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i7-930 / GA-EX58-UD5 / NVIDIA -- Kakewalk, BIOS, & DSDT Fixes


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Hey y'all. This discussion board is all about what the title says:

 

i7-930 + GA-EX58-UD5 + NVIDIA graphics.

 

While I've had some success and some failures with this build, others have had something closer to complete success. If you read through, you'll find that we've all pretty much used the Kakewalk method, updated our BIOS, and used DSDT fixes from d00d. You can find links to all that stuff at the bottom of this post.

 

Happy building!

 

-NB

 

 

 

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archived original post below this line

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I'm creating this thread because I want to document and review the parts as they come in.

 

I also want to document my install process, in case other people want to build a similar machine.

 

I also would really love input from others who have installed using this board, or who have a recommendation about which tutorials I should use to do the installation.

 

Thanks for the help guys & gals.

I've decided on Kakewalk, which I was leaning towards before but your endorsements sold me on it.

 

I ordered all parts from either NewEgg or Amazon. I did price comparisons for hours and hours last weekend, and I'm pretty sure I've got the cheapest to be found online (anyone lucky enough to have a Microcenter near them could have built this $1200 machine for closer to $1125 because of the i7 sale, but I'm not so lucky).

 

Everything is here already, except the case & the GPU. EDIT: GPU got here this morning. Now just waiting on the case (this evening, or tomorrow...)! Those are slated to get here today and tomorrow respectively. I'm getting pretty excited![/s]

 

Everything is here, installed, and connected.

This case is really amazing, although it takes up an insane amount of space.

Now I've just got to get OSX working on it.

 

UPDATE: Everything installed and running. See Update post below

 

Most important parts:

* CPU - i7-930

* MOBO - GA-EX58-UD5

* GPU - 9800 GT

* RAM - 6GB of DDR3 1333

 

Complete Total Parts List

Processor

Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz LGA 1366

 

Motherboard

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

 

GPU / Graphics Card

EVGA 9800 GT 1GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0

 

RAM

Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1333ELK

 

PSU

Sunbeam PSU-COM780-BK-US 780W ATX 12V 2.3 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

Main HDD

1 TB Western Digital HDD

 

DVD Optical Drive

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R ... 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner

 

Case

Cooler Master ATCS 840 Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case Silver

 

 

Keyboard:

Logitech 920-000264 Cordless Ergonomic Desktop Wave

 

 

USB Bluetooth Dongle

cirago BTA-3190 USB 2.0 Bluetooth Dongle - Mini

 

 

and I already have

-couple 500 GB HDDs,

-1.5 TB HDD,

-16 GB Flash Stick (for booting)

-X-FI USB Audio Out

-A 10.6.0 Snow Leopard install disk

 

 

So what's next?

Anyone with this MoBo wanna make a vote for the install method that worked for them?

 

I'm going with Kakewalk

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I'm creating this thread because I want to document and review the parts as they come in.

 

I also want to document my install process, in case other people want to build a similar machine.

 

;)I also would really love input from others who have installed using this board, or who have a recomendation about which tutorials I should use to do the installation.

:(

 

I ordered all parts from either NewEgg or Amazon. I did price comparisons for hours and hours last weekend, and I'm pretty sure I've got the cheapest to be found online (anyone lucky enough to have a Microcenter near them could have built this $1200 machine for closer to $1125 because of the i7 sale, but I'm not so lucky).

 

Everything is here already, except the case & the GPU. EDIT: GPU got here this morning. Now just waiting on the case (this evening, or tomorrow...)! Those are slated to get here today and tomorrow respectively. I'm getting pretty excited!

