Kaby Lake ATX build (possibly w/o dedicated GPU)

[SonnyRR]

Hello, I want to build my first hackintosh machine. In the last 6 months I've gone through various possible configurations but I've been financially set back several times, so I never got around to building it. It will not be my first hackintosh, but it is the first machine built purposely for MacOS. I will be using it mainly for Audio production (Logic Pro and Ableton Live) and sometimes things like Photoshop and Final Cut, but I want to possibly triple or dual boot (Linux, Mac, Win or Mac and Win) for other activities.

Here is my budget build:

GB: GIGABYTE Z270X-UD3
CPU: Intel Core i5 7600K
PSU: Fractal Design Integra Modular 550w
RAM: 2x4 GB Kingston HyperX, DDR4, 2133 MHz or 1x8 ADATA 8GB DDR4 2400MHz
SSD: KINGSTON SUV400 480GB
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 6Gb/s 7200rpm 64MB SED
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSD1 DVD RW

No cooler and case chosen atm.

Nowadays I do not play games that much, but I work sometimes with Sony Vegas Pro and Photoshop CS6. So do I really need a dedicated GPU ? I was looking at GIGABYTE N105TOC-4GD (GTX 1050 Ti OC 4GB) but this build is already on the top of my budget without the GPU... I was wondering if I will have any problems under Mac OS with the Intel® HD Graphics 630 until I save up some money to buy a dedicated GPU ? Will I have any problems with graphics acceleration ? I will be using possibly a cheap ultrawide like the LG 25UM58-P.

Thanks to everyone for the information shared in this community!

 

[ChrisRobmacbuntu]

I have the same exact question with different equipment.

EVGA Z270 Classified K (1151)
i7 7700K 4.2 GHz LGA 1151 91W
16GB (2x8) G.Skill Ripjaws 2666 DDR4
Samsung 960 EVO 250GB NVMe
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
Corsair CX750M PSU (750W)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED Turbo
Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper Case

Do I need a dGPU? If so, will the NVidia GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 work?

Do I need an internal (M.2) BT/WiFi card?

Please help. This place is not n00b friendly. I've been searching this place for hours and the "answers" are scattered everywhere and a little (lot) confusing. I went to Naval Nuclear Power/Propulsion School and Medical School and NEITHER was as overwhelming as trying to find simple answers on this board...and I'm very hard to overwhelm or discourage.

 

[SonnyRR]

It really depends on what you are going to use it for. Check the buyer's guide to see what components are supported and compatible. The answers are not scattered "everywhere". Just search and look through the forum, everything is already written.
I've already found everything I need.

 

[ChrisRobmacbuntu]

It really depends on what you are going to use it for. Check the buyer's guide to see what components are supported and compatible. The answers are not scattered "everywhere". Just search and look through the forum, everything is already written.
I've already found everything I need.

That's GREAT for you. I'm happy for you. As you can see, I'm using a board that doesn't have a bunch of build threads written for it and like I've said, I'm basically a n00b. That's no one's fault and I don't expect anyone to hold my hand but I've been struggling to get basic answers just to get started. And no, they haven't been definitively answered here and finding them is like searching through a bunch of needles for a specific needle.

Great forum and lots of information - for someone who already knows a lot. If you don't have a clue (like myself), you find more questions looking for an answer than anything else.

I've seriously searched different forums but my question is so simple that the terms come back with hundreds of threads. All of them deal with how to fix a problem with a dGPU and none directly address my (and others) simple question:

Do I HAVE to buy a dGPU or will I be able to install with onboard (CPU) graphics?

I have MILLIONS of other questions that I can't even get into because I don't know a cut and dry answer to that one question.


If someone just said yes or no, I could move on to the next question. I understand that no one owes me an answer and they aren't getting paid for this but I thought at least one mod or expert here would extend a hand to a n00b...at least to help get me started!

And "go search the forum" isn't help.

Sorry for the rant. Just frustrated.

 

[SonnyRR]

I didn't mean to offend you with my reply. The thing is that nobody is born with knowledge. But sometimes you've got to search for it. To answer your question, like I said above, it depends on what you plan to use your machine for. If you are going to do video editing/gaming or 4k setups you will probably need a dGPU. Onboard graphics can be made to work + HDMI Audio. NVIDIA GPU's are great if you want to use CUDA power, but then again after updates you will need to wait for webdrivers. Some AMD GPU's like the rx460/560 are supported out of the box (sometimes with spoofing or adding device id) after Mac OS 10.12.X. I started this thread because I had no experience with Kaby Lake iGFX as I've always used a dGPU in the past, but nowadays you can get away with it. As I said it really depends on what you want to use it for. Intel, Nvidia and AMD gfx are all possibilities. They all have their pros and cons.

