Testing
If you’re having problems, check out this article: How to Troubleshoot a Hackintosh [thanks, Robert]
Now that your machine is up and running, let’s run some diagnostics to ensure that you’ll be able to get years of good performance out of it. Regardless of whether you’re running a hackintosh or a real Mac, these are good utilities to have around.
This is a set of instructions not usually found in most hackintosh guides — but since we’re going to be using this machine to create, we want to ensure it’s going to run 100% reliably, even during an overnight After Effects render. Plus, running these tests will give you general piece of mind that your hackintosh will not fail.
Geekbench
Geekbench is the benchmarking utility I used at the beginning of this how-to; it’s a $20 program, but there is a free 32-bit mode you can use if you don’t want to pay for it. In my experience, the 32-bit version gives you a score that’s a little more than 1,000 points lower than the 64-bit version, so if you’re running a 32-bit test you should get something in the mid 8000s (the 9880 you saw from my machine is in 64-bit mode). Also, note that you shouldn’t be running other programs at the same time, and you’ll get slightly different scores every time, in my experience plus or minus about 100. While I wouldn’t worry if your scores fluctuare by one or two hundred points, it’s a good way of making sure your system is configured properly — significantly lower scores can be a good indicator something is wrong (at one point, when I was using a different bootloader, my machine dropped to 5500). What did your machine get? Leave it here in the comments!
iStat Pro
iStat Pro is a great free widget that you load into your Mac’s dashboard. It monitors your computer’s memory usage, disk capacity, CPU overhead, etc., but what we’re going to use it for specifically is to monitor our CPU temperature. Install it and get it up and running in your dashboard. You should see under “Temps” that there is a CPU A and CPU B (it’s just measuring different cores of the same CPU). At idle — meaning, when you’re not doing anything, the temperature should be below 55 degrees Celsius.1 Your mileage may vary, as temperatures vary greatly with ambient room temperature and which case and CPU cooler you’re using. Feel free to post your results here so we get a good “consensus” on what should be expected!
However, more important than what your CPU temperature is at idle is what your CPU temperature is at full load. To test this, we’re going to use:
CPUTest
CPUTest is a program that runs huge mathematical calculations in order to max out your processor. Before you run it, however, open up Activity Monitor (you can search for it in Spotlight, or open it in Applications >> Utilities). Once Activity Monitor is running, open up CPUTest. The settings I used to test mine were “primenet,” 10 repetitions and 8 instances. Hit “Start,” and switch over to Activity Monitor. You should see the readouts at the bottom jump to close to 100% under “% User” and the the CPU Usage graphic should turn solid green as the test runs. Now you know you’re maxing out the processor.
Open your dashboard and look at the iStat Pro widget we installed previously. What is your CPU temperature at full load? I’ve found that I can generally keep mine under 70 degrees Celcius with the C50 cooler installed using the push-pull exhaust method — with the fan switches at the back of the P183 case set to “low” (which is by far the quietest setting). When I overclocked my processor to 3.4GHz it got significantly hotter (up to 80 degrees and beyond), which is why I decided to stick with the stock speed. You don’t need to run CPUTest all the way to the end — just get a handle on what your temperature stabilizes at under full load (it should be the same after 10 minutes as it is after 3 minutes, for example). Again, post it here, especially if you’re getting results you think might be abnormal or unsafe.
Memtest (Advanced)
This test is for those of you who took the optional steps of upgrading your BIOS and overclocking your memory. To ensure that your RAM is 100% perfect (and runs at 1600MHz flawlessly, even under the most strenuous conditions), you’re going to want to run Memtest. At the Memtest site, scroll down til you see “Download – Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip).” Download the file, extract it, and right-click on the resulting .iso file, choosing Open With -> Disk Utility. Insert a blank CD, select the .iso file in the left pane, and click “Burn” in the top toolbar. Once you have your burned CD, put it (back) in the drive and restart the machine. If you have your CD drive set as the first boot device, Memtest should run automatically. It will take a long time, but you want to be absolutely sure that your RAM is error-free. Let it complete one cycle, and it should show no errors. If it does return an error, turn the machine off, open the case, and make sure each RAM module is seated correctly (press on both top and bottom edges to make sure it’s in all the way). Run the test again. If you’re still getting an error, contact the RAM manufacturer — they may have to send you a new module (as I stated before, memory is notoriously finicky — this is why they give you a lifetime warranty, so you can get a replacement). If Memtest makes it all the way through one test cycle with no errors, congratulations — you’re good to go.
AJA System Test
AJA System Test (scroll down on their page) is the best (free) hard drive testing utility out there. It’s designed for video editors, with options to simulate different resolutions and frame sizes of HD video. You can see the test settings I used below, along with a comparison between my SSD drive and a 7200RPM 500GB internal drive that I use for Time Machine. The SSD is almost 3.5X faster for reads and nearly twice as fast for writes:
How did your tests go? Let us know in the comments. Overall, these utilities allow us to feel secure that our hackintosh is optimized — and will stay that way.
- Note that the numbers I list here are from my own estimation. Others will tell you something different, and may be more educated on the topic than I. [↩]
36 COMMENTS
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Andreas on 11.2.10 @ 1:49PM
How did you overclock the CPU?