 

 

Obviously the only really important parts for compatibility are:

* CPU - i7-930

* MOBO - GA-EX58-UD5

* GPU - 9800 GT

* RAM - 6GB of DDR3 1333

 

Complete Total Parts List

Processor

Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz LGA 1366

 

Motherboard

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

 

GPU / Graphics Card

EVGA 9800 GT 1GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0

 

RAM

Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PVT36G1333ELK

 

PSU

Sunbeam PSU-COM780-BK-US 780W ATX 12V 2.3 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

 

Main HDD

1 TB Western Digital HDD

 

DVD Optical Drive

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R ... 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner

 

Case

Cooler Master ATCS 840 Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case Silver

 

 

Keyboard:

Logitech 920-000264 Cordless Ergonomic Desktop Wave

 

 

USB Bluetooth Dongle

cirago BTA-3190 USB 2.0 Bluetooth Dongle - Mini

 

 

and I already have

-couple 500 GB HDDs,

-1.5 TB HDD,

-16 GB Flash Stick (for booting)

-X-FI USB Audio Out

-A 10.6.0 Snow Leopard install disk

 

 

So what's next?

Anyone with this MoBo wanna make a vote for the install method that worked for them?

 

Obvious Options

 

I highly recommend the Kakewalk method and then tweaking the system using the following guide.

 

 

GA-EX58 and GA-X58A DSDT native power management modifications, lower CPU temperatures, turbo plus one clock ratio, sleep, etcetera

a

 

Using the above guide, you should be able to get everything working via DSDT except Lan.

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I highly recommend the Kakewalk method and then tweaking the system using the following guide.

 

 

GA-EX58 and GA-X58A DSDT native power management modifications, lower CPU temperatures, turbo plus one clock ratio, sleep, etcetera

a

 

Using the above guide, you should be able to get everything working via DSDT except Lan.

 

 

Any idea what I should do about LAN?

 

Does LAN always not work, or just sometimes?

 

Should I just get a PCI-E wifi card? Or a PCI-E LAN card?

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Any idea what I should do about LAN?

 

Does LAN always not work, or just sometimes?

 

Should I just get a PCI-E wifi card? Or a PCI-E LAN card?

 

 

There is a kext file that is installed if you use Kakewalk that will enable lan to work. What I meant by that sentence is, that Lan is not supported OOB (Out Of The Box).

 

The kext is RealtekR1000SL.kext

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Any idea what I should do about LAN?

 

Does LAN always not work, or just sometimes?

 

Should I just get a PCI-E wifi card? Or a PCI-E LAN card?

 

My LAN has worked perfectly since I first installed Snow leopard with an early version of Kakewalk. Later I updated to the latest versions of Kakewalk without incident. Then I added the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml in Extra/Extensions for my GA-E58-UD5 to reduce CPU temps a bit (about 6-8 degrees Celsius) and still no problems whatever.

 

If you follow the guide method for your install, including BIOS setup, your LAN will be fine.

 

Good luck...

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I built almost this exact setup about a week ago. Since I had access to another Mac, I went the simple myHack installer route (on a USB). Feel free to ping me with any questions.

 

I also followed parts of a guide on YouTube...search for a user 'sn0le'. He's got about 10-12 videos there which walk you through part selection, build, install, and follow-ups. He used EmpireEFI (instead of straight myHack), but other than that, I pretty much followed his pattern.

 

As for kexts, sn0le has links to the main ones (audio, orange_icon_fix), and there's a sleep_enabler one from kexts.com once you get to 10.6.2.

 

Good luck...I LOVE my build so far, hope you will too.

 

BTW, funny you should mention MicroCenter...I ordered my parts from NewEgg w/o knowing MicroCenter had such good deals (there's one about 15 min from me). I went the next morning and immediately tried to cancel my NewEgg order since I could have saved some cash and walked out of the store with all my parts, but alas...it had already shipped. Oh well, other than the processor, it would have been about the same. I was pleased with NewEgg though...no complaints.

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My LAN has worked perfectly since I first installed Snow leopard with an early version of Kakewalk. Later I updated to the latest versions of Kakewalk without incident. Then I added the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml in Extra/Extensions for my GA-E58-UD5 to reduce CPU temps a bit (about 6-8 degrees Celsius) and still no problems whatever.

 

If you follow the guide method for your install, including BIOS setup, your LAN will be fine.

 

Good luck...

 

Thanks so much.

