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Need advice upgrading

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leech3r

leech3r

Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
36
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z68 GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3
CPU
Intel i5
Graphics
Ati 3000
Mac
  1. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. 0
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
I have a hackint0sh on a Gigabyte Z68 GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 with 16 MB memory, and an intel i5 3.29. It has been working flawless for the last 5 years, maybe more. I want to upgrade it, install the latest OSX and maybe add a video card. Right now I use the motherboard's video as it was the most compatible at the time. (intel HD 3000 512 MB).
Any advice on the most compatible video card that won't give me issues in future updates, and maybe if it's worth it to upgrade the processor for an i7.
Right now i have an SSD with 120 GB running 10.9.1. Will replace with a 500GB SSD.
Thanks in advance for your help and looking forward for advice.
 
HD 3000 graphics are only supported up to High Sierra. Mojave has dropped support for it and you need minimum of HD4000 graphics.
The CPU should work in Mojave, with a dedicated graphics card. AMD RX 560-580 are good choices with native support that should last for many years.
Nvidia cards are limited to Kepler series in Mojave for native support. There are no Nvidia Web Drivers yet for Mojave.

A used i7 would be a big upgrade and there are probably fairly priced now.
 
Pentium G3258 w/RX 480
GA-H97-D3H |  Pentium G3258 |  Radeon Other
iMac 17.1 w/RX480
GA-Z170M-D3H |  i5 6500 |  Radeon Other
leech3r said:
I have a hackint0sh on a Gigabyte Z68 GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 with 16 MB memory, and an intel i5 3.29. It has been working flawless for the last 5 years, maybe more. I want to upgrade it, install the latest OSX and maybe add a video card. Right now I use the motherboard's video as it was the most compatible at the time. (intel HD 3000 512 MB).
Any advice on the most compatible video card that won't give me issues in future updates, and maybe if it's worth it to upgrade the processor for an i7.
Right now i have an SSD with 120 GB running 10.9.1. Will replace with a 500GB SSD.
Thanks in advance for your help and looking forward for advice.
Click to expand...
Which BIOS revision is your Z68 on ? Are you still booting Mavericks legacy with Chimera ?

For a low cost AMD card, I've seen the most success, fewest problems with the MSI RX560. Even Apple gives it their seal of approval for use in the 2012 Mac Pro. Along with the Sapphire Pulse, RX580. Those cost 200 USD or more.
 
trs96 said:
Which BIOS revision is your Z68 on ?
Click to expand...
No idea, need to check, any easy way from osx or i need to boot from a spacial usb?

trs96 said:
Are you still booting Mavericks legacy with Chimera ?
Click to expand...
I'm on El Capitan with chimera. Has worked so good that never had the need to update. Very stable and silent (6 noctua fans)

For a RX580 video card, Can it run without fan? I'm not doing high end gaming or video, just photoshop and graphics.
Cheers and thanks again!
 
Gigamaxx said:
HD 3000 graphics are only supported up to High Sierra. Mojave has dropped support for it and you need minimum of HD4000 graphics.
The CPU should work in Mojave, with a dedicated graphics card. AMD RX 560-580 are good choices with native support that should last for many years.
Nvidia cards are limited to Kepler series in Mojave for native support. There are no Nvidia Web Drivers yet for Mojave.

A used i7 would be a big upgrade and there are probably fairly priced now.
Click to expand...
Wow! good to know, thanks for the great advice, I was about to upgrade, would have been "blind" trying to use the native video... Great idea on the used i7, any in particular that will replace the i5 with same size?
 
leech3r said:
No idea, need to check, any easy way from osx or i need to boot from a spacial usb?
Click to expand...
You could just boot into the BIOS and find it. Some GA-Z68MA owners have flashed to one of the newer UEFI BIOS versions and are using Mojave. You could search for a guide related to that. Elite2k has written some guides about booting these UEFI with Clover bootloader and Sierra and Mojave. Obviously Chimera is not an option you can use with Mojave. You could also try and create a Mojave legacy installer and see how that goes. You can get an RX580 where the fan stays quiet up to a certain GPU temperature.
 
Last edited:
trs96 said:
You could just boot into the BIOS and find it. Some GA-Z68MA owners have flashed to one of the newer UEFI BIOS versions and are using Mojave. You could search for a guide related to that. Elite2k has written some guides about booting these UEFI with Clover bootloader and Sierra and Mojave. Obviously Chimera is not an option you can use with Mojave. You could also try and create a Mojave legacy installer and see how that goes. You can get an RX580 where the fan stays quiet up to a certain GPU temperature.
Click to expand...


I checked mu BIOS, it's UEFI version U1c. Hope this works better with Mojave.
Thanks again for your nice help, as you may see it's been years I did the hackintosh and has worked so well that never needed updates.
Regarding the video card, i see lots of variations. Is something like this enough? Will the fans stay silent while not in heavy use?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-Graphi...or-4gb-OC-256-bit-DirectX-12-AMD/202549464663

Thanks again!
 
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