What is the safest way of doing it?
Is it also possible to overclock the GPU in OS X?Thanks!
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tinten on 11.12.10 @ 3:30AM
Hi,
I Finished building my machine
Thanks to your brilliant guide
Its practically same spec machine as yours but with the
Intel Core i7 950
Here’s the test results;32 bit geekbench test score- 9554
CPU test 10 min- IstatPro CPU A-63°/ CPU B-63°
Memtest Pass complete no errors….
AJA System test-
-SSD drive
write 130.5 MB/s
read 235.3 MB/s
-Internal drive
write 129.9 MB/s
read 135.6 MB/sThanks to Nofilmschool,
I’ve got the beefed up machine I need
to get the post production flowing smoothly for my HDSLR film project…….
Cheers to you and all the other film makers out there…
;)……-
Jeff Maysh on 12.12.10 @ 6:02PM
Hey tintin, are those temps with the intel stock cooler & was the cpu test primenet 10 reps 8 instances? Also what was the ambient room temp?
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Lindsay on 12.2.10 @ 2:01PM
So I have gotten a couple kernel panics where I needed to immediately shut off the machine. The memtest passed fine, I don’t think it’s the hard drives.
In the BIOS in M.I.T. it said the machine shut down improperly due to overclocking (or something to that effect). Can I reset the RAM to NOT overclock without significant problems you think?
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Yes, if you run the RAM at default speeds it should be even more stable. I got the same BIOS message once but that was when I was tweaking a lot of stuff; it hasn’t happened again. Let us know if this problem persists!
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Hey guys
I got this Hackintosh running! (i-Boot+10.6.5+MultiBeast)
for sound I used MultiBeast ALC889
for my ethernet drivers I used this http://lnx2mac.blogspot.com/p/realtekrtl81xx-osx-driver.html
I did not overclock anything.
3 things are different from Nofilmschool’s Hac Pro
CPU = Intel core i7-950
SSD = OCZ Vertex 2 60GB
HDD = 1T Samsung Spintpoint F3R HE103SJ-OEM
Here are the test results: (room temperature 70º)
geekbench 32 bit = 9450
CPU test= 15 min. 60º
AJA test:
SSD= Write 251.7 MB/s
Read 266.5 MB/s
HDD= Write 135.1 MB/s
Read 137.6 MB/s
Well so far so good thanks to http://www.nofilmschool.com (Koo you rock!)-
Congratulations! You can add 1,000 or so to that benchmark score for 64-bit mode.
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Wow that is awesome! one question any test to know that my graphics card is running perfect? you know cuda and mercury on CS5?
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Just editing in Premiere Pro with GPU acceleration enabled should tell you if it’s working… turn off GPU acceleration and see how much slower it is!
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Stephen on 01.6.11 @ 7:29PM
We just got a score of 9338 in the 32-bit trial of Geekbench. Our build differs a little bit from yours, though.
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rushes on 01.16.11 @ 3:53PM
Hi, after using the cputest I saw that the cpu is not using at “full power”.
In the test, the activity monitor shows 64%user activity and the rest was idle. no other app runing. And the green bars didnt catch the top of the square (of the column graphic). any idea?
im using your gigabyte motherboard and i7 980x, all cores running. -
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Hey Koo! Really glad I found your blog, great guide, lots of cool hints. Really helped me build my hackpro!
I’m going to put together a play by play of ways I differed from your guide soon, I’ll link here with that as soon as it’s up.
In the meantime here are my benchmarks:
System Information:
os x 10.6.6
intel core i7 950 (3.10ghz 1 proc 4 cores)
nVidia GTX 470 1280 mb
16 gigs RAM 1066mhz (default)
Corsair CPU Coolergeekbench (64bit): 10386
CPU test: 60˚ at 10 minutes (40˚ normal)
AJA test (OCZ-VERTEX2 3.5 120gig):
Write: 239 MB/s
Read: 265.7 MB/s -
Roy Clifton on 02.18.11 @ 4:48PM
The recommended MOBO contains support for both USB-3 and SATA-3. Is that a hardware-only issue (for example, can I run SATA-3 drives without additional software) or do they require MAC drivers from somewhere? The current MAC-PROs do NOT have USB-3 nor SATA-3 capability (amazing that they don’t given what they cost). Thx,
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michael on 07.14.11 @ 4:24PM
Yep, unfortunately there is no esata or USB 3 on macs but you can ad pci card from Lacie with esata ports or usb 3. If you have hackintosh and there is usb 3 on your mobo which doesn’t work, you can download a lacie usb 3 driver which could help. I haven’t got usb 3 drive so can’t test it but if you have, you can try and let us know if its working or not.
http://www.lacie.com/uk/more/index.htm?id=10112
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Andross on 04.15.11 @ 3:01PM
Is there any reason iStat isn’t listing my cpu temps. All I see is a hard drive temperature. I checked the settings and there is no way I can find to show cpu temps…
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Jose on 06.8.11 @ 2:41AM
I am having the exact same issue. I think this is causing serious issues with my system as OS X can’t control the fan speed and is causing my system to turn off. Any of you having this issue?
