The Hackintosh Thread

[Daniel Reed]

There are no Skylake based E5s. They are all E3s. Skylake E5s aren't due till 2017

Why assume for future PC fashion consumables Apple will use E5 series CPUs, or Xeons at all for that matter? For ECC?

The MacBook "Pro" uses mobile "i" series CPUs with no ECC support and its... "Pro"... right? (sarcasm intended)

Also, the "best desktop in the world" per The Cook, is the 5K iMac... which employs "i" series CPUs and no ECC as well.


Consider the above, include the fact the Director of Developer Tools & the Manager of Automation both resigned recently, and is it still difficult to envision a black (i)Mac Pro designed around Skylake-X CPUs?

Tim Cook:
"We took a look at the best desktop in the world, and asked ourselves how can we make it better.
I am so proud to introduce you to... the new Mac!"

Tim looks down as a new iMac with marginally changed bezels flashes on the stage screen.

LATER...

Phil Schiller:
"We've listened to the professional community, the makers of big dreams, and new ideas. We are delighted our innovations provide the performance and reliability only a Mac can deliver to empower content creators world-wide. I am very excited to show you... the new Mac Pro!"

With the wave of one hand Phil looks up at the stage screen as a back-lit large rectangle black box is shown. There is a huge round of standing applause... until the next image shows the same black box from a side angle... the applause turns to dead silence... its a black iMac.

 

[MacUser2525]

edit: Copying the entire contents of the EFI partition of my working USB stick to the Mac HD's EFI did the trick. I was reluctant to do that because I'll have to remember how to hide all of the surplus hard drives again, but at least it's working.

I was going to suggest that until I read the edit I quote here that is the way I install/test a new release in the rare instance I upgrade. Clone install to USB drive then run the clover installer on it and copy my working config and efi modules like hsfplus that are not installed delete the vbox one and go from there if it works then I mount the internal efi partitions copy it over to them. Miss the script upgrades that way I do believe but it seems to work or has for years that way, on the odd occasion I do clone back the install in addition to the efi copy so I would think I get those updates that way. Don't think it matters though my boards have working writable efi by the OS using a fairly basic config copy as I match my hardware as close as possible to the real mac I am faking in it.

 

[garnerx]

On the plus side, starting over with a fresh Clover install forced me to go back into the Configurator app again, and I figured out how to hide the recovery drive on the boot screen. Previously I hadn't selected anything in the 'type' menu when adding a custom drive, so Configurator would just delete it.

I'll try getting the boot screen to load at native resolution again, but I think maybe I'll leave the last working copy of the EFI folder on the desktop for recovery purposes.

 

[kwikdeth]

Why assume for future PC fashion consumables Apple will use E5 series CPUs, or Xeons at all for that matter? For ECC?

The MacBook "Pro" uses mobile "i" series CPUs with no ECC support and its... "Pro"... right? (sarcasm intended)

Also, the "best desktop in the world" per The Cook, is the 5K iMac... which employs "i" series CPUs and no ECC as well.

Consider the above, include the fact the Director of Developer Tools & the Manager of Automation both resigned recently, and is it still difficult to envision a black (i)Mac Pro designed around Skylake-X CPUs?

you're very right, there's nothing to stop them from doing so. Its just that theyve never done so before, and I think they would almost need to use an E5, to establish enough of a performance increase to justify the higher price tag. people will flip out if you give them what is basically a headless iMac with ECC support for $1K more and its effectively using the same CPU. no amount of spin will keep the egg from their face with that one. I think it comes down to how desperate and/or how many more delays we see in the new E5s. but yes, you're right, there's nothing to stop them and, really, if you buy into the idea that Apple is planning on switching to ARM for desktops, using an E3 in a mac pro might be a convenient cop-out to the performance argument. "See, we still make a Xeon workstation! for the PROS! the average consumer doesnt need the performance in an i7."

 

[Daniel Reed]

people will flip out if you give them what is basically a headless iMac with ECC support for $1K more and its effectively using the same CPU.

The 2017 (i)Mac Pro (if released) won't be headless.
It will have a built in screen and no ECC support.

(i)Mac = 4-core Kaby Lake + Polaris 10
Early 2017

(i)Mac Pro = up-to 10-Core Skylake-X + Vega 10 x2
Mid to Late 2017

 

[namethisfile]

Any chance Apple will put an AMD Ryzen 8-core chips in a new Mac Pro with Vega GPU?

How much OS/kernel changes would have to be done to make MacOS work with an AMD processor? Aren't AMD and Intel both x86 chip sets making the transition, like, not as drastic as the change Apple went through when they went from PowerPC to Intel back in the mid 2000's?