 

As predicted, (almost) everything has worked out of the box.

 

I assume you'd recommend the Swhay dsdt.aml extra?

We've got the same MoBo.

 

I've got iStatMenus installed, and they say the CPU is running around 53-47° celsius.

I've read that iStatMenus aren't entirely accurate on some people's hacks though, so I'm not sure if I should trust them.

 

I feel like my box is giving off a heck of a lot of heat though, and I haven't event screwed the aluminum sides back on yet so it's getting the best airflow imaginable. Maybe I'm just not used to how much heat a desktop gives off, but I feel like it is changing the total temp of this small room when I have the door and window closed and the air off.

 

 

 

20100326-neg3pd4shf4gdcu7qmf4d6j5nw.jpg

 

Install Info

I went with Kakewalk as rec'd, and it was just as easy as described. Changed a handful of things in the bios before installing, and the rest was out of the box!

 

LAN worked OOTB, and so did my DVI LCD. I don't have another display yet, so I haven't been able to test dual displays through the 9800 GT. I haven't noticed a single lag in graphics or anything like that.

 

The only thing not working is audio-out. I tried both the 5.1 and regular versions, and sound's just not coming.

 

However, my XFi usb audio adapter completely cures this problem, and without ever having to install drivers.

 

I've installed Logic 9, Adobe CS4, iWork, and Aperture. All of them seem to be running smoothly. I transcoded a 460x600 WMV 5 minute WMV movie to Xvid MPG, and it took about five minutes. That five minutes felt slow, until I remembered it would have taken like 25 on my macbook. Also, while it was transcoding I could continue to use other apps fine, versus it wouldn't have frozen everything else on my macbook too.

 

Now I just need to figure out which extensions I can get rid of, and which new ones I need. I know there are a ton of options for this Motherboard, but I'm a bit confused about which ones Kakewalk did for me and which I should go ahead and do myself.

 

Here's what Kakewalk created for me by default:

/Extra/Extensions

fakesmc.kext

JMicronATA.kext

 

/Extra

com.apple.Boot.plist

DSDT.aml

smbios.plist

 

 

 

Initial Hardware Review / Buying Guide

This case is amazing. It made everything really easy, and looks elegant modern too. I can't say enough good things about this case. The only downside is how huge and heavy it is, but, that's also one of the upsides.

 

I really like this keyboard, and after installing the SL drivers it works great. The bluetooth dongle I got also works as advertised. Finally, I splurged on a new MagicMouse from apple, and have been enjoying it.

 

The MoBo was really easy to work with, although it doesn't come with enough HDD / SATA cables. If you have more than 4 SATA devices needing to be hooked up, you're on your own.

 

I can't really review the graphics card or processor, or ram, except to say they're fast.

 

The DVD drive worked OOTB, and I've read from it. I haven't tried burning anything to it yet though.

 

Like I said before, the bluetooth dongle works. I've been meaning to add all this hardware to the OSx86 hardware compatibility Wiki page since a lot of it's not on there.

 

 

 

Problems

I've had a handful of crashes and restarts. They haven't been linked to any easy to diagnose causes. Most of the last few days I've been running this, it's been fine.

 

Audio doesn't work. I would like to fix this soon.

 

I've had lots of permission issues trying to migrate over from about five different external hard drives, and my macbook. My macbook needed to not just be migrated using the "import user" functions because I've been doing that every upgrade since Panther and frankly it's time for a clean start. Even so, getting my iTunes and such over to the new computer is an ongoing problem / project.

 

I had a few jumpy skipping freezing mouse issues, but I couldn't tell if they were caused by the mouse or not. They went away when I switched to a USB mouse, and then didn't come back when I switched to the apple magic mouse (blue tooth).

 

 

Questions

anyone got any suggestions for what I should do for this mother board?

I'd like it to run cooler, fix the sound, and probably more.

 

Is there a reason the hard drives aren't SMART enabled? Can I enable that in the bios, or will I break something?

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Thanks so much.

 

As predicted, (almost) everything has worked out of the box.

