Looking At 2nd Hackintosh Build (After 9.5 Years)

[Aup808]

Hey everyone,

I built my first Hackintosh quite a bit ago (and I'm still actively using it; Sandy Bridge i7-2700K and all), and I'm looking to get back into the game and build my second Hackintosh. After doing quite a bit of research on these threads, I think I have most of the compatible parts picked out, but wanted some advice on if there were any critical items missing or possibly additional suggestions to improve the build.

To start, I am probably a 60-70%/40-30% Windows/Mac user (I do gaming and general usage on Windows, with video editing on the Mac). I have seen that the Z490 builds are more stable (and I have been looking at CaseySJ's Z690 build), but curious if individuals here think the performance is worth going to Alder Lake, especially if Windows is slightly more of a majority usage for me (and would be able to utilize more of the perks of the extra cores). I also plan on installing through OpenCore (which I am used to Clover so should be a fun new project), but wanted to double-check on dual-booting with Windows. I know it's possible but had read some older threads that some users ran into issues - not sure if that is still the case at all.

Here is my LGA1200 build:

• CPU: Intel Core i9-10850k
• Cooler: Corsair H60 54 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490 VISION G
• RAM: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3600
• SDD: 2x Samsung 860 EVO 2.5GB SSD (probably 1TB for Windows, and a separate 500GB for Mac)
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda Computer 2TB 3.5 7200RPM HDD (for storage/media/etc.)
• GPU: MSI Radeon RX 6800 XT GB Gaming X Trio
• Power: Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 750W 80+ Gold
• Wireless: Asus PCEAC68 PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter (I heard this was more stable than the Fenvi FV-T919, and I do have a compatible Bluetooth Dongle that I've used in my previous build)

If I were to go with LGA1700, I would probably swap the motherboard with Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X DDR4, the CPU with i9-12900K, the cooling to be Noctua NH-U12S (compatible, I believe, with LGA1700), and the RAM with G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3600 (which I think mimics CaseySJ's build).

Finally, my last question is on the case... I am torn between NZXT H710i and Phanteks Eclipse P600S, both of which seem slick and great, and wanted to understand if users have had experience with either. I come from the NZXT Phantom 410, which I enjoyed, but I know the Phanteks has gotten some fantastic reviews as well.

This is a great community and it's exciting to get back into this (even though GPU prices put a tear on my face, but it is what it is). Looking forward to any help!

 

[e-troc]

Regarding Z490/Z690, also check the recent discussion here:

Intel's 10th Generation CPUs are getting hard to find

I see our local retailer run out of pretty much all but one i5 Intel's 10th Generation CPUs. No i7s, no i9s. That made me think it might be worth of risk getting Adler lake and try my luck ? Especially reading this thread. I still run my i7-920 first gen and the system is rock solid. Had...

www.tonymacx86.com

I suppose if you mainly use windows, Z690 might be wise, however to me it seems like you won’t really utilize the benefits given that gaming and general use don’t fully exploit the new architecture.

On the other hand, video editing would, however if you are working professionally, I am not sure I’d go with such an experimental platform.

I don’t know if this is the case for video, but in my line of work (sound, music) the arbitrary assignment of p- and e-cores is a dealbreaker. It would lead to inconsistent processing power across tracks.

One additional remark, I’d definitely go with NVMe for the system drives. Much faster than SATA, in fact one of the most significant performance boosts in the last decade. Western Digital SN750 are the way to go for Hackintosh at the moment (TRIM issues with Samsung).

 

[Aup808]

Thank you for the reply! For the WD SN750, do you go with the Gen3 or Gen4 model? I would definitely go that route if that is the preferred performance upgrade!

And yeah, I have been shifting through that thread as well - I know for folks that use primarily the Mac partition, the Z490/LGA1200 route seems to be more stable than the Z690/LGA1700 route (although I know there is currently a lot of eyes and support around CaseySJ's build with Z690). I'm just trying to think as one who might use the Windows partition slightly more, if the move to the more cores and all makes more sense (and I believe Windows 11 is supposed to utilize more effectively), or if it's still too new, to your point. Or if I'm shooting myself in the foot by not building for the future, ha.

 

[Jamesbond007]

Thank you for the reply! For the WD SN750, do you go with the Gen3 or Gen4 model? I would definitely go that route if that is the preferred performance upgrade!

And yeah, I have been shifting through that thread as well - I know for folks that use primarily the Mac partition, the Z490/LGA1200 route seems to be more stable than the Z690/LGA1700 route (although I know there is currently a lot of eyes and support around CaseySJ's build with Z690). I'm just trying to think as one who might use the Windows partition slightly more, if the move to the more cores and all makes more sense (and I believe Windows 11 is supposed to utilize more effectively), or if it's still too new, to your point. Or if I'm shooting myself in the foot by not building for the future, ha.

If you plan on using MacOS in any significant way, you should know that the 10th generation Intel platform (your original build) is the last officially supported platform for MacOS. The current 12th generation platform is NOT, and will NOT be, supported on MacOS now or in the future. This means that any software issues may never be resolved if you were to go for the 12th generation to run MacOS. Do you really want to take such a risk?

Personally I strongly recommend staying with your original build if you want to install and run MacOS and its applications.

 

[Aup808]

If you plan on using MacOS in any significant way, you should know that the 10th generation Intel platform (your original build) is the last officially supported platform for MacOS. The current 12th generation platform is NOT, and will NOT be, supported on MacOS now or in the future. This means that any software issues may never be resolved if you were to go for the 12th generation to run MacOS. Do you really want to take such a risk?

Personally I strongly recommend staying with your original build if you want to install and run MacOS and its applications.

