iMac Pro X299 - Live the Future now with macOS 10.14 Mojave [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

[JinGyu]

istat bug?

 

[izo1]

Just received this. Will report how much better it is over OSXWifi and the DW1560.

 

[izo1]

Just received this. Will report how much better it is over OSXWifi and the DW1560.

View attachment 374733

Update: So far WIFI connection is better (700mbps+ on 5Ghz) and Bluetooth is 4.2 instead of 4.0 on the OSXWifi and the DW1560.

Will report back on Bluetooth performance.

Also I've been told this card will work all throughout the system even during boot, as I will be getting a wireless Mac space gray keyboard and a wireless mouse, and this will complete my setup.

Edit: Bluetooth update

After testing with multiple BT headphones and codecs (aptX, AAC, SBC) and Sony, AirPods, Bose headphones and a BT speaker, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a much much better card than the OSXWifi and DW1560 that’s on board (I have disabled it for now, just keeping as backup).

There is no interference with this card with other devices and operation is smooth. This was an issue I was having for a long time even before the X299 system. The cables are on the board itself and they don’t need shielding. I used to have so many packet drops on different headphones, it got to a point where I would literally want to buy a real Mac so I don’t have to deal with this.

Handoff, AirDrop etc are smooth, and not dodgy like with the previous Wi-Fi/BT cards. And since this is a BT4.2 card, it doesn’t need “coexistence” with Wi-Fi to function, thus making it function well on its own.

And also this works OOB no need for kexts.

Overall very happy.

Hope this helps someone if they’re looking for a OOB card that’s inexpensive and works well.

I have it in Slot 3 and using a kext for USB/BT function.

 

[pieropontra]

Update: So far WIFI connection is better (700mbps+ on 5Ghz) and Bluetooth is 4.2 instead of 4.0 on the OSXWifi and the DW1560.

Will report back on Bluetooth performance.

Also I've been told this card will work all throughout the system even during boot, as I will be getting a wireless Mac space gray keyboard and a wireless mouse, and this will complete my setup.

Edit: Bluetooth update

After testing with multiple BT headphones and codecs (aptX, AAC, SBC) and Sony, AirPods, Bose headphones and a BT speaker, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a much much better card than the OSXWifi and DW1560 that’s on board (I have disabled it for now, just keeping as backup).

There is no interference with this card with other devices and operation is smooth. This was an issue I was having for a long time even before the X299 system. The cables are on the board itself and they don’t need shielding. I used to have so many packet drops on different headphones, it got to a point where I would literally want to buy a real Mac so I don’t have to deal with this.

Handoff, AirDrop etc are smooth, and not dodgy like with the previous Wi-Fi/BT cards. And since this is a BT4.2 card, it doesn’t need “coexistence” with Wi-Fi to function, thus making it function well on its own.

And also this works OOB no need for kexts.

Overall very happy.

Hope this helps someone if they’re looking for a OOB card that’s inexpensive and works well.

I have it in Slot 3 and using a kext for USB/BT function.

What's the need for a USB/BT kext? What do you mean?

 

[izo1]

What's the need for a USB/BT kext? What do you mean?

A custom kext for my boards USB ports...BT runs on USB..

 

[pieropontra]

A custom kext for my boards USB ports...BT runs on USB..

Ok, fine! I got a shielded card too... A FENVI one, works perfect but it's BT 4.0 only

So, @izo1 can I ask you a little help? I noticed u got a Vega FE card, so I suppose you modified your power table in @kgp 's SSDT with VEGATab.app . I did it too, for a few days it worked well but now I got my GPU fan at very high speed all of the time. Since you seem to be a long time expert in these stuffs, may I ask you to prepare me an .aml file for Vega 64 Liquid Cooled with min speed 400rpm, idle 700rpm and no overclock? it's ok for me a stock clock card (liquid card were OC by default) but I think I've messed up something in the SSDT and I can't figure out what!

Merry xmas to everyone guys!

