Gigabyte Z690 Aero G + i5-12600K + AMD RX 6800 XT

[dehjomz]

I've actually been thinking about this. I have an RX 570 in my secondary Z390 hack, where I could get by just fine with iGPU.

A used radeon vii was going for $2000 earlier this year on the open market... eBay, stockx first time in my life I've ever seen video cards appreciate in value over time...

 

[dehjomz]

Gigabyte updated the Aero G BIOS to F6a, and we can finally disable all the E-cores (with the 12700k. The F3 BIOS could only disable 3 out of 4...E cores 1 had to be active at all times, which doesn't play well with x86_validate_topology()). With that, we have an 8 core / 16 thread CPU.

Not bad. Still tinkering.

 

[CaseySJ]

Gigabyte updated the Aero G BIOS to F6a, and we can finally disable all the E-cores (with the 12700k. The F3 BIOS could only disable 3 out of 4...E cores 1 had to be active at all times, which doesn't play well with x86_validate_topology()). With that, we have an 8 core / 16 thread CPU.

View attachment 535146

Not bad. Still tinkering.

I’ll see if USB Type A hub connected to front panel port still causes freeze at Gigabyte splash screen…

 

[ori69]

I’ll see if USB Type A hub connected to front panel port still causes freeze at Gigabyte splash screen…

Try this change in BIOS. It helped me when the pendrive blocked the Start EFI GUI.

 

[rushstrike]

Gigabyte updated the Aero G BIOS to F6a, and we can finally disable all the E-cores (with the 12700k. The F3 BIOS could only disable 3 out of 4...E cores 1 had to be active at all times, which doesn't play well with x86_validate_topology()). With that, we have an 8 core / 16 thread CPU.

View attachment 535146

Not bad. Still tinkering.

Did you use any frequency vector from CPU data kext? I use the iMac 1,1 CPUDATA on Mac Pro 7,1 SMBIOS, and I only get single score of 1851 and multi score of 12198 . Maybe I should try iMac20,1 SMBIOS but then I would have broken DRM.

 

[dehjomz]

Did you use any frequency vector from CPU data kext? I use the iMac 1,1 CPUDATA on Mac Pro 7,1 SMBIOS, and I only get single score of 1851 and multi score of 12198 . Maybe I should try iMac20,1 SMBIOS but then I would have broken DRM.

Using imac20,2 cpudata. I also set custom turbo ratios. 5.2 for up to 2 cores. 5.1 for up to 7 cores. 5.0 for up to 8 cores. So I’m boosting higher under load as well. I probably could set all 8 cores to boost to 5.1, but I will have to test that later. Using a Very similar voltage to comet lake, albeit slightly lower which is impressive. Yes imac20,x expects an igpu for drm but you can enable the amd gpu to process drm.

I wouldn’t worry too much about squeaking out additional performance unless you have adequate cooling, or don’t mind an increase in temps.

F6A also fixed some bugs in the boosting algorithm. It is doing much better at holding the overclock under load… f3a was down clocking back to 4.6 GHz under load but f6a holds the frequency to 5.0 GHz. I need to test temps in other applications as well. With f6a, idle temps have gone down even lower, from 33 degrees to 29. Using an nzxt kraken with the stock bracket until I can get my hands on a lga1700 bracket.

 

[dehjomz]

I’ll see if USB Type A hub connected to front panel port still causes freeze at Gigabyte splash screen…

I need to test whether the update addresses the sleep issue.

 

[CaseySJ]

I need to test whether the update addresses the sleep issue.

I wonder if we need to disable CNVi. Will adapt an SSDT to do that.

 

[CaseySJ]

** BIOS F6a Update **​

Unfortunately BIOS F6a does not solve these problems:

• Reboot on second wake-from-sleep. Disabling CNVW device with DeviceProperties does not help either.
• Freeze at Gigabyte splash screen when USB 3 hub is connected to front panel USB Type A port.

Gigabyte responded to my support ticket asking to test the USB 3 hub on other ports. Boot process does work when Hub is connected to USB ports on rear IO panel. Boot process freezes only when Hub is connected to front panel USB 3 Type A port. I have responded back to Gigabyte, but if others can reproduce this problem (with front panel USB 3 Type A port) then I can provide more data to Gigabyte.

@dehjomz @NCMacGuy
If you have a USB hub with Type A port, do you also experience a freeze at Gigabyte splash screen if that hub is connected to front panel USB 3 Type A port? Connecting the hub to rear IO panel is okay. Only a connection to front panel port causes the freeze.

 

[MatiCohen]

@CaseySJ do you think I can use EFI-076-PRE-Z690-AERO-G-V3 as a starting point to boot
my Mini ITX hack with Z690I Aorus?