[Guide] HP 6300 Pro / HP 8300 Elite - A 100 percent Working and Easily Affordable CustoMac

[HackaShaq]

Just curious, with a video card like the MSI RX 560 that I have, I can connect this to a single 4k display via DisplayPort. Easy.

However, if I wanted to have two 4k monitors connected via this card, there's only one DisplayPort.

1. Would a different card be needed/recommended for this setup?
2. Would an adapter like this one do the trick? (Plug this into the 2nd monitor's display port, and then just use an HDMI 2.0 supported cable.)

I saw in the guide the following regarding this:

All of the recommended graphics cards with DisplayPort will give you 4K @ 60Hz if you connect a DP cable directly to the DP input of your monitor. The HDMI 2.0 output only gives you a 60Hz monitor refresh rate if your TV or monitor has a 2.0 input. Use an HDMI cable that is certified to support HDMI 2.0 to get the 60Hz refresh rate. Older ones will not support enough bandwidth. If your CustoMac has any problems displaying a specific resolution of your monitor or TV try the ResXtreme app.
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I'm just not sure if the notes mean:

A. The second HDMI-connected monitor will connect at 4K @ 30Hz only and work in MacOS High Sierra via HDMI for the second monitor but only at 30Hz.
B. With the right adapter (like above), HDMI 2.0 supported 4k monitor and cable, that 4K @ 60Hz can be achieved in MacOS High Sierra via HDMI for the second monitor.
C. It will be a black screen and not connect at all.

Just wanted some clarification on this. Any info is appreciated, thanks.

 

[trs96]

​

Just curious, with a video card like the MSI RX 560 that I have, I can connect this to a single 4k display via DisplayPort. Easy.

However, if I wanted to have two 4k monitors connected via this card, there's only one DisplayPort.

1. Would a different card be needed/recommended for this setup?
2. Would an adapter like this one do the trick? (Plug this into the 2nd monitor's display port, and then just use an HDMI 2.0 supported cable.)

I saw in the guide the following regarding this:

All of the recommended graphics cards with DisplayPort will give you 4K @ 60Hz if you connect a DP cable directly to the DP input of your monitor. The HDMI 2.0 output only gives you a 60Hz monitor refresh rate if your TV or monitor has a 2.0 input. Use an HDMI cable that is certified to support HDMI 2.0 to get the 60Hz refresh rate. Older ones will not support enough bandwidth. If your CustoMac has any problems displaying a specific resolution of your monitor or TV try the ResXtreme app.
​

I'm just not sure if the notes mean:

A. The second HDMI-connected monitor will connect at 4K @ 30Hz only and work in MacOS High Sierra via HDMI for the second monitor but only at 30Hz.
B. With the right adapter (like above), HDMI 2.0 supported 4k monitor and cable, that 4K @ 60Hz can be achieved in MacOS High Sierra via HDMI for the second monitor.
C. It will be a black screen and not connect at all.

Just wanted some clarification on this. Any info is appreciated, thanks.

It looks like you've just volunteered to be our dual 4K monitor beta tester. I've not made the 4K transition yet so I cannot test this out. Let us know what you find out.

 

[HackaShaq]

It looks like you've just volunteered to be our dual 4K monitor beta tester. I've not made the 4K transition yet so I cannot test this out. Let us know what you find out.

Raises hand then salutes.

I just put in an order for (2) Dell P2715Q 27" Ultra HD 4k Monitors. They're on sale from Costco now for $299.99 ea.
https://www.costco.com/Dell-P2715Q-27"-Ultra-HD-4k-Monitor-.product.100404026.html

Solid deal for an IPS panel with great specs.

I did notice that this model has:
HDMI, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, MHL
4K UHD (2160p) 3840 x 2160 (DisplayPort: 60 Hz, HDMI: 30 Hz)

Supposedly you can connect the Mini DisplayPort to the other monitor and daisy chain them, needing only one monitor connected to the computer. I'll try that for 4k @ 60Hz for both monitors via the one DisplayPort output on my card. This guy shows how it's done.

If that doesn't work, I'll try to attempt to get them both working via a DisplayPort/HDMI adapter.

I'll report back with the results. Both monitors will arrive in a week or so.

 

[Daneland]

Raises hand then salutes.
I just put in an order for (2) Dell P2715Q 27" Ultra HD 4k Monitors. They're on sale from Costco now for $299.99 ea.
https://www.costco.com/Dell-P2715Q-27"-Ultra-HD-4k-Monitor-.product.100404026.html

Bloody hell, it is nearly $900 each here...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PC9HFO8/?tag=tonymacx86-21

 

[trs96]

Bloody hell, it is nearly $900 each here...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PC9HFO8/?tag=tonymacx86-21

Costco requires a membership to get those prices. It's more like a cooperative than a retail store like Amazon. Even so those are great prices for a 27" 4K Dell monitor.

