[GUIDE] Full Power Management w/ Dual/Single Broadwell-EP/Haswell-EP CPUs on 10.12.

[thenightflyer]

Since you also have a 12+ core xeon in your hackintosh, did you notice that macOS for some reason ONLY uses half of the threads you have? I have a 14 core xeon and Cinebench, Geekbench use all 28 threads but the macOS system itself and programs like Final Cut, Premiere and Handbrake will only use 14 threads..

Maybe it depends how do you set your bios...i see you have a different motherboard...i use asus and in ai tweaker menu i set by core usage for cpu and different value for cores from 37 (xeon e5 2696 will never oveclock more than 37) to lower values starting from 1 core and so on...

 

[taylorsyn]

@metacollin I have the same board as you, can you post your EFI folder and BIOS settings screenshot?

Thanks so much for your hard work to the community!

 

[GDS]

I agree
I have 2696 v4 + asus deluxe II (last bios)
also 2 titan X maxwell, located in PCIE 1 and PCIE 3
and a SM961 (Nvme) at PCIE 4
and 128 GB DDR4
everything is rock stable
the 22 cores and 44 threads are fully used by programs optimized for it (geekbench = 34 000)

i use also Xiisoft for making HEVC films from H264, also photoscan pro, etc at the same time
and it is fluid no lags at all and the monitor shows the 44 threads at 100% also Intel gadget too at 2,8GHz

the 2 titan X are fully used with CUDA, it is recognized in photoscan pro and in the "about this mac"
and the time of the rendering shows that the program uses both (shorter time than with only one titan)

I just followed perfectly the topic of metacollin (a big thx to him and all the others people of the community)

I will post the different things i used
but i am not an expert and it will be the same than the 1st message of this topic

On the bios it doesn't appear all the cores
On sierra, everything is perfectly recognized and used at 2,8GHz x 22 cores (temperature is impressively low on air at 100% of use)
the DDR4:
i modified everything to be recognized at 8 x 16 GB on frequency 2400 and no problem (13-14-14 2T and 1,2V, i will try 1T at 1,35V)

some tiny problems that i need to otimize but not so important:
1/ I dont have all USB but the ones i have are in USB3
2/ the webdriver cannot be opened, at the starting i have always an error message, but it works in 4K resolution
3/ dont have the sound but i work with an external DAC so...
4/ if I put my 2 screens 4K (display ports), 40 inches on the first titan X (PCIE 1) everything goes well
if i put one on the first titan X and the other screen on the other titan X: it lags like crazy
5/ i cannot OC the processor, on another mobo i can push at 105 but not on this rig
but it is just for fun cause at 2,8GHz it is enough,
6/ i dont have bluetooth
7/ need to see if i can OC the 2 titan X
8/ i cannot virtualize windows, i need it at the same time than using sierra, but i dont think it is possible (desactivated on the bios to boot)
9/ cannot have the icloud documents, strange cause i can access to the info of it in system preferency

I will open a topic when i finish to watercool everything (making hard tubes, it is long)
and put some pics and videos too

Maybe it depends how do you set your bios...i see you have a different motherboard...i use asus and in ai tweaker menu i set by core usage for cpu and different value for cores from 37 (xeon e5 2696 will never oveclock more than 37) to lower values starting from 1 core and so on...

 

[thenightflyer]

I agree
I have 2696 v4 + asus deluxe II (last bios)
also 2 titan X maxwell, located in PCIE 1 and PCIE 3
and a SM961 (Nvme) at PCIE 4
and 128 GB DDR4
everything is rock stable
the 22 cores and 44 threads are fully used by programs optimized for it (geekbench = 34 000)

i use also Xiisoft for making HEVC films from H264, also photoscan pro, etc at the same time
and it is fluid no lags at all and the monitor shows the 44 threads at 100% also Intel gadget too at 2,8GHz

the 2 titan X are fully used with CUDA, it is recognized in photoscan pro and in the "about this mac"
and the time of the rendering shows that the program uses both (shorter time than with only one titan)

I just followed perfectly the topic of metacollin (a big thx to him and all the others people of the community)

I will post the different things i used
but i am not an expert and it will be the same than the 1st message of this topic

On the bios it doesn't appear all the cores
On sierra, everything is perfectly recognized and used at 2,8GHz x 22 cores (temperature is impressively low on air at 100% of use)
the DDR4:
i modified everything to be recognized at 8 x 16 GB on frequency 2400 and no problem (13-14-14 2T and 1,2V, i will try 1T at 1,35V)

some tiny problems that i need to otimize but not so important:
1/ I dont have all USB but the ones i have are in USB3
2/ the webdriver cannot be opened, at the starting i have always an error message, but it works in 4K resolution
3/ dont have the sound but i work with an external DAC so...
4/ if I put my 2 screens 4K (display ports), 40 inches on the first titan X (PCIE 1) everything goes well
if i put one on the first titan X and the other screen on the other titan X: it lags like crazy
5/ i cannot OC the processor, on another mobo i can push at 105 but not on this rig
but it is just for fun cause at 2,8GHz it is enough,
6/ i dont have bluetooth
7/ need to see if i can OC the 2 titan X
8/ i cannot virtualize windows, i need it at the same time than using sierra, but i dont think it is possible (desactivated on the bios to boot)
9/ cannot have the icloud documents, strange cause i can access to the info of it in system preferency

I will open a topic when i finish to watercool everything (making hard tubes, it is long)
and put some pics and videos too

1) About USB maybe you don't use the right kext patch so you didn't enable all ports. Same for internal sound...i suggest you to read this topic to solve your USB problem https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/usb-new-raise-port-limit-patch-for-macos-10-12-sierra.202329/ and this for audio https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/sierra-desktop-realtek-applehda-audio.197923/
2) About nvidia web driver error another friend with 2696 v4 and titanX has the same problem...maybe it's something related to Titan cards...
3) I think it's not a priority to overclock a 2696v4....if you want to try you can put to 37 as value for all cores or try with a "little" BLCK overclock to 102...but i suggest you to stay as you are now....
4) about bluetooth it's the same as for USB and Audio...you don't use the right kext patches in config.plist
5) to enable virtualization with parallels desktop or VM just enable virtualization in bios...
6) Why do you want to use a watercool kit for your cpu too?? I use an air cool Noctua NH-D15S with a single fan and temperature is never more than 34° when the cpu is in full load.

