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

[CaseySJ]

I'll be d*@#$&! The Designare NVM33 is working on my GC-Titan Ridge. @scottkendall had mentioned he was using this on his card, so I tried it. Upon initial boot- 4K monitor plugged into dock DP port was detected after boot but remained a black screen. HD monitor plugged into HDMI of GPU showed posting and boot process. 4K monitor in black showed it was at 60hz. A reboot from there brought the 4K monitor to life. The 4K monitor was detected at post and boot process continued on that display and stayed active the whole way to the desktop- @60hz.

View attachment 464727
View attachment 464728

I think we got extra lucky that Designare Z390 shipped with NVM 33. This is so far the most Mac-friendly version of Titan Ridge!

 

[CaseySJ]

Is this the same driver? The 9560 is referenced in later posts as working but you have rub your stomach and tap your the top of your head at the same time.

[Success] WORKING Intel Wifi Drivers for 7265AC on Catalina

Only tested on 7265AC, should also work on other intel cards but not tested yet. This driver currently ONLY works in 10.15. First edit the Info.plist and add the ssid and password Then load the kext using terminal (Dont install directly into L/E): sudo mv ./*.kext /tmp sudo chown -R...

www.tonymacx86.com

This driver is from Page 14 of that thread, posted by Shuhung as mentioned at the top of the Micro-Guide. As the guide shows, it actually works -- for basic connectivity.

 

[Odebek]

Thank you so much! I was able to get my build up and running thanks to this guide. My only question is how to get video on boot from the thunderbolt port. Do I need to enable the on CPU video? I can boot off of DisplayPort directly from the 5700xt, but when I connect the 5700xt DP out to the DP in on the Motherboard, and then connect a usb-c to my monitor, I get no video on boot up

 

[gandem]

I think we got extra lucky that Designare Z390 shipped with NVM 33. This is so far the most Mac-friendly version of Titan Ridge!

This is the closest to a real Mac the system has ever been! It blows my mind that the designare firmware works on this AIC. An interesting note, I can plug the HDMI monitor into any open TB3 port after I get to the desktop and it works. I cannot have it plugged in a TB3 port during boot. But I can leave the HDMI monitor plugged directly into the GPU. I wonder if the monitor limitation with this designare firmware is because the designare only has 1 DP-IN port? NOW I'd really like to have a 4K TB3 monitor!! I wonder if that would make a difference. I've been on the fence for so long about that.
You guys are truly amazing with this stuff. Please keep me in mind if you have versions you'd like to test out.

 

[CaseySJ]

Thank you so much! I was able to get my build up and running thanks to this guide. My only question is how to get video on boot from the thunderbolt port. Do I need to enable the on CPU video? I can boot off of DisplayPort directly from the 5700xt, but when I connect the 5700xt DP out to the DP in on the Motherboard, and then connect a usb-c to my monitor, I get no video on boot up

Hello @Odebek,

Glad to hear it and welcome to the forum! To connect a Thunderbolt monitor we need to do the following:

• DP cable from RX 5700 XT to DP-In (which you've already done)
• Thunderbolt cable from Thunderbolt Port #1 (the one closest to HDMI) to Thunderbolt Monitor (should be a Thunderbolt 3 cable)
• I believe it's also necessary to switch to Platform ID 0x3E9B0007 instead of 0x3E980003 (headless). You may run Hackintool to see the current Platform ID. To change it 0x3E9B0007 please see the second screenshot (from Post #1).
• If you run into any issues, just let us know.

 

[faithie999]

@NCMacGuy--have you tested your Apple Thunderbolt monitor connected to your Designare with flashed Titan Ridge chip? if so, does wake from system sleep work? if I hold my mouth just right, I can get the TB monitor working with my flashed AR card, but the monitor won't wake from system sleep.
thanks

 

[CaseySJ]

** Micro-Guide: Radeon Speed Boost **
for Vega 56/64, Radeon VII, RX 5500/XT, RX 5700/XT
Please do not quote this micro-guide in its entirely. Post a link instead.

CAUTION: Remove RadeonBoost.kext when updating or upgrading macOS

Also check out @doof's alternative approach that uses only WhateverGreen and OpenCore Device Properties. ​

Thanks to the efforts of @mattystonnie and @CMMChris there's a lively discussion taking place in the Graphics forum on TonyMac (click here) where the injection of specific AMD frame buffer properties results in significant performance increases. The increases go even further when custom PowerPlay tables are applied. There are reports of 70% improvement, at least in synthetic benchmarks and certain specific tasks.

And now thanks to @rj510 we have a modified driver (RadeonBoost-v1-4.kext) and custom-tailored SSDTs that together inject additional device properties and custom PowerPlay tables. The driver and SSDTs in this post are compatible with:

• Gigabyte Designare Z390
• Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme
• Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Xtreme Waterforce
• May be compatible with other boards

Prerequisites:

• Works with both CLOVER and OpenCore.
• May be necessary to disable or remove WhateverGreen.
• The following AMD GPUs are supported:
  • Vega 56
  • Vega 64
  • Radeon VII
  • RX 5500 and RX 5500 XT (no power play tables for 5500-series at this time)
  • RX 5600 and RX 5600 XT (with kext only; no SSDT)
  • RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT
• AMD GPU must be in Slot 1 or Slot 2, but choose the appropriate SSDT from the bottom of this post.
• If you have the following GPUs, simply install the RadeonBoost driver (not the SSDTs) and keep WhateverGreen:
  • RX 480 | RX 580 | RX 590

Caveats:

• Performance improvement is not across-the-board in all GPU-intensive tasks, but is task-dependent.
• Special Note for Vega 56 and Vega 64:
  • The standard RadeonBoost driver by @CMMChris does not support Vega56 and Vega 64 because of fan control issues that lead to high fan speeds and noise.
  • A modified version by @rj510 is available below. Filename: RadeonBoost-v1-4+Vega.kext. It works well with liquid-cooled Vega GPUs, but may be used with air-cooled cards as well. Please try it for yourself and see how it performs.
  • Refer to this post for more details.
• Special Note for RX 4xx and Rx 5xx:
  • Installing RadeonBoost may not provide any performance improvement and may instead degrade performance slightly. Once enough feedback is received from RX 4xx and 5xx owners, we may amend this guide accordingly.