 

[fat jez]

Any chance Apple will put an AMD Ryzen 8-core chips in a new Mac Pro with Vega GPU?

How much OS/kernel changes would have to be done to make MacOS work with an AMD processor? Aren't AMD and Intel both x86 chip sets making the transition, like, not as drastic as the change Apple went through when they went from PowerPC to Intel back in the mid 2000's?

Probably little chance unless Ryzen really is on a par with Intel's chips. I think the processor itself would work out of the box, it's the chipset drivers that would need to be written.

 

[filmak]

The Cook is Scully 2.0

I think is "Scully+ SE*"

Plus. Special Edition.

 

[pastrychef]

John Scully brought Apple to near extinction. Tim Cook has made Apple in to the largest company in the world.

Nobody likes the Mac situation but it's unfair to compare Tim to Scully.

Please, let's not turn this in to another bitch and moan thread.
[doublepost=1484213981][/doublepost]

How much Vcore does your i7 need to maintain a stable 4.8GHz OC?

I had a chance to reboot and looked at bios. I saw voltages hover around 1.375.

 

[filmak]

John Scully brought Apple to near extinction. Tim Cook has made Apple in to the largest company in the world.

Nobody likes the Mac situation but it's unfair to compare Tim to Scully.

Please, let's not turn this in to another bitch and moan thread.

Sorry, no intention here to turn this thread into something else, it's really very useful as it is.

Anyway regarding your comment about Apple's current position in the world, I have to say that as long as the result for the Macs is the same, (elimination of proper hardware) there is not so much difference for the end user.

Now, I'd like to point out that day after day a Hackintosh seems to me more and more attractive, and this because Apple has started to not support older Mac Pros in current OS X builds (MacOs) and their owners are fighting with several workarounds and patches to make them run Sierra etc. I can see a very tempting opportunity to built a Hack instead and have as a bonus the current and powerful hardware and some flexibility of course.

As I see that you 're very satisfied (are you?) with your Hacks (2 of them?) I hope that I 'll find the time to give it a try soon.

Sorry again and thanks for your efforts.

 

[pastrychef]

As I see that you 're very satisfied (are you?) with your Hacks (2 of them?) I hope that I 'll find the time to give it a try soon.

Yes, I have been extremely happy with my two hackintoshes. If at all possible, it can be very, very helpful to get your hands on an older PC to mess around with and try installing macOS on it before taking the plunge and purchasing components to do your own personal build.

Another option would be to purchase an older PC to tinker with. As I stated earlier in the thread, I purchased an HP Elite 8300 for $200 and it turned out to be a wonderful hackintosh. I detailed some of my experiences with it HERE. After tinkering with it, you can sell it again.

 

[filmak]

Yes, I have been extremely happy with my two hackintoshes. If at all possible, it can be very, very helpful to get your hands on an older PC to mess around with and try installing macOS on it before taking the plunge and purchasing components to do your own personal build.

Another option would be to purchase an older PC to tinker with. As I stated earlier in the thread, I purchased an HP Elite 8300 for $200 and it turned out to be a wonderful hackintosh. I detailed some of my experiences with it HERE. After tinkering with it, you can sell it again.

Thank you very much. More reassured now.
When I 'll be ready, I'll let you know about, for your info and because I may need some help too. (for sure)
Cheers! and Happy new year to you.

 

[garnerx]

I had a chance to reboot and looked at bios. I saw voltages hover around 1.375.

4.8 GHz is a great result on air cooling, you must have got a very good chip.

I overclocked my older gen i7 to something like 4.6 GHz just by using the multiplier, and I assumed it was okay as CPU-Z reported the correct speed. I had never properly stress-tested it, though, and when I eventually did that I found it was hitting the temperature limit within 30 seconds and throttling back to 'normal' speed.

I had better luck by tweaking a combination of the base clock and the multiplier, it's between 4.3 - 4.4 GHz and it doesn't get hot enough to throttle, but I think I'd need water cooling to get back to that 4.6 GHz mark (I have a big Noctua air cooler at the moment).

 

[Crosscreek]

4.8 GHz is a great result on air cooling, you must have got a very good chip.

I overclocked my older gen i7 to something like 4.6 GHz just by using the multiplier, and I assumed it was okay as CPU-Z reported the correct speed. I had never properly stress-tested it, though, and when I eventually did that I found it was hitting the temperature limit within 30 seconds and throttling back to 'normal' speed.

I had better luck by tweaking a combination of the base clock and the multiplier, it's between 4.3 - 4.4 GHz and it doesn't get hot enough to throttle, but I think I'd need water cooling to get back to that 4.6 GHz mark (I have a big Noctua air cooler at the moment).

I have a Noctua NH-D14S on mine and runs very smoothly at 4.6 GHz. Mine tops out at 69C and idles around 26C.