 

[GDS]

thx thenightflyer

you answered for many of my questions:

1, and 4: it is not a priority and as you said many people did so for me it was not the biggest problem of this rig (the problem was the SM 961 + 2699v4 and the 2 titan X fully ok on sierra and it is)

2: it is strange, but it was ok one time during 2 hours i was able to enter in the menu and choose upgrade, after rebooting: finito! But it is only esthtetic the cards are fully supported and the 12GB of each too...

5: when i choose the preferences in the bios, everybody said to desactivate this option, to be able to boot, i didn't try with it activated, i will, thx

6: i live in japan now the weather is pretty cool, on summer where i live it is 85% of moisture and more than 38° C,
meaning the cooling for 2 titan x full used for rendering at those conditions not good at all
also it will be working for 24/24 and 7 days a week, this is why i choose those components, i am involved in many projects which caluclations are important, it is like folding@home etc etc
so for my objectives: reliability, performances are priorities,
but silence is important too, all my 140mms on the radiators which cool the 2 titan X the motherboard, the cpu and the NVME produce less noise in dBA than a ventirad + 2 original systems of the the Zotac titan X
and most of it, it is pretty cool

for the point 3, yes it is not a priority, i was not able to stuck the processor with all the cores at 100%: i was able to make music, making long rendering in photogrammetry (6 hours), conversion of films from H264 to H265...
fully fluid and reactive with all those things used
in hyperthreading this configuration is impressive (compared to my last 6950x OC)


PS: strange point i felt the quality of rendering different on my MBPr and my hack
so i shared one of the screen with my original MBPr and the 750M as video card and my hack with titan x,
I played the same film on the same screen (a HEVC in 4K), it was fluid on both but the quality of the image was completely different, the GT 750M is totally crappy compared to the titan x, but when i say crappy it is like crazy!
of course it is a non sens to compare a mobile video card (middle range) and titan X
but the webdrivers are optimized like crazy
I would love to compare a Mac pro with 2 D700 and my rig to see the quality of rendering when i watch a film

 

[thenightflyer]

thx thenightflyer

you answered for many of my questions:

1, and 4: it is not a priority and as you said many people did so for me it was not the biggest problem of this rig (the problem was the SM 961 + 2699v4 and the 2 titan X fully ok on sierra and it is)

2: it is strange, but it was ok one time during 2 hours i was able to enter in the menu and choose upgrade, after rebooting: finito! But it is only esthtetic the cards are fully supported and the 12GB of each too...

5: when i choose the preferences in the bios, everybody said to desactivate this option, to be able to boot, i didn't try with it activated, i will, thx

6: i live in japan now the weather is pretty cool, on summer where i live it is 85% of moisture and more than 38° C,
meaning the cooling for 2 titan x full used for rendering at those conditions not good at all
also it will be working for 24/24 and 7 days a week, this is why i choose those components, i am involved in many projects which caluclations are important, it is like folding@home etc etc
so for my objectives: reliability, performances are priorities,
but silence is important too, all my 140mms on the radiators which cool the 2 titan X the motherboard, the cpu and the NVME produce less noise in dBA than a ventirad + 2 original systems of the the Zotac titan X
and most of it, it is pretty cool

for the point 3, yes it is not a priority, i was not able to stuck the processor with all the cores at 100%: i was able to make music, making long rendering in photogrammetry (6 hours), conversion of films from H264 to H265...
fully fluid and reactive with all those things used
in hyperthreading this configuration is impressive (compared to my last 6950x OC)


PS: strange point i felt the quality of rendering different on my MBPr and my hack
so i shared one of the screen with my original MBPr and the 750M as video card and my hack with titan x,
I played the same film on the same screen (a HEVC in 4K), it was fluid on both but the quality of the image was completely different, the GT 750M is totally crappy compared to the titan x, but when i say crappy it is like crazy!
of course it is a non sens to compare a mobile video card (middle range) and titan X
but the webdrivers are optimized like crazy
I would love to compare a Mac pro with 2 D700 and my rig to see the quality of rendering when i watch a film

I enabled virtualization in bios and i boot normally....i always enabled in my rigs virtualization because i use parallels desktop with windows and linux machines installed.

 

[GDS]

I enabled virtualization in bios and i boot normally....i always enabled in my rigs virtualization because i use parallels desktop with windows and linux machines installed.

this is the use i want to do
i will try when the WC of the hardware will be completed

 

[ronalith]

So, why is it that enabling xcpm results in lower benchmarks/performance? I'm getting 15k vs 20k geekbench 4 on an i7-6800k @ 4.2 GHz

 

[GDS]

hello

do u have this "problem" on single and multi threads?
or only multi?

So, why is it that enabling xcpm results in lower benchmarks/performance? I'm getting 15k vs 20k geekbench 4 on an i7-6800k @ 4.2 GHz

 

[ronalith]

hello

do u have this "problem" on single and multi threads?
or only multi?

Good question, seems that single core stays closer to the actual values without xcpm. Multi I'd say.