Music Production Focused i7 X58 Nvidia Build, Best methods and system specs

[tonelab77]

I've been trolling for a good while now, and I am building a machine for the very same reason as the OG poster. In fact, this thread was my initial inspiration. I bought everything in my sig. I just need help picking a cheap, dual dvi gfx card. This machine will be strictly for music (Logic 9 , Ableton, Plugins, Etc). I would like to do a moderate OC on the cpu as well, so I'm open to any and all suggestions regarding anything. I could use some advice about what method of install I should use with the combination of things I have already purchased. Thanks to any and all.

[Alessandro17]

Fast reply just ate my entire bleeping message!!! I'm so pissed right now! I will try to rewrite, but it involves wanting the same thing as the original poster with the items in my sig and what method of install I should follow. I still can't believe that fast reply swallowed my bleeping message!!!

 

Nobody cares to read important announcements by the moderating team? http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=243191

[tonelab77]

Nobody cares to read important announcements by the moderating team? http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=243191

I apologize. Don't not help me because of it. Please.

[ruger42]

I apologize. Don't not help me because of it. Please.

As far as graphics cards go, XLR already said it earlier in this thread:

 

Regarding graphics cards, i have great news for you: 99% of all Nvidia cards from 8400 to 9800 work out of the box with the latest Chameleon bootloader.

As you can see in my sig, I'm using a 9400 GT which functions perfectly, can drive 2 DVI monitors, and works without kext using only Chameleon graphics enabler.

 

There's no best install method other than one you're comfortable with. Find one that best suits you (there are plenty for X58 based motherboards, JagfyrS uploaded his own guide in post #18), and just go for it! It's a learning experience no matter which path you choose, and every problem you may run into has most likely already been solved in this forum.

[tonelab77]

...just go for it! It's a learning experience no matter which path you choose, and every problem you may run into has most likely already been solved in this forum.

Thanks for the encouragement! As soon as I get this GPU & these SYS HDDs, I am going to try Kakewalk, since that was what was used in a successful install on my board (according to the HCL).

[JagfyrS]

Wasup pplz, sorry haven't been around to respond to any of these posts since January, it's great to see a solid conversation brewing. @tonelab77, I hope the build has worked out for you seeing as how it has been a while since your post. As far as getting a hold of a solid dual gfx card, I'm sure that 8800 gts has proven to be a worthwhile if not slightly noisy card. Older mac pro models utilized 8800gt cards so the drivers/kexts should be mostly present in Mac OSX, and all you would need is either a very well patched DSDT or some NVenabler. As far as this as well as Audio and ethernet, all you should probably need is tonymacosx86's [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url].

 

http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/ and just scroll down to get the latest version which includes a great all-in-one ethernet kext courtesy of Lnx2Mac, a slew of audio kexts including one for your ALC889A, and the latest Chameleon bootloader. Hopefully you shouldn't need any of this at this point, but for anyone trolling this thread, [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] really is a very powerful tool, and I highly recommend it. Basically it is an accumulation of a whole bunch of highly relevant kexts, info plists edits, dsdt implementations, and way more in the form of a nice neat installer that also conveniently repairs your permissions when ever it would be necessary to do so. Along with XLR's expert advice on my build, it has been crucial for getting my system going.

 

As far as overclocking goes, you may or may not find it relevant for your purposes, but it can be done with really stable results. However, you really have to consider whether you need it or not as any overclocking will put more stress on your cpu and other components despite how stable it may be. On my part I have found overclocking useful at times especially since logic still does not distribute single channel strips, and hence any live input, over multiple processing cores. Furthermore, even though you can distribute processing load across processor cores by using auxillary channel strips and bus sends, your live input is still forced on a single core despite any routing you may have done. As such it has come in handy when dealing with complex virtual instruments such as Spectrasonics Omnisphere or Alicia's Keys via Kontact 4.x (both amazing btw). Also it can be useful for recording live audio at low latencies, however you may find that your interface is really more of a bottleneck than your cpu speed with regards to recording low latency audio at 24bit/96khz and above. I personally have not seen a huge difference with audio, but with virtual instruments I certainly have. My points of reference are the stock speed of 3.06 for my i7-950, and the 3.68 ghz overclock I employ. Even at 3.84 ghz I did not see a difference with low audio latency performance.

 

To get started, peruse overclockers.com, tomshardware.com, and any other techie type forum. For general knowledge regarding the x58 platform, this is useful:

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439...-920-930-a.html

 

The x58 platform will be a different beast than anything you may have worked with. I soon found that any knowledge I had working with AMD processors really didn't apply all that much.

