Asking for a friend... What's the fastest processor/gpu hardware that can still run 10.12.6?

[Cfreak]

Asking for a friend in audio production who wants to stay on 10.12.6 for software reasons (IDK the reasons or what software).

He wants 2020 Mac performance and still to be able to run 10.12.6.

Any suggestions of what's possible, backwards CPU spoofing? Any builds here you can point me (to point him) to?

Thank you in advance!

 

[antieatingactivist]

You'll probably want to go with Skylake and a z170 platform. perhaps a i7 6700k. These still use DDR4 memory and the onboard graphics should be okay for audio production. There are some "early adopter" hacks to get newer systems running before apple officially supports it, but that is a BAD idea especially for someone who uses their machine professionally.

 

[Jamesbond007]

Asking for a friend in audio production who wants to stay on 10.12.6 for software reasons (IDK the reasons or what software).

He wants 2020 Mac performance and still to be able to run 10.12.6.

Any suggestions of what's possible, backwards CPU spoofing? Any builds here you can point me (to point him) to?

Thank you in advance!

Z390 motherboards and 9th generation Intel CPUs (up to i9 9900K / 9900KF, 8 cores / 16 threads) are still able to run MacOS Sierra 10.12.6, provided that you use a supported graphics card like a RX 580.

My main system uses a Z390 motherboard, Intel Core i7 9700KF (8 cores) and a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 which runs MacOS Sierra 10.12.6 / High Sierra 10.13.6 / Mojave 10.14.6.

But audio production may require the noise levels be down and the noise coming from the fans of the graphics card may be a problem.

 

[antieatingactivist]

ha well I guess there is your answer. as far as noise goes, if he gets a graphics card with dual fan setup like the Asus Strix series, it'll be next to silent under low load. Get a big Noctua CPU cooler and tune your fans in the UEFI and it'll be a nice quiet machine.

 

[Cfreak]

Thanks for the answers, I'll make sure he sees them!