Thoughts on this ITX build? (Asus Z97I-PLUS, i7-4790K, GTX 970)

[applescrapple]

New guy here

I built a few computers more than ten years ago, but been a Mac guy since. Now I'm looking to fill a void in the lineup and build myself a dual purpose video editing/gaming machine. Since it will probably be relegated to HTPC duties down the line (minus the discrete graphics), I chose to make it as compact as it can be while still supporting a full size video card. Here is what I'm thinking:

• Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case
• Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
• Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
• EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
• Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
• Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
• Cooler Master VSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

The plan is to run the latest version of Yosemite and Windows 8 on separate partitions.

Now, I've been reading a lot on this forum and elsewhere about the various issues people are having with WiFI/BT/Audio with the 9* series boards, but haven't seen that many builds using the Asus Z97I-PLUS. I chose this board for a simple reason – it comes with the AzureWave AW-CE123H Wifi/BT combo, which according to this [Guide] Airport - PCIe Half Mini v2 should work. Is that correct?

I also read somewhere that the Gigabyte boards support the processor's onboard video out of the box, but the Asus boards do not? Will this be an issue for me in terms of installation, since the GTX 970 requires additional drivers?

Thanks for the help.

 

[c0y30y]

Hey there,

I too was in a similar boat having been on mac for the past 10-12 years I just wanted something powerful but simple. So I chose a similar build:

MB: Z97i-Plus
CPU: 4790K i7
GPU: GTX760 SC - 4GB
HD: 850 EVO SSD - 250GB (OSX 10.10)
RAM: Ballistix Sport - 16GB (low profile)
CHASSIS: EVGA Hadron Air (w/recommended heat sink fan combo)

I am using clover and didn't have any issues with the onboard video not being supported during setup. Although I cannot get the airplay to work (for mirroring the desktop) which was expected and doesn't matter to me since I can just used a third party software if I need to.

Everything is working great except I have literally spent 12+ hours troubleshooting the bluetooth (wifi works fine with a Tx Rate of over 700Mbps).

Here is the situation I am dealing with as far as the bluetooth is concerned so you know. Yosemite recognizes the onboard bluetooth, I can even search for devices and connect my wireless keyboard. I can see the signal strength and everything once connected... BUT it won't type anything! The funny thing is any NON apple devices connects just fine. But if its an apple keyboard or my iPhone 6 it appears the apple devices do not like my hackintosh. My iPhone connects and then drops the connection. If I click the device which is saved in the device history list it connects and then quickly says "This device is not supported" and the only button I can click is "Forget Device". I have loaded all of the proper kexts and patches and even modified everything I can think of to get it to load but I keep getting the same problem.

I'm sure I will eventually get this though (also new to this whole game).

If you do decide to move forward with your build I would recommend getting the low profile ram as these cases are so small. I know if I had gotten the regular sized ram it wouldn't have fit since the heat sink for the CPU hangs right over one of them.

Hope that helps!

Oh and audio works fine too. I'll update this post when I get the bluetooth figured out.

 

[applescrapple]

Good call on the low profile ram, I've changed that to be sure! Will be pulling the trigger on this configuration then. Hope you work out your bluetooth issues, would be very curious to hear how you managed (when you finally do).

 

[kevin39]

Ni,
I'm planning to use this motherboard. Any news about bluetooth?

Thanks

 

[trs96]

Good call on the low profile ram, I've changed that to be sure! Will be pulling the trigger on this configuration then. Hope you work out your bluetooth issues, would be very curious to hear how you managed (when you finally do).

I just finished a build in the Node 304 case but with just the integrated graphics instead of
a discrete card. Not sure you can fit a full length 970, it would be very tight fit if you could.
You might swap it out for the shorter mini-ITX version if you still can.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125706
My guess is that you've already completed the build so possibly this will help others planning on
using the Node 304 ITX case.

