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Utter Disbelief's 2nd build - i5-4570 GA-B85-HD3 Crucial 8GB Gigabyte GT640 OC

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UtterDisbelief

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Motherboard
Gigabyte B760 Gaming X AX
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i5-14600K
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Utter Disbelief's 2nd build - i5-4570 GA-B85-HD3 Crucial 8GB Gigabyte GT640

UtterDisbelief's 2nd Build - i5-4570, GA-B85-HD3, Crucial 8GB, GT440​



LL-Front.jpg

The simple but elegant, all aluminium PC-6B

Lian-Li_Build.jpg

Getting to grips with the wiring. A lot neater now finished...



Components

Case: Lian Li PC-6B
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005DVK9DY/[/AMAZON-uk]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00D5FA94Y/[/AMAZON-uk]

CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 3.20GHz Socket 1150 6MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
[AMAZON-uk] http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CV3E3WK/[/AMAZON-uk]

Memory: Crucial Sport Ballistix 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory Kit 1.5V unbuffered
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006YG94Y2/[/AMAZON-uk]

Cooler: Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet Socket 775, 1156, 1155, 1366, AM2, AM3 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002G392ZI/[/AMAZON-uk]

PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W 240v Non-Modular PSU
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00390P1NO/[/AMAZON-uk]

Graphics card: Gigabyte GT 640 OC 1GB DDR3 DVI VGA HDMI Out PCI-E Graphics Card
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0089AGH9G/[/AMAZON-uk]

TP-Link TL-WN781ND wi-fi PCI-E card
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0036AFAEW/[/AMAZON-uk]

Zalman FanMate 2 fan-speed controller
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Fan-Speed-Controller-FANMATE-2/dp/B000292DO0/[/AMAZON-uk]

Aerocool Shark 120mm Quad LED 15-Blade Dynamic Bearing fan - Blue
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00432T2JQ/[/AMAZON-uk]

Lian Li C-02 Optical Drive Bezel to match case
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lian-front-bezel-blk-C-02B/dp/B0052HZ7HM/[/AMAZON-uk]



Already Owned


Hard Drive: Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATAII 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM Caviar Blue
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-WD5000AAKS/dp/B000Q82PIQ/[/AMAZON-uk]

A Pioneer DVD-RW SATA optical drive - which I was using in an external caddy previously and is now mounted in the Lian-Li case.
[AMAZON-uk]http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FJG8R6/[/AMAZON-uk]



Comments

My first Hackintosh project is now two years old and after several upgrades I decided it was time to build another so that I could take advantage of new components and technology that have come online in that time.

As time has gone on it has become clear that to more stably support Mavericks I needed to update.

First thing was a Haswell UEFI motherboard. As usual I chose a Gigabyte but to keep costs in check went for the B85 chipset. The only difference for me is that memory speed is limited to 1600 tops and the options for overclocking very limited. For a CPU I chose another i5 running at 3.2ghz but this time a socket 1150, of course. Graphics was another GT640. Basic but a cool runner and very reliable. Memory this time was from Crucial. I did a fair bit of research on this because I discovered that buying RAM and moving from 1333 to 1600 speeds isn't as straightforward as I had assumed. A lot of 1600 DDR RAM needs a voltage hike to 1.65v to get there, running at plain old 1333 speeds if the motherboard can't hack it. The Crucial RAM runs at 1600 even at the lower, cooler 1.5v. This made the decision a no-brainer for me. Cooler RAM means more reliable.

The hard drive is a pre-existing Western Digital Blue 1GB partitioned as two 500GB drives, one for the OS and the other a kind of scratch disk.

The power supply this time is a Seasonic 520w. I couldn't find another BeQuiet 530W at a decent price and wanted a genuine UK 240v-rated supply, rather than the 230v rated models a lot of companies sell for the rest of Europe.

The DVD is my pre-existing Pioneer model and for wi-fi a pre-existing TP-Link TL-WN781ND N150 PCI-E card.

The build was straight forward and the new Lian Li case a joy to work on. The square hole in the motherboard tray made fitting the cooler a lot easier in comparison with my previous project.

I've used the same Zalman CNPS8900 as before. They are quiet, well made and do their job well.

The first negative I came across was my choice of a non-modular PSU and as the Seasonic is a high-quality item, comes with nice, long cables. I had to find places to stow them! Despite how quietly and cooly the Seasonic runs I'll certainly go back to a modular supply for any future projects. I managed to squirrel away most of the braided cable but it was a pain.