 

I assume you'd recommend the Swhay dsdt.aml extra?

We've got the same MoBo.

 

I've got iStatMenus installed, and they say the CPU is running around 53-47° celsius.

I've read that iStatMenus aren't entirely accurate on some people's hacks though, so I'm not sure if I should trust them.

 

I feel like my box is giving off a heck of a lot of heat though, and I haven't event screwed the aluminum sides back on yet so it's getting the best airflow imaginable. Maybe I'm just not used to how much heat a desktop gives off, but I feel like it is changing the total temp of this small room when I have the door and window closed and the air off.

 

Congratulations! I knew it would be a Kakewalk for you!

 

Yes, I do recommend the Swhay Extra folder for your mobo. Leave the Kakewalk "boot" file alone, and just replace the "Extra" folder. You can tweak the com.apple.Boot.plist and smbios.plist later to suit your taste. The fakesmc.kext remains in the /Extra/Extensions with either folder. Kakewalk adds the JMicronATA.kext but I don't (didn't) use it.

 

Analog output audio (green front case headphones, rear green output) has worked fine for me even without the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml. You do need to select the proper outputs both in System Preferences/Sound as well as Audio Midi Setup.app in your Utilities folder. The volume level from the mobo is lower than what I expected, but noise free. I have not yet tried the digital I/O. Be certain that you have made the correct mobo audio connections from the front case I/O cables.

 

My LanCool case actually seems to run cooler with the aluminum side panels in place. The dOOd DSDT should lower your ambient temps about 6-7 degrees celsius. I use the stock Intel heatsink/fan. I may add a better CPU cooler later if I need it.

 

But don't worry, your temps are well within spec from Intel. TJmax is about 100 degrees celsius!

 

Again, be cool, and use the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml. You need no other KEXTS except what Kakewalk provides.

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Running into more and more problems :)

 

I've spent several hours each day this weekend trying to fix things, but haven't actually gotten anywhere.

 

I’m a little upset, mostly at myself.

Basically, every time I dive into a new problem, I realize just how much more there is out there that I don’t know. I’m not adverse to learning, I just don’t always have the time.

 

But there’s no turning back now, so I’m going to forge ahead and have faith in myself, in life, and especially in this community.

 

First the good news:

 

Analog output audio (green front case headphones, rear green output) has worked fine for me even without the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml. You do need to select the proper outputs both in System Preferences/Sound as well as Audio Midi Setup.app in your Utilities folder.

 

You were totally right about this. I checked my connections and realized that the fault was on the part of the speaker wire, not the computer. Headphones work out of the green ports, and I'll replace my cheepo audio extension cable soon enough. Thanks!

 

However, the Crashes / freezes / panics have only gotten worse, and I can't use your fix yet. See below:

 

 

I do recommend the Swhay Extra folder for your mobo. Leave the Kakewalk "boot" file alone, and just replace the "Extra" folder. You can tweak the com.apple.Boot.plist and smbios.plist later to suit your taste. The fakesmc.kext remains in the /Extra/Extensions with either folder. Kakewalk adds the JMicronATA.kext but I don't (didn't) use it.

...

be cool, and use the Swhay/dOOd DSDT.aml. You need no other KEXTS except what Kakewalk provides.

 

I followed the process you outlined for another user in another thread (either the DD or the kakewalk one).

  1. Enable Root User
  2. Log in as Root User
  3. download Swhay "extras" folder.
  4. backup my "extras" folder
  5. use Disk Utility to do look up the SMUUID number, and correctly stick it in smbios.plist

 

but just before rebooting I realized that the DSDT file you pointed me to was potentially going to fry my system.

We have the same MoBo, but I'm running i7 930 2.8 and you two are both running i7 920 2.66.

 

I don't actually know if your DSDT will fry my system, because before reading for a few hours tonight I barely understood what DSDT was. But according to ale§ 's post (third from the top) on d00d's GA-EX58-UD5 guide, I am at risk for doing so.

