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Cindori Custom: Building an i7 Hackintosh
- Thread starter Cindori
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Yes, you'll be fine. Just remember to keep the computer's power cord plugged in, and the power off.
Barefoot may not ground, depending on the floor surface, and carpet can be such an example (i.e. low kV carpet, though anti-static, isn't truly ESD compliant). Low kV antistatic carpet is standard carpeting which is treated chemically. It's not meant for what you're doing.
So use the ESD ground strap, or keep bare skin somewhere on the metal portion of the case.
Just because you're barefoot doesn't mean you're grounded...you just have less chance of picking up charge then if you were wearing rubber soled shoes.
So not good news...
I spent 7 hours last night putting the whole thing together. I hook it up to my power supply, monitor, and keyboard/mouse. I press the on button and nothing happens.
I then hit the on button for the motherboard and all the fans start spinning and LEDs on the mobo light up and some blink and then everything turns off (but the blue power switch on the mobo) after ~4.6 seconds. I have absolutely no idea what is causing this problem.
I spent 7 hours last night putting the whole thing together. I hook it up to my power supply, monitor, and keyboard/mouse. I press the on button and nothing happens.
I then hit the on button for the motherboard and all the fans start spinning and LEDs on the mobo light up and some blink and then everything turns off (but the blue power switch on the mobo) after ~4.6 seconds. I have absolutely no idea what is causing this problem.
Ok tag1 that's not a terribly good start
Firstly have you connected up both power sockets on the motherboard, the 24 pin on the side and the smaller 8 pin on the other corner of the board?
Assuming you have and it still does not work what is the error code on the LED diagnostic block?
I would take everything out of the case and "breadboard" it to see if it powers up.
Remove the motherboard, PSU etc and lay it on a flat non-conductive surface. A wooden table top, a large piece of cardboard or a sturdy plastic surface should suffice. Remove and reseat all the RAM and the graphics card. Connect up the cables, monitor then the PSU and fire it up on the table. Boot up and see if you can get to the BIOS screen.
Best of luck.
Firstly have you connected up both power sockets on the motherboard, the 24 pin on the side and the smaller 8 pin on the other corner of the board?
Assuming you have and it still does not work what is the error code on the LED diagnostic block?
I would take everything out of the case and "breadboard" it to see if it powers up.
Remove the motherboard, PSU etc and lay it on a flat non-conductive surface. A wooden table top, a large piece of cardboard or a sturdy plastic surface should suffice. Remove and reseat all the RAM and the graphics card. Connect up the cables, monitor then the PSU and fire it up on the table. Boot up and see if you can get to the BIOS screen.
Best of luck.
Ok tag1 that's not a terribly good start
Firstly have you connected up both power sockets on the motherboard, the 24 pin on the side and the smaller 8 pin on the other corner of the board?
Assuming you have and it still does not work what is the error code on the LED diagnostic block?
I would take everything out of the case and "breadboard" it to see if it powers up.
Remove the motherboard, PSU etc and lay it on a flat non-conductive surface. A wooden table top, a large piece of cardboard or a sturdy plastic surface should suffice. Remove and reseat all the RAM and the graphics card. Connect up the cables, monitor then the PSU and fire it up on the table. Boot up and see if you can get to the BIOS screen.
Best of luck.
Yep, I followed directions exactly. Both powersockets are in. I already have unplugged everything so I can't say what the error code is. I have taken a mental break given the frustration, but I am going to try again tonight.
Something I am worried about is damage to the mobo. Does that sound reasonable at all? The NH-D14 is HEAVY and when I was working on it the bottom of the mobo could have been damaged. I didn't see anything to be worried about, but something so tiny could screw the whole thing up.
Generally it's all or nothing with integrated circuits.
Have you tried a different power supply? It's possible that you've got one that's DOA, and you can't tell for sure if it's the motherboard or the power supply until you've tried using a "known good" power supply.
And I, for one, would like to recommend against using the "bread board" method of testing computer components suggested earlier. Your case is the best way to keep everything grounded and all the components that go into your computer were designed with being in contact with a case in mind. We never take stuff out and test motherboards and such outside of cases in my computer repair course. Taking them out of the case and trying to test them there is the best way to get something to break.
Have you tried a different power supply? It's possible that you've got one that's DOA, and you can't tell for sure if it's the motherboard or the power supply until you've tried using a "known good" power supply.
And I, for one, would like to recommend against using the "bread board" method of testing computer components suggested earlier. Your case is the best way to keep everything grounded and all the components that go into your computer were designed with being in contact with a case in mind. We never take stuff out and test motherboards and such outside of cases in my computer repair course. Taking them out of the case and trying to test them there is the best way to get something to break.
