Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cindori Custom: Building an i7 Hackintosh

tag1 said:
Hey guys, this is my proposed final build. Could you give it a lookover. I wrote up a previous post but it logged out on me.

My biggest issue has been finding a case that I like, but I think I have settled on the CM690II Advanced However, I hate the blue light. Is there a way to turn it off? Does anyone know if the Regular version has the blue light?

If I can't get it without the blue light, I would go with the Antec Solo, but I worry about overclocking and space issues. Does anyone know if that will be a problem.

Otherwise, here is my proposed build. Any comments on the SSD would be really helpful.

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Corsair 750W PSU

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner

Finally, is there anything else that I need to make airport/wireless internet work as well as have firewire compatibility?
Click to expand...

Looks good but no mention of cooling? Are you going to be air cooling? If you plan on doing any OCing at ALL you need to get a good heat sink and forget about using the stock cooler (it sucks really bad)

I know the 920 and 930 are very close in price but the 920's OC better from what I've seen. But then you do get the 22x multi to play with on the 930.

Personally the best case I found is the Cool Master ATCS 840, really nice case but may be larger than you like.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119187

OH just noticed that is the EX58-UD5 you would be better off with the X58-UD3R or the X58-UD5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

Save you $40
 
GMink said:
Looks good but no mention of cooling? Are you going to be air cooling? If you plan on doing any OCing at ALL you need to get a good heat sink and forget about using the stock cooler (it sucks really bad)

I know the 920 and 930 are very close in price but the 920's OC better from what I've seen. But then you do get the 22x multi to play with on the 930.

Personally the best case I found is the Cool Master ATCS 840, really nice case but may be larger than you like.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119187

OH just noticed that is the EX58-UD5 you would be better off with the X58-UD3R or the X58-UD5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

Save you $40
Click to expand...

Whoops. As I said before I already did this post but it got lost so I had to do it again. I was going to go with Megahalems for cooling.

Not sure what a 22x multi is or if it is better. I am looking to OC to around 4ghz and have it be as stable as possible.

I was told the EX58-UD5 was the best MB for this type of stuff. Other than the money, is there a reason to go with one of the other two?

also, do you know anything about the blue light?
 
tag1 said:
Whoops. As I said before I already did this post but it got lost so I had to do it again. I was going to go with Megahalems for cooling.

Not sure what a 22x multi is or if it is better. I am looking to OC to around 4ghz and have it be as stable as possible.

I was told the EX58-UD5 was the best MB for this type of stuff. Other than the money, is there a reason to go with one of the other two?

also, do you know anything about the blue light?
Click to expand...

I'm using the Megahalems also, very good unit. It is BIG and will block your ram DIMM closest to the cpu socket if you use a fan on that side but you will be fine with only the 3 sticks of memory and can allways put the fan on the other side in Pull instead of push.

I'm not sure what blue light your refering to but it is probably LED lights on the fans? in wich case you would have to change them out to get rid of the blue.

The EX58-UD5 is a good motherboard but if you plan on using Kakewalk I think there are issues with the EX58 motherboards. Not sure since I didn't go that route so you may want to read up. The UD3 version is basicly the same but with out the advanced power regulation on the mb. I don't really think you would need it since your going to be OCing on air.

4Ghz should be pretty easy with either the 920 or the 930. You will need to have good air flow through the case and use high cfm fans on the HS cause at 4ghz+ the i7 becomes a space heater! lol
 
Hi everyone!
New guy here.
I'm trying to get me a Hackintosh going.
I've got a Gigabyte EX58-UD4P, an i7 920 @ 3.8ghz, a Samsung 1TB F3 hdd, a WD 640GB Black & a WD 1TB Black, XFX 4870 video, a couple of Samsung DVD-R/W's all housed in a Lian Li V1000B case.
I've been attempting to install on the Samsung 1TB, but am having problems.
Is there some kind of issue with 1TB drives when installing Snow Leopard?
Thanks!
 
JGKC9AYC said:
Hi everyone!
New guy here.
I'm trying to get me a Hackintosh going.
I've got a Gigabyte EX58-UD4P, an i7 920 @ 3.8ghz, a Samsung 1TB F3 hdd, a WD 640GB Black & a WD 1TB Black, XFX 4870 video, a couple of Samsung DVD-R/W's all housed in a Lian Li V1000B case.
I've been attempting to install on the Samsung 1TB, but am having problems.
Is there some kind of issue with 1TB drives when installing Snow Leopard?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I saw your post over on the Kakewalk thread.

