pastrychef's Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (WI-FI AC) build w/ i9-9900K + AMD 6600 XT

[pastrychef]

Hi Pastrychef -- this is a really great guide. It's giving itchy fingers about the same upgrade, but I'll have to wait a while with my relatively young Gene build.

I read the [Guide] Generate SSDT For Coffee Lake CPU | tonymacx86.com and I see that RehabMan has posted there
"No need for ssdtPRgen.sh generated SSDT.aml for any CPU Haswell and newer.
Only requirement: SSDT-XCPM.aml or SSDT-PluginType1.aml orconfig.plist/ACPI/SSDT/Generate/PluginType=true."

Is there any reason why you used an ssdt.aml?

I got lucky and found someone who was willing to take my Gene motherboard and CPU off my hands. That allowed me to upgrade.

In regards to SSDT-XCPM.aml, that was the first method of power management I tried and it didn't work right. X86PlatformPlugin wasn't loading when I checked IORegistryExplorer. Then I decided to just go with the old, reliable ssdtprgen.sh. It's only slightly more effort and is working perfectly.

 

[WedgeTail]

I got lucky and found someone who was willing to take my Gene motherboard and CPU off my hands. That allowed me to upgrade.

In regards to SSDT-XCPM.aml, that was the first method of power management I tried and it didn't work right. X86PlatformPlugin wasn't loading when I checked IORegistryExplorer. Then I decided to just go with the old, reliable ssdtprgen.sh. It's only slightly more effort and is working perfectly.

I understand. That guide you linked to is simple and straightforward.

BTW, I had done a similar review of mATX z370 boards, the same suspects, and I was surprised how weak some of the configurations were on aspects like USB 3.1 gen. 2, audio and Wi-Fi.

Anyway, thanks again for great guides.

 

[pastrychef]

I understand. That guide you linked to is simple and straightforward.

BTW, I had done a similar review of mATX z370 boards, the same suspects, and I was surprised how weak some of the configurations were on aspects like USB 3.1 gen. 2, audio and Wi-Fi.

Anyway, thanks again for great guides.

One underrated feature is that this motherboard has DisplayPort. This is important for hackintoshers if/when we need to use the iGPU, especially when we use 4K monitors. HDMI works with 4K but macOS limits us to 30Hz even if we have HDMI 2.0.

 

[andwhy81]

I'm enjoying this thread and your build

My own new build is based on the i3-8350K and a Gigabyte board - so not really relevant here, however on the cooling front I'm totally with you. I've considered water-cooling in the past but always steered-clear, remembering my old engineering training telling me water and electricity don't mix! LOL!

For air-cooling a straight through flow, front to back gives best results, in my opinion. Good quality quiet fan(s) to pull air in from the front, similar size CPU cooler fan(s) and then enough vent area at the back to let the air out unimpeded That's usually fine for my i3 builds - we'll have to see how the new quad-core fares! Nowadays the majority of cases feature PSUs that don't mix their air-flow with the case, so it doesn't stir things up.

not to HIjack, but I am think of the 8350k and overclocking slightly for a "budget" Coffee Build, please let me know how that build is going as i plan on starting to buy parts soon.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

not to HIjack, but I am think of the 8350k and overclocking slightly for a "budget" Coffee Build, please let me know how that build is going as i plan on starting to buy parts soon.

Well I'll be writing-up the build for sure - just waiting for a new case to come from Germany (!) then all set to go.

In the mean time I'm enjoying @pastrychef 's work for all the great detail in the descriptions. Quality stuff.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte Z370M-D3H ...

 

[jeandossantos]

As I noted in the first post, I had been using a Dell DW1830 M.2 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card. It had been working well but I wanted to use a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card from a real Mac. So, I ordered a BCM94360CS2 that is found in 2013-2017 MacBook Airs and an appropriate M.2 adaptor for it.

The BCM94360CS2 and M.2 adaptor is too tall to close the bracket casing that's included with the motherboard, but that's fine. Securing both to the bracket works fine. Because it's taller, one of the pigtail antennas will not be able to reach. I swapped it with one of the pigtails from the PCI-e adaptor I used for my previous build.

In my particular case, the height of the BCM94360CS2 and adaptor forced me to shave off a little bit of the rear case fan in the corner.

Reasons:

• The BCM94360CS2 only requires 2 antennas vs the 3 required for the DW1830. This works out better with this motherboard because the bracket and backplate on this motherboard were designed for 2 antennas.
• Guaranteed 100% compatibility.
• No need for additional kexts or patches.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

• The DW1830 was too wide to fit in to the bracket that came with the motherboard, so I just had it plugged in to the M.2 connector with nothing securing it.
• There has been some reports that the DW1830 would be slow after sleep in macOS. I didn't test this.
• The DW1830 is capable of 1300Mbps. The BCM94360CS2 is only capable of 867Mbps.
• The BCM94360CS2 is true plug-n-play with macOS. The DW1830 required two kexts for Bluetooth to work.

Here are the items I purchased:
View attachment 299927
MacBook Air 13 A1465 A1466 2013 2014 WiFi Bluetooth Air Port Card BCM94360CS2 AP | eBay
Amazon.com: New WiFi Bluetooth Card BCM94360CS2 For MacBook Air 13'' A1465 A1466 Mid 2013: Computers & Accessories

View attachment 299928
BCM94360CS2 Card To NGFF(M.2) Key A/E Adapter For Mac OS and Hackintosh | eBay
Amazon.com: Hobbypower BCM94360CS2/BCM943224PCIEBT2 Card To NGFF(M.2) Key A/E Adapter For Mac OS: Computers & Accessories


Here it is with everything assembled:
View attachment 299931

When I get my build running and stable I'll have to add a plaque to my case saying "Built by pastrychef" lol.
Anyways, this sounds like the way to go. I've ordered both items and will be replicating this BCM94360CS2 and M.2 adaptor combo. I also ordered a 6-inch pigtail antenna which should arrive by this weekend. Hopefully by the end of this weekend I will have a fully functioning build! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

 

[HolyGrail]

Hi,
I am also building a similar hackintosh (my first, so bear with me) according to your instructions. Unfortunately I am stuck at:

Is that a memory bay issue? I have 32gb in a2-b2 as the manual recommends...
Any hints what this could be caused by?

 

[pastrychef]

That's related to the audio driver. I never saw this in my testing. At which point are you up to? Installing macOS? Booting in to a completed macOS install?

Things you can try:

• Remove AppleALC from /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/.
• Try with just one stick of RAM for now. I've read of others having problems with dual channel.

 

[geisge1]

I am building my first hackintosh with an Asus Z370-E.
Can I use your EFI.zip? If not, how do I create my own?
Why do I need UniBeast but in Gladgoods guide I dont? http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...lake-asus-strix-z370-g-i7-8700-gtx1080ti-uhd/
Glasgoods guide was available here aswell, but it seems deleted.

Thank you for the guide, really helpful!

 

[pastrychef]

I am building my first hackintosh with an Asus Z370-E.
Can I use your EFI.zip? If not, how do I create my own?

My EFI folder should work for your motherboard.

MultiBeast can be used to create your own EFI folder.

Why do I need UniBeast but in Gladgoods guide I dont? http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...lake-asus-strix-z370-g-i7-8700-gtx1080ti-uhd/

He just used a different method to reach the same result. If you have to ask why, odds are that using the UniBeast method will probably be easier for you.

Glasgoods guide was available here aswell, but it seems deleted.

I don't know why he deleted his guide or his posts. I wondered that myself.