Hey JacaByte! Good to see you.
Definitely try a different power supply, I just built an EX58-based hackintosh and mine booted up fine.
So I ended up breadboarding it, it worked and I put it into the case, after some additional struggles, I am happy to say I have a fully working hackintosh !
My one issue is with the internet. I bought an OOB compatible PCI Dynex wireless card to use AirPort natively. When I first installed kakewalk, it worked fine and I was able to surf. When I installed Kakewalkboot and restarted the computer, it no longer works. Does anyone know why?
I was told the AppleHDA.kext might be causing the malfunction. Is this kext safe to delete? My sound works fine at the present.
Also, I am trying to add a 1tb and 250gb hard drives (not to boot off of) and although they are plugged in, they are not being recognized and an error message pops up. It gives me the option to initialize them and I am not sure whether I need to partition them or do something else so they can act as storage.
Finally, I will eventually be overclocking my hackintosh, but I am worried given my experience with the NH-D14 the first time around. Should I give that heatsink another go? I blame it for my problems last time as the motherboard constantly said the CPU was overheated. I may have used too much thermal compound though. If I take the intel stock cooler off and try to reinstall the D14, can i reinstall the intel stock cooler if the D14 fails again? I dont know if there will be enough thermal pad left.
My one issue is with the internet. I bought an OOB compatible PCI Dynex wireless card to use AirPort natively. When I first installed kakewalk, it worked fine and I was able to surf. When I installed Kakewalkboot and restarted the computer, it no longer works. Does anyone know why?
I was told the AppleHDA.kext might be causing the malfunction. Is this kext safe to delete? My sound works fine at the present.
Also, I am trying to add a 1tb and 250gb hard drives (not to boot off of) and although they are plugged in, they are not being recognized and an error message pops up. It gives me the option to initialize them and I am not sure whether I need to partition them or do something else so they can act as storage.
Finally, I will eventually be overclocking my hackintosh, but I am worried given my experience with the NH-D14 the first time around. Should I give that heatsink another go? I blame it for my problems last time as the motherboard constantly said the CPU was overheated. I may have used too much thermal compound though. If I take the intel stock cooler off and try to reinstall the D14, can i reinstall the intel stock cooler if the D14 fails again? I dont know if there will be enough thermal pad left.
So I just go to Disk utility and do a 1 partition Format Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?
For the 250 GB, I was going to do 2 partitions because I was going to install Ubuntu. Will that work
Questions about build?
Hi all, I've read this entire thread with great interest and I've decided to try a hackintosh. My MBP died recently, and I need a low-cost replacement for now.
My questions are:
Will a 2 GB 4870 card work and/or be of any benefit? I'm planning on going Sapphire since it seems to be the card of preference.
Someone claimed that the 2.66 GHz. quad core i7 has better overclock potential than the 2.8 GHz. Why is that if the 2.8 binned higher? At any rate I'd be more than satisfied with a mild overclock in the 3.2 GHz. to 3.6 GHz. range. My planned cooler is in the list below, I'd appreciate any feedback.
Which of the Gigabyte motherboards is the hot pick right now? I was thinking the X58A-UD5, I'm mainly after a totally boring Kakewalk install.
Here's my proposed gear list:
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 LGA 1366
Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon HD 4870 1 GB
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
LG 22X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH22LS50 LightScribe Support
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
ABS Canyon 595 Black Anodized Aluminum Super Full Tower Computer Case
Any red flags? Thanks for taking a look!
Hi all, I've read this entire thread with great interest and I've decided to try a hackintosh.
My MBP died recently, and I need a low-cost replacement for now.My questions are:
Will a 2 GB 4870 card work and/or be of any benefit? I'm planning on going Sapphire since it seems to be the card of preference.
Someone claimed that the 2.66 GHz. quad core i7 has better overclock potential than the 2.8 GHz. Why is that if the 2.8 binned higher? At any rate I'd be more than satisfied with a mild overclock in the 3.2 GHz. to 3.6 GHz. range. My planned cooler is in the list below, I'd appreciate any feedback.
Which of the Gigabyte motherboards is the hot pick right now? I was thinking the X58A-UD5, I'm mainly after a totally boring Kakewalk install.
Here's my proposed gear list:
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5 LGA 1366
Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon HD 4870 1 GB
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
LG 22X DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH22LS50 LightScribe Support
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
ABS Canyon 595 Black Anodized Aluminum Super Full Tower Computer Case
Any red flags? Thanks for taking a look!
Looks fine.
There is no advantage except maybe price on the i7 920 as the 930 has a x22 multiplier. Both will overclock just fine.
There is no advantage except maybe price on the i7 920 as the 930 has a x22 multiplier. Both will overclock just fine.
