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tdw's Haswell ATX: GA-Z87X-UD5H - Core i7-4770K - GTX 770

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tdw

Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
24
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H
CPU
Intel Core i7-4770K
Graphics
EVGA GTX 770 4GB
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
tdw's Haswell ATX: GA-Z87X-UD5H - Core i7-4770K - GTX 770

1003a035-8b1f-431c-90b3-2a48a350971a

Components

Fractal Design DEFINE R4 Titanium Grey Window Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352023

Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm Fan (Case comes with 2 of these, I purchased 1 extra)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835352007

Corsair AX760 Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Professional-Modular-Platinum-AX760/dp/B00A0HZMEM

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-Z87X-UD5H-1150-2-Way-Motherboard/dp/B00CU4L6MA

Intel Core i7-4770K CPU (Overclocked to 4.3 GHz)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-4770K-Quad-Core-Processor-BX80646I74770K/dp/B00CO8TBQ0

Noctua NH-U14S CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-U14S-Sockets-Heatpipe-Cooling/dp/B00C9FLSLY

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Graphics Card (03G-P4-3774-KR)
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-04G-P4-3774-KR/dp/B00E5AEIKE

Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CML16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B007TG8QRW

2 x Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Drives (1 for OS X Mavericks, 1 for Windows 8.1)
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726

Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB Hard Drive (Data)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G

Western Digital Caviar Green 3 TB Hard Drive (Time Machine)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Green-Desktop/dp/B004RORMF6

Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD+/-RW Drive
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW

TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Wireless Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WDN4800-Wireless-Express-Low-profile/dp/B007GMPZ0A

StarTech.com USB 3.0 Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Female-Plate-Adapter-USB3SPLATE/dp/B0066KP06M

HDE USB 2.0 Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/2-Port-Rear-Panel-Bracket-Adapter/dp/B002IWEDSS

Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27 Inch Monitor
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=225-4015

Comments

I decided to build this system to replace my aging 2008 MacBook Pro. I had been holding out for the new Mac Pro but once it was announced I decided it wasn't what I wanted, not to mention the cost. Apple no longer offered a product that met my needs (powerful desktop with expandability) so I decided to build my own. I spent a long time researching how to build a Hackintosh. I found tonymacx86 and decided that UniBeast and MultiBeast were the way to go. I used the November 2013 CustoMac Pro build as a starting point and put together my list of components.

This was the second PC I have built, the first being an AMD-based system back in 2000. A lot has changed since then, but the principles of putting a system together are essentially the same. I spent an afternoon putting all the components into the case. I had concerns whether the CPU cooler would fit in my case, but it is perfect. Once all the components were installed, it was time to embark upon the scary part ... could I make this PC I had built become a Mac?

I turned it on, and the BIOS appeared as expected. I first updated the BIOS to the latest version, F7. I then loaded Optimized Defaults by pressing F7. I spent the next few days experimenting with additional BIOS settings, but to keep things simple I will just tell you what settings I ended up with. I set the Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) to Profile1 to allow my RAM to run at 1600 MHz. Initially, I had only my OS X SSD connected to SATA port 0 and so set that drive as Boot Option #1. Note, you must use P0, P1 etc not UEFI when setting Boot Options. I disabled my Firewire and Serial ports as I have no need for them. Initially, I had the Intel graphics enabled but due to crashing in Apple Maps I have since disabled that and am using just my GTX 770. The final BIOS change I had to make was to disable Wake On LAN, as I was having issues with waking up from sleep. It would turn on, but the display was blank and I would have to reboot every time.

To install OS X 10.9, I used Unibeast 3.0.1 on a USB drive as specified in the 10.9 Installation Guide. It just worked! Once OS X was installed, I ran MultiBeast 6.0.1 with what I thought were the correct settings. There is some guesswork involved here, at least for a first time Hackintosh builder. I noticed there were a few issues. Although my GTX 770 was working perfectly, my Intel graphics was not being detected correctly. I later discovered this was due to having installed the MultiBeast USB 3.0 kext. For anyone building with this motherboard, this advice will save you a lot of headaches : the MultiBeast USB 3.0 kext is NOT REQUIRED and CAUSES PROBLEMS! Not only was it messing up my internal graphics but also the whole system would crash occasionally when I plugged in a USB device. Again, to simplify things, I will show you what MultiBeast options I am now using, which work perfectly :

