Personal Rig: X-24

[Extwofour]

Hey everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. Figured I'd post my build and answer any questions anyone might have about all of the things involved. 

 

Specs posted here will also be listed in the attached imgur gallery!

 

Click me for pretty pictures!

 

• Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 
• Intel i7 4790k / Noctua DH-14 (running @ 4.8GHz at the time of writing)
• GTX 980 G1 Windforce 4GB
• 32GB DDR3 @ 1333
• Samsung 850 EVO - Windows 10 
• Toshiba THNSNJ256GCST - macOS Sierra 
• ADATA SP600 - Windows 10 Runoff 
• 3.5TB Local Storage / Windows Backups 
• 500GB 2.5" Toshiba HDD macOS Backups
• Corsair 750m 
• Rosewill Thor V2 

 

-----------------------

 

Let's talk about the build really fast! This has been the culmination of several "budget" builds I've had running for myself over the past 6-8 years. Aside from outright purchases, many pieces have been obtained through various trades, barter payments (mod your hardware for an SSD govna!), etc. etc. The newest piece has been the case, which was actually a gift. I'm personally not too crazy about the Thor V2 case aesthetic; however, the airflow is so much nicer than the previous silent Corsair Carbide case I was using (which got transplanted into my roommates build after the Thor came into play. Win-win!). A few slight aesthetic modifications later, and I'm a fair bit happier with it. I'm still not crazy about all of the angles and fins, but it feels a lot cleaner now. PSA: Don't be a total window licker like me and forget to where gloves when cutting, snapping, and shaving acrylic sheets by hand.

 

 

 

 

The 4790k has been quite honestly the biggest "noticeable and practical" upgrade (coming from an AMD 6300) I've had since moving to SSD boot storage back in ~2012. A little behind on the generation, but I've got no complaints whatsoever. Every other processor I've owned has been an AMD AM2, AM3, AM3+ chip, so anything with the word "hyperthreading" printed on the package makes me giddy. My only problem was the well-aged and well-used stock fan/heatsink that came with it. The copper was worn, and I was hitting 95c temps under 100% load at stock speeds.... In comes the Noctua! I'd always drooled over the DH14; however, with my AMD builds I would just re-use the reigning champ, the Hyper 212 Evo. Only one problem... I lost the Intel mounting hardware for the 212 years ago as I never once needed it. I also needed some new fans for it...So, I figured I'd just bite the bullet and get something brand spankin' new. I couldn't be happier to be honest. The 212, although IMO it will always be king of price-to-performance for air cooling, was never this efficient. Fans are of course a part of the issue and I could have just as easily dropped Noctua fans on it, but dem heatpipes... 

 

The GTX 980 was actually a gift when the previous owner upgraded to a 1080. Prior to that, I had once again stuck with AMD as my primary solution. 6870, 6950, and R9 290x, to be exact. As I said, the CPU was certainly the largest jump in performance. Although the 980 does technically outclass the 290x, the AMD card's performance was perfectly acceptable in all 2016 titles I threw at it after the processor upgrade. I was appalled at how much of a bottleneck the 6300 was for my GPU... I guess that's what happens when you're running such an aging architecture.. Still, the 980 has played perfectly well with the Intel build and has left nothing to be desired in gaming applications (then again, I'm not running any 4k panels except for my TV !). Good times all around. 

 

-----------------------

 

 

 

On the operating system side of things, I decided to run Windows 10 as my daily driver since the beginning of the year. I quite simply haven't had any issues whatsoever, and I like to keep as up-to-date as possible on as many fronts as possible. Plus, I was getting sick of the constant weird hangs and brainfarts from Windows 7.. 

 

As for the Hackintosh half of the build... Well, I just noticed at one point that all of my current hardware was compatible. As a computer science student who just grabbed his A+ certification in a desperate attempt to become marketable, I figured it smart to get as much as experience with as many different software environments as possible. I don't run any Linux distro on any of my internal drives as I tend to use them on live USBs and on my ThinkPad. So far, though, color me impressed. I've had a good tinkering with macOS Sierra, but more importantly I've enjoyed pretty significant desktop performance and significantly lower idle power draws. I haven't had any complaints running any of my daily driver software, and oh my GOD the DPI scaling for my TV is just light years ahead of Windows. I've only had a small amount of time with Sierra, though, so time will tell if it becomes a suitable daily driver for productivity..

 

Side note for macOS: I actually was able to install Yosemite Zone in a virtualbox on Windows, download Sierra within Yosemite, and create my USB installer with Clover and drivers with absolutely no issues post-installation. There were plenty of headaches along the way, but hey, it's worth noting that you do not need a Mac to create a Mac!

 

 

-----------------------

 

 

So that's my build! It's not the latest and greatest hardware, but it's certainly good enough for my current needs. A few light mods, and some fun on the Apple side of the fence has made me a very happy camper. I'm not sure what will get an upgrade next.. It really just depends. I might get an M.2 drive one of these days, but between the CPU and GPU it's just a toss up on what happens to get pushed too hard first. 

 

Feel free to comment with your thoughts, suggestions for upgrades (maybe I'm missing out on some magnificent hardware upgrade that I don't even realize would be an upgrade?), criticisms, etc. etc. As a long time follower of the LTT channel and forum, I would love to hear from you guys! 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2016 by Extwofour
Added pictures to post so users don't have to click a link!

[Guest]

PS You can add pictures to the forum and would be nicer so people won't have to open a link

[Extwofour]

5 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

PS You can add pictures to the forum and would be nicer so people won't have to open a link

Good point, edited now. Thanks

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Extwofour said:

Hey everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. Figured I'd post my build and answer any questions anyone might have about all of the things involved. 

 

Specs posted here will also be listed in the attached imgur gallery!