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Jose on 06.9.11 @ 3:27AM
Hey Koo,
I got the i7 950 CPU and the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (Rev 2). iStat Pro is not reading the temps but another app (Temperature Monitor) is.
OS X will regulate temps on Apple hardware and I am curious if this is true for hackintosh systems as well?
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Jose on 06.9.11 @ 3:56AM
Ok, found the solution. Using the latest MultiBeast install:
Drivers & Bootloaders >Kexts & Enablers > Miscellaneous > Check FakeSMC & FakeSMC Plugins.The Plugins are what allows programs like iStat Pro to read the CPU temps.
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Andross on 06.29.11 @ 4:58PM
So, is everyone else getting screwed by the 10.6.8 update? A quick search of google tells me this is common:
http://failedexe.com/2011/06/24/10-6-8-on-hackintosh/But I wanted to see if anyone has had success and how?
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Mine’s fine — follow instructions here:
http://nofilmschool.com/2011/07/update-build-hackintosh-latest-intel-sandy/
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Mike K on 07.27.11 @ 9:07AM
OK, I followed your guide and built the high end system you recommended. My area of interest is audio, so I used the ATI video card you recommended (and yes I bought from Amazon with your links). I just ran Geekbench in 32 bit mode and got a score of 11832. Looking at the chart I am at the top of the 4 core machines. Not bad, thank you for this great resource.
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Helloo
I cannot get my audio working. I built the hack pro, exactly same components that you suggested online Koo. everything seems to be working fine, except for the audio. i looked in the forums, tried installing different codecs from the multibeast aplication but nothing worked. Do you know what it could be?
my motherboard had two conections for audio, hd and normal i think, and i remember plugging in the hd one.
please let me know what u think the problem could be
thanks so much,
the guide is excellet, and iboot amazing -
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Steve on 09.6.11 @ 3:41PM
GREAT guide, altho I too had to use Kakewalk.
I do have a big problem though if anyone can help?
Installed a 1GB XFX GTX 285 card and it keeps hanging Premiere CS5.5 within a minute of use?!
I briefly borrowed and plugged in the EVGA MAC version of the GTX 295 and it worked perfectly with no issues (and showed up at 5Gb speed card) whereas the PCversion card crashes and hangs the system (and only shows 2.5Gb speed).
Am I missing something in terms of installation with the PC card??
Thanks again.
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Thanks a lot & big up Koo for your guide and inspiring site! Just put together my first Mac and it all worked out fine in no time.
Until now I only have these two minor issues:
- Booting takes quite long, after the Apple screen there’s a blue screen for about 40secs till desktop. When I remove graphics card that doesn’t happen.
- Brightness-fn keys do not work.Anyone got an idea?
Wondered if it has to do with the Bios-Version, I stayed with the original F4-Version of the MB, otherwise followed Frostcall’s guide.OSX 10.6.8.
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68
Intel Core i7 2600k CPU 1155
Corsair 16GB Vengeance blue ddr3 RAM
Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Cooler
Gigabyte HD6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5,4200/820MHz GraphicsCard
SSD 60GB OCZ Vertex 2,5 SATA
1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ
LITEON iHAS324
Antec P183 Case & Antec CP-850 PSUGeekbench: always around 11’000 in 32-Bit
MrGreen
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holundermannski on 10.8.11 @ 5:56AM
Hi I built a hackintosh with your config but i changend motherboard to Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3 and the Graphiccard to Gigabyte GTX460 and here are my results.
Geekbench 32Bit: 11547
Cinebench: 38,33BpS and 6,78points CPUOSX10.7.1
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3
Gigabyte GTX460
Intel Core i7 2600k
Corsair 16GB Vengeance Blue
Corsair Hydro Series H50Big up to your blog and a lot of thanks,
holundermannski -
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Picofarad on 11.30.11 @ 10:37AM
Thanks for this amazingly user-friendly and clear guide! I just built my first computer ever using this site together with tonymacosx86′s blog and forum. Starting with nothing but a limited budget and a bit of obsessive-compulsive tenacity, I began this process 4 days ago not having any idea what a graphics card or a processor even looked like, what BIOS was, or any sort of technical know-how whatsoever. Despite some definite moments of feeling in over my head, I managed to pull it off and feel like I learned a ton of valuable things along the way. And now I have a fully functional HackPro up and running. I’m using almost all parts purchased through your amazon list except for the hard drives and blu-ray writer. Everything is working flawlessly. Audio works, smooth booting up, my adobe programs are amazingly fast. This is truly empowering information for the everyday person interested in building computers. I think I’m hooked…. :)
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Great and thorough write up Koo! I’ve been running my Quad Core 2.4ghz Hackintosh for the past 2.5 years running OS X 10.6.4 and it’s been practically flawless. Never a serious problem. I’ve been debating on upgrading it to an i7 chip and faster processor, but I think after this guide, I just may have to make the jump!
Question for you though. How has viewing other computers on the network been working? It has been hit or miss for me lately.
I like the wireless route that you did, I’m currently running wired…