ASROCK FATAL1TY Z270, Catalina Support

[revlimiter]

Hi,

I have an ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard with an Intel Core i7-7700K and MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X. Can I install the latest version of Catalina on it following the Multibeast method posted here? https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...alina-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.285366/

Is there anything I should be aware of? If all is looking good, I can post progress in this thread with how it goes...

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi,

I have an ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard with an Intel Core i7-7700K and MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X. Can I install the latest version of Catalina on it following the Multibeast method posted here? https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...alina-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.285366/

Is there anything I should be aware of? If all is looking good, I can post progress in this thread with how it goes...

Hi there.

Only fly in the ointment there is the GPU. There is no Nvidia Pascal support for macOS after High Sierra. No third-party drivers either.

Better to change GPU to an AMD RX series. Search this site for suggestions in the User Builds section.

If you can't stretch to changing then maybe best to remove the 1080 and make do with the iGPU.

If you need the Nvidia for dual-booting then there are procedures you can use to disable the GPU in macOS. Simple on paper, tricky sometimes.

 

[revlimiter]

Hi there.

Only fly in the ointment there is the GPU. There is no Nvidia Pascal support for macOS after High Sierra. No third-party drivers either.

Better to change GPU to an AMD RX series. Search this site for suggestions in the User Builds section.

If you can't stretch to changing then maybe best to remove the 1080 and make do with the iGPU.

If you need the Nvidia for dual-booting then there are procedures you can use to disable the GPU in macOS. Simple on paper, tricky sometimes.

Thanks for the helpful reply. If the performance is really terrrible with onboard graphics, I'll give it a go with High Sierra. Any idea if there is an Apple nVidia driver in the works for Catalina or is it never gonna be doable?

Also, after installing Catalina with Unibeast do I need to install anything additional with MultiBeast? It's been a while since I have put together a hackintosh (Lion or Yosemite maybe) and forget what the process is. I'm copying the Catalina installer over to USB with Unibeast.. will see how it goes...

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Thanks for the helpful reply. If I remove the GPU entirely will I be better off for performance? Not sure how good the onboard Intel graphics would be...

Also, after installing Catalina with Unibeast do I need to install anything additional with MultiBeast? It's been a while since I have put together a hackintosh (Lion or Yosemite maybe) and forget what the process is. I'm copying the Catalina installer over to USB with Unibeast.. will see how it goes...

Hi,

No, performance will not be as good using the iGPU as a discrete card, but only if it is a supported one. The i7-7700k is no slouch, but the HD630 Intel graphics are relatively limited. Later CPUs have the UHD630 which is slightly better. (For reference, if you installed High Sierra you'd then use the Nvidia web-drivers and get full performance from the 1080).

Yes, you will need to run MultiBeast 12.1 to add the necessary drivers for Audio, LAN and a System-Definition (the kind of Mac you are emulating). It is also used to make the Catlaina installation stand-alone bootable.

 

[revlimiter]

Asus GT710-SL 1GB DDR5 Graphic Card | Lazada

Buy Asus GT710-SL 1GB DDR5 Graphic Card online at Lazada Malaysia. Discount prices and promotional sale on all Graphics Cards. Free Shipping.

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I'm hearing that this graphics card is cheap and will also do the job in Catalina, apparently it's just plug and play. May check it out if onboard is really really bad. Mostly using the rig for web dev: Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Chrome with lots of extensions, Visual Studio Code, Valet. Hoping the 16GB of RAM will be more useful than a high end graphics card.

Any tips on which drivers I should use with MultiBeast for this motherboard? Trying to find guides for Catalina and this mobo but to no avail. Thanks again

 

[revlimiter]

Also, this seems to be the cheapest RX card I can find in my area. Perhaps I should go with it over the prior one to be on the safe side. Hopefully a bit more future proof too, but that may be hard to say for sure:

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/asus-ati-rx550-4g-ddr5-refubished-i447166305-s671374003.html?exlaz=d_1:mm_150050845_51350205_2010350205::12:1032211143!54400014687!!!pla-296303633664!c!296303633664!671374003!135257828&gclid=CjwKCAjw95D0BRBFEiwAcO1KDHB_NB7dpAVWBi4P_5YtX2FAI-bYjNQd3B_qpOzbIjsH2QuMi5G6NRoCRLMQAvD_BwE

 

[revlimiter]

One last post, lol, sorry for so many...
Upon final review, if I can get the 1080 Ti working and it's an all around better card, I wonder what I would be missing by downgrading to High Sierra. Just to be on the latest version of macOS might not necessarily give me anything better. I just need to do work on it haha. And maybe GTX driver support for Catalina is still in the works?