The problem is that the PSU cables take up some of the space where the end of the GPU resides.
The 9.5 inch card should fit theoretically but the 24 pin power cable shortens the available
room on that side of the case where the PCI-E slot is. Be prepared for cable management challenges
in the 304 as well. One of the Silverstone SFX PSUs with short cables would work well in this case.
The problem is the high cost of the higher wattage versions as well as paying more for short cables.

You can see some videos about this on Youtube if you do a little searching. Just as an add on I used the Gmyle BT dongle with the build and it worked perfectly with a Magic trackpad. I don't have an Apple BT keyboard so I'm not 100 % sure it works but I would wager that it will.

 

[RD965]

Hey there,

I too was in a similar boat having been on mac for the past 10-12 years I just wanted something powerful but simple. So I chose a similar build:

MB: Z97i-Plus
CPU: 4790K i7
GPU: GTX760 SC - 4GB
HD: 850 EVO SSD - 250GB (OSX 10.10)
RAM: Ballistix Sport - 16GB (low profile)
CHASSIS: EVGA Hadron Air (w/recommended heat sink fan combo)

I am using clover and didn't have any issues with the onboard video not being supported during setup. Although I cannot get the airplay to work (for mirroring the desktop) which was expected and doesn't matter to me since I can just used a third party software if I need to.

Everything is working great except I have literally spent 12+ hours troubleshooting the bluetooth (wifi works fine with a Tx Rate of over 700Mbps).

Here is the situation I am dealing with as far as the bluetooth is concerned so you know. Yosemite recognizes the onboard bluetooth, I can even search for devices and connect my wireless keyboard. I can see the signal strength and everything once connected... BUT it won't type anything! The funny thing is any NON apple devices connects just fine. But if its an apple keyboard or my iPhone 6 it appears the apple devices do not like my hackintosh. My iPhone connects and then drops the connection. If I click the device which is saved in the device history list it connects and then quickly says "This device is not supported" and the only button I can click is "Forget Device". I have loaded all of the proper kexts and patches and even modified everything I can think of to get it to load but I keep getting the same problem.

I'm sure I will eventually get this though (also new to this whole game).

If you do decide to move forward with your build I would recommend getting the low profile ram as these cases are so small. I know if I had gotten the regular sized ram it wouldn't have fit since the heat sink for the CPU hangs right over one of them.

Hope that helps!

Oh and audio works fine too. I'll update this post when I get the bluetooth figured out.

Any solution for the bluetooth?

 

[Wench]

can't you just buy a USB bluetooth adaptor? I've seen this used in the past.

 

[oznem]

Hello everybody,

for any of those still interested in a Mac Os X 10.11.6 build using Clover and the Asus Z97I-PLUS mini-ITX Mobo with Haswell processors I will post here the difference in performance BEFORE and AFTER properly configuring Power management (see this excellent guide: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/quick-guide-to-generate-a-ssdt-for-cpu-power-management.177456/ ) by creating a custom SSDT with Piker Alpha's ssdtPRGen script for you processor AND configuring in the ASUS Uefi Bios an interesting option: in /AI Tweaker/ set CPU Core Ratio: Sync All Cores.

As you can see from the IPG graphs the processor runs a lot better and also the scores in Cinebench are reflecting this.

 

[mbze430]

I was wondering if you have installed High Sierra on your Z97I-Plus? I am trying to do that, but I cant get to the MacOS Installer. Stopping at the ACPI. You have any suggestions?

 

[Bartmans]

I did a fresh install of High sierra. Installation went smooth without hacking. No extra parameters required.
I choose uefi boot and install.

Z97i-plus
Intel I7-4770
SSD

With Multibeast:
Uefi boot mode
alc892 audio
IntelMausiEthernet.kext
7/8/9 series usb support
increase ax port limit
clover uefi boot mode
Intel graphics fixup

I installed next kext:
BrcmFirmwareRepo.kext
BrcmPatchRAM2.kext
FakePCIID_Broadcom_WiFi.kext
FakePCIID.kext
VoodooPS2Controller.kext