Screen Shot 2013-12-13 at 10.53.35.png

One issue that bugged me was the display resolution of the boot loader and OS as it was booting up. I had ticked the 1080p option, but my monitor is 2560 x 1440. So I edited the Chimera boot file in OS X's Extra folder. You just need to change "1920x1080x32" to "2560x1440x32" or whatever your resolution may be. This could be added as an option to MultiBeast to make life easier for people. The other major issue I had was that iMessage refused to work. With the power of Google, I managed to find a solution. I downloaded FileNVRAM from http://public.xzenue.com/downloads/ and placed FileNVRAM.dylib into OS X's Extras/modules folder. After a reboot, iMessage worked perfectly. Note I had to use version 1.1.2 from the archive folder. The latest version 1.1.3 would not work, I have no idea why. My final issue was that when opening Apple Maps the display would go garbled and sometimes crash the entire OS. Now I don't use Apple Maps as Google Maps is much better, but I didn't want to risk crashing in the future. Again, with the power of Google I found a solution which was to disable my internal graphics card. I wasn't going use it anyway and by disabling it Apple Maps now works perfectly. In fact, everything works perfectly. The wake from sleep issue I described earlier was the last problem I had to resolve and by disabling Wake On LAN in the BIOS, that now works perfectly.

I have also installed Windows 8.1 onto my second SSD drive. I plugged it into SATA port 1 and disconnected all the other drives as I installed it. I won't go into details here, as installing Windows is a whole separate conversation. I have OS X on SATA 0, Windows 8.1 on SATA 1, and can choose between the two when the computer boots up. I did have to adjust the Boot Options in the BIOS, making P0 Option 1 (for OS X) and P1 Option 2 (for Windows) and then disabling all the others.

I hope at some point to experiment with overclocking but wanted to get my system totally stable and iron out all the kinks first. Thank you tonymacx86 for making the process relatively simple with UniBeast and MultiBeast. I would like to suggest you add in the 2560 x 1440 option into MultiBeast to make things simpler for people, and also perhaps the iMessage FileNVRAM fix, as I imagine most people using OS X would want iMessage to work and it took me a while to figure out how to achieve that.

If anyone has any questions or comments I'd be glad to answer them. If I've left anything out of my first post, please let me know and I will update this post accordingly.
 
Hmm.

I had been running a UD5H with a 4770k using integrated graphics and a Display Port to Mini Display Port cable in order to run a 2010 iMac in Target Display Mode, and that worked fine with the stock Multibeast settings, without 1080p display mode, and no edit in the Chimera boot file. I got a second 2560x1440 monitor, and since this mobo won't run it (DVI maxes out at a lower resolution) I added a GTX 660, which required no changes, i.e. I didn't disable the integrated graphics and used the iMac via the mobo instead. I since changed that, and only changed the initial display settings in the BIOS to use the new 2560x1440 monitor.

My new 2560x1440 monitor started fine into the proper resolution; I didn't have to edit anything. I'm running it via dual link DVI from the GTX 660.

I also had to add the NVRAM module, although I can't recall which version.

And I can only get non-stuttering line out audio via the "back speaker" black audio port on the card; the regular green one stutters back and forth between headphone and line out (there is a thread elsewhere 'bout that).

Good job. Love this, esp with the great monitor.

Rob
 
Hmm.

I had been running a UD5H with a 4770k using integrated graphics and a Display Port to Mini Display Port cable in order to run a 2010 iMac in Target Display Mode, and that worked fine with the stock Multibeast settings, without 1080p display mode, and no edit in the Chimera boot file. I got a second 2560x1440 monitor, and since this mobo won't run it (DVI maxes out at a lower resolution) I added a GTX 660, which required no changes, i.e. I didn't disable the integrated graphics and used the iMac via the mobo instead. I since changed that, and only changed the initial display settings in the BIOS to use the new 2560x1440 monitor.

My new 2560x1440 monitor started fine into the proper resolution; I didn't have to edit anything. I'm running it via dual link DVI from the GTX 660.

I also had to add the NVRAM module, although I can't recall which version.

And I can only get non-stuttering line out audio via the "back speaker" black audio port on the card; the regular green one stutters back and forth between headphone and line out (there is a thread elsewhere 'bout that).