Intel gfx are great if you want to save a buck and you don't need a dedicated GPU.
AMD gfx are great if you want to future proof your machine and you want OOB user experience without having to wait for webdrivers like nvidia.

Nvidia gfx are great for everything else.

EDIT: I think this is offtopic now, mods can decide if they want to close this thread or not.

 

[ChrisRobmacbuntu]

I didn't mean to offend you with my reply. The thing is that nobody is born with knowledge. But sometimes you've got to search for it. To answer your question, like I said above, it depends on what you plan to use your machine for. If you are going to do video editing/gaming or 4k setups you will probably need a dGPU. Onboard graphics can be made to work + HDMI Audio. NVIDIA GPU's are great if you want to use CUDA power, but then again after updates you will need to wait for webdrivers. Some AMD GPU's like the rx460/560 are supported out of the box (sometimes with spoofing or adding device id) after Mac OS 10.12.X. I started this thread because I had no experience with Kaby Lake iGFX as I've always used a dGPU in the past, but nowadays you can get away with it. As I said it really depends on what you want to use it for. Intel, Nvidia and AMD gfx are all possibilities. They all have their pros and cons.

Intel gfx are great if you want to save a buck and you don't need a dedicated GPU.
AMD gfx are great if you want to future proof your machine and you want OOB user experience without having to wait for webdrivers like nvidia.

Nvidia gfx are great for everything else.

EDIT: I think this is offtopic now, mods can decide if they want to close this thread or not.

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to use this as a Plex Media Server. Had my drives hooked up to my old Mac mini but it doesn't have USB3.0, can't run/transcode 4K and I wanted to throw the external drives into a case.

I don't need a dGPU for what I will use it for but if I need it to install Mac OS, I don't mind buying it.

Since you said I don't need it, I'm going to keep attempting to get a SUCCESSFUL install on my equipment. I'm struggling right now...but I don't expect anyone to hold my hand so I guess I'll just have to spend the hours it will take to get it done.

 

[SonnyRR]

Then you'd be better with a dGPU like a AMD RX460/560 or Nvidia 1060 in my opinion. I didn't say you don't need one, it depends on your needs. I see you want to run 4K video it is possible on iGFX, but not recommended. You will be better with a dGPU. During installation you can't use Nvidia webdrivers, they are configured post installation. Check what are the recommended BIOS settings for your EVGA MB before installation.

 

[ChrisRobmacbuntu]

Then you'd be better with a dGPU like a AMD RX460/560 or Nvidia 1060 in my opinion. I didn't say you don't need one, it depends on your needs. I see you want to run 4K video it is possible on iGFX, but not recommended. You will be better with a dGPU. During installation you can't use Nvidia webdrivers, they are configured post installation. Check what are the recommended BIOS settings for your EVGA MB before installation.

I'm looking to transcode 4K. Plex doesn't utilize dGPUs, to my knowledge so it would be a waste of money. Going to use Screen Sharing to access this computer because it will be in my office connected to my ethernet switch or router and wired, not wifi.

Here's where I've gotten so far. I will do a "Build Thread" for this board but just wanted to update this post/thread:

Before my install, I set the Windows 7 option to Enabled. It corresponds to the "XHCI to Enable" suggested in the UniBeast Guide suggested BIOS settings. Never found the "CFG-Lock" thing so I guess it's not an issue.

Changed DVMT to 128MB from 256MB that is the default in the EVGA Z270 BIOS.

Checked the Inject USB and FixOwnership that was giving me the earlier panic. That helped also. Checked those first in the Clover boot menu and next in the Clover Configurator after booting into the system...when I get back into the system, I will try to find exactly where they are and update this.

For now, I have the iGFx (HD630) FakeID (it was set to 0x00000000) and PlatformID set at 0x1916000, which is a Skylake HD530 ID. Changed it in the config.plist using Textedit...probably not the best way but it worked. I will want to change that eventually because I have the HD630 on my Kabylake i7 7700K but for now, it works.


Attempting to upgrade to High Sierra. Hopefully, it doesn't brick my install...