CaseySJ
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- Nov 11, 2018
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Hi @Stork,@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.)
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.
- 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
- Replace motherboard because Ice Lake will feature a new socket.
- 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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