NEW Intel P55 Mobos & Core i7 860 / i5 750 CPU LGA1156

[meroy]

Want to report that 10.6.2 is running fine on a Gigabyte P55 UD4P w/ i7 CPU. Had to revert to AppleHDA 10.6.1 though. Using RealtekR1000SL.kext.zip mentioned in one of the previous post mentioned on this forum.

 

In my /Extra folder, I have the following 2 scripts.

 

===================

do-ee-mkext.sh (run as root) -- to refresh the mkext under Extra

===================

 

#!/bin/ksh

 

rm -f Extensions.mkext

 

chown -R root:wheel /Extra/Extensions

chmod -R 755 /Extra/Extensions

 

kextcache -v 1 -t -m /Extra/Extensions.mkext /Extra/Extensions/

 

sync

 

===================

do-sle-mkext.sh (run as root) -- to refresh the mkext under sle

===================

 

#!/bin/ksh

 

kextcache -system-caches

 

sync

 

===================

 

BTW: Gigabyte just released the final production F4 bios with iphone sync fix for the P55 UD4P motherboard. It's no longer a beta bios. Check for your Gigabyte P55 motherboard for an update.

[dorkiaa]

That is what I'm saying. The 10.2.0 kernel works. You just need the i5 boot file. Here's my System Profiler:

 

 

 

 

Hey VGM10000-you are 1/2 correct. The 10.2.0 kernel works for me! Atom has been killed however.

 

Could you post the installation method you used? Did you install it from a retail DVD? Where did you get the mentioned i5 boot file?

 

 

Sorry for the n00bism, but it's been a week since I assembled my i5 build and I miss OS X (had it on my HP laptop) 

[jhenley01]

What installation method did you use? Does the optical audio output work?

 

I used Tonymac's install method on pg 15 plus a few extra steps to setup my RAID 0 (which is extremely fast by the way .) You basically need to copy a retail SL disc over to a flash drive, install Chameleon and patch it for i5 support. Have not had a chance to test the optical audio yet but will try when I get a chance.

[VGM10000]

That is what I'm saying. The 10.2.0 kernel works. You just need the i5 boot file. Here's my System Profiler:

 

 

 

 

Hey VGM10000-you are 1/2 correct. The 10.2.0 kernel works for me! Atom has been killed however.

 

Wait, so 10.6.2 has everything needed for the CPU?

[VGM10000]

Does anyone have a working i7 machine with 10.6.2? I am working on the guide and need to make sure I am correct in the assumption that you would do the same as with the i5, but skip the i5 patch.

 

Also, I want to see if anyone has working rigs on these motherboards, even if things like sleep and system profiler don't work. They are:

 

Intel BOXDP55SB

Intel BOXDP55WG

MSI P55M-GD45

Intel BOXDP55WB

 

The following boards work, but are tagged as not allowing sleep mode. If someone has any of the following boards and can use sleep mode, please notify me! They are:

 

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P

Asus P7P55D (This motherboard also is tagged with buggy Audio I/O, if you have anything to the contrary, tell me!)

 

I am adding sample builds to help people when they go to buy their own rig. I will make 5 builds:

 

1. Budget i5 build - For the active user, without breaking the bank ($600-$750) "The Hack Mini"

2. Power i5 build - For the rich multimedia user with a little more on-hand ($800-$1000) "The iHack"

3. Enthusiast/Developer i7 build - For the video/image/code multi-tasker with perhaps even more on hand ($900-$1200) "The iHack Pro"

4. Everything-in-one i7 build - For the user who does everything and then some ($1250-$1500) "The Hackintosh Pro"

 

And, just for fun...

5. The gluttonous i7 build - For the guy who has too much money, but just enough insanity, to put it all into a machine that has the sole purpose of making everyone you know jealous (WAY TOO MUCH) "The God Box"

 

 

Thanks

 

- VGM10000

[everdone]

P55-UD3R with i7 processor needed Qoopz kernel to boot with 10.6.0 and 10.6.1, upgraded to 10.6.2 (removed sleepenabler.kext) and it boots without adding the Qoopz kernel back.

[redtomato]

I am also eagerly waiting for these guides to be posted!

 

If you were to start from scratch to build an i7-860 hackintosh, which mobo would you go for? Following Ars Technicia's Hot Rod guide, I'm looking at :

 

i7-860 £227

Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P £136 (recomended in AnandTech's latest HotRod guide, hackintosh compatibility is currently unknown)

Branded memory 8GB £126 (4x2GB)(OCZ Gold)

 

total: £489 (excluding case etc) (Prices are from overclockers.co.uk, and are broadly similar across other sites)

 

Its main use will be to run osx and to be a testbed for virtualisation. I need to be able to run windows server 2008, server 2003, vista, and windows 7, all at the same time.

 

That means lots of RAM.

