i7 8700k / z370 (Unstable)

[cmn699]

Sure. I have no reason to lie LOL this has been a nightmare. Attached is my current EFI folder, screenshots of my BIOS. It's weird, since I updated my BIOS and to 10.14.6 it will boot into macOS sometimes and sometimes it will just restart. Very inconsistent and now it's showing I have an i9 for some reason. Like I said previously my BIOS is completely stock other than VT-d being disabled. When it does actually boot it will crash when doing minimal tasks again as well.

If you need a verbose screenshot let me know. Dunno if that would really help as it does boot now and sometimes it just restarts.

EDIT: I'm using both ACPI patches too by the way.

• After I re-read your entire threads to the current, I have a question about the discrepancy in CPU seen on your profile and the following text on your initial post:

Hey guys, I'm almost to my wits end. The short story is that I've upgraded to an i7 9700k (9th gen) CPU after my 8800k started failing and crashing my computer. Luckily I had a warranty on it and was able to snag the 9900k with the refund. My problem is I'm unable to boot into Mojave now unless I'm using the cpus=1 boot flag. I had to upgrade my BIOS to F11 to even be able to boot the computer and anything above that I'm unable to boot into my HD at all, even with that boot flag.

• Is your CPU i7-9700K on your profile or 9900K you could get as replacement for the 8800K (I presume you meant i7-8800K Not in supported CPU list of Gigabyte for this board.) ?

Other questions only after I get this discrepancy cleared.

 

[JaredWard]

I thought I had it correctly listed. I have the i7 9700K (9th gen/8 core) - I'm getting a refund for my 8800K because my build kept crashing and I narrowed it down to the CPU... as all my components were new. I tested everything I could and since I had the warranty I went ahead with it. I had no idea it would be such a hassle with the 9th gen chip though.

 

[cmn699]

I thought I had it correctly listed. I have the i7 9700K (9th gen/8 core)

Please check this out about your MoBo and use of Coffee Lake CPUs ->

https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/8exbpp

If you are interested, you may check what I did with my GA-Z370P-D3 for macOSMojave for selecting CPU for a flawless install . I am now running Catalina Beta 6 Public Release on it in addition to 10.13.6, 10.14.6 ->https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/success-mojave-14-2-on-ga-z370p-d3-i5-8600k-intelhd630.268319/

 

[JaredWard]

I did find this. @ultrazone has the exact base components I do, all except for the i7 9700K of course. I'm debating on sending the 9700K back and exchange it for a 8700K. I actually still have my original 8700K that I believe is faulty lol just waiting to send it back to Intel. I guess I could try it again and see if Ultraman's guide helps my stability.

ultrazone's Coffee Lake Build: Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 - Intel Core i7 8700K - 2 x AMD Sapphire RX580 8Gb - 32Gb RAM

ultrazone's Coffee Lake Build: GA-Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 - i7-8700K - 2x RX580 - 32Gb RAM Components Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 Motherboard https://www.amazon.es/dp/B079NKMRG5/ Intel Core i7-8700K Desktop Processor https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07598VZR8/ Noctua NH-U9S CPU...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[cmn699]

I did find this. @ultrazone has the exact base components I do, all except for the i7 9700K of course. I'm debating on sending the 9700K back and exchange it for a 8700K. I actually still have my original 8700K that I believe is faulty lol just waiting to send it back to Intel. I guess I could try it again and see if Ultraman's guide helps my stability.

ultrazone's Coffee Lake Build: Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 - Intel Core i7 8700K - 2 x AMD Sapphire RX580 8Gb - 32Gb RAM

ultrazone's Coffee Lake Build: GA-Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 - i7-8700K - 2x RX580 - 32Gb RAM Components Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 Motherboard https://www.amazon.es/dp/B079NKMRG5/ Intel Core i7-8700K Desktop Processor https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07598VZR8/ Noctua NH-U9S CPU...

www.tonymacx86.com

• Please NOTE: the real clue to Resurrect the Installation is buried inside what the author calls "Fine Tuning" . Let me quote:

Fine tuning

Once the system boots on its own it's time to fine tune all the components. The most critical areas within this point are DSDT, USB configuration, CPU/IGPU/GPU optimisation and sleep.

- Regarding DSDT, all the credit goes to forum user @MaLd0n from another forum. I sent him my raw DSDT extracted with Clover and he sent it back to me perfectly patched. Thanks again my friend!

Here you have my DSDT (you'll find it as well within my EFI folder): DSDT.aml - ultrazone's Coffee Lake Build.zip

And here are the aesthetic results of using a DSDT with this motherboard (of course, apart from other advantages):

• Unless you create your own DSDT or get it made from someone else for your hardware, you will be back to square one.

 

[JaredWard]

You think there's a way to get the 9700K up and running correctly with what I have? I'm completely stumped.

 

[cmn699]

You think there's a way to get the 9700K up and running correctly with what I have? I'm completely stumped.

