<< Solved >> i7940x sudden overheating/temp spikes

[MeloManiac]

Hi.

I don't think this is BECAUSE I am running a hackintosh, but recently my ASUS X299 Sage + i7940x config has started doing these seemingly random CPU heat/power usage spikes out of nowhere. Tried to boil it down to some apps or something, but it has nothing to do with CPU load. I can barely be pushing 150% (=1,5 cores) load and it still happens.

I have included a screenshow from HWMonitor. As you can see, marked with red, the CPU package total suddenly rises from the normal about 1.45w to over 3. Then drops down again after a little while.

I should add that I don't believe I have seen this BEFORE adding 32GB of extra RAM to my 128GB system - which means it now has 160GB of RAM. Officially the 7940x is only supporting 128GB, but I don't know if that is a likely cause? System works perfectly otherwise, loading more than 128GB into memory etc.

 

[Edhawk]

First thing to do is remove the new RAM, to see if this issue stops. As the CPU may 'cope' with the additional RAM over and above the specified limit, it may not cope with it as well as it does when the RAM is at or below the 128Gb limit.

 

[MeloManiac]

Thanks!

Will try pulling out the RAM again and see how it goes.

 

[MeloManiac]

I have a question, I know it might not be easy to answer..

I remember back in 2020 when I built the hackintosh, I had to patch the BIOS file of the X299 Sage mobo to get it booting at all. I just wonder if this is still necessary today? If not, I could update to latest BIOS and see if it fixes things.

 

[etorix]

What did you patched then?
If it was unlocking the 0xE2 and 0x1AA registers then, yes, you should either patch the latest firmware using UEFIPatch or activate the unlocking quirks Kernel>Quirks>AppleXcpmCfgLock (0xE2) and AppleXcpmExtraMsrs (0x1AA) in OpenCore.

 

[MeloManiac]

What did you patched then?
If it was unlocking the 0xE2 and 0x1AA registers then, yes, you should either patch the latest firmware using UEFIPatch or activate the unlocking quirks Kernel>Quirks>AppleXcpmCfgLock (0xE2) and AppleXcpmExtraMsrs (0x1AA) in OpenCore.

Yes must have been those two. OK I use Clover and don't want to experiment and go to OpenCore right now. But latest Clover have a lot of those quirks as well so maybe I could get away with sticking to Clover and NOT patching the BIOS.. Will try looking around a bit more and see if that is possible.

BTW: Took out the RAM and the machine hasn't had the power/temp spikes since. So I guess it is a matter of the CPU/mobo not handling the RAM right.

 

[etorix]

Problem solved I guess: Stick to the 128 GB RAM limit.

If you do need more RAM, you'll have to switch to C422 or C621 and use RDIMM—not an attractive prospect, I know.

 

[MeloManiac]

Problem solved I guess: Stick to the 128 GB RAM limit.

If you do need more RAM, you'll have to switch to C422 or C621 and use RDIMM—not an attractive prospect, I know.

Yeah. OR switch the CPU for the i9-10940x. Officially that supports 256GB of RAM.

 

[djlild7hina]

Yes must have been those two. OK I use Clover and don't want to experiment and go to OpenCore right now. But latest Clover have a lot of those quirks as well so maybe I could get away with sticking to Clover and NOT patching the BIOS.. Will try looking around a bit more and see if that is possible.

BTW: Took out the RAM and the machine hasn't had the power/temp spikes since. So I guess it is a matter of the CPU/mobo not handling the RAM right.

Later BIOS do not need patching or kernel quirks enabled

 

[MeloManiac]

There is one solution but Hackintool generates two options with the same configuration. I would use the USBPorts.kext.

If you use the SSDT-UIAC.aml that is generated by Hackintool, then you have to inject USBInjectAll.kext for the SSDT to work with your system. The USBPorts.kext works on its own.

Both options work in any version of macOS.

Later BIOS do not need patching or kernel quirks enabled

Oh, that's great to hear!