How to build your own iMac Pro [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

[kgp]

Hi,
First of all: thank you KGP for this great thread!! I've been able to set up my hack coming from an X99 i7 5820k build, and (almost) everything works fine thanks to your thread.

My setup: i9 7920x, ASUS PRIME x299-A board, Radeon r9 270x graphics card,
Broadcom BCM43xx PCI card, an RME USB Audio Card.

I use my build mainly for Logic Pro - At first I was considering returning CPU and MB due to the poor performance (I reached 47700 on Geekbench, and everything was working fine except for Logic). Following DSM2 and Codeguru suggestions (also using the scripts provided by Codeguru a few pages back) Logic Pro performance is much better than X99's (huge projects play smooth @32 samples!!) and all 24 cores/threads are used.

I also found by removing the FakeCPUID (I'm running 10.13.3 beta) I have similarly good results even without Codeguru scripts (XCMP is working, Vectors are loaded...). Frequency line in IPG is of course shaky (even a small operation triggers a frequency increase), but temps are overall under control.

Also, if anyone is interested, I'm running on air cooler (Noctua nh-d14) overclocked to 4600 MhZ (anything higher than that is a no-go temp-wise under heavy load).

Remaining issue: the 270x works great using HDMI but results in a white screen when using DisplayPort. Videocard is recognized correctly and FB is loaded.
I've tried:
- explicitly injecting FB name with Clover
- fixing connectors and specifying connectors priority via SSDT
- using lilu and whatevergreen
and DP is not working. I've used the exact same configurations I had working in X99 with no success, and I really do not understand what is wrong with it (same OS version, same configurations, same Videocard), only difference being the mainboard+CPU.

Did anyone experience a similar issue with a Radeon?

Good news that you are able to run your i9-7920X without FakeCPUID under 10.13.3 beta! Also nice to know that logic in this case works flawless without any further workaround.

I hope others can solve your remaining R9 270x issues...

Cheers, man!

 

[kgp]

I had it enabled and was playing trying to get it to work. Working EFI is enabled. That was a copy from a few minutes ago.

Well if so, I would reduce the problem to your BIOS settings.

Cheers,

KGP

 

[vipersnake]

Well if so, I would reduce the problem to your BIOS settings.

Cheers,

KGP

Thanks KGP. Will check that out. Cheers!

 

[paulotex]

Also, if anyone is interested, I'm running on air cooler (Noctua nh-d14) overclocked to 4600 MhZ (anything higher than that is a no-go temp-wise under heavy load).

I am very curious with your cooling setup.

I run a Noctua D15 on a 7820X at 4.4GHz. So all in all, I have a better cooling for a weaker processor.

But I can't pass 4.4GHz at 1.21V.

At 4.5GHz with 1.22V, the processor gets to 100C very easily and throttling occurs.

Have you tested with Prime95? What have you used to test the performance and temps? And what is your BIOS config (Core voltage, multiplier, etc) to achieve 4.6GHz at acceptable temps with an air cooler?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[vepus]

I may need a tad help. Absolutely everything is working now except for audio. Kudos for the easy writeup.

I have a Asus Prime X299-A instead of the deluxe so maybe that is the reason.

I tried the AppleALC part of the equation. I already had Lilu so I just added the AppleALC kext into the "Other" part of the Clover in my EFI folder, enabled the CAVS -> HDEF and made sure my mode was 7 in Devices. But nothing shows in Preferences -> Sound except my JBL USB Speakers (which I want to move elsewhere).

I assume that my settings should be the same as the X299 Deluxe in the audio department but I'm not quite sure.

Hi Vipersnake,

How is it going with the Asus Prime X299-A? Is it working finally with sound?

I'm about to build a hack with this mobo and a 7820X.

Any advice?

Other's opinion about this setup are more than welcome!

 

[kgp]

@kgp : Mate 270x is not a Vega

My bad, was reading that post too fast and was focusing more on FakeCPUID, xcpm and logic functionality than on his GPU issue

Reply corrected.

 

[kgp]

I am very curious with your cooling setup.

I run a Noctua D15 on a 7820X at 4.4GHz. So all in all, I have a better cooling for a weaker processor.

But I can't pass 4.4GHz at 1.21V.

At 4.5GHz with 1.22V, the processor gets to 100C very easily and throttling occurs.

Have you tested with Prime95? What have you used to test the performance and temps? And what is your BIOS config (Core voltage, multiplier, etc) to achieve 4.6GHz at acceptable temps with an air cooler?

Thanks for sharing.

Do you really need 1.21V @4.4Ghz? Why don't you reduce the CPU core voltage? This would result in much lower temps.

I am actually successfully running the i9-7980XE with 1.12V @ 4.4GHz

 

[sanya-m]

I also found by removing the FakeCPUID (I'm running 10.13.3 beta) I have similarly good results even without Codeguru scripts (XCMP is working, Vectors are loaded...). Frequency line in IPG is of course shaky (even a small operation triggers a frequency increase), but temps are overall under control.

I have the same mobo. And I had to patch UEFI (MSR unlock) to be able to get rid of FakeCPUID. However, I'm on 10.13.2.
Did you patch your UEFI? Do you have any patches enabled in KernelToPatch?

And, by any chance, did you check whether VoodooTSCSync is still necessary on 10.13.3?

 

[kgp]

I have the same mobo. And I had to patch UEFI (MSR unlock) to be able to get rid of FakeCPUID. However, I'm on 10.13.2.
Did you patch your UEFI? Do you have any patches enabled in KernelToPatch?

And, by any chance, did you check whether VoodooTSCSync is still necessary on 10.13.3?

I still don't understand why you have been able to patch the ASUS X299 Prime-A but we are not able to patch the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe.

Any explanation?

 

[sanya-m]

I still don't understand why you have been able to patch the ASUS X299 Prime-A but we are not able to patch the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe.

Any explanation?

Different file formats.

See https://github.com/danielstuart14/ASUS_BIOS_REPO/issues/12#issuecomment-348170224

Okay so I checked and PRIME-X299-DELUXE-ASUS-0802.CAP has a parent volume for 3FFCAE95-23CF-4967-94F5-16352F68E43B called 5473C07A-3DCB-4DCA-BD6F-1E9689E7349A.

It is in the file format ffs v3, and it turns out UEFIPatch can not read that.