SL does not have issues with large partitions, I think it is the Chamelon bootloader or Kakewalk that does.
 
GMink said:
I saw your post over on the Kakewalk thread.

SL does not have issues with large partitions, I think it is the Chamelon bootloader or Kakewalk that does.
Click to expand...

What's my best option...install SL on my 640GB drive & 7 on my 1TB drive?
 
JGKC9AYC said:
What's my best option...install SL on my 640GB drive & 7 on my 1TB drive?
Click to expand...

Personally I would make a small partion for my boot on the 1tb, maybe 60gb and install OSX on it. Then use carbon clone to copy that over to the 640gb. Use the USER directory on the 640gb but boot off the small partion. That way you will have 2 bootable OSX partions. If an update messes up your working hack then you can boot off the unchanged partion and use carbon cloner to go back. That goes for making changes to the kext and boot loader as well. That way you always have a working copy regardless of the changes you make. Plus having your boot and User on 2 seperate drives will speed things up a tad.

Install OSX first and when you make the boot partion, just format the second larger partion on the dirve as fat32 in OSX. you will be able to use it to insall win7 later.
 
GMink said:
Personally I would make a small partion for my boot on the 1tb, maybe 60gb and install OSX on it. Then use carbon clone to copy that over to the 640gb. Use the USER directory on the 640gb but boot off the small partion. That way you will have 2 bootable OSX partions. If an update messes up your working hack then you can boot off the unchanged partion and use carbon cloner to go back. That goes for making changes to the kext and boot loader as well. That way you always have a working copy regardless of the changes you make. Plus having your boot and User on 2 seperate drives will speed things up a tad.

Install OSX first and when you make the boot partion, just format the second larger partion on the dirve as fat32 in OSX. you will be able to use it to insall win7 later.
Click to expand...

60GB doesn't sound like much for an OS install. How much space does OSX require? I may wish to add more programs to it...iLife, etc.
Also, should I format the 2nd partition as NTFS?
 
JGKC9AYC said:
60GB doesn't sound like much for an OS install. How much space does OSX require? I may wish to add more programs to it...iLife, etc.
Also, should I format the 2nd partition as NTFS?
Click to expand...


My OSX boot drive has 12gb on it with every program you can think of on it.

All of your personal files will be on the second drive in the user directory
 
JGKC9AYC said:
60GB doesn't sound like much for an OS install. How much space does OSX require? I may wish to add more programs to it...iLife, etc.
Also, should I format the 2nd partition as NTFS?
Click to expand...

Well you can't format it as NTFS from within OSX so format it as FAT32 initially then when you install Win7 you can format it to NTFS during the install
 
GMink said:
I'm using the Megahalems also, very good unit. It is BIG and will block your ram DIMM closest to the cpu socket if you use a fan on that side but you will be fine with only the 3 sticks of memory and can allways put the fan on the other side in Pull instead of push.

I'm not sure what blue light your refering to but it is probably LED lights on the fans? in wich case you would have to change them out to get rid of the blue.

The EX58-UD5 is a good motherboard but if you plan on using Kakewalk I think there are issues with the EX58 motherboards. Not sure since I didn't go that route so you may want to read up. The UD3 version is basicly the same but with out the advanced power regulation on the mb. I don't really think you would need it since your going to be OCing on air.

4Ghz should be pretty easy with either the 920 or the 930. You will need to have good air flow through the case and use high cfm fans on the HS cause at 4ghz+ the i7 becomes a space heater! lol
Click to expand...

so if i went with the ACTS 840, would I run into a problem with the ssd? i like how the CM690IIA has a holder for it. do you know if the megahalems would be a problem with CM690IIA?

what is your MB? i checked the other thread and it looks like the EXs have some problems, but people say the UD5 works fine. I would like to get the X58-UD3R or the X58-UD5 if they work to save money as I think I am going to upgrade cases, but they are not on the kakewalk compatible list
 
tag1 said:
so if i went with the ACTS 840, would I run into a problem with the ssd? i like how the CM690IIA has a holder for it. do you know if the megahalems would be a problem with CM690IIA?

what is your MB? i checked the other thread and it looks like the EXs have some problems, but people say the UD5 works fine.
Click to expand...

The ACTS 840 is a BIG case, floor case, full tower with a ton of room. Slide out MB tray, tooless hd and DVD mounts, big quite fans, all aluminum, and pretty elegant. You will like it if you have room for it next to your desk.

