EliteMacx86's Budget Kaby Lake Build: GA-Gaming B8 - i3 7100 - HD 630 - M.2 SSD

[EliteMacx86]

EliteMacx86's Budget Kaby Lake Build: GA-Gaming B8 - i3 7100 - HD 630


​

Components

GIGABYTE GA-GAMING B8 LGA 1151 Motherboard with HDMI and DVI and USB Type-C
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WP3RTD5/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Intel Core i3-7100 7th Gen Kaby Lake Desktop Processor 3M Cache 3.90 GHz (BX80677I37100)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCESRJX/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400MHz 8GB RAM (1x8GB) (CMK8GX4M1A2400C14)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UVN2C8O/?tag=elitemacx86-20

​

LG 22" Full HD IPS Monitor with VGA, HDMI, and DVI (LG 22MP58VQ-P)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AK9SQ38/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Corsair CX Series 450 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular Power Supply (CP-9020101-NA)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B72VXE6/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Samsung 960 EVO Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E250BW)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYFKX41/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Seagate 1 TB Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 3.5 inch Desktop Hard Drive (ST1000DM010)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LNJBA2I/?tag=elitemacx86-20

Corsair Carbide 100R Mid-Tower PC Case with Side Panel
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RORBQNW/?tag=elitemacx86-20


Already Owned

Dell KM636 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Combo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FM8H22S/?tag=elitemacx86-20


Comments

The Build
The idea of the build is budget build with maximum hardware features. The idea of this build is compact, paired with an i3 7100 running @ 3.4GHz stock speed, having a Intel HD Graphics 630 which is inbuilt/integrated graphics, small power supply with 45w 80 Plus, low power consumption for budgeted users.

The reason for selecting this specific motherboard is quite simple. It's a motherboard which has all the requirements which a user needs either for office work, study or gaming. The motherboard offers built-in HDMI port along with DVI port. A USB Type-C, a next generation USB, Gaming style motherboard with a heavy Audio Codec (Realtek ALC1220), A M.2 SSD support for faster data transfer rate and RGB to match your PC Case style. Along with all these, the motherboard supports various features. The reason to go for GIGABYTE motherboard is because GIGABYTE motherboards are the best selling motherboard and it supports a lot of unique features. One of them is Dual BOS (UEFI).

As this is a budget build, so i thought the best CPU for the normal work would be no other than Intel Core i3-7100 which is a Kaby Lake CPU, 14nm, running @ 3.9GHz stock speed and is quite cheap and easy available.

With today's computing, the workload has been increased so installing a 4GB RAM would not be sufficient so i opted for 8GB, 2400MHz, DDR4 RAM which is from corsair and has a 10yrs of warranty. The Vengeance LPX series memory modules offers high performance overclocking, XMP 2.0 support and low profile desgin.The heat spreader is made of pure aluminium which keeps the RAM cold from the System heating where less space is offered.

I've been always using LG monitors for a long time and it has a durability which other models doesn't offers. The monitor is a Full HD IPS Display along with this, it has a support for VGA, HDMI and DVI so you don't need any converter when using your build paired with this monitor. The display quality is too amazing with a good price. LG offers many other features such as on screen control, a single joystick support instead of multi buttons, and black stabilizer.

Choosing a correct PSU for your build is very important as it supplies the power to different hardware components in a build. The Corsair CX Series 450 Watt is a 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular Power Supply and has all the needs for a budget build. The PSU supports 6+2 PIN CPU connector which can be utilized by ATX motherboards. So if you plan to upgrade the motherboard, you don't need to buy another PSU when upgrading. Along with this, you can add a external GPU later on without any upgrade for the PSU. The CX Series has a thermal controlled fan and supports a modular cabling and corsair has always been standing the perfect choice.

Firstly, i thought to add a Samsung SSD as it would be quite cheap probably 850 EVO. But when i compared the price, i found M.2 SSD to be more effective which not only offers more advantages but is cheap too. The M.2 SSD Read/Write speed is Up to 3,200 MB/s and Up to 1,900 MB/s which is a lot faster than the 850 EVO. It's a next generation SSD and boots up the machine quickly, occupies less space and low power consumption. Opting for Samsung is quite obvious as it's a world leading manufacturer in terms of SSD and provides a high performance and durability.

A 250 GB of space for the main OS is fine but thinking about the storage is not a great idea so i decided to add at least 1 TB of Hard Drive, 3.5inch, which is from Seagate. Seagate is one of the most durable and high performance level Hard Drives. I've been using Seagate from couple of years and it works upto the mark.