I think that's a fair point! And where I was leaning with initially - I just wasn't sure if individuals had different recommendations if they knew I might use the Windows partition slightly more often than the Mac, but I prefer the more stable build versus the non-supported/experimental.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[energy23]

Same dilemma for me between a 10900k or a 12900k!

I spend nearly 100% of my time in Mac OS working in Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop, Premier, After Effects and Lightroom along with a lot of Handbrake usage. Reliability and future support are high on the list of requirements deciding between the platforms.

z490 motherboards are a little more difficult to come by comparing to the 10900k however z590 motherboards are fairly easy to find. I'm debating what benefits and downsides people have from the z590 platform? I suppose resale value in the future would be a little better? However iGPU will not give video output though it will still function for quicksync, correct?

I'm looking at one of the following motherboards:

z490 Vision G
z490 Aorus Ultra
z590 Vision D
z690 Aero G

It's especially confusing knowing the potential of Alder Lake but there's not enough people using it to gauge how apps function with E-Cores and if the extra cost is worth buying into it.

 

[e-troc]

I'm debating what benefits and downsides people have from the z590 platform? I suppose resale value in the future would be a little better? However iGPU will not give video output though it will still function for quicksync, correct?

UHD 750 iGPU are not supported and won’t work. Personally, I don’t see any benefits in z590 except availability. If you are after a production machine, get z490 now. Won’t be around for much longer.

 

[etorix]

LGA1200 is an obsolete socket anyway, so I doubt that Z590 will keep a significantly higher resale value.
Z590 is unsupported by macOS, just like Z690. From the few threads here, Z590 is a quirky platform and there's less community support available than for Z690.
Z690 already has some golden builds (including the Z690 Aero G, although it seems that Asus and AsRock may be better choices than Gigabyte in this generation), and some have already put Z690 hacks into production for audio work or for Adobe applications (@Middleman).

In my opinion, Z590 stands between a rock and a hard place. The safe choice is Z490 while motherboards are available. If you go for a riskier but higher performing platform (and mandatory dGPU…), go all the way to Z690.

 

[Middleman]

I concur with @etorix. Both Z490 & Z590 are soon to be made unavailable and LGA1700 is set to be the next gen standard. Unless you have a use for DRM and older software under Windows or macOS, I'd actually go with Alder Lake for macOS. With my current Asus Z690 Prime P D4 it has been running very smooth and stable with Gigabyte RX6800 fitted with 64GB DDR4. In fact it even seemed quicker in running apps than the B550 Vison D Ryzen 5900X system I had built last year (and with less crashing). On top of that 2nd gen LGA1700 is expected to have even more performance cores, so overall we'll see an even bigger performance boost.

 

[energy23]

I concur with @etorix. Both Z490 & Z590 are soon to be made unavailable and LGA1700 is set to be the next gen standard. Unless you have a use for DRM and older software under Windows or macOS, I'd actually go with Alder Lake for macOS. With my current Asus Z690 Prime P D4 it has been running very smooth and stable with Gigabyte RX6800 fitted with 64GB DDR4. In fact it even seemed quicker in running apps than the B550 Vison D Ryzen 5900X system I had built last year (and with less crashing). On top of that 2nd gen LGA1700 is expected to have even more performance cores, so overall we'll see an even bigger performance boost.

I would agree but there isn't enough real world usage with comparisons to Alder Lakes done for us to really make that call yet. Sure, in Windows the P-Cores get stellar single core performance, and in Cinebench a 12900k gets a crazy near 30,000 score with P-Cores and E-Cores. But... does that kind of whopping performance scale the same on the Hackintosh beyond benchmarks apps where E-Cores are treated the same as P-Cores?

This is exactly why I've been asking others to run the Handbrake test and compare:

Z690 Chipset Motherboards and Alder Lake CPU

I have to try that! Great Tip!! One thing, is the keyboard is changed, so you have to figure it out where are the symbols, to move ahead, like : \ .. Take a look for bcfg command use in UEFI shell, for more explanation and examples. Or the command: Shell> help bcfg -v -b

www.tonymacx86.com

And from just a few tests users posted, we can clearly see that a 12900k is 3.4X to 4X as fast as an old 4790k. But we know that it should be faster than that given the benchmark results. And if we're not seeing the CPU being used to its fully potential in OSX, I don't see a much of a point for some or many people spending the extra money on it for Hackintosh use.

Truthtfully, I think we should have MORE tests like this in other multithreaded applications (Premiere, Finalcut, Davinci, etc) and have everyone give their results comparing officially supported CPUs to the new Alder Lake CPUs.

I'm honestly disappointed with the lack of followup on Alder Lake. We've had a number of people build the rigs, tell us they've got it work and then... they disappear. No way of really validating how much better they perform over previous generation CPUs.

@Aup808 Something to think about is the recent news of the 12600 non-k variants;

Product Specifications

quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

It's supposed to perform like a 10900k and shoudn't give OS X any issues as it doesn't have e-cores. I can't find any power consumption under load or what temperatures it reaches, however the 12400 consumes 78 watts in a stress test, you could probably assume the 12600 won't be much higher.

The interesting news is that the 12400 is a GREAT overclocker as well;

Intel Core i5-12400 & Core i5-12600 Non-K Alder Lake CPUs Pushed Up To 5.2 GHz Through BCLK Overclocking, Achieve Up To 33% Faster Performance

Intel's Core i5-12400 & Core i5-12600 Non-K Alder Lake CPUs have been pushed beyond 5 GHz BCLK overclocking with a 33% boost in performance.

wccftech.com

If the 12600 without e-cores proves to be around 10900k performance with way less power consumption and much lower heat output, I would consider it especially since its supposed to cost around $225 USD.

I think the sensible thing to do would be to wait for reviews to come out as it just got announced.