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[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

@CaseySJ, Just to summarize for this olde guy who has read you OP book (but is somewhat overwhelmed by all the details), the Gigabyte Z390 Designare does not need to have Windoze installed to activate Thunderbolt which is required for the Gigabyte Thunderbolt PCIe cards. (I'm debating to build a Thunderbolt 3 hackintosh now or wait for the next generation of motherboards and processors which will have Thunderbolt integrated into the chipsets.)
Hi @Stork,

Correct -- I was using Thunderbolt for months before I even thought of installing Windows!

Your second question is very intriguing:
  • Intel's Ice Lake processors and chipsets are built on their first ever 10nm process. Intel uses a stricter definition of Technology Node. Whereas TSMC and Samsung advertise 7nm capability, that is based on a looser interpretation. Intel's 10nm is comparable to TSMC/Samsung 7nm.
  • Low power and ultra low power Ice Lake chips for laptops are coming in Q4 this year, but desktop parts are not expected until Q1 of 2020.
  • Ice Lake includes integrated Thunderbolt 3, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), significantly improved iGPU, significantly lower TDP, and on and on. It looks very tempting.
  • What is not yet known (at least not known to me) is whether 10th Generation desktop CPUs will feature more than 8 cores. Will there be a 10 core part? A 12 core part? Or even a 16 core part to compete with AMD Ryzen 3000?
  • If so, I will build a new Hackintosh that puts the new Mac Pro to shame! :) Well, at least in the value-for-money category!
  • Imagine a 12 core or 16 core Intel Ice Lake Hackintosh with AMD's RDNA-based Navi GPUs (with GDDR6 that costs a lot less than HBM) for less than $3000.
So is it worth building this system now or waiting for Ice Lake desktop CPUs sometime mid to late Q1'2020?
  • This is something that each person has to assess for themselves given the system they already have and the limitations being faced.
  • For those who already have a Designare Z390 based system and wish to upgrade to Ice Lake, I expect the scenario to unfold as follows:
    • Replace motherboard because Ice Lake will feature a new socket.
      • Expect to pay $275 for a good Content Creator motherboard.
    • Replace CPU with a 12 core or 16 core model if one is available, because the goal here is to assert maximum bragging rights over the uber-expensive new Mac Pro.
      • 12 core Ice Lake desktop CPU -- $749 (yes I'm just making this up)
      • 16 core Ice Lake desktop CPU -- $949
    • Therefore:
      • Upgrading to 12 core might cost $275 + $749 = $1024
      • Upgrading to 16 core might cost $275 + $949 = $1224
    • If we sell the existing motherboard and CPU, let's say we recoup $400 (is it a bit low?).
    • So net cost to upgrade:
      • Upgrade to 12 core = $1024 - $400 = $624
      • Upgrade to 16 core = $1224 - $400 = $824
Update:
  • Ice Lake also features PCIe 4.0, but not sure whether it's limited to the Xeon family or includes desktop as well.
  • Ice Lake PCH is still expected to be 14nm.
  • Ice Lake-SP expected to feature up to 26 cores, 8 channel memory, PCIe 4 in 2Q2020
 
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Lower power and ultra low power Ice Lake chips for laptops are coming in Q4 this year, but desktop parts are not expected until Q1 of 2020.
If everything works out for Intel according to plan, which hasn't happened for about the past 3 years now, we'll get Ice Lake in January 2020.
 
Hi @Stork,

Correct -- I was using Thunderbolt for months before I even thought of installing Windows!
Excellent! I'm going to start planning now.

Your second question is very intriguing:
  • Intel's Ice Lake processors and chipsets are built on their first ever 10nm process. Intel uses a stricter definition of Technology Node. Whereas TSMC and Samsung advertise 7nm capability, that is based on a looser interpretation. Intel's 10nm is comparable to TSMC/Samsung 7nm.
  • Low power and ultra low power Ice Lake chips for laptops are coming in Q4 this year, but desktop parts are not expected until Q1 of 2020.
  • Ice Lake includes integrated Thunderbolt 3, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), significantly improved iGPU, significantly lower TDP, and on and on. It looks very tempting.
  • What is not yet known (at least not known to me) is whether 10th Generation desktop CPUs will feature more than 8 cores. Will there be a 10 core part? A 12 core part? Or even a 16 core part to compete with AMD Ryzen 3000?
  • If so, I will build a new Hackintosh that puts the new Mac Pro to shame! :) Well, at least in the value-for-money category!
  • Imagine a 12 core or 16 core Intel Ice Lake Hackintosh with AMD's RDNA-based Navi GPUs (with GDDR6 that costs a lot less than HBM) for less than $3000.
So is it worth building this system now or waiting for Ice Lake desktop CPUs sometime mid to late Q1'2020?
  • This is something that each person has to assess for themselves given the system they already have and the limitations being faced.
  • For those who already have a Designare Z390 based system and wish to upgrade to Ice Lake, I expect the scenario to unfold as follows:
    • Replace motherboard because Ice Lake will feature a new socket.
      • Expect to pay $275 for a good Content Creator motherboard.
    • Replace CPU with a 12 core or 16 core model if one is available, because the goal here is to assert maximum bragging rights over the uber-expensive new Mac Pro.
      • 12 core Ice Lake desktop CPU -- $749 (yes I'm just making this up)
      • 16 core Ice Lake desktop CPU -- $949
    • Therefore:
      • Upgrading to 12 core might cost $275 + $749 = $1024
      • Upgrading to 16 core might cost $275 + $949 = $1224
    • If we sell the existing motherboard and CPU, let's say we recoup $400 (is it a bit low?).
    • So net cost to upgrade:
      • Upgrade to 12 core = $1024 - $400 = $624
      • Upgrade to 16 core = $1224 - $400 = $824
Thank you for this information! You must have some insight that I haven't gained in my reading. Thank you, again, for your insight!
 