 

[wonderpierrot]

I need some help. I recently switched from a 1050 Ti to a RX 560. Everything works well except I randomly get system lock ups where everything on the screen freezes but I am still able to move my mouse, requiring a hard reset. I am running 10.13.4 without whatevergreen.kext or any extra config.plist patches for AMD graphics. Anyone else have a similar issue? Also, with the RX 560, boot up and Clover resolution are very low. But if I turn off Legacy in the BIOS I get a black screen on my monitor.

 

[trs96]

I need some help. I recently switched from a 1050 Ti to a RX 560. Everything works well except I randomly get system lock ups where everything on the screen freezes but I am still able to move my mouse, requiring a hard reset. I am running 10.13.4 without whatevergreen.kext or any extra config.plist patches for AMD graphics. Anyone else have a similar issue? Also, with the RX 560, boot up and Clover resolution are very low. But if I turn off Legacy in the BIOS I get a black screen on my monitor.

Would be best for you to post in the https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/radeon-rx-560-on-10-13-4-macos-high-sierra.249235/#post-1720717 RX560 specific thread. Other 560 users will have the most insights into your problem.

Fill out this section of your profile first. For Mobo you can put in HP 8300 if that is your system. Also put the specific brand of your RX560 in the graphics field.

 

[HackaShaq]

It looks like you've just volunteered to be our dual 4K monitor beta tester. I've not made the 4K transition yet so I cannot test this out. Let us know what you find out.

Hey trs96, I'm the guinnea pig, I mean, beta tester here with some info to report.

Some goods news and some not-so-good news with my Hackintosh update.

The good news: My HP 8300 SFF is now powering dual Dell P2715Q 27" Ultra HD 4k Monitors. Works great! That RX 560 card powers both, and there's absolutely no lag that I notice.

The not-so-good news: Apple. Argh. So if I fire up windows with this machine, I can power both displays with this card with 4k resolution @ 60Hz! Perfect. On the Mac? Nope.

I'm sure this is common knowledge to the guys in the RX 560 card thread, but I tried some workarounds.

Workaround #1: Only one display (the one via DisplayPort) will drive the monitor at 4k @ 60hz. Since this RX560 vid card only has one DisplayPort output, and one HDMI output I was going to use HDMI. But nope, Apple doesn't allow HDMI on the Mac OS at 4k @ 60hz, only allows for 30Hz. Bummer.

Even though this Dell P2715Q monitor doesn't list HDMI 2.0 on the specs, it actually has it. It's just not on by default, and it must be manually enabled. Found info here how to enabled HDMI 2.0 on this monitor.

So even when this display properly has HDMI 2.0 enabled, has the HDMI 2.0 cable, and the card can output 4k @ 60Hz. It's dice due to Apple's OS limitation of not allowing it over HDMI (only DisplayPort).

Workaround #2: These Dell Displays actually allow for daisy chaining via DisplayPort, so you can have more than one monitor connected to your computer via just one DisplayPort connection to the card. Great! I thought I could just daisy chain them. And I can...in Windows only. So I walked through the steps, and the hardware setup is fine. Mac OS is not. If you try to use Multi-Stream Transport (MST), instead of properly displaying two separate monitors (like in Windows), Mac OS can only mirror both displays with identical content on each display. Known issue. Argh.

It looks like people are waiting for a possible announcement at the WWDC in June for some Mac OS update info, but until then it looks like it's a no go. And so I'll wait or possibly go with an alternate card.

Since the AMD-based cards are working right out of the box with High Sierra, it would be nice to find a fairly inexpensive AMD-based card with more than one DisplayPort output. I don't do gaming, and really only need this for viewing content and photo editing, so if someone knows of an ideal card with two DisplayPort outputs that hasn't been completely inflated in price due to crypto miners , I'd love to know about it. Thanks.

 

[trs96]

The good news: My HP 8300 SFF is now powering dual Dell P2715Q 27" Ultra HD 4k Monitors. Works great! That RX 560 card powers both, and there's absolutely no lag that I notice.

Why not just have your primary 4K monitor running at 60Hz, the one you're using your mouse on the most? Leave the secondary one at 30Hz. If you are mostly just looking at images on that it doesn't make much difference if that one has a slower refresh rate. I don't know of any way to install a higher end, dual DP AMD card in your HP SFF. You'd have to go to a CMT case and also upgrade the PSU to do that. Apple has given up on HDMI just like VGA. They expect everyone using Macs to eventually go to Th.Bolt 3 for powering stand alone monitors in the future.

 

[HackaShaq]

Why not just have your primary 4K monitor running at 60Hz, the one you're using your mouse on the most. Leave the secondary one at 30Hz. If you are mostly just looking at images on that it doesn't make much difference if that one has a slower refresh rate.

That's exactly what I'm doing for the time being.

As for an alternate card suggestion, I was just asking because this machine is rock solid and has made me feel completely comfortable in building a ground up hackintosh. So I could also use this same RX560 card in my hackintosh down the road, or get an alternate AMD-based card that is out-of-the-box High Sierra friendly but with two DisplayPorts.