Good job. Love this, esp with the great monitor.

Rob

Thanks Rob. I should clarify that the 2560x1440 edit, or the 1920x1080 edit for that matter, is only required for the Chimera boot loader resolution. Once in OS X the resolution is fine without this edit, but if you want the boot loader (and apple logo while booting up) to be in the correct resolution before the OS is fully loaded then this is required. Of course, some people may not care about that.

The only reason I had to disable the internal graphics card, was to allow Apple Maps to run successfully. Everything else worked perfectly, I have no idea why Apple Maps did not. The map was all garbled and sometimes would crash. Once I disabled the internal graphics card then it was fine.
 
tdw, thanks! I'm considering almost the same set of parts. Your guide will be invaluable. Thanks agian!

Here's what I'm planning (some of it I tweaked after reading your post):

Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
2x G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
2x OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card
Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
StarTech.com USB 3.0 Adapter
HDE USB 2.0 Adapter
 
tdw, thanks! I'm considering almost the same set of parts. Your guide will be invaluable. Thanks agian!

Here's what I'm planning (some of it I tweaked after reading your post):

Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
2x G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
2x OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card
Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
StarTech.com USB 3.0 Adapter
HDE USB 2.0 Adapter

Sounds good envoy510!

I went with the Noctua cooler because I wanted to experiment with overclocking my 4770K. I nearly got the U12S because I wasn't sure if the U14S would fit, but it's perfect. Since my last post I have managed to overclock to 4.3 GHz and it's 100% stable now I've replaced my memory. One of my Corsair memory sticks was faulty (be sure to test your memory with memtest86 before you do anything else!) and I had to get a replacement from Amazon. For some reason I can't get OS X to boot if I try and overclock above 4.3GHz, it just won't boot and hangs on the Apple logo screen. It works fine in Windows 8.1 so I'm not sure why OS X has a problem with 4.4Ghz and above. If anyone knows why >= 4.4GHz is a problem, please let me know. In verbose mode, it hangs at "Starting Apple Key Store" or something similar.

Good luck with your build!
 
Could you please detail how you figured out that disabling Wake on LAN would fix wake from sleep?
 
Could you please detail how you figured out that disabling Wake on LAN would fix wake from sleep?

It was really just a combination of googling and searching this forum. I found a post where disabling Wake on LAN had fixed the sleep issue for someone, then again I found another post where it had not fixed it. So I decided I would try it (it's always best just to change one setting at a time when testing) and immediately wake from sleep worked. So for me at least it's a solution!

My goal was really to change as few BIOS settings as possible from Optimized Defaults. I don't want to change a bunch of settings just because someone else said it's needed, often it's not in my experience. I want every setting I change to either resolve an issue or improve performance in some way, otherwise why make the change. I think I'm at a good place now where there are no more issues that I can see, while also overclocking my CPU to 4.3 GHz which is a nice extra for no $.
 
For anyone building with this motherboard, this advice will save you a lot of headaches : the MultiBeast USB 3.0 kext is NOT REQUIRED and CAUSES PROBLEMS!

tdw, thanks for sharing! I'm planning a similar build myself. I have a question regarding a quote from your post. Does it mean that USB 3.0 would have worked out of the box without MultiBeast kext?
 
tdw, thanks for sharing! I'm planning a similar build myself. I have a question regarding a quote from your post. Does it mean that USB 3.0 would have worked out of the box without MultiBeast kext?

I believe so yes, although I should say I do not own any USB 3.0 devices. When I had the MultiBeast USB 3.0 kext installed, even inserting a USB key would on occasion crash the entire system. Once I removed the kext, anything I plugged in worked as expected. I see the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus showing up in System Information, so I imagine a USB 3.0 drive would work correctly. All the devices I have connected (not USB 3.0) show up under the USB 3.0 Hi-Speed Bus which maxes out at 480 MB/sec. I'm thinking if I plugged in, say, a USB 3.0 hard drive it would show up under the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Bus which would allow speeds of up to 5 GB/sec, but I have no way of testing that unless I purchased a device of some sort.
 
Thanks for quick reply! Just out of curiosity, did you run any benchmarks on your build by any chance? If so, do you mind sharing the results?
 
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