 

The canonical i7-920 build from insanelymac.com might be better but is a fair bit more expensive and more power hungry (important) and an older chip and less mainstream:

 

i7-920 £205

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 £182

Branded memory 12GB £200 (6x2GB) (OCZ Obsidan)

 

Total: £587 (excluding case etc)

 

Thoughts? I have to buy this system within a few weeks.

[theotherone]

And so me too!

 

I am currently also in the process of migrating from a macbook pro unibody (2008) to a brandnew macbook plastik unibody. The difference between the sale-price of the mb pro to the price for the macbook will be and is invested in P55 Equipment. So here is what i have right now:

 

Gigabyte P55M-UD2

8 GB of DDR3 1333 RAM

an GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (an 9400GT as Spare will later go to a HPTC-Build)

i5-750 CPU which i plan to mildly overlock

a ZALMAN 8700 CPU-Cooler

a solid PSU from Thermaltake

an elegant Lian-Li PC600 Enclosure

several hds ranging from 250 GB to 1,5 TB

a 24" and a 22" TFT from Samsung

 

So, the rig is build and runs fine so far. Now onto the Snow-Leo Install. As of my sig i have a bit experience building hacks, but i'm not up-to date with the new developments of the heros here (netkas, others).

 

Reading thru this thread i will try to build a hd with 10.6 installed from within my macbook via usb and directly update this to 10.6.2 with the combo-update (to get the needed kernel). After that i plan on installing all needed kexts, bootloader, etc. from within the macbook, bless the hd so that it boots and install it into my rig.

 

Then, trying to boot with f12 from this hd. So, could this work? If this method will work i gladly will build a list with the steps needed and hand this over to VGM10000 to be included as an alternate method.

 

If it fails i will go the hard way with usb-stick etc as recommended here by tonymacx86 or what else may VGM10000 came up with.

 

Thanks to all for sharing this great work so far!

 

bernie

[VGM10000]

I am seeing that people are posting builds and asking for advice. I know I am rushing this out, but here is the build guide: SampleBuilds.zip

 

Keep in mind that there will be a better, final version with the final parts list. This is rough as I did it overnight. If you have any specific questions about your own builds, message me and I will do my best to answer.

 

- VGM10000

[redtomato]

Gigabyte P55M-UD2

8 GB of DDR3 1333 RAM

Yes, I'm very interested in the P55M too. If I do go down the i7-860 route, then why get a full sized ATX when I could get a microATX which is far smaller, has the same performance, also has 4 RAM slots, and is cheaper?

 

I'd be able to take the smaller case to work on the tube no problems. That's a big bonus. Looking forwards to these guides ...

[Alex K.]

First of all, I'm glad to announce that 10.6.2 vanilla works perfectly with i7 860 (p55, 1156).

The installation procedure is quite simple:

- myHack + choco kernel

- update to 10.6.2 on the first boot

 

That's it. On the second boot you will have vanilla up and running. The PC is identified as:

- Mac Pro 2.1

- Quad Core Intel Xeon

- 2.83 Ghz

- 4 cores

 

Now about the problems:

I've got Intel's DP55KG mb having 82578DC NIC (ethernet) on-board. And I've got NO IDEA how to make it working.

 

I've been doing some i5/i7 research. I can tell you the Kext for this NIC chipset is included with Snow Leopard 10.6.1 (I've verified on my hktosh). If it has the proper hdw IDs would be the only issue.

 

As far as I can see the kext is NOT included.

 

Anyone has the same problem? Any ideas?

[dorkiaa]

OK, installed successfully on my i5! Thanks tonymacx86 & jhenley01

How would I go about updating to 10.6.1 and then to 10.6.2? Should I do anything special, or just use software update?

[redtomato]

I am seeing that people are posting builds and asking for advice. I know I am rushing this out, but here is the build guide: SampleBuilds.zip

 

That's looking really lovely. Thanks for the advice on chassis, power supplies etc.

 

I wonder - have you thought about including any P55M models? I can see them becoming very popular as they offer a good combination of power, cheapness and small size. There's that famous quote 'Micro-ATX is the new ATX'

[rhassinger]

I am seeing that people are posting builds and asking for advice. I know I am rushing this out, but here is the build guide: SampleBuilds.zip

 

Nice guide... One thing that you might improve on with the god box is that there is at least one mobo that can take 6 DIMMS, which I believe should give you 24GB max. I can't remember which one it was since it wasn't interested in it.

 

Also, I'm wondering about the ATI vs. Nvidia cards. There has been chatter in this thread about the ATI radeon GPUs not working perfectly, but the iMacs use them. Is there some reason that we should stick with Nvidia geforce GPUs only?

[VGM10000]

That's looking really lovely. Thanks for the advice on chassis, power supplies etc.