 

[UtterDisbelief]

One last post, lol, sorry for so many...
Upon final review, if I can get the 1080 Ti working and it's an all around better card, I wonder what I would be missing by downgrading to High Sierra. Just to be on the latest version of macOS might not necessarily give me anything better. I just need to do work on it haha. And maybe GTX driver support for Catalina is still in the works?

Hi there.

Okay, to catch up ...

Yes, the GT710 will work without anything else needed. I haven't used one myself but reports suggest it is no more powerful than the latest built-in iGPUs. (Do a site-search to confirm etc).

The RX550 is a grey-area card. Originally it didn't work, but is now said to work using the Lilu and Whatevergreen kext pair, though I haven't seen evidence that it's fully sorted yet. Take care if you decide to spend any money. Do a site-search for anyone else who's used one and check other recommendations.

As for Catalina - that depends on the software you intend using. It has no support for older 32-bit applications or their plug-ins. Double-check with your software vendors to see if you will be missing-out on any functions by trying an older version of macOS. Certainly you will have more raw graphics-power using the GTX1080 with High Sierra.

 

[revlimiter]

Hi there.

Okay, to catch up ...

Yes, the GT710 will work without anything else needed. I haven't used one myself but reports suggest it is no more powerful than the latest built-in iGPUs. (Do a site-search to confirm etc).

The RX550 is a grey-area card. Originally it didn't work, but is now said to work using the Lilu and Whatevergreen kext pair, though I haven't seen evidence that it's fully sorted yet. Take care if you decide to spend any money. Do a site-search for anyone else who's used one and check other recommendations.

As for Catalina - that depends on the software you intend using. It has no support for older 32-bit applications or their plug-ins. Double-check with your software vendors to see if you will be missing-out on any functions by trying an older version of macOS. Certainly you will have more raw graphics-power using the GTX1080 with High Sierra.

Thanks for the heads up - which GPU do you recommend for Catalina that offers full support? Looking for the best bang for buck.

Took a break and finishing up with Unibeast now, will try Multibeast soon to see if I can get it running with Catalina. I'm on an ultrawide monitor (2560x1080) so maybe the integrated graphics won't suffice. Will test it out with playback of VLC and with a workflow open. Hoping I don't need to physically remove the GPU in order for everything to work smoothly but we shall see...

Update:
Upon review, I have decided to go with High Sierra. Getting the ultrawide monitor to simply display 2560x1080 is not worth my time in Catalina. I found the installer on the App Store for High Sierra and will be installing with Unibeast High Sierra. Will let you know how it goes

Hopefully I won't miss Catalina all that much (I have it on my MacBook Air) but if I really do I can opt for the GPU, still deciding on which one to go with.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Thanks for the heads up - which GPU do you recommend for Catalina that offers full support? Looking for the best bang for buck.

Took a break and finishing up with Unibeast now, will try Multibeast soon to see if I can get it running with Catalina. I'm on an ultrawide monitor (2560x1080) so maybe the integrated graphics won't suffice. Will test it out with playback of VLC and with a workflow open. Hoping I don't need to physically remove the GPU in order for everything to work smoothly but we shall see...

Update:
Upon review, I have decided to go with High Sierra. Getting the ultrawide monitor to simply display 2560x1080 is not worth my time in Catalina. I found the installer on the App Store for High Sierra and will be installing with Unibeast High Sierra. Will let you know how it goes

Hopefully I won't miss Catalina all that much (I have it on my MacBook Air) but if I really do I can opt for the GPU, still deciding on which one to go with.

I don't like making specific recommendations, but there really is a lot of good advice around here. Head into the User Builds / Golden Builds forums and look through them. There's a clear winner in the popularity/compatibility stakes. Remember some of the very newest AMD GPU models only run with the latest Catalina point releases.

Also consider, if you do go with High Sierra but it doesn't do everything you'd hoped, then you can always upgrade to Mojave or Catalina at no cost once you are clear what you need