chrismartino's iHack > Core i7-3770K | GA-Z77-DS3H | 16GB RAM | GT 640

Components

Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H (Rev 1.1)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007R21JWC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128547

Intel Core i7-3770K
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007SZ0EOW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

Corsair 16GB XMS3 DDR3 SDRAM / CMX16GX3M2A1600C11
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B006ZINK0S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145357

Gigabyte GeForce GT 640 / GV-N640OC-2GI
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008J1O968
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125433

SanDisk Extreme 120GB SSD / SDSSDX-120G-G25
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B006EKJCWM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AT0F10730

Western Digital Black 500GB / WD5003AZEX
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008968L6M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236345

Seagate Barracuda 1TB / ST1000DM003
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005T3GRNW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840

Sony Optiarc SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive / AD-7280S-0B
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0057FRTPW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118073

Syba Low Profile 1394b/1394a Card / SD-PEX30009
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002S53IG8

Corsair CX600 600W ATX
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0092ML0OC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Corsair Vengeance C70 Arctic White
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007RESFHM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139014

Apple Mac OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion
​https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-mountain-lion/id537386512


Already Owned

Dell 2001FP Display
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-2001FP-20-1-inch-Monitor/dp/B000BMBUAQ

Dell SE198WFP Display
http://www.amazon.com/SE198WFP-Inch-Flat-Panel-Monitor/dp/B001OFTXW6

Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Performance-Mouse-Mac/dp/B002HWRJBM

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-A11-00337-Natural-Keyboard-Elite/dp/B0000642RX

Drobo 4-Bay USB 2.0/FireWire 800
http://www.amazon.com/Drobo-Beyond-FireWire-Storage-Backup/dp/B001CZ9ZEE


Comments

I was looking for something to replacing my aging 6-year-old desktop system, which coincidentally was the first PC I didn't build myself. I knew I wanted a Mac (or something that ran Mac OS X) as I prefer the OS and the ability to get my hands dirty with the CLI, if needed (I'm a unix sysadmin by day). I was also looking for something to be my photography workhorse (I'm a photographer by night). The system would need to be stable, be able to run the Adobe suite of products and other various photography related applications. I also wanted it to connect to my Drobo via FireWire because I find it's USB connection to be extremely flaky (at least it was on my Windows PC).

The build was relatively straight forward. I went from components to working system in about two and half hours. My initial build didn't include the SSD, but that was a relatively easy fix with SuperDuper! once the SSD arrived. One thing many of the guides say is to use the onboard video for the installation, and then install the GPU after everything is set up. I didn't follow that advice and installed the GPU and went ahead with the installation, using UniBeast of course, and everything went smoothly and without a problem. I also opted not to use the USB 3.0 ports on the front of my case, and instead have them connected to the USB 2.0 header on my motherboard (using the USB 3 -> USB 2 adapter that came with my case).

The only problem I had was the dreaded "Boot 0" problem, as my first installation was on the WD 500GB HDD. It was easy to fix by booting UniBeast and then performing the steps here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/25-boot0-error-official-guide.html.

The system has been incredibly stable for the past week since being built. I only experienced one freeze, and that was before running MultiBeast on the system and installing the necessary kexts.

I've opted to run my iHack as an iMac13,1 (Late 2012), as I believe it offers the best compromise between features (AirPlay Mirror) and performance. As is, this build gets about a 12,300 on Geekbench: http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/1650387.

MultiBeast Settings
Other

For fun, I made a (not so good) time lapse of the build:

Other photos can be found in my album: http://www.tonymacx86.com/members/chrismartino/albums/ihack-build/

Congratulations
Nice build

chrismartino,
VG build description. Enjoy your hackintosh.

Simply amazing! <3

nice built. since you bought 2 display, did u manage to output display from single card or separated card+integrated

Super job on your build & write-up! I especially liked the time-laps video that you included...great idea!!

niaosuan said:

nice built. since you bought 2 display, did u manage to output display from single card or separated card+integrated

Click to expand...

I have both displays being driven by the GT 640.

boomr said:

Super job on your build & write-up! I especially liked the time-laps video that you included...great idea!!

Click to expand...

Thanks! It would have turned out better had I put the camera a little higher.

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. I like the time lapse video.

That time lapse video is the bee's knee's . Bad ass my friend. I wish i would have thought to do that on my Cube build :/

Yes, agreed.

A nice, clean and sensible build.

Very much appreciated the "gentle" approach to hardware. Too often it's all cram it in and plug in more powerful fans than a vacuum-cleaner...

Liked the careful wrap-around of the the wires to the CPU cooler. Liked the 20-pin USB3 convert to standard USB2 header (did this on my machine too). Liked the sensible but not OOT PSU.

Everything on the motherboard has room to breathe.

Also liked the placing of the Hard-drives in relation to the fans (on purpose or not!) In line with the greatest airflow and furthest from the fan motor magnets.

All in all ...

Tick!

Well done!