 

I wonder - have you thought about including any P55M models? I can see them becoming very popular as they offer a good combination of power, cheapness and small size. There's that famous quote 'Micro-ATX is the new ATX'

 

If you want I can make one, but I diddn't see the value in making 4 more builds in M-ATX. For the most part you can just take everything in the builds and switch out the case + motherboard for the smaller size.

 

Give me a budget and I can work something out though.

 

- VGM10000

[tasc]

First of all, I'm glad to announce that 10.6.2 vanilla works perfectly with i7 860 (p55, 1156).

 

Now about the problems:

I've got Intel's DP55KG mb having 82578DC NIC (ethernet) on-board. And I've got NO IDEA how to make it working.

 

As far as I can see the kext is NOT included.

 

Anyone has the same problem? Any ideas?

 

Alex, great to hear that you are up and running on 10.6.2 with i7 860! please keep us in the loop on your progress on getting the DP55KG LAN and audio working. I'm planning on picking up the same motherboard. Thanks!

[dorkiaa]

problem solved - I am now running 64-bit vanilla 10.6.2

simply had to rename AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext to AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext.backup

[goldenaustin]

Hi just getting in gear with my i5 750 + P55-UD3R board + GTX 260. From reading the thread, are these the steps I need for my combo?

 

1. Copy a retail SL disc over to a flash drive

2. Install Chameleon RC3

3. Patch it for i5 support. http://www.sendspace.com/file/ak0769

4. Run 10.6.2 update

 

A couple questions:

 

1. For those with the same combo, am I missing anything from the basic steps?

2. Do I need anything else from TonyMac's file package?

3. Do I need netka's PC_EFI v10.3

 

Since this will be my first attempt this combo in a desktop machine (i've done the dell mini's a few times), I would love to document my exact steps in a "dummies" guide to share.

 

Thanks!

[redtomato]

If you want I can make one, but I diddn't see the value in making 4 more builds in M-ATX. For the most part you can just take everything in the builds and switch out the case + motherboard for the smaller size.

 

Give me a budget and I can work something out though.

 

- VGM10000

I agree, no need to make 4 more builds. I was thinking along the lines of just giving a preferred P55M mobo for maximum hackintosh compatibility and ease of installation, and maybe a chassis too.

 

Would all the graphics cards you gave in your guide also fit a m-atx chassis? If not, then pointing out cheap/spendy hackingtosh compatible GPU options would be nice.

[HerbM]

This is so cool. Seems like we're there with the P55.

 

Just read about Gigabyte's new P55A refresh with SATA 3 and USB 3.... Maybe the work done now will work on them too?

[VGM10000]

I agree, no need to make 4 more builds. I was thinking along the lines of just giving a preferred P55M mobo for maximum hackintosh compatibility and ease of installation, and maybe a chassis too.

 

Would all the graphics cards you gave in your guide also fit a m-atx chassis? If not, then pointing out cheap/spendy hackingtosh compatible GPU options would be nice.

 

Any of the motherboards in the parts guide (v0.2 is out at the moment, I plan to release 1.0 by Sunday) should work well. As for cases, it is pretty much what you prefer... Looking at the reviews is a much better way of knowing the true interior space of a chassis though; if someone notices that the graphics are cramped, they will dutifully say so.

 

When it comes to the graphics cards themselves fitting inside a M-ATX case, I always point out that there is "fitting" and there is "working". It is really impractical to make a tiny rig that needs to be a graphics powerhouse, and I find that you have a ceiling of the Radeon HD 4770 or the GTX 260 before the amount of complaints about the size of the card spike. If you go any larger, prepare to remove HD cages and spend a little extra on a modular PSU.

 

The good news is that because it is smaller, theoretically airflow should be greater. Adding an extra fan can do wonders.

 

- VGM10000

 

Just a quick notification -

 

I am looking to see if there are any people willing to work on a foolproof guide for the installation of 10.6.2 on the P55 chipset. The project would be a collaboration, and I can almost guarantee that you would have to put at least SOME time into compiling a step-by-step process as to how you got SL working on your particular machine.

 

The goal would be to have a general guide that most people could easily follow, that would apply to a majority of the possible configurations out there. This would include all necessary links to required downloads and kudos to those who deserve it.

 

I am not sure two distinct guides for the i5 and i7 would be needed, but it might be more helpful.

 

It would be great if anyone out there who knows enough code to write an installer could help so that the process could be more automated, but I understand that it might be a stretch... I know from experience that even the simplest of software takes a lot of effort to write and debug.

 

Anyhow, if you are interested in helping, just reply saying so! I really want to make a P55 hackintosh both lucrative (which it already is) and easy to build, and I know it can be done.

 

- VGM10000

[redtomato]

Nice guide... One thing that you might improve on with the god box is that there is at least one mobo that can take 6 DIMMS, which I believe should give you 24GB max. I can't remember which one it was since it wasn't interested in it.

