- Joined
- Mar 26, 2016
- Messages
- 15
- Motherboard
- Asus Z97-A
- CPU
- i7 4790k
- Graphics
- Intel HD 4600 (Mobo)
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
DaveArrow's pro audio build for UAD Apollo Thunderbolt:
Core i7-4790K - Asus Z97-A - Mobo graphics
Core i7-4790K - Asus Z97-A - Mobo graphics
Components
Asus Z97-A Intel 1150 ATX Gaming Motherboard
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K80MMJ4/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Intel Core i7 i7-4790K CPU
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KPRWAX8/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Corsair CP-9020054-UK RM Series RM650
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FG9FWF8/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Ballistix Tactical DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.5V 16GB
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007J0BHZQ/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Fractal Design Define R5 Computer Case - Titanium Grey
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Q2Z15PG/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C76WV3O/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00P73B1E4/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Asus ThunderboltEX II
I found a single one on ebay. I don't think the dual ones are compatible with the Z97-A but I could be wrong.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...x+ii.TRS0&_nkw=asus+thunderboltex+ii&_sacat=0
IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter
To connect my Apple keyboard and trackpad. (I also have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse, which, to my surpirse, worked even to get into the BIOS.)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007GFX0PY/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Noctua NF-A14 ULN case fans
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AA89BN4/?tag=tonymacx86-21
Comments
I hope someone finds this useful, as I didn't find much information online about Hackintosh to Universal Audio Apollo via Thunderbolt. My build is stable after a couple of small recording and mixing sessions - here are the details.
Summary: I'm really pleased with this build, my first: I have a stable Hackintosh running El Capitan with Thunderbolt to my Universal Audio Apollo. It cost me less than half of a new Mac of similar performance (~18000 Geekbench 64 bit multicore).
I'm a semi-professional musician, songwriter and producer. A couple of years ago I invested in a Universal Audio Apollo Quad - the original silver one - which came with a Thunderbold (1) option card. I've been running it via FireWire on a MacBook Pro for a while, but it's a 2010 Core Duo model and it was not keeping up with Logic Pro X, with lots of "couldn't process audio in time" messages even on maximum buffer settings.
I thought about a Mac upgrade, but because I have a pair of basic 1080p monitors that are fine for the job, I thought an iMac was a waste and in any case I like internal expandability in a desktop system, so neither Mac Pro nor Mac Mini were really an option either. Also an equivalent second hand Classic Mac Pro would have cost nearly twice what I ended up paying. Hence the Hackintosh!
My building expertise prior to this was at the level of installing RAM, but lots of reading and build videos convinced me I had the necessary aptitude for a full build.
Buying considerations
1. Thunderbolt - because I wanted to use it to connect my Universal Audio Apollo interface. Using the March Buyers' guide, I started looking at Gigabyte motherboards, but the ones with Thunderbolt were not available. So I bought an Asus Z97-A - and got lucky when, not realizing the compatible ThunderboltEX II card was no longer generally available, I found one on eBay.
2. I needed to be as future proof as possible, within about £1000 budget. I went for Haswell i7 with overclocking capability. I thought about going for Skylake, but decided on not being an early adopter!
3. Quiet! Having done a lot of research, I went for a quiet air-cooled CPU cooler rather than getting potentially better cooling with noisy fans or pumps. The Noctua NH-U14S is much better than the stock cooler, and offers some overclocking potential.
I went for the popular Fractal Design Define R5. I didn't want to uncover the side or top vents, in order to retain maximum noise dampening. I replaced stock front intake fan with 2 of Noctua's 14cm ULN fans, giving a slightly posititve pressure in the case to keep dust build-up in check. The stock exhaust fan remains.
I did consider going fanless, but I did some dB sums and considered that the fan noise would be acceptable, and cheaper than fanless. Although the machine is just audible from my working position (my room is very quiet), it hasn't affected recording or mixing as yet. For now I'm using the BIOS "silent" fan settings on all fans, rather than using the ULN adapters that come with the Noctua fans.
The Corsair power supply is deliberately over-spec'ed, partly for future expansion, but also because at low loads, its fan doesn't spin at all and it's cheaper than fanless ones I could find.
Build notes
Well, what can I say? It was easy, even for a newbie. I took my time but there's very little that can go wrong. If you can build flatpack furniture, you can probably manage a modern PC build!
Installation notes
Almost as simple as the build. I followed the El Capitan installation guide and it worked.
I also got some UEFI tips tips from here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...ild-z97-i3-4340-hd4600-thunderbolt-ex-ii.html
although none of the quick fixes were needed for my setup. I haven't tested HDMI audio because I don't need it. The onboard standard stereo input and output work, but I really don't have much interest in it.
MultiBeast settings:
Quick Start > UEFI Boot Mode
Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > ALC892
Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v6.18-313-g671f31c.1707
Drivers > Network > Intel > AppleIntelE1000e v3.3.1
Drivers > USB > 3rd Party USB 3.0 Drivers > USB > 7/8/9 Series USB Support
Bootloaders > Clover v2.3k r3320 UEFI Boot Mode
Customize > System Definitions > Mac Pro > Mac Pro 3,1
I needed to temporarily install Windows 7 on a spare HDD to install the TB drivers and wake up the firmware. Then back in OS X, plugged in the Apollo, installed UAD-2 software, updated the Apollo firmware (beware - this disables Firewire on the Silver-faced Apollo!!). Then rebooted and all was fine - until the next reboot, when it wasn't recognised. A bit more research and this was easily fixed by setting Thunderbolt security to "None" in the BIOS. All fine now, every boot, as long as it's connected and turned on at boot time - which is no problem for me.
However, there's a gotcha in that you can't simultaneously use the HDMI port on the motherboard because of the required connection between the display port and the TB card. So I have one monitor running from the DVI port on the motherboard, the other from the Thunderbolt daisy-chained from the Apollo. The only downside of this is that the Apollo needs to be switched on to use the second monitor. Not a huge problem for now, as I only use the machine for audio! If it ever becomes a problem I would search out a suitable basic fanless GPU.
Quick tuning
With default motherboard configuration, I got 4274 single, 16716 multi on Geekbench x64. Back in the BIOS, I used the EZ Tuning Wizard just to see what it would do - and I got to 4520/18066 at 4.08GHz. More than enough for now - with the possibility of getting more when I need it. I have yet to do any stress testing on this setup, but I have idle CPU temperatures of less than 10 degrees above ambient, so I'm not overly concerned.
Niggle (minor)
There's only one - and that's that boot times seem to be slow - maybe a minute to 90 seconds. But that's really not a biggie for me. Maybe there's an easy fix I haven't found and I haven't tried verbose mode to find out what's holding it up. I'll post if I find anything useful.
In Conclusion
Many thanks to everyone on this site that made this possible, even for a newbie like me! If I've missed anything in this post, please let me know and I'll do my best to add it.
