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

[kgp]

Update of the Update - New macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 Public Beta 2 Build 17E150g !

• At first glance no major changes/improvements when compared with 10.13.4 Public Beta 2 (17E150f)
• Build number still does not relate with former iMac Pro special builds
• Persistent "Model Name" error in system profiler under "Hardware" of Apple's System Report (iMac instead of iMacPro)

• Persistent issues at least with the NVIDIA HDAU implementation

Enjoy and have fun

 

[Inmike09]

@kgp First off, thank you for assembling such a thorough X299 guide! Major thank you to all the others who contributed or shared their experiences with Skylake-X as well!

Update of the Update - New macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 Public Beta 2 Build 17E150g !

View attachment 312084

• At first glance no major changes/improvements when compared with 10.13.4 Public Beta 2 (17E150f)
• Build number still does not relate with former iMac Pro special builds
• Persistent "Model Name" error in system profiler under "Hardware" of Apple's System Report (iMac instead of iMacPro)

View attachment 312085​

• Persistent issues at least with the NVIDIA HDAU implementation

Enjoy and have fun

View attachment 312086

When you say "persistent "Model Name" error in system profiler under "Hardware" of Apple's System Report (iMac instead of iMacPro)," did this happen for you in 10.13.3 (17D2047)?

I'm running an i7-7800X / Gigabyte X299 AORUS Ultra Gaming / 128 GB DDR4-2666 /
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4 GB. This is what I see...

 

[gxsolace]

Hi @kgp -

Do you know if this setup would work well with the MSI X299 Xpower Gaming AC motherboard?
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/X299-XPOWER-GAMING-AC.html

Thanks! / gx

 

[kgp]

@kgp First off, thank you for assembling such a thorough X299 guide! Major thank you to all the others who contributed or shared their experiences with Skylake-X as well!



When you say "persistent "Model Name" error in system profiler under "Hardware" of Apple's System Report (iMac instead of iMacPro)," did this happen for you in 10.13.3 (17D2047)?

I'm running an i7-7800X / Gigabyte X299 AORUS Ultra Gaming / 128 GB DDR4-2666 /
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4 GB. This is what I see...

View attachment 312115

no.. under 10.13.3 (17D2047), everything looks fine like in your case..

 

[kgp]

Hi @kgp -

Do you know if this setup would work well with the MSI X299 Xpower Gaming AC motherboard?
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/X299-XPOWER-GAMING-AC.html

Thanks! / gx

No, I don't know that board at all.. with sufficient technical experience you can try to run it with a 10.13.3 (17D2047) test drive..

Good luck,

KGP

 

[gxsolace]

No, I don't know that board at all.. with sufficient technical experience you can try to run it with a 10.13.3 (17D2047) test drive..

Good luck,

KGP

@kgp - thanks. Is there a way/tool to check if this board has the MSR lock?

Edit: Nevermind I found the answer inside the motherboard's manual. There's a BIOS setting called CFG Lock, for unlocking or locking the MSR 0xE2 register! Neat! It looks like this:

fCFG Lock [Enabled]
Lock or un-lock the MSR 0xE2[15], CFG lock bit.
[Enabled] Locks the CFG lock bit.
[Disabled] Un-locks the CFG lock bit.

Does that look right to you?

 

[kgp]

@kgp - thanks. Is there a way/tool to check if this board has the MSR lock?

Edit: Nevermind I found the answer inside the motherboard's manual. There's a BIOS setting called CFG Lock, for unlocking or locking the MSR 0xE2 register! Neat! It looks like this:

fCFG Lock [Enabled]
Lock or un-lock the MSR 0xE2[15], CFG lock bit.
[Enabled] Locks the CFG lock bit.
[Disabled] Un-locks the CFG lock bit.

Does that look right to you?

The tools to check whether or not your MSR 0XE2 register is unlocked are outlined in Section B.1)..

Good luck,

KGP

 

[gxsolace]

The tools to check whether or not your MSR 0XE2 register is unlocked are outlined in Section B.1)..

Good luck,

KGP

Ah thanks for pointing that out. Although it seems MSI's BIOS implementation allows you to enable or disable the MSR 0XE2 register lock.

 

[macs_forever]

Yeah, you are making the same mistake like others... there is much more that produces the sound.
And if you don't hear the Fan you are just use a loud system or you are deaf (sorry for that). Iam very sensitive for noise. ^^
Just look, because you said same SoundChip. Both using ALC1220, the Aorus Gaming 7 Pro has complete the same as the designare EX:

View attachment 307452 View attachment 307453

Is that the only reason to discriminate against the Gigabyte board? I never use the on-board audio. That's what USB is for.

 

[yfile]

I installed High Sierra on MSI X299 Xpower Gaming AC motherboard / i7-7800x / GTX1060.
BIOS settings similar to KGP (thanks) guide where possible. MSR 0xE2 lock disabled in BIOS. npci=3000 added to Clover boot (otherwise kernel error).
A lot of messages and very long boot process. System is very laggy after boot, keyboard reacts with a delay and sometimes double characters.
Any ideas?