 

So my new question is,

how do I figure out the correct editing of a DSDT for my processor & bios setup?

After about two hours reading tonight, I'm afraid it's still out of my league.

 

My biggest problem is that I'm just not familiar enough with terminal, or with bios settings. Those are both things I plan to fix eventually, but I can't tackle either this week. I want to get my system running in all ways optimal, and want to learn how that process works each step of the way -- but for now I'd settle for just mostly stable to get me through until my life slows down a bit again.

 

Ugh.

 

Any suggestions?

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Running into more and more problems :D

 

I've spent several hours each day this weekend trying to fix things, but haven't actually gotten anywhere.

 

I’m a little upset, mostly at myself.

Basically, every time I dive into a new problem, I realize just how much more there is out there that I don’t know. I’m not adverse to learning, I just don’t always have the time.

 

But there’s no turning back now, so I’m going to forge ahead and have faith in myself, in life, and especially in this community.

 

However, the Crashes / freezes / panics have only gotten worse, and I can't use your fix yet.

 

Sorry to hear that you are having these problems. I agree that you should not try the dOOd DSDT tutorial until you at least have a stable system with the unmodified Kakewalk installed Extra folder.

 

In my case I lived with an unmodified Gigabyte (Kakewalk) 1.5.1 install for about a month until I got my "sea legs" as it were with Snow Leopard OS 10.6.2. But my system was always stable - no crashes, freezes, or panics of any kind and everything (audio, video, sleep, LAN, etc.) was functioning without issues. During that time I added a second HDD to make a bootable clone of my install, so I was bit cocky to try some tweaks to reduce heat and required KEXT files in the Extra/Extentions folder.

 

I was unaware that your Intel i7 930 might require different DSDT tweaking. I am just a beginner at this Hackintosh stuff - I guess with beginner's luck. But I did research the forums for which components would be the most compatible, easiest, trouble-free build and that information proved correct.

 

I do hope that someone with more experience is reading this thread and can solve your problems. Post in the Kakewalk thread and the dOOd thread for expert assistance. You are right that this community is full of great help for those of us climbing up the steep learning curve. You have the right attitude, so keep your faith in yourself and life. I can tell that you are an overcomer for sure!

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Your correct I would not use my DSDT for a i7 930 CPU. You will need to follow the following topic so you can adjust the FID and VID (i think that's what they are called) for your CPU otherwise there is nothing else you need to fix to use the modified DSDT that I have (based on d00d's DSDT for i7 920).

 

basically what you need to do is adjust the P and C states of your processor. The following topic link should help you understand what you need to do.

 

Doing this will allow native power management to work like it's supposed to enabling you to use just a Lan kext (driver) and fakesmc.kext.

 

DSDT - Vanilla Speedstep - Generic Scope (_PR)

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The following topic link should help you understand what you need to do.

 

DSDT - Vanilla Speedstep - Generic Scope (_PR)

 

Haha, almost.

I had spent a while reading that forum previously, and it's what got me to the *breakdown pull hair out* moment that necessitated my post asking for help. That forum is really not written for anyone to understand it who isn't already familiar with compiling DSDTs and how they work.

 

I think I understand the basics, but just not enough to pull it off. I downloaded the P-States Calculator, and tried to fill it in with the data from Netkas' cpu-x app. But

1) I'm not sure if that's even correct, and

2) I have no idea how to get the data into my DSDT after I figure out what it should be.

 

And pretty much as soon as I start researching that 2nd problem, the links I follow get way over my head, and also keep pointing me towards Russian websites I can't even read.

 

 

Are there any tutorials you can think of that are aimed at a slightly less-expert level of user?

If not, which forum do you suggest I try looking for help in? I don't want to be an annoying n00b somewhere, but on the other hand, I guess when it comes to most of this stuff I am a n00b.

 

 

I've had several more freezes requiring hard-restarts, and two kernel panics requiring restarts (I think 5 restarts in all) in the last 48 hours.

Also my internal temps (according to istats) have been climbing up to the low 60s, and nearly 70 at one point.

