- Joined
- Feb 25, 2011
- Messages
- 363
- CPU
- i7 2600K @ 4.8ghz
- Graphics
- 560 Ti
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
SkeletalMac MKII
Components
Silverstone Raven RV-01 case (amazing case, but huge)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163135
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R21JK4/
Intel i7 2600K running at 4.5ghz turbo boost
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Thermalright Archon CPU cooler (with both 140mm fans, this cooler is really tall and wont fit most cases)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004D1VULU/
16Gb's of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 Memory
Zotac Geforce GTX560 ti 448 core special edition (570 with one cuda core disabled, as a result native open CL and better power support in OSX)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500231
Intel 510 120gb SATAIII SSD (more stable than a sandforce)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167042
WD Caviar Black 2TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792
WD Caviar Green 3TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236108
Sony OptiArc DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118067
Corsair HX850 850watt Professional PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=Corsair%20HX850
ioGear Bluetooth 2.1 Adapter
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P18W58/
Apple Magic Trackpad
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XIJ3MW/
Logitech G700 Wireless Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VAM32E/
NEC 2490WUXI2 24" Design Caliber hardware programmable LUT table monitors (Most amazing things ever, I've had many monitors but these will be used till they die, which will be a long long time. They are that good.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002527
Ergotron MX Desk Mount (VESA for monitors)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IWOBGI/
Comments
This is the replacement build for my troubled Z68X board (bad x16 slot). Regardless decided to jump into the deep once again and do bleeding edge build with the Z77X-UD5H. I use it primarily for digital design work. I'm a print and web designer, though as of late also learning solidworks, always do developing of my own RAW photography, and snip together artistic video snippets. Never has a machine done so well at everything! My previous desktop was a previous generation 27" iMac (with 256 SSD), before that was an EP45-UD3P based Catri BIOS hack (was on his development team before things went sideways).
This is an incredibly similar build to SkeletalMac MKI, but this time I gutted the case (literally, took off frivolous plastic panels to dust/modify them…). Took a lot more pictures with my NEX-7 this time too.
System Specifications: (Links Above)
- Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Intel i7 2600K Turbo at 4.5-4.8 (depending on mood, max I've had stable is 5.2)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4gb matched kit) 1600mhz RAM[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Zotac Geforce GTX 560 ti 448 core[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Intel 510 120GB SSD (SATAIII+OS Disk)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- WD Black 2TB (Storage+Recover/Test Partition)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- WD Green 3TB (Time Machine)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Silverstone Raven RV01 Full-Tower case[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Cougar something's fans[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Corsair HX850 850watt Professional PSU[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Two NEC 2490WUXI2 24" Monitors on Ergotron MX Desk Mounts[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
The Internals of the build:
The scale of this case is not a joke by any means. It is full ITX and at that with plenty of room. It also has the motherboard inverted 90°. Your not fighting thermodynamics to cool this beast.
This showed up at my door right when I dismantled everything, perfect timing UPS.
Heatsink mounted. With the Thermalright Archon you do not need to use fans, but it really shines when you do. It is also a "variable pressure" heatsink, allowing you to adjust the pressure on the top casing of you processor. I have it maxed out with very little AS5 thermal paste to get nice temperatures!
The layout of this board is great for those with big coolers, it's a couple of mm's roomier in the right directions compared to the Z68X-UD3H. It's similar to the P67-UD5H board I previously used.
Who doesn't want onboard power switch that lights up? And simple to understand diagnostic codes? or Clear CMOS switch? Even a needless reset switch (not that lazy I can't hold power for 4 seconds)? Better yet a Dual-Bios with a switch to adjust between them. It's the little things on this board that make it worth it over a basic UD3 style board!
With fans mounted its a seriously close fit. Works perfect though, on Z68 that top ram slot's heat spreader was bent (stick was straight) so lost some of it's effectiveness. Not that modern ram gets hot...
Most insane part of my build, I went electrical tape happy on the backside. Makes the cabling rattle/vibration free, and more organized. You are not trying to "shove" the door on to get it to fit. Works wonderfully though.
Not sure many cases can accommodate this cooler, takes up the "view" for sure.
This is the "top" where the cables come out looks incredibly clean when done. The cover still allows for heat to escape.
Slick Lines. Mind you it's plastic trimming but it's really a solid metal case, it's deathly heavy. Not something you'd want to move around.
Cable management in action, everything is guided into a cable whole on the side of the desk, into organizers on the inside, and some out to my monitors on the monitor arms.
Shows the case size in comparison to a normal 3.5" HD. Do notice that it's the 90° rotated setup. So cables etc on top.
Hot swappable HD Bays
The "top" of the case with the cables and lone cougar 120mm fan.
Fan Controller
Install Notes
This is not a supported build – yet. Lion does instal, it does work, but I haven't tackled audio yet. Once that is working I'll have a quick writeup with multi beast screens and how to get it going on Nvidia and ATI cards. The UEFI settings are critical on this board, and those will be included to.
What is not working/ToDo list on 10.7.3:
- Audio (this is without DSDT and I haven't honestly tried hard on that yet)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- USB 3 (it's now native to the chipset, thus not working in OSX, However unlike before they do work as USB2 without drivers!)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
What could work better:
- Intel NIC (if you have an Apple Base Station it might not always get proper DHCP settings and result in a useless IP address; this is more an issue with my networking environment)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
- Speedstepping, it works, but there is room for future issues... (possibly, clarifying this)[/*:m:1f2cv2xp]
I'll post more of how it's done in the work in progress guide I'm running in tandem for the Z77X-UD5H board. I'll add the link once it is up.
Info Screens:
Still working on About This Mac for this build. It benches at 997 on Luxmark though [More Coming Soon]
Bonus Info
Now I admit, quality monitors are out of most peoples budgets... But there are many that will get new screens with a new build. Might I suggest saving money for a nice display (Like NEC's PA series or 90 series monitors?). A nice monitor will last you years. Rather than being a disposable commodity!
The two NEC 2490WUXi2's that I have are amazing screens, very little anti-glare coating (which causes a sparkle effect), best of breed IPS panels, and true 1920x1200 resolution. You'll be amazed what 120 pixels can do! They are the best screens I've seen no questions asked, and they are from 2009! Newer isn't always better and you can even pick them up sometimes off of NEC's refurb store for sub $450 each. That's a steal.
Just food for thought
Feel free to ask any questions, here or on the install guide thread. I try to be as helpful as I can! I've had a lot of experience with Hack's that I generally know the answer and/or where to look exactly. Only issue I ever have is with new semi-uncharted tech
Post Last Updated At: 10:30 AM MST 4/15/12