 

Also I would advise finding a reliable way to stress test your overclock. I use prime 95 in windows on another hard drive with windows 7 and ubuntu on it. If you do not have acces to something like that, I have actually found x264 video encoding to be a good stability test. I use the free open source program Handbrake for this. You will get a good idea of your CPU's temps at 100% load and since x264 uses many complexities in its encoding, you get a reasonably good sense of what your overclock can handle. Plus you can convert those scratch prone dvds to much more convenient .mkv files. If you experience a kernel panic during the encoding, or really high temps, or a kernal panic anytime at all for seemingly know reason, your overclock is not stable for whatever reason. I wouldn't say x264 video encoding is definitive for stress testing but it is better than nothing at all. The 32 bit audio unit bridge in logic will be the most likely affected component of an unstable overclock, so if you dial up a lot of 32bit 3rd party plugins, don't overclock or test out your platform effectively.

 

My personal advice regarding your set up would be to loosen up your RAM timings for an OC. 3x4gb DIMMs can be a bit stressful for your i7's memory controller. At 8-8-8-24 I had stability issues with my 6-8-6-20 Mushkin Radioactive RAM (6x2GB), so I bumped it up to 9-9-9-27 and I got smoothness at 3.68 ghz. Also do not overclock your RAM in the process with those 4GB DIMM's.

 

I'll post my bios setting next time I boot up (right now I'm on my hackintosh). I don't think I have arrived at the perfect settings yet as I have cheated a bit by adjusting my Vcore to a relatively high 1.4Volts to help with stability. This in turn ups my idle temps to the high 40's to low 50's degrees C, and my max load temps to the mid 80's. With some adjustments here and there, most likely to the QPI voltage, I'll tone down that VCore setting and get cooler temps while maintaining stability. I'm not going to mess around with that today though as the OC I have dialed up survived 20 hours of prime 95, and 2 passes of memtest86 so that good enough for me. Plus I feel bad stress testing my computer-I love my hackintosh way too much

[JagfyrS]

Also wanted to mention some really great hackintosh add-ons that I have found to be very successful:

 

USB Wireless

http://www.rosewill.com/products/1721/productDetail.htm

 

Has 32bit and 64bit 10.6 drivers, great reception, has wireless utility that negotiates connections well.

 

This one is slightly cheaper but still functional and lower profile:

http://www.rosewill.com/products/1590/productDetail.htm

 

Rosewill usb wireless networking is great for windows, linux and mac OS's

 

This PCI-e adaptor shows up as native airport in mac 10.6.5, and it works great. I use this for internet and the rosewill for local network wireless data transfer.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=549 -also works with windows, linux, and osx

 

For quiet cooling I use these for exhaust

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=product...d=25&lng=en

 

And these for intake and through the heatsink

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=product...d=12&lng=en

 

Expensive but really damn good

 

Also I got this before I used the latest [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and got gigabit functionality out of my onboard ethernet

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/adap...ct-overview.htm this model Intel EXPI9301CTBLK

This has the same chipset as mac pro ethernet and the kexts are already installed. However you need to tweak the kext to get it working. Instructions found here

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4057

[mulcyber]

Also wanted to mention some really great hackintosh add-ons that I have found to be very successful:

 

USB Wireless

http://www.rosewill.com/products/1721/productDetail.htm

 

Has 32bit and 64bit 10.6 drivers, great reception, has wireless utility that negotiates connections well.

 

This one is slightly cheaper but still functional and lower profile:

http://www.rosewill.com/products/1590/productDetail.htm

 

Rosewill usb wireless networking is great for windows, linux and mac OS's

 

This PCI-e adaptor shows up as native airport in mac 10.6.5, and it works great. I use this for internet and the rosewill for local network wireless data transfer.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=549 -also works with windows, linux, and osx

 

For quiet cooling I use these for exhaust

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=product...d=25&lng=en

 

And these for intake and through the heatsink

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=product...d=12&lng=en

 

Expensive but really damn good

 

Also I got this before I used the latest [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and got gigabit functionality out of my onboard ethernet

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/adap...ct-overview.htm this model Intel EXPI9301CTBLK

This has the same chipset as mac pro ethernet and the kexts are already installed. However you need to tweak the kext to get it working. Instructions found here

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4057

 

Thanks for your list of peripherals, especially the rosewill wireless adapter with a dock.

I bought the larger Haf case which came with 5 fans plus a 3rd party cpu cooler. My cpu temps at idle are 32 to 35 and under stress around 50, very rarely 60.

 

I bought 12 gigs of ram instead of 6, but with digital editing in mind rather than Logic Pro; and my modules were 2GB instead of 4GB which was a mistake.

 

Installation of SL was easy after I discovered Lnx2mac's new Realtek 81xx onboard ethernet driver.