Finally, talking about the PC Case. I was using a Mid-Tower PC Case from Antec which was quite good. The Corsair case offers a solid components and a stylish design. The Corsair Carbide 100R has a side panel window, fiber quality which not only enhances the quality of the build but also helps to monitor the system components. The Corsair 100R is a mid tower PC case and supports all motherboard from Mini ITX to ATX form factor. Beside this, the case offers a good space for radiator mounting(100mm) and cooling. So even when you add a High End CPU or upgrade your motherboard, you don't need to worry about upgrading your PC Case.

The Keyboard and mouse is a combo. I'm using it from couple of months and is light weight and is easy to type.

Summary

What's works?

• Audio ✔
• Graphics ✔
• Ethernet ✔
• HDMI ✔
• Power Management ✔
• iMessage ✔
• FaceTime ✔
• iCloud ✔
• USB with 2.0, 3.0 & 3.1, USB Type-C Ports ✔

Not working

The only thing that doesn't works is the Sleep/Wake function.

Bootable Media Creation
As High Sierra is out, so i would be installing High Sierra. To create a Bootable media for High Sierra, follow the guide here. However if you wish to install Sierra, you can follow the guide here.

UEFI Settings
To access your BIOS/UEFI, press and hold Delete key on your Keyboard and then set the following.

• Set Optimized Defaults.
• Set X.M.P. Memory Profile to Profile 1.
• Set Fast Boot to Disabled.
• Set Windows 8/10 Features to Other OS.
• Set Initial Display Output to IGFX.
• Set Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT) to Disabled.
• Set Network Stack to Disabled.
• Set XHCI Hand-Off to Enabled.
• Set SATA Mode to AHCI.
• Set VT-d option to Disabled.
• Set Internal Graphics to Auto.
• Save & Exit Setup.

Installation
The installation step is simple. For this build, i'm installing High Sierra. Follow the guide here for the installation. For all the builds using High Sierra, i recommend to use APFS File System. APFS works quite fast and is a new file system from Apple. Make sure you follow the each step very carefully and don't mess with the installation.

After installation, continue with the basic options for the Country selection, Keyboard setup, network, Privacy Settings and Account creation.

Post Installation
Now, configuring the Post Installation.
Before you start fixing the hardware and other things, make sure you follow the main installation guide and install Clover Bootloader on your system drive. After installing the bootloader, follow the steps below.

Graphics
This build is having a integrated GPU (Intel HD Graphics 630). The Graphics works OOTB without any issue. However in order to activate the Graphics, correct settings must be applied. Refer the guide for fixing Intel HD Graphics 630 here.

Network
The motherboard uses Intel I219-V Ethernet Chipset. All you need to do is to install the kext and reboot the system in order to activate Ethernet. The downloads for Intel Ethernet is available in the downloads section.

The kext can be found in Release folder and installed using either Terminal or kext Utility. After installing the kext, make sure to restart your PC to activate the Ethernet.

Audio
The motherboard uses a Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec. The codec delivers a high Output Audio quality with Smart Headphone Amp.
There are several ways to activate audio. I'm using Apple ALC to enable audio on this build. If you want, you can use VoodooHDA. If you plan to use AppleALC, follow the guide here. VoodooHDA downloads are available in the downloads section.

Notes :

• Use layout id=11 only. If you use any other layout, there maybe distortion with the Speakers or the Headphones.
• AppleALC must be v.1.2.1 or greater.
• Lilu must be v.1.2.1 or greater.

USB Ports
There are two USB Chipset used by this motherboard. The default Chipset from Intel and the ASMedia for USB Type-C and Type-A. The ports works OOTB. All the USB ports are activated by default.

Note :

• For latest release of High Sierra, a new USB port limit patch has been introduced. Follow the guide below to implement that.

Add USB port limit patch
Mount your EFI Partition
Open your config.plist file using Clover Configurator
Navigate to kernel and kext patches tab and add the following patch in your config.plist.

Name: com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBXHCI
Find* [HEX]: 837D880F 0F83A704 0000
Replace* [HEX]: 837D880F 90909090 9090
Comment: USB 10.13.6 by PMHeart
MatchOS: 10.13.6

Save your config.plist file

Benchmarks
Here are the benchmark from Geekbench and Cinebench. The scores are pretty good.