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I'm a mac n00b, and i missed out on the 920 chips at microcenter, all sold out. They still have a hell of a deal on the 930 so thats what I'm thinking of going with.

 

Is the 930 really any harder for a n00b to get working correctly? Want a cpu with power for photo and vid editing.

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I'm a mac n00b, and i missed out on the 920 chips at microcenter, all sold out. They still have a hell of a deal on the 930 so thats what I'm thinking of going with.

 

Is the 930 really any harder for a n00b to get working correctly? Want a cpu with power for photo and vid editing.

 

Eventually the 930 will completely replace the 920 (according to intel), so it stands to reason that eventually the 930 will have broad support from the hackinstosh community too.

 

I think I've determined that all my issues are related to:

 

1) sleep issues

most KPs caused by trying to auto sleep

 

 

2) keyboard issues.

I think there may be an issue w/ my logitech wifi keyboard. Or something bigger? When I restart to boot off of a USB drive, I can't navigate to the drive I want to boot from because pre-boot my computer won't recognize my wifi keyboard or my old Mac USB keyboard. All I need to be able to do is press down-arrow + enter... but I can't do it because the computer acts like there is no keyboard connected.

 

 

 

3) maybe permission issues.

Because I can't get my computer to recognize my keyboard during boot, I can't run repair permissions. And since I've had so many KPs, I've had a lot of forced reboots. So I might have permissions issues causing problems now too.

 

However,

problem 1 -- there are lots of solutions & as soon as I figure out the DSDT thing this one should be fixed

problem 2 -- I just can't imagine this is that hard to fix

problem 3 -- can be fixed easily too, once problem 2 is fixed.

 

I'll report back in another few days when I've got this stuff figured out.

 

Recently I've been finding Tony's site useful for beginner info. It's not aimed at my motherboard (he's all about P55s) , but he's still got lots of good stuff for n00bs.

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Haha, almost.

I had spent a while reading that forum previously, and it's what got me to the *breakdown pull hair out* moment that necessitated my post asking for help. That forum is really not written for anyone to understand it who isn't already familiar with compiling DSDTs and how they work.

 

I think I understand the basics, but just not enough to pull it off. I downloaded the P-States Calculator, and tried to fill it in with the data from Netkas' cpu-x app. But

1) I'm not sure if that's even correct, and

2) I have no idea how to get the data into my DSDT after I figure out what it should be.

 

And pretty much as soon as I start researching that 2nd problem, the links I follow get way over my head, and also keep pointing me towards Russian websites I can't even read.

 

 

Are there any tutorials you can think of that are aimed at a slightly less-expert level of user?

If not, which forum do you suggest I try looking for help in? I don't want to be an annoying n00b somewhere, but on the other hand, I guess when it comes to most of this stuff I am a n00b.

 

 

I've had several more freezes requiring hard-restarts, and two kernel panics requiring restarts (I think 5 restarts in all) in the last 48 hours.

Also my internal temps (according to istats) have been climbing up to the low 60s, and nearly 70 at one point.

 

Attached below is a zip file that contains the following...

 

1. PStateChanger.app

2. Kext Helper b7.app

3. VoodooPState.kext

 

Steps:

 

1. Use Kext helper b7.app to install VoodooPState.kext

2. Reboot

3. Run PStateChanger.app

4. Click on the PState Tab

5. Take a screen shot of the results. If you have more than say 5 or 6 pstates, take two screen shots so you get them all.

6. Send them to me along with your DSDT.aml file

 

I can put in the generic speedstep code for you along with the correct values

 

I will send you back your DSDT.dsl and DSDT.aml file and I will make sure your dsdt has all the other fixes for your

Mother Board.

 

 

voodoopstate.zip

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1. Use Kext helper b7.app to install VoodooPState.kext

2. Reboot

3. Run PStateChanger.app

4. Click on the PState Tab

5. Take a screen shot of the results. If you have more than say 5 or 6 pstates, take two screen shots so you get them all.