I've been reading this thread for a week now and it's very informative.
I'm planning to build a i7 hackintosh this summer and I got a nice deal for a G5 case almost brandnew for 60$. So here's my futur setup :
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz
CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) (PC3 12800)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V
9800 GT or HD4870 or ?
Megahalem Heatsink
I would like to OC to (3.8ghz - 4.0ghz) not sure if megahalem can handle the heat, if not, any recommendation?. For the video card I'm not really sure which one to pick, I do video editing in my hobby and would enjoy speed and casual gaming.
I'm planning to build a i7 hackintosh this summer and I got a nice deal for a G5 case almost brandnew for 60$. So here's my futur setup :
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz
CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) (PC3 12800)
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V
9800 GT or HD4870 or ?
Megahalem Heatsink
I would like to OC to (3.8ghz - 4.0ghz) not sure if megahalem can handle the heat, if not, any recommendation?. For the video card I'm not really sure which one to pick, I do video editing in my hobby and would enjoy speed and casual gaming.
I would think that heatsink is fine for 4Ghz. It depends on your luck with the chip you get but i7 at 4ghz on air is pretty common.
As for the graphics card between the two you listed the HD4870 is faster by far. I personally use a GTX260 as I got it for really cheap a year ago and it works perfectly in OSX. I can play WOW on it and everything. Thought about switching to a HD4870 as it is a bit faster but probably is not worth the hassle. Basically it is personal preference between GTX260/275/280 and HD4870/4890. They all perform in the same ballpark.
As for the graphics card between the two you listed the HD4870 is faster by far. I personally use a GTX260 as I got it for really cheap a year ago and it works perfectly in OSX. I can play WOW on it and everything. Thought about switching to a HD4870 as it is a bit faster but probably is not worth the hassle. Basically it is personal preference between GTX260/275/280 and HD4870/4890. They all perform in the same ballpark.
Sounds like a good setup. I haven't tried the new 930s but I know that the 920s (2.66Ghz older models) could usually hit 4Ghz with Megahalems. Mine's at 4GHz 24x7 stable in OSX with them. I can hit 4.2GHz easily enough but I wanted to ensure stability. My 920 isn't a particularly good one though, I have to crank the voltage up a fair whack. I doubt you'll have any issues hitting 4GHz with Megahalems (although bear in mind that you need at least one decent 120mm fan to go on them).
How do you like the OWC Mercury Extreme SSD? I'm thinking about replacing my 640GB WD Black with a 100GB OWC SSD, but at $400 I want to be sure it's good. Lots of good reviews, but it's nice to hear what real people have to say!
I absolutely love it. I had an X25-M drive (80gb G2) in my Mac Pro and this drive is noticably quicker in everyday use. Naturally writes are way faster.
To put it in terms we can all relate to.. on my HT that I posted the parts/specs on.... the boot time is so fast that the circle animation that runs below the apple logo on the boot screen never even gets a chance to show! It's remarkable to say the least. I ended up not quite giving up on the onboard sound as the maker of Kakewalk has extended support and I'm working with him on getting a vanilla install using his setup to work on the UD3R, but I do have sound working now. Unfortuantely the LegacyHDA kext that I'm using has a bit of delay on boot so with it in place I don't see the instant boot, but I'm getting closer and at least audio is now working.
So that all said, yes the OWC drive is fantastic. They have a new firmware that I'm going to apply this evening. It's not a cheap drive as you can get an X25-M 160gb G2 for roughly the same $400, but as always you have to pay to play. I'll run a 160gb X25-m for my Win 7 Gaming setup and be in good shape.
Hope that helps... happy to run any benches against the drive that you would like.
The main thing that makes it attractive to me is the write/read performance after "seasoning;" it's really the only drive out there that keeps consistently fast performance throughout it's life.
I had heard that the new firmware negatively affected performance though. If possible, do you think you could run a before/after the new firmware benchmark?
I agree 100%... and I have abused this drive as far as installs... (multiple, running a hackintosh after all) with win 7 install as well, you name it.
I''ll just run X-Bench to get some numbers. It's not the perfect benchmark app but it should give some idea of performance.
I have run into an issue with updating the firmware... actually a complete no-go on my machine... will not detect the drive. Who knows... but will post some XB results shortly...
Here are the results of the hard disk test only in X-Bench on the OWC ME SSD... not bad...
Excellent! I use X-Bench for stuff too, so this gives me a direct comparison with my current boot drive.
Just for fun, here's my 640GB WD Black. (It's an older test from when I replaced the stock 500GB HDD since it was quite slow; only got a 47.57 in x-bench)
Quite the performance difference!