- Joined
- May 8, 2012
- Messages
- 129
- Motherboard
- Z87X-UD5H
- CPU
- i7 4770K
- Graphics
- HD4600
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Garrison's Haswell Z87X-UD5H - i7 4770k 4.2Ghz Overclocked - GTX 760 - 4K- 32GB Photoshop Machine
The Case: NZXT H440
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HVZIXDI/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H Intel Socket 1150
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CUYOSP2/[/AMAZON-uk]
The CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K Quad Core Retail
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/[/AMAZON-uk]
The RAM: Corsair CML32GX3M4A1600C10B Vengeance Low Profile 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009M0TCEY/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i All-In-One 240mm Digital High Performance Rad Liquid Cooler for CPU
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZN2NH6/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Storage: Crucial 480GB M500 SSD
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BQ8RHJ2/[/AMAZON-uk]
The PSU: Corsair CP-9020054-UK RM Series RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W ATX/EPS Fully Modular
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FG9FWF8/[/AMAZON-uk]
The WiFi: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007GMPZ0A/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Bluetooth: Still to be decided
The OS: Apple OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) from the Apple Store
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion
The GPU: EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 Superclocked ACX 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DMB6D8W/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Samsung U28D590 4k Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJS6PCC/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Already Owned
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 2TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Apple Wireless Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDO4U/
Apple Magic Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TLTGM6/
Sandisk 16GB USB for MultiBeast
Comments
So this is my first personal Hackintosh build but I've been following the forum for a while now and have helped people I know with their builds in the past. I'll be updating this as much as possible and I'm sure asking plenty of questions from all the friendly forum users here.
I am a Graphic Designer (Digital Designer especially) by trade and have been a long time mac user. My current MacBook Pro serves me well but I've been contemplating a Hackintosh build for some time now, to really build a machine to operate Photoshop, Illustrator and the rest at with some real power. As much as I would love one of the new Mac Pro's, the price tag associated with one with the decent parts added is well out of my budget and does not offer decent upgradability (plus I love a challenge). I also plan to make this a dual boot machine in the future so I can begin experimenting with Windows 8.1 as it's been a very long time since I used a Windows machine and I'm a big fan of the UI so would like to start using it.
I chose the NZXT H440 case for it's straight forward cable management and it design. Not only is the white finish nice but the plate to hide the PSU and all it's cables plus turning the hard drive bays for a cleaner look really makes this case look great when viewed through the side window. I'm planning on going for a blue theme inside the case, I will add the NZXT Blue LED cables in the future.
Now I decided not to go with a independent graphics card for the moment to save money as when I do buy one, I would like it to be a decent one but also I chose not to buy it now as from everything I understand Photoshop mainly requires a good CPU and a good amount of RAM. So I'm really hoping my current setup will serve me well with the Creative Suite but I have plans anyway in the future to purchase a Graphics Card.
I'd love any advice from anyone on a good Graphics Card and also any feedback on my choice of items so far for my build. I've tried to follow tonymacx86 build list closely for parts, especially with the Motherboard.
As soon as all my parts arrive I will be photographing and documenting my build as well as including my BIOS and MultiBeast settings for advice and hopefully to help others if this build is successful. I've found quite a few builds on the forum with similar parts and so will follow their advice carefully!
New Update
System is now overclocked and stable at 4.2Ghz! Getting a geek bench score between 15500 and 17000 which is good to start. I also managed to win a EVGA GTX780 for a great price on eBay and will be installing that next week!
The system is running great, photoshop is loading files in a split second and no lag or loading like on my Macbook!
I discovered my sleep issue was actually caused by my Bluetooth stick unusually, it goes to sleep but every couple of minutes would wake itself up! With the USB removed it now sleeps fine! So I managed to find an IOGear 4.0 online and have ordered that but delivery is going to take a couple of weeks annoying. In the future I think I'm going to look into building one of the Apple Bluetooth Modules into a PCI-e card, it seems the most stable option and nice not having to have a USB plugged in.
Also last update, I found HWmonitor was causing my computer some real issues, caused some crashes and audio to cut out, the second I removed it my machine is running great. Any idea why this is happening? and does anyone have some suggestions for alternative software for monitoring CPU temps etc.
Next on the list once I have some more funds is to get a second SSD and install Windows 8.1 then I would really like to get a 4K monitor for my Photoshop work, and well, I would just really like one! I'm looking at getting this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJS6PCC/?tag=tonymacx86-21, it's great value! Just want to see the reviews once it comes out on the 1st of May.
Finally, BIG thanks to Stork, he's been really patient and answered a lot of my questions along the way, super helpful guy!
UPDATE
I've been following Rynofasho build for guidance which has really helped for BIOS and his MultiBeast setup, everything is working great.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...sh-ga-z87x-ud5h-i7-4770k-32gb-ddr-3-igfx.html
I did run into some trouble installing and luckily found this forum thread by fountainman which gave me the help I needed. I think my 32GB of ram may have been causing the problem, so I used the recommended boot code: -x graphicsenabler=no maxmem=4096 and I can now install Mavericks!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...nic-cant-even-install-10-9-2-first-build.html
UPDATE
Only problem's I'm having are no HDMI audio currently, normal headphones ports are working but looking for an easy fix for HDMI audio!
Getting the occasional system freeze but I've read tailchaser's thread about bumping up the RAM voltage by .05 V and it seems to be ok for the moment. I'll keep people updated!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...i7-4770k-ga-z87x-ud5h-32gb-ram-gtx-770-a.html
LATEST UPDATE
I now have my GTX 760 to power my Samsung 4K monitor and can confirm I am getting a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels at 60hz! It works! I have a perfect machine now. It goes to sleep automatically, bluetooth can wake from sleep, no system freezes and 4K. Yay!