6. Send them to me along with your DSDT.aml file

 

I can put in the generic speedstep code for you along with the correct values

 

I will send you back your DSDT.dsl and DSDT.aml file and I will make sure your dsdt has all the other fixes for your

Mother Board.

 

Swhay! You are simply amazing.

I followed the steps you outlined, and PM-ed you the results and files.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

 

You should know that

 

  1. you're doing a good thing for someone who really appreciates it
     
  2. I've had two PMs, plus the post from nemix above, from people who have my identical MoBo & CPU. So you're helping at least 3 people besides me, & judging by the views on this post, probably more than that.
     
  3. as soon as I get a little more of this knowledge under my belt I'm going to go around the forums helping folks out in your honor.

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Quick Update:

I haven't heard back from Swhay yet, but considering it's been Easter weekend I'm not too worried.

Since sending him my info, I cleared out an external HD, installed it internally, and have used SuperDuper to make a bootable backup of my HD.

 

I would recommend to anyone who wants to do this build that you plan to have an internal bootable backup from the start. It was stupid of me to think I could get away with not doing so. But while reading about people upgrading to 10.6.3 I finally realized how silly it is to even imagine having a Hackintosh without having a careful backup system to restore from easily.

 

As for those thinking about doing this build, I would say go for it.

 

By the time the parts get to you, and you've got them set up, I'll have this fix done.

 

This Mobo is really well supported. The processor is not too well supported yet, but it will be soon enough. Because the 930 is replacing the 920 i7, I can't imagine it won't end up becoming as well supported as the 920 currently is.

 

As for my problems and suggestions:

  • I've confirmed that sleep issues are causing at least 90% of my Kernel Panics
  • my processor is still running hot. Idling between 62°-68° depending on which program I use to monitor the cores, and depending ont he core. I am hopeful that the DSDT fix will also help the heat issue.
  • this graphics card is amazing and was supported OOTB. I'd also reccomend getting the almost identical one direct from apple with the mini-disply port. I've heard great things about that one, and it's about the same price.
  • all my other parts have been totally compatible except potentially the keyboard. I'm still not sure if it's causing problems.
  • the more I research the more I've realized that I should have invested in a higher quality PSU for about $60 more bucks. This one is working just fine, but apparently a better PSU can save a lot of heat, and thus save component costs-- and do the same by regulating power better. Essentially, a high quality PSU like a high quality case will last you a long time and will pay for itself.
  • I also think if I were starting again from scratch I would have gotten a cooler besides the stock one that came with the processor.
  • Finally, in the "if I were doing it again today" category, I would go with a raid0 plan. I still plan to make that switch at some point in the next few months. Alliteratively, I would invest in a Solid State HD, or a velociraptor 1500 HD. Currently the speed bottleneck in my computing is coming from the hard drive read/write times... and that's after investing in a really high quality WD HD with great caching and pretty much the best R/W times you can get from a normal 7200 SATA HD.

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Thanks for keeping this topic up to date, my parts will be arriving tomorrow for a very similar build. I have never even built a PC before, let alone doing any hackintosh related stuff. It will take some research to get it going, but your thread has been a big help already, so thanks! I will likely make a similar thread to document the build in case I experience anything that could help others.

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. I have never even built a PC before, let alone doing any hackintosh related stuff. It will take some research to get it going, but your thread has been a big help already, so thanks!

 

For the actual installation I highly recommend YouTube! There are some invaluable videos on there you can watch in hi-def of people installing almost all these exact parts on their computers. I literally found an australian guy installing my same processor, on my same mobo, in my same case and narrating the whole process. It was uncanny.

 

I'm glad it's been helpful. I keep meaning to post photos, but I'm going to wait and do that when I've finally got a stable build and can also post my final benchmark scores.

 

Good Luck!

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Update:

I've got to go out of town for an unexpected funeral. So there won't be any updates on any of this until at least next Tuesday.

 

Hopefully by then Swhay will have had a chance to put the DSDT file together, and I'll be able to report back on how this first (to Hackintoshes it seems) i7-930 machine is running.

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