Can I upgrade with my current hardware?

[Ramstaning]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for help with my Hackintosh. I've had it since 2018 and I had a professional build it for me however, I don't have access to a professional anymore and I really want to update the macOS since I need to upgrade some software in order to keep working.

My current macOS is 10.13.4 and I would like to update to at least 10.4.6

My motherboard is a Gigabyte Z170M-D3H DDR3, CPU 3.19 GHz Intel Core i5, GPU NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 1023 MB.

I've been watching guides and I want to know if it's as easy as updating my EFI, clover bootloader, KEXTs, and then my macOS?

Thank you for your help!

 

[trs96]

My current macOS is 10.13.4 and I would like to update to at least 10.4.6

You mean Mojave 10.14.6 ? Your GT 710 is still fully supported, the i5 (whatever that is) should be also.

it's as easy as updating my EFI, clover bootloader, KEXTs ?

Yes. You could even follow the stock Unibeast Guide for Mojave and make it customized with the extra kexts you need specific to your system.

UniBeast: Install macOS Mojave on Any Supported Intel-based PC

The following guide is a complete walkthrough for updating to or installing a fresh version of macOS Mojave. It requires no experience and all of the basic installation and post-installation tools are available on tonymacx86.com. Table of Contents Step 1: Download macOS Mojave Step 2: Create...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[Ramstaning]

You mean Mojave 10.14.6 ? Your GT 710 is still fully supported, the i5 (whatever that is) should be also.


Yes. You could even follow the stock Unibeast Guide for Mojave and make it customized with the extra kexts you need specific to your system.

UniBeast: Install macOS Mojave on Any Supported Intel-based PC

The following guide is a complete walkthrough for updating to or installing a fresh version of macOS Mojave. It requires no experience and all of the basic installation and post-installation tools are available on tonymacx86.com. Table of Contents Step 1: Download macOS Mojave Step 2: Create...

www.tonymacx86.com

Thank you so much!!

I did mean 10.14.6, I'm sorry . I will look into the guide you linked because I definitely don't have much experience! Also how hard is it to upgrade to a Core i7? Would it be like basically installing the system from scratch?

I'm sorry for the novice questions, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about my Hackintosh but don't have the experience to service it.

 

[Jamesbond007]

Thank you so much!!

I did mean 10.14.6, I'm sorry . I will look into the guide you linked because I definitely don't have much experience! Also how hard is it to upgrade to a Core i7? Would it be like basically installing the system from scratch?

I'm sorry for the novice questions, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about my Hackintosh but don't have the experience to service it.

You want to upgrade the CPU to an i7 that is compatible with your motherboard?

In that case just replace the CPU (I am assuming you know how to do that) and the MacOS system should just work as before.

 

[Edhawk]

Your Z170M-D3H motherboard supports 6th & 7th Generation Intel CPU's, i.e. Skylake and Kaby Lake CPU's. I assume there is a Bios update that allowed the Kaby Lake CPU's to work with this board.

So while the installation of an i7 CPU would be relatively straightforward opting for a Kaby Lake i7, when your current i5 is a Skylake CPU would make a difference to how macOS behaves after the upgrade.

If you upgrade a Skylake i5 to a Skylake i7, there would be no difference in how macOS behaves. As the CPU's would have similar if not identical IGPU's. The system should use the same SMBIOS. There would also be very little value in such an upgrade.

Upgrading from a Skylake to a Kaby Lake CPU would make more sense, but it would also require you to update the IGPU Device Properties in your config.plist, as the two use different framebuffers for their respective IGPU's. They also use different SMBIOS's iMac17,1 for the Skylake vs iMac18,2 or 18,3 for a Kaby Lake i7.

Clarifying the model of your current i5 CPU, and the proposed i7 CPU you want to upgrade your system with, would make our recommendations and answers so much clearer.

In the case of the Kaby Lake CPU upgrade the lowest version of macOS you could expect to work would be macOS Sierra 10.12.4, as that was the version where initial support for Kaby Lake systems was added to macOS. If you are already on High Sierra then the Kaby Lake CPU should work just fine, with the correct IGPU and SMBIOS edits.