 

[izo1]

Ok, fine! I got a shielded card too... A FENVI one, works perfect but it's BT 4.0 only

So, @izo1 can I ask you a little help? I noticed u got a Vega FE card, so I suppose you modified your power table in @kgp 's SSDT with VEGATab.app . I did it too, for a few days it worked well but now I got my GPU fan at very high speed all of the time. Since you seem to be a long time expert in these stuffs, may I ask you to prepare me an .aml file for Vega 64 Liquid Cooled with min speed 400rpm, idle 700rpm and no overclock? it's ok for me a stock clock card (liquid card were OC by default) but I think I've messed up something in the SSDT and I can't figure out what!

Merry xmas to everyone guys!

I do not use SSDT's for GPUs, I never found them helpful. I only use WhateverGreen+Lilu to open up all the ports.

I did however start to use a custom kext via VGTab to limit the idle FAN RPM, only changing idle and target fan speeds. I may remove it though, but it's been working fine. I try to limit the amount of kexts as much as I can to keep it all "native."

Remember that there's a switch on the GPU next to the ports, the one switched towards the port runs at "Performance" speed and the other way is "regular" speed. I left it on Regular and its fine...

Maybe remove the SSDTs and just use the VGTab kext for now. Only keep WG+Lilu if you have multi monitor setup.

See attached for your VGTab kext.

I changed Idle to 1000RPM from 1500RPM, 1000RPM is not super loud and I would recommend that instead of your preferred 700RPM.

If you really want 700RPM idle, run VGTab and make a new kext.

 

[pieropontra]

I do not use SSDT's for GPUs, I never found them helpful. I only use WhateverGreen+Lilu to open up all the ports.

I did however start to use a custom kext via VGTab to limit the idle FAN RPM, only changing idle and target fan speeds. I may remove it though, but it's been working fine. I try to limit the amount of kexts as much as I can to keep it all "native."

Remember that there's a switch on the GPU next to the ports, the one switched towards the port runs at "Performance" speed and the other way is "regular" speed. I left it on Regular and its fine...

Maybe remove the SSDTs and just use the VGTab kext for now. Only keep WG+Lilu if you have multi monitor setup.

See attached for your VGTab kext.

I changed Idle to 1000RPM from 1500RPM, 1000RPM is not super loud and I would recommend that instead of your preferred 700RPM.

If you really want 700RPM idle, run VGTab and make a new kext.

In the end, i made myself what you explained in your last post and I too think it's the best way to go since I suppose @kgp ssdt contains something not good for Vega 64 liquid, maybe different clock speeds or whatever. Anyway, I would like to implement a proper aml in the future!

I got a push and pull configuration on my Gpu 120mm rad, so 700rpm is fine, temps are about 35 degrees celsius

 

[izo1]

In the end, i made myself what you explained in your last post and I too think it's the best way to go since I suppose @kgp ssdt contains something not good for Vega 64 liquid, maybe different clock speeds or whatever. Anyway, I would like to implement a proper aml in the future!

I got a push and pull configuration on my Gpu 120mm rad, so 700rpm is fine, temps are about 35 degrees celsius

Well it's best to try things yourself before posting, since that way at least you'll understand what's going on. In my opinion, I stay away from any "cosmetic" changes, ie I couldn't care less what it says in the System Profiler as long as things are stable and they work without crashes.

I am more concerned about stability and minor cosmetics (like a clean Clover boot menu, and maybe About This Mac is clean and proper) and then the rest is useless to me on a daily basis since theres literally hundreds of files on my desktop anyway (I'm a bit messy) and it's mostly a workstation for actual day to day work.



Some additional issues with my system (which is otherwise running perfectly fine):

I had to revert BIOS F4h back to F4c on the X299 Designare EX, since for some reason the BIOS kept resetting itself (especially if the PSU power was unplugged for a few seconds). I first thought it was the CMOS battery, but it wasn't.

This is one of the reasons why I am not a big fan of Gigabyte

 

[ddsmith11111993]

Happy Christmas @kgp !

I got my present from you very early this year when I built this machine.

Thank you!