Hackintoshes Getting More Difficult? Next Build!

[pastrychef]

Newby question: Why would i want Z390 over Z370? Is it just for Gen 9 processor support?

No. Z370 has support for 9th gen CPUs with updated BIOS versions. I've used my i9-9900K with my Z370.

Z390 has support for 128GB of RAM. Z370 can only go as high as 64GB.
Generally speaking, Z390 has better VRM than Z370.

 

[wobblewoo]

Z390 has support for 128GB of RAM. Z370 can only go as high as 64GB.
Generally speaking, Z390 has better VRM than Z370.

Is VRM for overclocking? If i'm happy with 64Gb and Z370 works with 9th gen., why would anyone go Z390? Apart from future-proofing maybe.

 

[pastrychef]

Is VRM for overclocking? If i'm happy with 64Gb and Z370 works with 9th gen., why would anyone go Z390? Apart from future-proofing maybe.

VRM is responsible for power delivery to the CPU. Yes, good VRM can help with overclocking. If you have no intention of overclocking, VRM probably won't matter much to you at all.

I have no idea why people want Z390 over Z370 for hackintoshing except maybe for those intending to overclock... Otherwise, it really makes no sense to me. In Z370, you have a platform that's proven to be extremely compatible with hackintoshinig. With Z390, you lose native NVRAM which leads to many complications when hackintoshing.

Also, Z370 motherboards with M.2 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth slots can all be used with Apple branded Wi-Fi/Bluetooth cards which means 100% compatibility. This is not true with all Z390 motherboards.

There's not much future-proofing when choosing Z390 over Z370. They are both compatible with the same CPUs. The only future-proofing aspect is the ability to upgrade to 128GB of RAM. I don't know how many average users will need 128GB even 5 years from now...

 

[scottkendall]

Seems like being careful is kind of a binary thing here.

Developer's warning was a little over 3 months ago. Has anyone heard of a hardware failure that might be due to this?

I have not; and until a few days ago I used it on my Z170a system. For at least the 3 months. But it is only a roll of the dice when you reboot I am guessing. Most people do not reboot often or at least I do not. Pretty sure that @CaseySJ has been using that file for like 8 or 9 months, I do not think they have experienced any hardware problems. They would also, I think be aware if anyone experienced hardware failures because of it.

 

[scottkendall]

There's not much future-proofing when choosing Z390 over Z370. They are both compatible with the same CPUs. The only future-proofing aspect is the ability to upgrade to 128GB of RAM. I don't know how many average users will need 128GB even 5 years from now...

Maybe intel will release another generation but require the board have the better VRM of the z390. I only run 32 because I have only ever maxed out the memory once and I do not use that program any longer. I design homes and small commercial buildings, using Revit, and I also until recently rendered them in Revit as well. Now I use Twinmotion for rendering since it is far superior.

 

[pastrychef]

Maybe intel will release another generation but require the board have the better VRM of the z390. I only run 32 because I have only ever maxed out the memory once and I do not use that program any longer. I design homes and small commercial buildings, using Revit, and I also until recently rendered them in Revit as well. Now I use Twinmotion for rendering since it is far superior.

32GB is probably all I need right now, but I went with 64GB when I built my system just because I could. Lol

Even with 32GB, I don't see any memory swapping (aka paging). With 16GB, swapping happens too fast...

 

[scottkendall]

I

32GB is probably all I need right now, but I went with 64GB when I built my system just because I could. Lol

Even with 32GB, I don't see any memory swapping (aka paging). With 16GB, swapping happens too fast...

had 64 but I split it up and gave my GF half when I stoped using a VM. She only had 16.

 

[MacMarshall]

If i'm happy with 64Gb and Z370 works with 9th gen., why would anyone go Z390? Apart from future-proofing maybe.

Speaking for myself:

1. Onboard Thunderbolt 3.
2. Golden Build for Designare Z390 by CaseySJ posted 12/18 and that has been updated 20 times, with the latest update a couple of weeks ago, putting much of the learnings of this and other forums all in one place, very nicely organized.

 

[pastrychef]

@pastrychef,

I've noticed this too ... some users with Z390 seem to run ok, but others seem to have a lot of instability, same hardware, same config ... very strange ... maybe the new BIOS will help ? .. look forwards to a stability report from you soon.

Cheers
Jay

I still haven't booted in to Clover yet, but I found something really interesting...

I'm near the end of my stability testing with my CPU and RAM overclocks. I had a kernel panic and guess what... On reboot, I got a panic log!! This means that at least some portion of NVRAM is working since updating BIOS!!

 

[scottkendall]

Speaking for myself:

1. Onboard Thunderbolt 3.
2. Golden Build for Designare Z390 by CaseySJ posted 12/18 and that has been updated 20 times, with the latest update a couple of weeks ago, putting much of the learnings of this and other forums all in one place, very nicely organized.

Technically speaking the Add in card is faster and a more direct root from the device to the CPU.