No 2.5" drive bays though. You will need an adaptor like the Icy Dock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994064
but it's only $20

You shouldn't have a problem with the megahlems in that case.
 
Overclocking

so I was checking out the OC guide
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/Core i7 920 oc 4G 2008.12.12_(ENG).pdf

is there going to be any problem due to the fact I am using different ram? i imagine not. THey use CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C9 and I am planning on using one of:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8TU-6GBPI

[url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225&cm_re=g_skill_6gb-_-20-231-225-_-Product]G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ[/url]

Will any of these be a problem/which one should I use? I cannot tell a difference (except for price) between any of these ram)
 
tag1 said:
so I was checking out the OC guide
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/Core i7 920 oc 4G 2008.12.12_(ENG).pdf

is there going to be any problem due to the fact I am using different ram? i imagine not. THey use CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C9 and I am planning on using one of:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8T-6GBRM

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8TU-6GBPI

[url="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225&cm_re=g_skill_6gb-_-20-231-225-_-Product]G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ[/url]

Will any of these be a problem/which one should I use? I cannot tell a difference (except for price) between any of these ram)
Click to expand...

The difference between the listed ram are the timings they are able to run at. All are rated at 1600mhz but CL7 is effectively faster than CL9.

I would suggest since your going to be using air cooling that you stay with low voltage ram 1.5v and buy the fastest timing you can afford with in the same speed rating.
 
GMink said:
The difference between the listed ram are the timings they are able to run at. All are rated at 1600mhz but CL7 is effectively faster than CL9.

I would suggest since your going to be using air cooling that you stay with low voltage ram 1.5v and buy the fastest timing you can afford with in the same speed rating.
Click to expand...

So which one would that be? Do you have a preferred ram under $185 that is not one of these?
 
GMink said:
The difference between the listed ram are the timings they are able to run at. All are rated at 1600mhz but CL7 is effectively faster than CL9.

I would suggest since your going to be using air cooling that you stay with low voltage ram 1.5v and buy the fastest timing you can afford with in the same speed rating.
Click to expand...

So it looks like this is the best one to go with then?

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI

Capacity 6GB (3 x 2GB)
Speed DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Cas Latency 7
Timing 7-8-7-24-2N
Voltage 1.5V
ECC No
Buffered/Registered Unbuffered
Multi-channel Kit Triple Channel Kit
Heat Spreader Yes
 
GMink said:
That will work fine, it's actually what I'm using right now.
Click to expand...

YES! So I think I have everything settled now for the final build.

Case - yes I can turn off the blue light
CM690II Advanced Case

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - changed to the i920 because that is what the overclocking guide worked with

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Corsair 750W PSU

OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - I was planning on changing to this from the Seagate Barracuda 1tb because it got a better customer score. Will this work okay? The OC guide uses barracuda.

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner

Megahalems

So that is everything unless there is a problem with the the new Samsung HD. Do I need anything for airport or firewire support?

Thanks again Gmink. I couldn't have gone through this process without you
 
Looks good, tag1. I'll be putting together my own hackintosh tomorrow (when the remaining parts get here) and I'm stoked. :)
 
Mackilroy said:
Looks good, tag1. I'll be putting together my own hackintosh tomorrow (when the remaining parts get here) and I'm stoked. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Sorry to be a pain, but do you know what I need for firewire and wireless internet.
 
Firewire? Nothing, unless you need more than one FW port. As far as wireless Internet goes, I don't know if the EX58 has onboard wireless, but you can always check out this page for a bunch of different wireless adapters.
 
tag1 said:
YES! So I think I have everything settled now for the final build.

Case - yes I can turn off the blue light
CM690II Advanced Case

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - changed to the i920 because that is what the overclocking guide worked with

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Corsair 750W PSU

OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - I was planning on changing to this from the Seagate Barracuda 1tb because it got a better customer score. Will this work okay? The OC guide uses barracuda.

G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner

Megahalems

So that is everything unless there is a problem with the the new Samsung HD. Do I need anything for airport or firewire support?

Thanks again Gmink. I couldn't have gone through this process without you
Click to expand...

The new spinpoint F3 is a nice quite, cool running drive. The WD Black and the Baraccuda both out perform it but speed isn't everything.

What about fans for your Megahalems??

I'd suggest this fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185060 you might want to go ahead and buy 2, if your temps are to high with 1 you can put the second on in Push-Pull.

They make a 1600rpm version that is dead silent but only moves 80cfm or so but you could get 2 of those if you want a quiet computer under load. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185059
But it appears to be out of stock right now
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back