 

[pastrychef]

4.8 GHz is a great result on air cooling, you must have got a very good chip.

I overclocked my older gen i7 to something like 4.6 GHz just by using the multiplier, and I assumed it was okay as CPU-Z reported the correct speed. I had never properly stress-tested it, though, and when I eventually did that I found it was hitting the temperature limit within 30 seconds and throttling back to 'normal' speed.

I had better luck by tweaking a combination of the base clock and the multiplier, it's between 4.3 - 4.4 GHz and it doesn't get hot enough to throttle, but I think I'd need water cooling to get back to that 4.6 GHz mark (I have a big Noctua air cooler at the moment).

Initially, my i7-6700K was thermally limited too. I ended up delidding it and using CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra between the die and the IHS. This lowered temps a lot!! Then, I experimented with different thermal compounds between the IHS and the Noctua heatsink. Eventually, I ended up using CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra here too. The difference was very big and immediately noticeable.

The other thermal compounds I tried were Gelid GC Extreme and Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut was slightly better than Gelid GC Extreme but, in my opinion, it did not make enough of a difference to justify the price.

CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra is amazing!! It is leaps and bounds better than the other two that I tried. It is expensive and requires care to apply but it's well worth it. My system runs so cool now, the fans almost never ramp up.

 

[Fl0r!an]

Initially, my i7-6700K was thermally limited too. I ended up delidding it and using CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra between the die and the IHS. This lowered temps a lot!!

Yes, that explains a lot. I'd expect ~80°C or more on air cooling with voltages approaching 1.4V.

 

[garnerx]

Initially, my i7-6700K was thermally limited too. I ended up delidding it and using CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra between the die and the IHS.

You wouldn't have water in your computer but you'd happily take a scalpel to the CPU... (is that how you did it?)

I wouldn't dare try something like that. I'd be terrified of pulling off the lid and finding half a cpu stuck to the underside. Still, congratulations for being fearless, I think you deserve an extreme overclock after taking such extreme measures.

 

[pastrychef]

You wouldn't have water in your computer but you'd happily take a scalpel to the CPU... (is that how you did it?)

I wouldn't dare try something like that. I'd be terrified of pulling off the lid and finding half a cpu stuck to the underside. Still, congratulations for being fearless, I think you deserve an extreme overclock after taking such extreme measures.

Yes, good old razor blade method. lol. I watched a ton of videos on YouTube of others doing it before taking the plunge myself. The IHS came of fairly easily with no blood spilled. I think the system temps dropped by over 15C/30F. I think that if I were not overclocking, I may be able to get away with passive cooling for the CPU.

I risked damaging a $300 CPU with delidding. A leak in a water cooling system can fry everything and can happen at any time (i.e. when no one is home).

I would do it again to my next CPU unless Intel somehow makes it more difficult.

 

[Asgorath]

Question about Z170 motherboards: which ones have working hardware NVRAM? I normally stick with Gigabyte motherboards but I've read that you have to use the NVRAM emulation library on those?

 

[pastrychef]

Question about Z170 motherboards: which ones have working hardware NVRAM? I normally stick with Gigabyte motherboards but I've read that you have to use the NVRAM emulation library on those?

Asus Maximus VIII Hero and Maximus VIII Gene have hardware NVRAM with bios versions up to and including 2202. Stork reported that it broke with the latest version of bios (3101).

 

[Asgorath]

Asus Maximus VIII Hero and Maximus VIII Gene have hardware NVRAM with bios versions up to and including 2202. Stork reported that it broke with the latest version of bios (3101).

Great, thanks!

 

[Fl0r!an]

As far as I know, all 100-series Gigabyte mainboards have broken NVRAM. Asus seems to have broken it on most/all mainboards with a recent firmware update (still working fine on my Asus Z170M-Plus with old firmware).
MSI is still fine, as far as I know.

 

[ekwipt]

I have a Gigabyte X99-SLI and have never had a problem with wake from sleep or losing information from sleep.

Updated on the weekend to 10.12.2 limited hassle (downloaded Nvidia updates and re-ran AGDFix.app for black screen issue

 

[joebclash]

I'm new to hackintosh and just ordered parts based on guides in tonymac site. They only thing different is I got a rx 460 gpu instead of nvidia. I should get everything next week. The question I have is how do I know that acceleration is working on my hackintosh?

 

[garnerx]

I'm new to hackintosh and just ordered parts based on guides in tonymac site. They only thing different is I got a rx 460 gpu instead of nvidia. I should get everything next week. The question I have is how do I know that acceleration is working on my hackintosh?

Judging by what happens with my 1080 with no acceleration, it will be pretty obvious if it's not working.