mITX Hackintosh/Windows Gaming Build

DeusInvictus7 · July 2, 2014

Hello everyone!

I usually don't post much on this forum, but since I've completed my current build, I thought I'd share it.

I had recently decided to sell my MacBook Pro with Retina Display, since it was not that great of a gaming machine, and I really didn't need a portable machine that badly (it ended up staying at the desk most of the time anyway). So I figured, I should put that money toward treating myself to a new gaming computer. And thus begun my task of finding all the components that I wanted to use.

As I was picking parts, I came to a realization: there were still a couple apps that were on the OS X side that I wanted to keep, and thought to myself, "Why don't I just make a hackintosh?". Having the best of both worlds sounded like an awesome thing, so I set out to make sure all the parts I wanted are compatible, and was as powerful of a computer I could build within a small case.

Parts List:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 780ti Gaming

Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Impact

PSU: Silverstone ST60F-PS 600W with PP05-e Short Cable Set

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB 2133MHz

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 White

Cooler: Noctua NH-D15

Storage: 256GB Corsair MX100 (OS X)

500GB Corsair MX100 (Windows)

Luckily, all the parts I actually wanted ended up being parts that worked well under OS X, at least for the most part (still trying to get audio working fully from the 780ti's HDMI port.

The 4790K was an interesting story: I had one ordered from Amazon US (I live in Canada), and by the time June 25th rolled around, it hadn't shipped, so I cancelled the order and ordered from Newegg Canada since I new they had stock of them. As I was browsing reviews on the CPU, I saw a comment that someone had saying that Microcenter in the US has the processor priced at $279.99 compared to the $369.99 that I ordered from Newegg. Luckily, my parents were in the states during last week and I asked them to pick up the processor for me on their way back.

So now, after having the full system built over the past few days (parents got back on June 29th), I thought I'd post my system and see what you guys think of it. I had a lot of fun building this one, and the Hackintosh part was challenging, but very cool.

I'm still fine-tuning overclock settings for the CPU and haven't touched overclocking the 780ti just yet, but I want to keep this as quiet/cool of a system as possible, so we'll see about that. The Twin Frozr cooling system is crazy quiet though, I barely ever hear it, even during games.

Here's a few photos of the system:

I regret not doing photos while building it, I guess I was too excited to get it all working that it skipped my mind lol

CJPowell27 · July 2, 2014

You did great with this build, fitting the Nh-d14 in there might make me want to buy it :wub: :wub:

Well done sir/ma'am

DeusInvictus7 · July 2, 2014

Yeah it was a heck of a magic trick to get it in there. The trick was to actually not have the rear fan attached to the case. You'll notice that the rear fan is mounted to the heatsink itself lol. Other than that, it was pretty easy.

SageC · July 2, 2014

A NH-D14 in a mini ITX case, that is something I thought I'd never see.

Heisenbleurgh · July 2, 2014

I love this case, I hope I get to build in it before the end of the year. Only thing stopping me is the fact that I want a large air cooler and mount hard drives.

Beautiful build btw

DeusInvictus7 · July 2, 2014

A NH-D14 in a mini ITX case, that is something I thought I'd never see.

Lol yeah I was determined to get it to fit.

I love this case, I hope I get to build in it before the end of the year. Only thing stopping me is the fact that I want a large air cooler and mount hard drives.

Beautiful build btw

Thanks!

The largest (Noctua) cooler I think you can fit with the motherboard I have while retaining the hard drive rack would be the NH-U12S, which isn't big at all. The NH-U14S doesn't fit because of the riser card on the Impact. I love the dual tower look, so I wanted to make this work as much as possible. I also didn't want hard drives in this system, just the one that you see there in the pictures, and then the main one is velcro'd to the front of the case behind the front panel.

Smail · September 24, 2014

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but can I ask how you managed to fit the D15 onto the Maximus Impact motherboard? I've been trying to do the same thing, but the heatpipes hit the power unit before the cooler fully fits.