Replace motherboard for Thunderbolt compatibility

[deckyruby]

Hi all,
I have a question which I am really hoping someone on here can answer. My specs are in my signature. I have a recording studio and use the hackintosh that I built in 2014 as the main machine. I need to add some thunderbolt ports to the system. I am pretty sure my current mobo does not have a port to add a pci thunderbolt card. My question is would it be possible to just replace the mobo with a newer version. Would I still be able to use my current ram, CPU i7-4770K etc. My current mobo is Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC.
Hope someone can help steer me in the right direction.
Cheers
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC
i7-4770K
HD 4600
16gb 1333Mhz DDR3
High Sierra

 

[Edhawk]

No, you can't just add a Thunderbolt card to your system. While this is possible in some newer systems the Z87 chipset is not one of them IIRC.

No, you can't just replace the Haswell series motherboard and use your current CPU and other components. Not unless you are replacing it with another Haswell motherboard (secondhand).

Finding a New Haswell Motherboard that supports Thunderbolt add-on cards would be very difficult if not impossible. As not many were manufactured with that feature when the boards were current/mainstream. There were a few very high-end boards that supported TB cards, the GA-Z97X-UD7 TH is one that springs to mind. But getting one of those at this late stage would be really difficult and probably cost prohibitive even for a secondhand board.

GA-Z97X-UD7 TH (rev. 1.0) Overview | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

The more likely outcome is that you would need to upgrade the Motherboard, CPU and Memory to a newer chipset.

The Z390 or Z490 being the most logical as they support the newest versions of macOS, with the Z490 being the most likely to be available at a reasonable cost. Either board would require a new CPU and DDR4 RAM, so your current CPU and RAM would be unusable in either system. The case and other peripherals should be fine to reuse in the new system. Assuming they are macOS compatible and supported in the latest version of macOS.

 

[deckyruby]

Thanks for the info Edhawk. Much appreciated.
Whe I looked up the z490, several brand names cropped up.
Am I looking for Gigabyte or would one of these do?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886QSX7N/?tag=tonymacx86-21

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0876HPVHX/?tag=tonymacx86-21

cheers
William

 

[deckyruby]

Also found this motherboard. Sounds like it's compatible with Core i7. And it seems to have thunderbolt ports. Would this work?

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B088V4XWKV/?tag=tonymacx8607-21

 

[Edhawk]

The two MSI motherboards in Post #3 both have Thunderbolt headers, so they can accept a TB add-on card.

The Gigabyte Vision D board would be a better option. There is a Golden Build guide for this board, which would make your life a lot easier when it comes to setting it up to work with macOS and specifically for getting the Thunderbolt feature working.

Gigabyte Z490 Vision D (Thunderbolt 3) + i5-10400 + AMD RX 580

CaseySJ's Comet Lake-S in BeQuiet! Pure Base 500DX: Gigabyte Z490 Vision-D - i5-10400 - UHD 630 - AMD RX 580 (Please do not quote this guide in its entirety. Post a link instead.) (See this post for how to refer to a Guide or Mini-Guide.) Refer to the Z390 Designare thread for answers to a...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[deckyruby]

That's great. I will try that. Do you think my PSU and fan etc will work with this board. I know I have to upgrade the ram but that's not a big deal. And just to confirm my 3.49 ghz intel core I7 work with this board. I think it will.

 

[Edhawk]

No, your i7-4770K (3.49GHz) CPU will not work with this board.

You will need a 10th-series CPU, i7-10700K or similar for the Z490 Vision D motherboard. The same goes for the two MSI boards.

The Haswell CPU you are currently using is not compatible with any of the newer motherboards, just the old Z87/Z97 series of boards.

 

[deckyruby]

Great. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

 

[Edhawk]

Do you think my PSU and fan etc will work with this board.

Regarding the PSU you are currently using, I have no idea if it will be suitable, as I don't know the Wattage of your PSU, or all of the components you are going to be using in the system. Provide details of the make and model of your PSU and a summary of your proposed build, i.e. graphics card, number of fans, number of HDD/SSD/NVME drives etc. and I can tell you whether it will be sufficient or not.

Or you could check this out yourself using one of the many on-line PSU calculators.

• Corsair - https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/psufinder
• Seasonic - https://seasonic.com/wattage-calculator#
• EVGA - https://www.evga.com/power-meter/

CPU Fan/cooling:

1. It would be best to get a new CPU fan with the new CPU, one that is compatible with the cooling/thermal requirements of the new CPU.
2. A Boxed CPU will usually come with a compatible stock cooler. That should be fine for your needs.
3. You would only need a better cooler (all-in-one) if you were planning to overclock the CPU.
4. Your old CPU fan would be designed to work with your old CPU, not the new one, so a replacement fan would be advisable.

Case fans should be fine, if they are currently functioning.

 

[deckyruby]

Ok . I see. It might just make more sense to do a fresh build I guess.
I've attached the screenshot of the various components.
Does the CPU come with a fan ? Wasn't sure about that. Are you saying
a case fan should be fine?
Also I don't have a graphics card in my current build. Would you recommend adding a card?
Thanks again for all your help