Asus Z690 ProArt Creator WiFi (Thunderbolt 4) + i7-12700K + AMD RX 6800 XT

[steve20677]

If you have a Fenvi FV-T919 already installed, then why are you trying to replace one PCIe card with another?

I was hoping to add a flashed Titan Ridge card to the only PCIE slot. I guess I could move the Fenvi to PCIe8 slot. What would you recommend?

 

[CaseySJ]

I was hoping to add a flashed Titan Ridge card to the only PCIE slot. I guess I could move the Fenvi to PCIe8 slot. What would you recommend?

The Asus Maximus Z690 has on-board Thunderbolt (Maple Ridge).

 

[steve20677]

The Asus Maximus Z690 has on-board Thunderbolt (Maple Ridge).

I know but my Qnap is not recognized by on board Maple Ridge unless it is flashed. I tried everything to make it work but couldn't. Did I miss doing something?

 

[CaseySJ]

I know but my Qnap is not recognized by on board Maple Ridge unless it is flashed. I tried everything to make it work but couldn't. Did I miss doing something?

Thunderbolt NAS drives require Thunderbolt Bus so you’re correct about needing to have a flashed controller.

A flashed GC-Titan Ridge is recommended. If you want to save a PCIe slot by replacing the Fenvi with a Thunderbolt PCIe card and not using one of the first 2 slots (to give full 16 PCIe lanes to GPU) then it makes sense to remove the Fenvi and install a BCM94360NG.

If you fully remove the motherboard from the case you will find several screws on the back that will allow you to remove the VRM heat sink. That will reveal a small thin metal cage that houses the Intel WiFi/BT module. That module can be replaced with the Fenvi version of BCM94360NG.

 

[steve20677]

Thunderbolt NAS drives require Thunderbolt Bus so you’re correct about needing to have a flashed controller.

A flashed GC-Titan Ridge is recommended. If you want to save a PCIe slot by replacing the Fenvi with a Thunderbolt PCIe card and not using one of the first 2 slots (to give full 16 PCIe lanes to GPU) then it makes sense to remove the Fenvi and install a BCM94360NG.

If you fully remove the motherboard from the case you will find several screws on the back that will allow you to remove the VRM heat sink. That will reveal a small thin metal cage that houses the Intel WiFi/BT module. That module can be replaced with the Fenvi version of BCM94360NG.

You are correct CaseySJ, it would be a easier to remove the heat sink and replace Intel wifi with BCM94360NG. I am so lazy and am scared to remove motherboard, afraid I might damage something in the process. But I will give it a try. Thanks man

 

[Raftrix86]

Thanks for your guide man. Right now I am making a really funny experiment, following your guide, I could install Mac OS X in my new laptop Asus Strix Scar 15 2022 Core i9 12900H, it worked but of course with no video asceleration at all. However, I bought a Sonnet eGPU, and I could find a Radeon RX 570 4GB for testing. Because the laptop has a USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port, I wanted the GPU recognized as a PCIE device. (I tested that way before and it worked.) Yes, it worked!!!. My laptop is most like a CPU right now (jajajaja) but the most work that I do in Mac OS X I can do it always in my desktop. Looking that It worked, I ordered a AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB to make a better test and don't want to invest in a really expensive GPU.

Here some images about the build and, of course, showing is working. I use a USB SATA SSD. I will install inside a NVMe because, before I open my laptop, I wanted to be sure that the experiment would work .

The NVMe and the new GPU are on the way to improve the laptop and well to make a more detailed thread because I disabled the iGPU, the dGPU and the eGPU could work otherwise I had black screen but at the end it worked.

As I said right now my laptop in OSX is a CPU, I have to use a Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, the eGPU and the Graphics Card, but is so perfect for me, because I can take my Laptop everywhere, I use windows just for gaming and this laptop has the RTX 3080 ti 16GB 150W, is so powerfull, but I don't have to have two workstations, I don't use windows or osx at the same time so, well I want to look how is the performance of the RX 6800 16GB over Thunderbolt and if it is good enough I will keep it the Build in this way with the improvements I am planning.

 

[CaseySJ]

Thanks for your guide man. Right now I am making a really funny experiment, following your guide, I could install Mac OS X in my new laptop Asus Strix Scar 15 2022 Core i9 12900H, it worked but of course with no video asceleration at all. However, I bought a Sonnet eGPU, and I could find a Radeon RX 570 4GB for testing. Because the laptop has a USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port, I wanted the GPU recognized as a PCIE device. (I tested that way before and it worked.) Yes, it worked!!!. My laptop is most like a CPU right now (jajajaja) but the most work that I do in Mac OS X I can do it always in my desktop. Looking that It worked, I ordered a AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB to make a better test and don't want to invest in a really expensive GPU.

Here some images about the build and, of course, showing is working. I use a USB SATA SSD. I will install inside a NVMe because, before I open my laptop, I wanted to be sure that the experiment would work .

The NVMe and the new GPU are on the way to improve the laptop and well to make a more detailed thread because I disabled the iGPU, the dGPU and the eGPU could work otherwise I had black screen but at the end it worked.

As I said right now my laptop in OSX is a CPU, I have to use a Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, the eGPU and the Graphics Card, but is so perfect for me, because I can take my Laptop everywhere, I use windows just for gaming and this laptop has the RTX 3080 ti 16GB 150W, is so powerfull, but I don't have to have two workstations, I don't use windows or osx at the same time so, well I want to look how is the performance of the RX 6800 16GB over Thunderbolt and if it is good enough I will keep it the Build in this way with the improvements I am planning.

That is wonderful!

It is a bit tricky to get a working eGPU via Thunderbolt without enabling Thunderbolt Bus in macOS. Some eGPU systems work better than others.

Which external Thunderbolt chassis are you using?

 

[dehjomz]

So it appears that my Fenvi from 6+ years ago was running an older version of the BCM chip with an older firmware as well (v14) of the BCM Bluetooth adapter. This wasn't a problem in any macOS version up until Monterey. It served me well in Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur.

I got a replacement Fenvi and it is running a newer firmware (v15) and runs natively in Monterey without the need for BluetoolFixup.

But the Wifi adapter on the new Fenvi has a worse RSSI performance of -3 to -4 dBm. But not a big deal, just a few Mbps less in performance but still acceptable.

 

[CaseySJ]

You are correct CaseySJ, it would be a easier to remove the heat sink and replace Intel wifi with BCM94360NG. I am so lazy and am scared to remove motherboard, afraid I might damage something in the process. But I will give it a try. Thanks man

If you visit the photo gallery at the bottom of the post below, you'll see a couple of photos showing how I replaced this module on my Asus ROG Strix Z690-i Gaming WiFi.

Asus Z690 ProArt Creator WiFi (Thunderbolt 4) + i7-12700K + AMD RX 6800 XT

[SOLVED] I solved the issue and success to install macOS Monterey, here is what I did: - I took the EFI folder from this topic, I had previously taken only the config.plist - I corrected some details to adjust it to my build - I updated OC to version 0.8.0 The installation was able to work...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[SmackAttack]

Folks,
I’m wondering if any of you have experienced cpu warping due to the ILM on this (or other) 690 board. I’m contemplating a build but am planning on the washer trick I guess.
Thanks!
J