 

That's the Gigabyte P55-UD6. Which by a strange coincidence is the exact same board that's in the God Box. Whoops.

 

It's there because it got good reviews for OC. It's in the God Box because it costs over $250. But it won't let you run 24GB. With normal 2GB sticks plus a pair of 1GB sticks, it won't even run 10GB. These two extra slots are completely useless. To use them means you have to use single sided DDR modules which are as rare as hens teeth and as expensive.

 

Here's two comments from HardOCP.com:

 

The board is feature rich. 10 SATA ports, 2 eSATA ports, 24-phase power, automatic settings that actually work well. What's not to like? Well there is one thing. The board's six DIMM slots aren't very useful compared to a normal 4 DIMM slot equipped board. To use all six all the blue slots can only be populated with single sided DIMMs. (The system won't even POST with all six DIMM slots populated with double sided DIMMs.) This really narrows down your memory module choices. For the life of me I can't figure out why Gigabyte would bother to add the extra DIMM slots given their technical constraints. Simply throw in 4 DIMMs of your choice and be done with it. Getting double sided DIMMs for two slots, or 6 single sided modules doesn't make much sense to me.

 

Kyle's Thoughts:

 

First let’s start with the one thing you need to know if you are buying this board as it is not spelled out any except deep inside the manual. The "extra" two RAM slots are useless, or at least that is how they seem to me. As Dan mentioned above, and I think it is worth saying again, the configuration needed to actually use the six DIMM slots relegates the process to the "useless" category. The only way I see these slots being of use is if you have four extra DDR3 single sided DIMMs lying around from 2007, which you may, but I doubt it highly that those sticks will hit the memory speeds an enthusiast will be happy with. To be clear on this, you can easily use four sticks of today’s common 2GB DDR3 modules that are double sided. So putting 8GB of RAM in the board is easy and will likely cover most users’ needs. However if you are thinking of buying the board and installing 12GB like you might do on a X58 chipset motherboard, think again, as six 2GB double sided DIMM will simply not work in the P55-UD6. Six DIMM slots on this motherboard is simply a stupid design call unless you can install double sided DIMMs in all slots. Don’t be fooled thinking this P55-UD6 motherboard leverages into the X58 memory footprint space because it does not.

 

I could actually get the system to POST and load an OS with 10GB of RAM installed (4x2GB DS, and 2x1GB SS) but the OS would not recognize the extra two sticks. Below is a picture of the DIMM Configuration Chart out of the manual.

 

That all said, I was torn between the board being a Gold or a Silver Editor’s Choice winner, because it is surely worthy of an award from HardOCP. The one thing that sort of pushes me towards a Silver is the cost of the motherboard, but surely that can change…maybe. The well executed 24 phase power pushes me towards a Gold. The idiotic Single Sided Dimms slots push me towards screaming at someone about being a dumbass.

[fr3z3rburn]

This is so cool. Seems like we're there with the P55.

 

Just read about Gigabyte's new P55A refresh with SATA 3 and USB 3.... Maybe the work done now will work on them too?

 

 

I'm wondering the same. I want to build an i5 hack for christmas, but i want to make sure the P55A-UD4P will work with full compatibility. I don't really care if i can't run usb 3.0 or SATA 3.0 in OSX, but i want to get that board so that i will be basically future proofed for a while.

[joechip123]

I'm just about to place an order for all of my parts for my i7 860 machine (for use with Logic, FCP, Aperture, and some gaming), but I wanted to ask about a few things first:

 

1) Is the GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 a good choice for compatibility? (I don't care about the lack of dual video card support).

 

2) Is the XFX Radeon 4870 an OK choice for my video card? I'd be willing to change for the sake of stability, but I'd love to have a good card for gaming too, if possible.

 

Any advice is much appreciated!

[VGM10000]

I'm just about to place an order for all of my parts for my i7 860 machine (for use with Logic, FCP, Aperture, and some gaming), but I wanted to ask about a few things first:

 

1) Is the GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 a good choice for compatibility? (I don't care about the lack of dual video card support).

 

2) Is the XFX Radeon 4870 an OK choice for my video card? I'd be willing to change for the sake of stability, but I'd love to have a good card for gaming too, if possible.

 

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

1) The GA-P55M-UD2 is marked as tested and fully functional in my parts guide... you do know that it is a Micro-ATX board however, right?

 

2) I think that the card you have is fine, but I really don't know for sure if it works perfectly... I limit myself to GTX 2xx cards and all the Radeons that are (or have been) in existing/previous Macs when I design builds for the sake of simplicity and support. If I were you I would either step down to a 4850 and play it safe or stay with a 4870 assuming there is good enough support. Anyone else know how well a 4870 works? I would like to know too...

 

In any case, good luck! Getting one of these set up must be exciting... update us when you have it up and running

 

 

- VGM10000