Using a newer Lian-Li case meant there were many pre-cut holes in the tray for cable routing. This certainly made a difference to internal clutter.

The hard drive is rubber-mounted in it's rack behind the stock, but good quality, 140mm fan. I've changed the rear 120mm case fan to an Aerocool Shark-fin model with blue LEDs. Two Zalman fan-controllers keep their speeds in check.

The OS X Mavericks install went very cleanly.

I used UniBeast to install 10.9.0 and then immediately upgraded to 10.9.1 and then 10.9.2. I didn't bother trying to run MultiBeast or any other drivers/kexts until I reached the latest version.

I left in both sticks of RAM while installing totalling the full 8GB.

The first free-standing boot gave me a Kernel Panic, which was disconcerting, so I powered down completely before rebooting. This seemed to clear the problem and since then the machine has booted perfectly and not crashed since. A good sign!

I'm wondering if the UEFI is more of a bonus than I expected. I can't pretend to understand why it should be more inherently stable than a traditional BIOS but it certainly feels that way. Not having to use a DSDT was a bonus too.

MultiBeast Settings as follows:

Audio to match the Realtek 892 chipset
Ethernet Realtek 8111
USB 3.0 Universal - GenericUSBXHCI
AppleRTC Patch to prevent CMOS resets
and finally the small hack from Toleda in the IO80211Family kext to enable the Atheros 9285 chipset.

Here's the main section of the Chameleon Boot Plist:

<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>2</string>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>"1920x1080x32"</string>

One word of warning to anyone who might consider using this build as a basis for their own. The TP-Link wi-fi card features an Atheros 9285 chip and to activate needs a very small text-edit to the relevant kext HOWEVER I bought a second card with the same model number as a back-up when I saw them on sale. The newer of the two looks identical but features a different chipset - the 9485 - which isn't compatible with a Hackintosh and no-one (that I have found) has discovered a work around to get it recognised.

I'll update this project log as I improve on the system. So far I've built a 5.25" bay fan-controller behind a Lian-Li bezel but haven't fitted it yet as I'm not yet fully happy with it.

Thanks for reading :)
 
I like your component choice. Solid, no nonsense parts that wont break the bank, and not overly complicated or sophisticated.

Proof that a decent hack can be built on a modest budget and should be a nice easy build to follow for newbies too.

Nice work!

:thumbup:
 
I like your component choice. Solid, no nonsense parts that wont break the bank, and not overly complicated or sophisticated.

Proof that a decent hack can be built on a modest budget and should be a nice easy build to follow for newbies too.

Nice work!

:thumbup:

Thank you very much for the kind words :)

Even though this is a budget build it is about the same cost as a Mac Mini (in the UK) but way more powerful and with expandability.
 
Hi you've realized the exact build I'm planning for a while :thumbup: just doubtful about your memory choice: The crucial ballistic sport aren't in the b85-hd3 compatibility list on the gigabyte site...it worked fine for you?the 1600mhz works or there are some issues?
thanks and greetings for your success :headbang:
 
Hi there. Thanks for your kind words.

Yes, the Crucial memory works perfectly.

Like you I checked the Gigabyte memory checker and Crucial Ballistic Sport is not listed. I took the gamble ... And all is fine :D . I've used Crucial many times before and they have always been rock-solid but I too was worried about the 1600 compatibility.

No problems.

All the best wishes for your new build!

:)
 
We share the same taste for simplicity. :thumbup: ;)
Nice build. I'm very satisfied too with my Lian Li case and their support (there was one missing screw and they immediately sent me a bunch of screws!).
As I once mentioned to you, I think you'd notice the difference if you'd use a SATA III disk (not to talk about an SSD for the system :p ). Indeed, the next step I'd suggest is to try a little SSD and keep your SATA II for the data. :mrgreen: C'mon! :lol:
Keep on rockin'! :D
 
We share the same taste for simplicity. :thumbup: ;)
Nice build. I'm very satisfied too with my Lian Li case and their support (there was one missing screw and they immediately sent me a bunch of screws!).
As I once mentioned to you, I think you'd notice the difference if you'd use a SATA III disk (not to talk about an SSD for the system :p ). Indeed, the next step I'd suggest is to try a little SSD and keep your SATA II for the data. :mrgreen: C'mon! :lol:
Keep on rockin'! :D

Well, I know i'm not keen on SSD but what you say makes perfect sense! :D

I am just so happy that Sleep now works perfectly !!!! :thumbup:
 
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