BIOS and removed the AppleIntelE1000e.kext - The card works natively with the AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext and so far so good.


Upgraded to OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) via Software Update
Upgraded to OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) via Software Update
Upgraded to OS X 10.10 (14A389) via fresh install
Upgraded to OS X 10.10.1 (14B25) via Software Update


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Added a Trendnet TK-214i KVM Switch Unit to share my Keyboard-Monitor-Mouse between builds.


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Added Logitech S150 USB speakers.

 
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For no other reason than curiosity I rebuilt this system with Clover instead of Unibeast.
For safety's sake I removed my SSD and Data hard drive then installed a 40GB hard drive for the test installation.

With no prior knowledge of Clover I started with this guide :
How to Install OS X Mavericks using Clover.

It's pretty straightforward although I had to read some parts several times to be sure I understood, but it does become easier as you actually put it all into practice.

I chose the config.plist-GE=Yes-NVIDIA.zip for my config.plist.

In Step 2 (17) When given the choice of Legacy Mode or UEFI Boot Mode I opted for the UEFI Boot Mode.

As I have the HP NC360T Ethernet card which works natively with Mavericks I didn't need to copy an Ethernet kext to the USB flash drive.

I didn't use a DSDT for the install.

Everything went in accordance with the guide.

In Step 4 (5) I went with Custom Install: UEFI-Capable Systems.

When I eventually arrived at the Mavericks desktop I opened Software Update and installed an update directly from the App Store.

Repair Permissions did find a lot of files that needed correction.

I noticed that my RAM speed was reported as 1333 instead of the expected 1600 MHz. A few moments with Google led to the suggestion that I amend my config.plist <key>XMPDetection</key> from No to Yes.
It was that easy - Memory now shows as 1600 MHz.

Although it's early days I am very pleased with the Clover installation and will probably reinstall on my SSD using this method.

Working - iTunes - App Store - iMessage - Sleep - Wake on LAN
 
[SUP]How did you get HDMI audio working on the GTX760? I have the same card and have tried a few guides but wondering if you had any suggestions?

Great to hear its working well.[/SUP]
 
How did you get HDMI audio working on the GTX760? I have the same card and have tried a few guides but wondering if you had any suggestions?

I actually have no need for HDMI audio so haven't tried it on this build.

This thread might be of some use to you.

Thanks for your interest.

Good Luck
 
P1LGRIM said:
...
I saw some posts recommending the HP NC360T Ethernet cards so I thought I'd try them.
83124-hp-nc360t.png
Disabled the on-board LAN card in the BIOS and removed the AppleIntelE1000e.kext - The card works natively with the AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext and so far so good...

Hi, in regards to the NC360T card, did you tried if teaming/link aggregation is working?
 
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Hi, in regards to the NC360T card, did you tried if teaming/link aggregation is working?

No, I haven't tried teaming or link aggregation.
 
Would you mind trying it out pls? I intend to buy the same card.

I have my rig working just the way I want it and I have no intention to change anything just to satisfy your curiosity - Besides, we have different hardware and what works on my build may not necessarily work on yours.

Good Luck
 
I have my rig working just the way I want it and I have no intention to change anything just to satisfy your curiosity - Besides, we have different hardware and what works on my build may not necessarily work on yours.

Good Luck

ROFL
Right. Plugging in one additional network cable and setting the teaming under network preferences will mess up your rig, right... then why do you post about your rig if you are not willing to share relevant information about how and if some parts do work btw.? Well then I guess it counts the most that you are satisfied with your rig. Loaded drivers and kexts don't tell you fully if they will work as expected.
 
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