We came close to the same research conclusions about compatible base components (except psu).

[JagfyrS]

@mulcyber, no problem with the peripheral list, I'm glad I can help. Also I forgot to mention my bluetooth device that I have hooked up. Definitely recommend it:

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=34

 

Really solid as it doesn't ever seem to drop a signal. It is more expensive than a lot of other ones out there, but really not by much. Mainly use it to pair with my gigabyte bluetooth mouse

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx...p;v=5&ck=14

 

This mouse is great btw, its got a nice ergonomic design to keep my hand feeling loose while tweaking stuff in Logic so I can still lay down them heavy bass lines. Used to have a microsoft bluetooth mouse but it sucked and I chucked it at the wall in a state of rage and frustration due to its connection {censored}tiness. Luckily was able to fix it and use it with my macbook. Just a reminder why I hate microsoft products quite a lot-to the point where I will deal with the added difficulty/uncertainty of putting together an OSX86 platform. Fortunately as I have found out, my OSX86 platform only presents me with awesomeness and miniscule difficulty/uncertainty. Plus I've learned a whole bunch more about computers and macs that I would never have known about.

 

@Mulcyber, you definitely made the right choice of going with 6x2GB DIMMs as those 4GB DIMMs need to run a bit slower (mostly in terms of latency timings but also clock speed) so as to not stress the i7 memory controller to a point of introducing system instability. Besides, why not fill up all those slots, I really can't see any need for 24GB of memory for music production unless you are composing legit symphonies with 32bit sampled virtual instruments. I have yet to run up against my 12GB mark and crash logic even though I tend to load up some hefty 24bit sampled Virtual Instruments.

 

For anyone else reading this I recommend checking out this site and buying direct from them.

http://www.mushkin.com/Memory/Performance-Memory.aspx Not all the kits advertised on the site are for direct sale, but if you find a kit that you like, the price can be amazing since you are buying direct from a trusted manufacturer. I just so happened to get 2 kits of 3x2GB 1600mhz 6-8-6-20 Radiactive RAM for $210 including shipping-really lucked out with a price like that for 12GB of great RAM

 

Also definitely liking those temps you have there. The HAF case is really well ventilated as are all the mesh-like cases out there. I use a rosewill challenger case (solid budget case btw) in my linux home pc build and the AMD quad core in there never goes above 40C. The downside to these mesh cases is the ambient noise you get from fans and hard drives, but if that is not a problem for you then you are providing a nice cool environment for for system to live a long life. Generally speaking, heat is a primary killer of CPUs, hard drives and chipsets, so you can't go wrong by minimizing heat. One obvious upside to the mesh case is that you have enough thermal headroom to dial in overclocks in the 4ghz range, although I do think that would be complete overkill for music production/editing. Perhaps thats good for a maniacal adobe after effects guru.

 

The antec p183 case that I have is great for keeping the noise down, but the temps will be a bit higher for the interior components in comparison with the mesh type cases. That slight increase does not worry me though especially with the noctua fans keeping the case nice and fresh. Also with the HAF, I would recommend getting a duster spray can type thing to clear the dust out of the mesh type parts of the case on a semi monthly basis. If your system sits low to the ground, the amount of {censored} that accumulates can really impede the airflow through the case and make your fans louder (or dead) over a long enough timeline.

[adfasm]

I would really like to thank JagfyrS and XLR for such a detailed insight into this particular i7 build.

 

I have been doing alot of research into building myself a hackintosh and this has really caught my attention and answered alot of doubts that I have been having over the past year. It is great to see the success you guys are having with with this Gigabyte i7 build and has got me thinking of creating a very similar build myself. I am a Sound Engineer who has been working on Windows based computers. I really would like to explore/expand my capabilities to OSX using software such as Logic and Final Cut Pro (I dont know if you use FC on your systems?). I am a newbie to this (This is my first ever post!!! Wahey!!) and this will be my first ever build. Again I thank you both for putting in the time and dedication in creating such a detailed post!

 

I know that this was brought up previously in the thread but I would really like to know if there has been any major issues with this build since the reply in Feb. Has there been any major issues when it comes to updating the OSX version from 10.6.4 upwards? Also would there be any major issues if I was to use the latest OSX version install disk for my build using the UD3R board and i7-950 processor? Also, In respect to i7 builds, is the a UD3R still considered a stable and relatively up to date? Do you know of any others out there that have been brought out since Feb which prove more reliable and easier to setup (even though your builds seem fairly straight forward)?

 

I know these are probably stupid questions so forgive me... I'm just clarifying any potential doubts!

 

Any input from you guys would be greatly appreciated (or anyone else)

 

Thanks in advance and look forward to your reply!