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Upgrading from z370 to z490?

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Joined
Dec 4, 2011
Messages
190
Motherboard
Z490 VISION D
CPU
i9-10900
Graphics
RX 570
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
Hi everyone, it’s been a while! After putting my z370 audio workstation to good use for three years I feel it’s time to move on from Mojave and make the switch to OpenCore at the same time.

This also seems like a good time to consider upgrading my hardware since the 8700K is starting to hold me back here and there. I believe my best option would be to swap the board for z490 with either an 10700K or 10850K.

I should be able to reuse all of my other components, making it a very cost-effective upgrade. My priority is to achieve a meaningful performance boost with minimal fuss and cost. Adding TB would be a plus.

So I guess my questions to the hive mind are..

a) more broadly if you consider such an update sensible with respect to the gained performance and overall stability compared to z370.

b) specifically what boards you’d recommend considering everyone’s favorite, the z490 Vision D, seems hard to come by now (would go with that in a heartbeat).

I’ll definitely need a good guide since I have less time to figure things out these days, as much as I enjoy tinkering. This is the main reason I feel I should go with z490 instead of z590, even though the latter is much more widely available now.

Any input appreciated!
 
Hi everyone, it’s been a while! After putting my z370 audio workstation to good use for three years I feel it’s time to move on from Mojave and make the switch to OpenCore at the same time.

This also seems like a good time to consider upgrading my hardware since the 8700K is starting to hold me back here and there. I believe my best option would be to swap the board for z490 with either an 10700K or 10850K.

I should be able to reuse all of my other components, making it a very cost-effective upgrade. My priority is to achieve a meaningful performance boost with minimal fuss and cost. Adding TB would be a plus.

So I guess my questions to the hive mind are..

a) more broadly if you consider such an update sensible with respect to the gained performance and overall stability compared to z370.

b) specifically what boards you’d recommend considering everyone’s favorite, the z490 Vision D, seems hard to come by now (would go with that in a heartbeat).

I’ll definitely need a good guide since I have less time to figure things out these days, as much as I enjoy tinkering. This is the main reason I feel I should go with z490 instead of z590, even though the latter is much more widely available now.

Any input appreciated!

You could get


and add a Thunderbolt card.

 
You could get


and add a Thunderbolt card.

Been looking at that board and was happy to find it covered in the Vision D Golden Build, too. Wondering if there is a way to add a second LAN port? I need two (one for network, one for my audio interfaces).
 
Been looking at that board and was happy to find it covered in the Vision D Golden Build, too. Wondering if there is a way to add a second LAN port? I need two (one for network, one for my audio interfaces).

You could get LAN off a TB3 hub looks like that board is sold-out now at least for the link I gave you.
 
You could get LAN off a TB3 hub looks like that board is sold-out now at least for the link I gave you.
Availability of the Vision G is better than Vision D, including some offers here in Germany. Definitely considering it. I suppose I could also use a USB Ethernet adapter? Found plenty reports about this one from Belkin that works under Big Sur.

There also seem to be used Vision D boards popping up here and there, and it might be cheaper than Vision G after adding Titan Ridge and the LAN adapter. So if I upgrade, I’ll definitely go with one of these two boards.

Now I just need to make up my mind about upgrading the hardware at all. Granted, the 10850K would give me a nice performance upgrade after checking DAWbench results, and being able to use @CaseySJ ‘s Vision D/G guide would make the move to OpenCore much easier.
 
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Availability of the Vision G is better than Vision D, including some offers here in Germany. Definitely considering it. I suppose I could also use a USB Ethernet adapter? Found plenty reports about this one from Belkin that works under Big Sur.

There also seem to be used Vision D boards popping up here and there, and it might be cheaper than Vision G after adding Titan Ridge and the LAN adapter. So if I upgrade, I’ll definitely go with one of these two boards.

Now I just need to make up my mind about upgrading the hardware at all. Granted, the 10850K would give me a nice performance upgrade after checking DAWbench results, and being able to use @CaseySJ ‘s Vision D/G guide would make the move to OpenCore much easier.
If you haven't already you may want to check out CaseySJ new Golden Build.
 
If you haven't already you may want to check out CaseySJ new Golden Build.

Thanks, though I am pretty set on the idea to make Z490 the platform for my last Hackintosh before going with Apple Silicon in 3-4 years. Given the extensive information and great support Z490 seems like the much more reliable (and painless) option right now.
 
Thanks, though I am pretty set on the idea to make Z490 the platform for my last Hackintosh before going with Apple Silicon in 3-4 years. Given the extensive information and great support Z490 seems like the much more reliable (and painless) option right now.

I am pretty sure that the Aero G under the care of CaseySJ will be heavily maintained and have great support. As much as I would like to upgrade something I Really feel like the only thing that would really give me a benefit is a new GPU, but I do residential Design and renderings in UnReal and create little movies for clients. As it is My CPU usage is low in compared to my GPU usage. I just do not have the stomach to spent $1600 even if it is a tax write off with the difference in productivity does not justify it for me. At that price I might as well get a MacBook Pro.

When your rendering Audio or working live what is the load on your CPU?
 
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I am pretty sure that the Aero G under the care of CaseySJ will be heavily maintained and have great support. As much as I would like to upgrade something I Really feel like the only thing that would really give me a benefit is a new GPU, but I do residential Design and renderings in UnReal and create little movies for clients. As it is My CPU usage is low in compared to my GPU usage. I just do not have the stomach to spent $1600 even if it is a tax write off with the difference in productivity does not justify it for me. At that price I might as well get a MacBook Pro.

When your rendering Audio or working live what is the load on your CPU?

GPU prices are so daunting, I am glad I don’t rely on them in my line of work! I have a RX570 that is basically overkill. My sound design and music work is pretty scalable as it all depends on how much real-time processing I want to keep running without rendering, and how low I want to set my audio buffer (relevant especially when playing software instruments, and when integrating analog equipment). On the 8700K I can run my projects at reasonably low latencies without too much of a headache, but sometimes I will need to render audio and organize my session when I’d rather continue working creatively. Also, lower buffer settings are always desirable. Long story short, I convinced myself it’s a worthwhile upgrade and impulse-bought a used Z490 Vision D from Australia an hour ago. Fingers crossed it survives air freight. :)
 
GPU prices are so daunting, I am glad I don’t rely on them in my line of work! I have a RX570 that is basically overkill. My sound design and music work is pretty scalable as it all depends on how much real-time processing I want to keep running without rendering, and how low I want to set my audio buffer (relevant especially when playing software instruments, and when integrating analog equipment). On the 8700K I can run my projects at reasonably low latencies without too much of a headache, but sometimes I will need to render audio and organize my session when I’d rather continue working creatively. Also, lower buffer settings are always desirable. Long story short, I convinced myself it’s a worthwhile upgrade and impulse-bought a used Z490 Vision D from Australia an hour ago. Fingers crossed it survives air freight. :)

I was really hoping for a M1 Max Mac mini Maybe next year....
 
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