 

Click me for pretty pictures!

 

• Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 
• Intel i7 4790k / Noctua DH-14 (running @ 4.8GHz at the time of writing)
• GTX 980 G1 Windforce 4GB
• 32GB DDR3 @ 1333
• Samsung 850 EVO - Windows 10 
• Toshiba THNSNJ256GCST - macOS Sierra 
• ADATA SP600 - Windows 10 Runoff 
• 3.5TB Local Storage / Windows Backups 
• 500GB 2.5" Toshiba HDD macOS Backups
• Corsair 750m 
• Rosewill Thor V2 

 

-----------------------

 

Let's talk about the build really fast! This has been the culmination of several "budget" builds I've had running for myself over the past 6-8 years. Aside from outright purchases, many pieces have been obtained through various trades, barter payments (mod your hardware for an SSD govna!), etc. etc. The newest piece has been the case, which was actually a gift. I'm personally not too crazy about the Thor V2 case aesthetic; however, the airflow is so much nicer than the previous silent Corsair Carbide case I was using (which got transplanted into my roommates build after the Thor came into play. Win-win!). A few slight aesthetic modifications later, and I'm a fair bit happier with it. I'm still not crazy about all of the angles and fins, but it feels a lot cleaner now. PSA: Don't be a total window licker like me and forget to where gloves when cutting, snapping, and shaving acrylic sheets by hand.

 

The 4790k has been quite honestly the biggest "noticeable and practical" upgrade (coming from an AMD 6300) I've had since moving to SSD boot storage back in ~2012. A little behind on the generation, but I've got no complaints whatsoever. Every other processor I've owned has been an AMD AM2, AM3, AM3+ chip, so anything with the word "hyperthreading" printed on the package makes me giddy. My only problem was the well-aged and well-used stock fan/heatsink that came with it. The copper was worn, and I was hitting 95c temps under 100% load at stock speeds.... In comes the Noctua! I'd always drooled over the DH14; however, with my AMD builds I would just re-use the reigning champ, the Hyper 212 Evo. Only one problem... I lost the Intel mounting hardware for the 212 years ago as I never once needed it. I also needed some new fans for it...So, I figured I'd just bite the bullet and get something brand spankin' new. I couldn't be happier to be honest. The 212, although IMO it will always be king of price-to-performance for air cooling, was never this efficient. Fans are of course a part of the issue and I could have just as easily dropped Noctua fans on it, but dem heatpipes... 

 

The GTX 980 was actually a gift when the previous owner upgraded to a 1080. Prior to that, I had once again stuck with AMD as my primary solution. 6870, 6950, and R9 290x, to be exact. As I said, the CPU was certainly the largest jump in performance. Although the 980 does technically outclass the 290x, the AMD card's performance was perfectly acceptable in all 2016 titles I threw at it after the processor upgrade. I was appalled at how much of a bottleneck the 6300 was for my GPU... I guess that's what happens when you're running such an aging architecture.. Still, the 980 has played perfectly well with the Intel build and has left nothing to be desired in gaming applications (then again, I'm not running any 4k panels except for my TV !). Good times all around. 

 

-----------------------

On the operating system side of things, I decided to run Windows 10 as my daily driver since the beginning of the year. I quite simply haven't had any issues whatsoever, and I like to keep as up-to-date as possible on as many fronts as possible. Plus, I was getting sick of the constant weird hangs and brainfarts from Windows 7.. 

 

As for the Hackintosh half of the build... Well, I just noticed at one point that all of my current hardware was compatible. As a computer science student who just grabbed his A+ certification in a desperate attempt to become marketable, I figured it smart to get as much as experience with as many different software environments as possible. I don't run any Linux distro on any of my internal drives as I tend to use them on live USBs and on my ThinkPad. So far, though, color me impressed. I've had a good tinkering with macOS Sierra, but more importantly I've enjoyed pretty significant desktop performance and significantly lower idle power draws. I haven't had any complaints running any of my daily driver software, and oh my GOD the DPI scaling for my TV is just light years ahead of Windows. I've only had a small amount of time with Sierra, though, so time will tell if it becomes a suitable daily driver for productivity..

 

Side note for macOS: I actually was able to install Yosemite Zone in a virtualbox on Windows, download Sierra within Yosemite, and create my USB installer with Clover and drivers with absolutely no issues post-installation. There were plenty of headaches along the way, but hey, it's worth noting that you do not need a Mac to create a Mac!

 

-----------------------

So that's my build! It's not the latest and greatest hardware, but it's certainly good enough for my current needs. A few light mods, and some fun on the Apple side of the fence has made me a very happy camper. I'm not sure what will get an upgrade next.. It really just depends. I might get an M.2 drive one of these days, but between the CPU and GPU it's just a toss up on what happens to get pushed too hard first. 

 

Feel free to comment with your thoughts, suggestions for upgrades (maybe I'm missing out on some magnificent hardware upgrade that I don't even realize would be an upgrade?), criticisms, etc. etc. As a long time follower of the LTT channel and forum, I would love to hear from you guys! 

Very nice build. Really like it except for the CX750M

It looks kinda green to me

[Extwofour]

6 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Very nice build. Really like it except for the CX750M

It looks kinda green to me

Thanks! I would love to replace the PSU. It's just fallen on the backburner since it's served me well thus far. I'd love to replace it with a higher 80 plus rated, fully modular (possibly EVGA?) unit.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Extwofour said:

Thanks! I would love to replace the PSU. It's just fallen on the backburner since it's served me well thus far. I'd love to replace it with a higher 80 plus rated, fully modular (possibly EVGA?) unit.

evga g2.g3

 

[Extwofour]

Now if I could just get CKB (https://github.com/ccMSC/ckb) running reliably, I'd be able to focus on playing around more in Sierra.