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sebgreen's Build: Core i7-4770 - GA-Z87X-UD3H - 16GB 1866Mhz RAM - Intel 4600 Dual Monitor

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Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
113
Motherboard
10.9.2
CPU
i7 4770
Graphics
MSI GeForce GTX 760 TF
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
[UPDATED]sebgreen's Build: Core i7-4770 - GA-Z87X-UD3H - 32GB 1866Mhz RAM - MSI Nvidia GTX 760 Dual Monitor

sebgreen's Build: Core i7-4770 - GA-Z87X-UD3H - 32GB 1866Mhz RAM - MSI Nvidia GTX 760 Dual Monitor - Mavericks 10.9

84738-g5case.jpg
Components


Intel Core i7 4770
[[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CLD9URS/0[/AMAZON-uk]

Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Motherboard
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CXK59QK/[/AMAZON-uk]

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866 Mhz CL9 XMP
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007R1SN36/[/AMAZON-uk]

Corsair H60 120mm Rad Liquid CPU Cooler
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A0HZMGA/[/AMAZON-uk]

Corsair RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W ATX/EPS Fully Modular Power Supply
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FG9FWF8/[/AMAZON-uk]

Noctua NF-F12PWM Case Fan 120mm
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00650P2ZC/[/AMAZON-uk]

Apple Power Mac G5 Case (A1047(EMC 1969))
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_t...wermac+g5&_nkw=Powermac+g5&_sacat=0&_from=R40

The Laser Hive G5 to ATX Case Conversion Kit
http://www.thelaserhive.com/product...ts/g5-full-atx-kit-120-and-original-versions/

G5 Front I/O Panel to ATX Cable
https://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_20020.html

Dell UltraSharp 24" 2408WFPb monitor
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o....TR0.TRC0.H0.X2408wfpb&_nkw=2408wfpb&_sacat=0


Already Owned

Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E391OX6/[/AMAZON-uk]

Apple OS X 10.9 - App Store Purchase
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/os-x-mavericks/id675248567?mt=12

Apple Keyboard with Numeric Pad
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MB110B/B/apple-keyboard-with-numeric-keypad-british?fnode=56

Apple 20" Cinema Display
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...isplay&_nkw=Apple+20"+Cinema+Display&_sacat=0


Comments

Been an OS X user for the past 6 years. Always had MacBooks (White Polycarbonate, Unibody MacBook Pro & latest gen MacBook Air). Before that I was a Windows user & used to build my own systems. Decided that I wanted a desktop again so decided to build it myself.

I wanted to build a decent, quick machine that will last me a good few years, but it also upgradable in the future. I used to use my MacBook Pro & the Apple Cinema display side by side for a dual screen setup. I was recommended the Dell monitor by a friend and found one on eBat. I can confirm that both screens work from the motherboard on-board graphics (Intel 4600). The Apple Cinema Display is plugged in vie DVI & the Dell is plugged in via HDMI. Both work and I can adjust the resolutions independently as I wish.

I replaced the Corsair fan that came with the H60 cooler with 2 Noctua NF-F12PWM fans as they are highly renowned to be the best fans you can get. I have them setup on both sides of the radiator and the system runs pretty cool & quiet.

Case
I chose the G5 case as I have always loved the design. It's a solid case and you can actually pickup the entire systems on eBay ready to strip for less than £50. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the ATX adaptor kit from The Laser Hive. It came with the metal plate for the rear, the mobo mounting board, all nuts/bolts & some detailed instructions to fully convert the case to ATX. It is the latest kit design which has the PSU cutout at the top (currently not on website yet) & I think my kit was the first production version he had sold. The quality is amazing. If you are going to do this case mod you have to get this kit. You will also need the front I/O cable to make the front power button, LED, USB, Audio & Firewire plugs work with the ATX board. You can find people selling pre made ones, or find the diagrams online and make your own.


[video=youtube_share;dDFZr_UHBtY]http://youtu.be/dDFZr_UHBtY[/video]

85175-insdie2.jpg

Inside 1 - pretty happy with how clean the build is. Cable management could be better, but there is nowhere to hide them.

85174-insdide1.jpg

Inside 2 - Planning on making a bracket to mount an exhaust fan near the front of the case.


85173-hd-bay.jpg

Hard drive mounted where the superdrive used to be. I got a 2.5 to 3.5 pay converter bracket and attached it to the existing shelf in the case.

85172-fan-cpu-cooler.jpg

Both Noctua fans on the rad at the back of the case.​

85176-rear-panel.jpg

This it the new backplate design from The Laser Hive. It is the 120mm fan version but now has the PSU at the top.​


MultiBeast Configuration for Mavericks
84753-screen-shot-2014-02-26-15-16-02.png
Updates

24/02/2014
Using the inbuilt audio
on my mobo I was getting some distortion. Followed the instructions by CorbiH:

You go to Launchpad type in Audio in the search box.
As result there will appear Audio-Midi-Setup, click it ones there will appear a window and you have to select your current output and try an other Frequenzy like 96,000 kHz


This solved my problem and the audio is now fine.

--------

26/02/2014
Update to 10.9.2 went successfully. Just followed the instructions by Stork in the thread and all worked again.

