Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming build with working NVRAM

[pastrychef]

It just couldn't be simple, could it?!?! Or as Roseanne Roseannadanna would say: "It's always SOMETHING!!".

I think all of this confusion started when Intel didn't have USB 3.1 (gen 2) ready so they decided to rename USB 3 to USB 3.1 gen 1 to fool customers. That started a chain of increasingly confusing naming schemes.

 

[flatlander48]

So, I explained my misinterpretation to the OWC folks and that ends that saga. I never did hear from GIGABYTE. The way they do their support intake forms, you have to declare an operating system. I suspect that when they saw Catalina, that was the end.

I think this weekend's project is to break down the cabling, remount the case under my desk and reassemble.

One question for the moment:

The WiFi card has latched onto the WiFi of my cable modem. Is that what it should do? Just seems a bit odd...

 

[pastrychef]

So, I explained my misinterpretation to the OWC folks and that ends that saga. I never did hear from GIGABYTE. The way they do their support intake forms, you have to declare an operating system. I suspect that when they saw Catalina, that was the end.

I think this weekend's project is to break down the cabling, remount the case under my desk and reassemble.

One question for the moment:

The WiFi card has latched onto the WiFi of my cable modem. Is that what it should do? Just seems a bit odd...

Yeah, Gigabyte support is a bit of a pain to work with.

Your Wi-Fi is connected to your cable modem? It should connect to any network you tell it to. You can choose from within macOS.

 

[flatlander48]

Yes. As far as I know, I didn't do that. It seems to have connected itself. That's what is curious...

 

[pastrychef]

Yes. As far as I know, I didn't do that. It seems to have connected itself. That's what is curious...

 

[flatlander48]

Time to exercise the exorcism?!?!

Or maybe just bust some ghosts?!?!

Decisions, Decisions...

 

[flatlander48]

Temperature questions...

I have various temperature programs running: iStat, TG Pro and HWMonitor. They are not exactly equivalent. The fans in my system are:

• (2) front case fans
• (2) CPU cooler fans
• (2) GPU fans
• (1) power supply fan

iStat displays 2 fans, in the Main Window, TG Pro displays 3 fans and HWMonitor displays none. The case fans are ganged together as are the CPU cooler fans.

iStat show the temperature for the NVMe boot drive and an auxiliary 2.5" SSD drive. By their graphs, the SSD is usually a solid 81F to 85F while the NVMe bounces all over the place for 105F to 124F. TG Pro shows no drive temperatures. HWMonitor shows only the temperature for the 2.5" drive and the temperature is consistent with what iStat shows.

The graphs in iStat show the CPU Cores to be in the range of 85F to 115F, but the lower numbered cores tend to run a bit cooler. TG Pro shows current temperature and max temperature. CPU Core temperatures range from 81F to 86F, but the max temperatures for the higher numbered cores are 127F to 131F. I've found temperature data for the Coffee Lake Refresh CPUs and my CPU appears to be well within those temperatures.

So, questions:

• Any guesses for which fans are which?
• Is usage the reason for the NVMe drive temperature being higher that the 2.5 SSD? The 2.5 SSD is rarely used at this point, or is it something else?
• Are the differences in temperature across the cores what is expected?
• Right now I am leaning towards iStat due to the graphing over time and saving max temperatures. Any suggestions for other programs to check out?

Other data:

• Silverstone PS07 case
• be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler

 

[pastrychef]

Temperature questions...

I have various temperature programs running: iStat, TG Pro and HWMonitor. They are not exactly equivalent. The fans in my system are:

• (2) front case fans
• (2) CPU cooler fans
• (2) GPU fans
• (1) power supply fan

iStat displays 2 fans, in the Main Window, TG Pro displays 3 fans and HWMonitor displays none. The case fans are ganged together as are the CPU cooler fans.

iStat show the temperature for the NVMe boot drive and an auxiliary 2.5" SSD drive. By their graphs, the SSD is usually a solid 81F to 85F while the NVMe bounces all over the place for 105F to 124F. TG Pro shows no drive temperatures. HWMonitor shows only the temperature for the 2.5" drive and the temperature is consistent with what iStat shows.

The graphs in iStat show the CPU Cores to be in the range of 85F to 115F, but the lower numbered cores tend to run a bit cooler. TG Pro shows current temperature and max temperature. CPU Core temperatures range from 81F to 86F, but the max temperatures for the higher numbered cores are 127F to 131F. I've found temperature data for the Coffee Lake Refresh CPUs and my CPU appears to be well within those temperatures.

So, questions:

• Any guesses for which fans are which?
• Is usage the reason for the NVMe drive temperature being higher that the 2.5 SSD? The 2.5 SSD is rarely used at this point, or is it something else?
• Are the differences in temperature across the cores what is expected?
• Right now I am leaning towards iStat due to the graphing over time and saving max temperatures. Any suggestions for other programs to check out?

Other data:

• Silverstone PS07 case
• be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler

No, I don't know which fan readings they are reporting. One of the two fan readings in iStat Menus is often reporting 0 rpm. I need to run the system with the side panel off and check which of the fans don't spin at idle.
Probably. NVMe should run warmer than standard 2.5" SSDs even when idle. This is why heatsinks for NVMe SSDs are pretty common.
Yes. You will probably never see even temperatures across all cores unless you delid and lap the CPU. This is due to manufacturing variances.
I also trust iStat Menus the most. Their readings seem to make the most sense.

The following is an open source alternative you can try:

GitHub - gao-sun/eul: ️ macOS status monitoring app written in SwiftUI.

️ macOS status monitoring app written in SwiftUI. - gao-sun/eul

github.com

 

[zzmadd]

According to the manual of the dock, the upstream link is only USB 3.1 gen 1 (formerly known as USB 3) aka 5Gb/s.
View attachment 509361

If the upstream is only 5Gb/s, everything else downstream can only max out at 5Gb/s.

In order for you to get 10Gb/s, you will need a USB 3.1 gen 2 dock. Remember "type C" is just a connector type. It does not necessarily mean that it's USB 3.1 gen 2.

By my estimation, this OWC dock is pretty much the same as below in different packaging.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089M7WSHM/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
or
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XCBVQRT/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

I'm curious though.
A dock like the one you suggested through the Amazon links would only partially work on a hackintosh.
If I connect the USB Type C to say an Asus Rog Strix Z390-I Gaming then I would not get Ethernet, HDMI/DP. am I correct?

Thanks.

 

[zzmadd]

I don't know why it's showing Xeon for you. This is what I get with iMacPro1,1:
View attachment 508233
But it's only cosmetic anyway...
Make sure you are entering your SMBIOS info in the "Generic" section of config.plist.

I have no idea why you are having keyboard issues. I use a PS/2 keyboard with this build and a USB keyboard with my Z370 build and I've never seen a double entry with either build.

To get rid of Auto CPU naming go into OC PlatformInfo and put a zero "0" into the ProcessorType field.