• Let me restate what I had said earlier as my suggestion for the current situation.
  • Your motherboard GA-Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming like my GA-Z370P-HD3 may not be truly a 300 Series but 200 Series board and will have a tough time to deal with a Coffee Lake CPU meant to work on truly 300 Series Boards like Z390, B360, Q360, Q370, H370, and H310. ​
  • Based on the fact you changed CPU twice for "instability", points the problem toward the Motherboard (usually the weaker link in the hardware between the two) than the CPU.​
  • Instead of changing your CPU, get a MoBo in the True 300 Series, Z390, B360, Q360, Q370, H370, and H310 to use your existing CPU, i7-9700K and the RAM , Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 (make sure to check MoBo's Supported CPU and RAM Lists before ordering replacement Board).​

 

[Jamesbond007]

• Let me restate what I had said earlier as my suggestion for the current situation.
  • Your motherboard GA-Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming like my GA-Z370P-HD3 may not be truly a 300 Series but 200 Series board and will have a tough time to deal with a Coffee Lake CPU meant to work on truly 300 Series Boards like Z390, B360, Q360, Q370, H370, and H310. ​
  • Based on the fact you changed CPU twice for "instability", points the problem toward the Motherboard (usually the weaker link in the hardware between the two) than the CPU.​
  • Instead of changing your CPU, get a MoBo in the True 300 Series, Z390, B360, Q360, Q370, H370, and H310 to use your existing CPU, i7-9700K and the RAM , Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 (make sure to check MoBo's Supported CPU and RAM Lists before ordering replacement Board).​

I have a Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 motherboard myself, and while it is now in storage, when I tested it with a i7 8700 some time ago, it worked quite well. It ran Mojave / High Sierra / Sierra and even El Capitan (with appropriate FakeCPUID) when the graphics card is supported.

Are you saying that Z370 motherboard have problems with 9th generation CPUs (Coffee Lake Refresh) when trying to run MacOS? Because with a 8th generation CPU (Coffee Lake) the Z370 boards seem to work well.

I remembered seeing the BIOS updates required to support 9th generation CPUs on Z370 motherboards can cause problems with MacOS. Can this be a possible problem? My motherboard has BIOS F11, which does not support 9th generation CPUs.

On the other hand, I agree with your assessment that the OP probably has a hardware problem. I suspected RAM previously but it seems it can be a motherboard problem now.

 

[cmn699]

I have a Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming 2.0 motherboard myself, and while it is now in storage, when I tested it with a i7 8700 some time ago, it worked quite well. It ran Mojave / High Sierra / Sierra and even El Capitan (with appropriate FakeCPUID) when the graphics card is supported.

Are you saying that Z370 motherboard have problems with 9th generation CPUs (Coffee Lake Refresh) when trying to run MacOS? Because with a 8th generation CPU (Coffee Lake) the Z370 boards seem to work well.

I remembered seeing the BIOS updates required to support 9th generation CPUs on Z370 motherboards can cause problems with MacOS. Can this be a possible problem? My motherboard has BIOS F11, which does not support 9th generation CPUs.

On the other hand, I agree with your assessment that the OP probably has a hardware problem. I suspected RAM previously but it seems it can be a motherboard problem now.

Thank you for the interest you showed to my post. My main emphasis was on Z370 boards unlike Z390 in your profile is not true Intel 300 Series and behaves more like 200 Series. Using a 9th Generation Intel CPU which is meant for true 300 Series can itself compound the problem.

But in OP's case as you have correctly analyzed, it was either RAM Module or the RAM socket or something else wrong with BUS on that MoBo causing some sort of electrical instability as two CPUs failed to correct the problem. I did not want to raise the possibility of an improperly prepared CPU -Thermal interface leading to overheat issues as OP seemed to be well versed with Hardware installation.

OP says he has ruled out RAM Module as the problem.

OP did not give any input about any other Oses like Windows 10 or Linux working without any issues /instabilities with the same hardware to rule out a hardware incompatibility.

More over, in my experience, MoBo is more likely to fail than CPU by sheer probability.

In my Z370P-HD3 with Intel i5-8600K ( Coffee lake) the installation was a breeze and CLOVER was configured in line with an Intel 200 board.

In a recent GA-Z2390 X- using an Intel i5-9600K I had a tougher time to install as CLOVER needed OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.efi and EmuVariableUefi-64.efi in Drivers/UEFI and config.plist needed [√]Slide=0. I know it is a true Intel 300 Series board manufactured after the Z370.

OP could try the Intel i7-8700K cleaning up the thermal paste from its surface and the heatsink Fan assembly used to rule out that once and for all or exchange current MoBo for a board to suite the 9th Gen Intel CPU at hand.

 

[ultrazone]

BIOS > CSM SUPORT > Select Disabled
When I disable this I can no longer boot with my graphics card. MB beeps three times.

This means your graphic card doesn’t have a UEFI VBIOS. You should check if there’s one available from your graphic adapter’s vendor and update to it. This is mandatory for booting in UEFI mode.

Otherwise you are booting legacy mode. I’ve always had better results booting UEFI mode with all my builds.

My two cents!