Garrison's Z87X-UD5H - i7 4770k 4.2Ghz Overclocked - HD4600 - 32GB Photoshop Machine
ComponentsThe Case: NZXT H440
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HVZIXDI/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H Intel Socket 1150
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CUYOSP2/[/AMAZON-uk]
The CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K Quad Core Retail
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CO8TBQ0/[/AMAZON-uk]
The RAM: Corsair CML32GX3M4A1600C10B Vengeance Low Profile 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009M0TCEY/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i All-In-One 240mm Digital High Performance Rad Liquid Cooler for CPU
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZN2NH6/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Storage: Crucial 480GB M500 SSD
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BQ8RHJ2/[/AMAZON-uk]
The PSU: Corsair CP-9020054-UK RM Series RM650 80 Plus Gold 650W ATX/EPS Fully Modular
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FG9FWF8/[/AMAZON-uk]
The WiFi: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007GMPZ0A/[/AMAZON-uk]
The Bluetooth: Still to be decided
The OS: Apple OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) from the Apple Store
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion
The GPU: EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 Superclocked ACX 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DMB6D8W/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Samsung U28D590 4k Monitor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJS6PCC/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Already Owned
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 2TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Apple Wireless Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DLDO4U/
Apple Magic Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TLTGM6/
Sandisk 16GB USB for MultiBeast
Comments
So this is my first personal Hackintosh build but I've been following the forum for a while now and have helped people I know with their builds in the past. I'll be updating this as much as possible and I'm sure asking plenty of questions from all the friendly forum users here.
I am a Graphic Designer (Digital Designer especially) by trade and have been a long time mac user. My current MacBook Pro serves me well but I've been contemplating a Hackintosh build for some time now, to really build a machine to operate Photoshop, Illustrator and the rest at with some real power. As much as I would love one of the new Mac Pro's, the price tag associated with one with the decent parts added is well out of my budget and does not offer decent upgradability (plus I love a challenge). I also plan to make this a dual boot machine in the future so I can begin experimenting with Windows 8.1 as it's been a very long time since I used a Windows machine and I'm a big fan of the UI so would like to start using it.
I chose the NZXT H440 case for it's straight forward cable management and it design. Not only is the white finish nice but the plate to hide the PSU and all it's cables plus turning the hard drive bays for a cleaner look really makes this case look great when viewed through the side window. I'm planning on going for a blue theme inside the case, I will add the NZXT Blue LED cables in the future.
Now I decided not to go with a independent graphics card for the moment to save money as when I do buy one, I would like it to be a decent one but also I chose not to buy it now as from everything I understand Photoshop mainly requires a good CPU and a good amount of RAM. So I'm really hoping my current setup will serve me well with the Creative Suite but I have plans anyway in the future to purchase a Graphics Card.
I'd love any advice from anyone on a good Graphics Card and also any feedback on my choice of items so far for my build. I've tried to follow tonymacx86 build list closely for parts, especially with the Motherboard.
As soon as all my parts arrive I will be photographing and documenting my build as well as including my BIOS and MultiBeast settings for advice and hopefully to help others if this build is successful. I've found quite a few builds on the forum with similar parts and so will follow their advice carefully!
New Update
System is now overclocked and stable at 4.2Ghz! Getting a geek bench score between 15500 and 17000 which is good to start. I also managed to win a EVGA GTX780 for a great price on eBay and will be installing that next week!
The system is running great, photoshop is loading files in a split second and no lag or loading like on my Macbook!
I discovered my sleep issue was actually caused by my Bluetooth stick unusually, it goes to sleep but every couple of minutes would wake itself up! With the USB removed it now sleeps fine! So I managed to find an IOGear 4.0 online and have ordered that but delivery is going to take a couple of weeks annoying. In the future I think I'm going to look into building one of the Apple Bluetooth Modules into a PCI-e card, it seems the most stable option and nice not having to have a USB plugged in.
Also last update, I found HWmonitor was causing my computer some real issues, caused some crashes and audio to cut out, the second I removed it my machine is running great. Any idea why this is happening? and does anyone have some suggestions for alternative software for monitoring CPU temps etc.
Next on the list once I have some more funds is to get a second SSD and install Windows 8.1 then I would really like to get a 4K monitor for my Photoshop work, and well, I would just really like one! I'm looking at getting this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJS6PCC/?tag=tonymacx86-21, it's great value! Just want to see the reviews once it comes out on the 1st of May.
Finally, BIG thanks to Stork, he's been really patient and answered a lot of my questions along the way, super helpful guy!
UPDATE
I've been following Rynofasho build for guidance which has really helped for BIOS and his MultiBeast setup, everything is working great.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...sh-ga-z87x-ud5h-i7-4770k-32gb-ddr-3-igfx.html
I did run into some trouble installing and luckily found this forum thread by fountainman which gave me the help I needed. I think my 32GB of ram may have been causing the problem, so I used the recommended boot code: -x graphicsenabler=no maxmem=4096 and I can now install Mavericks!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...nic-cant-even-install-10-9-2-first-build.html
UPDATE
Only problem's I'm having are no HDMI audio currently, normal headphones ports are working but looking for an easy fix for HDMI audio!
Getting the occasional system freeze but I've read tailchaser's thread about bumping up the RAM voltage by .05 V and it seems to be ok for the moment. I'll keep people updated!
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...i7-4770k-ga-z87x-ud5h-32gb-ram-gtx-770-a.html
LATEST UPDATE
I now have my GTX 760 to power my Samsung 4K monitor and can confirm I am getting a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels at 60hz! It works! I have a perfect machine now. It goes to sleep automatically, bluetooth can wake from sleep, no system freezes and 4K. Yay!