If everything works out for Intel according to plan, which hasn't happened for about the past 3 years now, we'll get Ice Lake in January 2020.
I expect demand for desktop retail parts to be very high, and hence shortages for several weeks. Such was the case with Coffee Lake, but it may be worse with Ice Lake...
 
Reading through again, it has to be said, this is an awesome build-thread! Excellent work and support for others :thumbup:

I like the sound of Ice Lake, although being a big coffee drinker, it was great to be able to build my latest on a Coffee Lake system ;)

Despite all the flack Intel gets from seemingly everyone (including my son who's over on the 'dark-side'!) I have always stuck with them and never been disappointed - in the real world.

I look forward to getting "native" Thunderbolt of any variety on-board - and all those extra cores. It comes to something when your mobile-phone has more cores than your desktop :lol:

Anyway, I'll head back to more serious stuff and stop straying off-topic... This was a great read and a good place to leave a few thankful, light-hearted words. Come the new year, I'll be with everyone else, pricing-up all things Ice Lake! :thumbup:
 
Are you asking whether it’s okay to update to 10.14.5 knowing that Preview is not functional in 10.14.4? If that’s the question, the answer is yes it’s okay to update nevertheless.

Regarding Preview itself, a lot depends on whether IGFX is enabled in BIOS, whether you’re using SMBIOS Macmini8,1 or something else, and the Platform ID specified in Clover Configurator —> Devices —> Properties. It would be good to check your CLOVER folder settings against the screenshots in the spoiler, Final Steps in Post-Installation. If the problem persists, please let us know.
Sorry I was asking 2 separate questions. i thought i'd made 2 posts.

1. My preview isn't working on 10.14.4. I'm using SMBIOS iMac 18,3
Do I need to enable IGFX in the BIOS?

2. Is it safe to update to 10.14.5 and would I have to:
-Change SMBIOS and Platform ID from iMac 18,3 to iMac19,1/Mac19,1 and would this affect my software authorisations, handoff etc?
-make changes to config.plist,
-add/remove kexts,
-update clover bootloader,

Thanks for your help
 

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@genzai, despite the recent improvements in Windows 10, I can honestly say that it looks and feels like a colossal mess. It is better to buy or build a separate cheap Windows PC if someone really needs to use this monstrosity.

I'm just thinking out laud ... Can MBR conversion potentially prevent Windows going wild in the BIOS?
 
Ok, I started having some issues after a day of working fine.

I noticed that the computer freezes on restart. But shuts down fine. It also threw up a panic a couple of times during restart.

Here's the verbose message I get on restart:

410168


Here's what i got at the panic screen:

410169


And finally, this is what I see when I start the computer:

410170


As you can see there are some NTFS-FS errors.

Currently I have 2 SSDs: 1 running this OS (Mojave) and a blank SSD formatted to FAt-32...
... and 1HDD in the system formatted to NTFS (no OS, just some storage).

Thanks!

__________________________


Edit: I unplugged the HDD and the system seems to work fine. No more error messages during shutdown or restart.

Could this mean that the HDD may be going bad (it's an old one TBH)? Or, do I need to install an NTFS app like Paragon NTFS?

Thanks again!
 
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Sorry I was asking 2 separate questions. i thought i'd made 2 posts.

1. My preview isn't working on 10.14.4. I'm using SMBIOS iMac 18,3
Do I need to enable IGFX in the BIOS?
Yes, for iMac18,3 you should enable IGFX in BIOS. But note that Platform ID has been entered incorrectly in your screenshot. We have to enter values in reverse byte order so:
  • Devices --> Properties --> AAPL,ig-platform-id must be 0300923E or 0300983E for headless mode in 10.14.4
  • Devices --> Properties --> device-id should be deleted because 10.14.4 recognizes the Coffee Lake iGPU
2. Is it safe to update to 10.14.5 and would I have to:
-Change SMBIOS and Platform ID from iMac 18,3 to iMac19,1/Mac19,1 and would this affect my software authorisations, handoff etc?
-make changes to config.plist,
-add/remove kexts,
-update clover bootloader,

Thanks for your help
Changing system definition (e.g. iMac18,3 to iMac19,1) is like switching to a new computer. Your software will have to be licensed again. And a new computer will appear in your iCloud account.

So I would recommend:
  • Backup the system first.
  • Update to 10.14.5 without changing system definition.
  • After making sure everything is okay (wait 3-5 days), back up the system again.
  • Then try to switch system definition only if necessary as follows:
    • Logout of iCloud.
    • Deregister any application that has a deregister or deauthorize function. Just launch each application one by one and check for such a function.
    • Change system definition to iMac19,1 and reboot. This is easy to do from the SMBIOS section of Clover Configurator. Just use the pop-up menu on bottom right to select iMac19,1.
      • Then copy the new Board Serial Number to RtVariables --> MLB.
    • After the reboot, login to iCloud. This should be done first. This will register a new Mac in your iCloud account. You can log into the iCloud account (with Safari) and eventually delete the old computer (don't delete it right now).
    • Then login to Messages and FaceTime if you use them.
    • Now launch your applications one by one and re-register them.
 
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I'm just thinking out laud ... Can MBR conversion potentially prevent Windows going wild in the BIOS?
If your BIOS is configured for UEFI boot (instead of Legacy boot), then GPT is necessary and MBR will not work. Microsoft recommends UEFI mode for Windows 10. Use of MBR on this system may be more trouble than it's worth. As mentioned in a previous post, it may be best to install Windows in the M2M slot so that it only modifies the EFI partition on that drive.

 
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