--------

28/02/2014
Received a Bluetooth dongle I ordered from Amazon on the recommendations by some posts on here.
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/GMYLE-Bluetooth-Technology-Wireless-Broadcom/dp/B007MKMJGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393585685&sr=8-1&keywords=NPL003340
[/AMAZON-uk]

There are two version available - 10m range and 100m range. They have different chipsets. Make sure you get the 10m one (Broadcom BCM20702 Chipset). I believe this is the same bluetooth chipset used by Apple in some of their iMac/Macbook machines.

To get it to work I first tried plugging it in to the rear USB ports. The system would recognise it but it couldn't find my magic mouse to pair. Then I plugged it in to the USB hub on the back of my cinema display, took the batteries out the mouse and reinserted them. After this it all worked fine. Instantly found the mouse and paired. Works after restart etc. I tried plugging it back into the USB on the back of the machine which worked, but there was a delay in the mouse movements. I think it may not really have a 10m range (my machine is under the desk about 1.5 meters away from where mouse is). Plugged it back into the back of the cinema display and it works a charm.

--------

15/03/2014
Up until now I had no dedicated case fans, only the push/pull setup on the CPU rad so I decided to add some fans.

I went with 2 of these:

Noctua NF-P12 Fan 120mm
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/fan-NOCTUA-120x120x25-NF-P12-14400010/dp/B000YSONMO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394911112&sr=8-1&keywords=NF-P12[/AMAZON-uk]

I got some Aluminium angle and made a bracket/frame to hold the two fans.

86783-new-fan-frint.jpg

To stop vibration I cut down some thin case insulation foam (sticky backed) and stuck it on the frame between it and the fans. You can see it here in this image (the black around the fans).

86781-new-fan-back.jpg


I installed the frame/bracket in the case near to the front. I did not want to drill the case so I bonded it to the side and bottom (sorry about the image quality of this one).

86782-new-fan-fitted.jpg


The fans blow from the front of the case to the back. The fans on the CPU rad are going in the same direction so it should have some better airflow running through the case now.

Noise wise, the fans come with a L.N.A (low noise adapter - 16.9db) which limits the speed to 1100rpm and a U.L.N.A (ultra low noise adapter - 12.6db) which limits the speed to 900rpm. I went with the U.L.N.A and you can't even hear the fans, but they still provide decent air flow.

--------

03/04/2014
Originally bought 16GB of RAM but decided today to buy another 16GB kit just to make sure it was a matching set. Always planned on having the system with 32GB. I should have bought it all at the start but forgot. Its an identical kit to the one I originally bought so now running 32GB 1866Mhz CL9 DDR3.

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866 Mhz CL9 XMP

[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007R1SN36/[/AMAZON-uk]

--------

16/04/2014
Was running on the Intel 4600 built in graphics, but Scan (uk) had an offer on the GTX 760 card.

MSI Nvidia GTX 760 2GB DDR5 TF Fan
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DJPPCLK/[/AMAZON-uk]

In all the tests the MSI one had the best balance of speed, temps & noise. It was the noise I was mainly concerned about as I don't want a silent machine, but I want a quiet one. It has the big fans, meaning they can spin slower making them really quiet. I don't game a lot, but I want to a bit more and this is great entry level card. I tested Batman before & after install and the difference is like night and day.

Install went smooth. No issues at all, but not installed CUDA drivers yet. It was recognised in system info instantly.
89686-screen-shot-2014-04-16-10-35.jpg

The hardest part was cable management in the case. Will spend some time on this over the bank holiday weekend.

89687-new-graphics-card.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would love to see more pics inside your case! what are you temps like?
 
I would love to see more pics inside your case! what are you temps like?

Pics have been added.

Current daily use is getting 18-30c (I'm a web developer so few apps running such as text editor, photoshop, local dev server etc) and under load it is in the low 40c range. There are only two fans on the CPU rad so I am pretty happy with that temp. I am planning on making a bracket to mount an exhaust fan at the front of the case but I doubt it will have any improvement.
 
You can use several
yes > /dev/null &
in the terminal to stress the CPU for a few minutes and see your temp if you want, then type
killall yes

Do you plan on adding more drives? As you have a lots of headroom you could add more storage using HDD bays.

Is the PSU well handle? As there is nothing under to hold it?
 
You can use several

in the terminal to stress the CPU for a few minutes and see your temp if you want, then type


Do you plan on adding more drives? As you have a lots of headroom you could add more storage using HDD bays.

Is the PSU well handle? As there is nothing under to hold it?


Not sure I understand all you are saying.

At the moment I don't plan on adding any more drives. No need yet but in the future I will. There is space in the already mounted bracket for another 2.5 drive.

The PSU is stable where it is held on at the back. There is nothing underneath it to support it but it would be possible to extend the shelf with a custom bracket to add more support if needed.
 
Not sure I understand all you are saying.

At the moment I don't plan on adding any more drives. No need yet but in the future I will. There is space in the already mounted bracket for another 2.5 drive.

The PSU is stable where it is held on at the back. There is nothing underneath it to support it but it would be possible to extend the shelf with a custom bracket to add more support if needed.


If you want to test your temp at full CPU load, open Terminal, enter ten times or more (til you hit 100% CPU use) the line I said, wait and see your temp. To stop the stress test, type "killall yes" :)


As you are web developing I understand you don't need more drives :)
 
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