Additional Benefits:

• If you are currently using AGPMInjector.kext that fixes GPU power management settings for desktop GPUs, then that kext is no longer necessary and should be removed. The RadeonBooster kext attached to this post replaces that functionality and automatically injects the correct settings for the SMBIOS in use. It supports:
  • iMac19,1 | iMacPro1,1 | MacPro4,1 | MacPro5,1 | MacPro 7,1

Procedure:

• Download the driver (RadeonBoost-v1-4.kext) below.
  • Needed by all users.
• Mount EFI partition of macOS SSD:
  • Copy the driver (RadeonBoost-v1-4.kext) to CLOVER/kexts/Other.
    • OpenCore users should copy the driver to OC/Kexts and add an entry in config.plist. The driver will not load until it is added to the KERNEL section in OpenCore's config.plist.
• Owners of RX 480, RX 580, and RX 590 STOP here and reboot.
  • Remaining steps below are for all other GPUs listed in Prerequisites.
• Download the SSDT that is appropriate for your system.
  • Note the Slot Number in the name of each file.
  • Copy the correct SSDT to CLOVER/ACPI/Patched.
    • OpenCore users should copy the correct SSDT to OC/ACPI and add an entry in config.plist. The SSDT will not load unless it is added to the ACPI section in OpenCore's config.plist.
  • Optional: Disable or remove WhateverGreen.
    • It can be disabled by specifying -wegoff in Boot Arguments.
    • Some users report kernel panics when WhateverGreen is disabled.
    • Some users report inability to use certain video ports when WhateverGreen is disabled.
  • Reboot.

Validation:

• Use both GeekBench 4 and GeekBench 5 to run compare GPU benchmark before and after the change.
• Use any other benchmark of choice including BruceX and Unigine Valley, etc.

Observations: CaseySJ

• Having just tested this myself several hours after posting the Micro-Guide, some observations:
  • With AMD RX 5700 XT, Catalina will not complete the boot up process if the SSDT is used.
  • If we only use the RadeonBoost driver (kext) and disable WhateverGreen (-wegoff) then system boots up.
  • For RX 5700-series GPUs, keep agdpmod=pikera in Boot Arguments.
  • SMBIOS = iMac19,1
• Benchmarks:
  
  

Observations: @doof

• From this post using an AMD Radeon VII:
  
  

Observations: @ojmonk9

• From this post using an AMD Radeon VII:
  
  

Observations: @hussar

• From this post using an AMD Vega 64:
  

Observations: @lambusser

• From this post using an AMD Vega 64 Frontier Edition (liquid cooled):
  
  

Observations: @TinkerTenor

• From this post using an AMD RX 5700 XT
  
  

Observations: @Daranski using AMD RX 5700 XT, in this post.

GeekBench 5 Breakdown:

• Based on Radeon RX 5700 XT

References:

• TonyMac thread where this topic is being discussed.
• @CMMChris's thread on MacRumors where new versions of the kext will be released.

 

[Odebek]

Thank you for the fast reply. I found my issue and it was between the chair and the keyboard! The monitor I was using was a USB-C monitor, not a thunderbolt, duh!

Cheers

 

[CaseySJ]

Thank you for the fast reply. I found my issue and it was between the chair and the keyboard! The monitor I was using was a USB-C monitor, not a thunderbolt, duh!

Cheers

ROTFL!! Nice one!

 

[scottkendall]

This is the latest official firmware from Gigabyte for the GC-Titan Ridge. But it may not perform any better than modified

This is the closest to a real Mac the system has ever been! It blows my mind that the designare firmware works on this AIC. An interesting note, I can plug the HDMI monitor into any open TB3 port after I get to the desktop and it works. I cannot have it plugged in a TB3 port during boot. But I can leave the HDMI monitor plugged directly into the GPU. I wonder if the monitor limitation with this designare firmware is because the designare only has 1 DP-IN port? NOW I'd really like to have a 4K TB3 monitor!! I wonder if that would make a difference. I've been on the fence for so long about that.
You guys are truly amazing with this stuff. Please keep me in mind if you have versions you'd like to test out.

I have a USB-c to HDMI cable and works, I also have a DP to HDMI that also works both from the TB3 card. I do have both Mini DP connected to my GPU. The monitor is not 4k it is only 1080, but I guess I could use the HDMI cable and test them on the 4k. However, both of those cables do strange things even on my Mac mini, sometimes and I mean 1 in 20 it works most of the time I have to replug. This is the same behavior as I get from the MacMini.

Update:
Just to be fair I unplug everything except for one monitor and use the USB-C ---> HDMI cable. The result on cold boot was a black screen all the way until the login screen, I tested this on both ports with the same result. On warm boot it worked fine in either port. This was similar to what was expressed about the Mac Thunderbolt monitor. However, If I use the DP on the card the monitor works from Post till login screen.