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

[NelsonCarvalheiro]

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



Edit (January 19, 2018):
As I noted above, one of the stock pigtail antennas will be too short to reach the BCM94360CS2. You can replace the pigtail with something like this:
View attachment 307021
4X IPEX /MHF4 to RP-SMA Antenna Pigtail for NGFF/M.2 WIFI/WLAN/3G/4G Modules-US | eBay

I got this and although the motherboard recognizes that there is an m.2 device there, MacOs does not detect it.

Is this because of the USB mapping you mentioned before? would it work best if I got an pcie adapter?

thanks for the help

 

[brixx]

can I send you a 4k project with some stacked clips for you to see?

Sure

 

[pastrychef]

I got this and although the motherboard recognizes that there is an m.2 device there, MacOs does not detect it.

Is this because of the USB mapping you mentioned before? would it work best if I got an pcie adapter?

thanks for the help

You got the Apple card with M.2 adaptor? What is not being detected, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth? Do you see the Bluetooth device in System Information's USB section?

 

[Scott1204]

@pastrychef

despite all the scores on the benchmarks, Today I started testing FCPX editing (the main reason why I got the Hackintosh) and although the render times are good, the timeline performance is very disappointing. The playback keeps dropping frames when the clips are not rendered and even my MacBook Pro 15 2015 can perform better on the timeline scrubbing

Is there anything else I need/can do to fix this?

Just out of curiosity I looked into the system report and saw that my hd630 is not showing up? is this the reason for my problems?


View attachment 307780

What kind of files are you editing?

Yes i have the hd 630 fully functioning with hevc playback.

can I send you a 4k project with some stacked clips for you to see?

I just want to know how it works before making the changes you suggest, because now my bruce x score is 12 seconds just the timeline smoothness is bugging me.

Are these iPhone HEVC files? Have you tried other 4K files like from a Sony A7 or GH5?

I do a lot of FCX editing and Hacks are good but known to have problems with HEVC right now. Try other codecs and see how your laptop vs hack works. If you’re seeing the same problems then I’d guess your graphics card drivers, your acceleration isn’t fully enabled, or FCX just doesn’t support Vega yet. If it’s just the HEVC files then it’s the HEVC decoder. (make sure you have the latest FCX version which I’m assuming you do).

Also, is your footage set to optimize in FCX or are you playing them natively?
How many PCI lanes does your system report say your card is using?

You have great GPU... I’d do more research on Hacks+FCX+Vega to check compatibility. HD graphics have far less performance so that would be a last resort. You’ve got a Ferrari for a graphics card and using HD would be like trading it in on a Prius.

 

[NelsonCarvalheiro]

What kind of files are you editing?


Are these iPhone HEVC files? Have you tried other 4K files like from a Sony A7 or GH5?

I do a lot of FCX editing and Hacks are good but known to have problems with HEVC right now. Try other codecs and see how your laptop vs hack works. If you’re seeing the same problems then I’d guess your graphics card drivers...if it’s just the HEVC files then it’s the HEVC decoder. (make sure you have the latest FCX version which I’m assuming you do).

Also, is your footage set to optimize in FCX or are you playing them natively?

You have great GPU... I’d do more research on Hacks+FCX+Vega to check compatibility... HD graphics have far less performance so that would be a last resort. You’ve got a Ferrari for a graphics card and using HD would be like trading it in on a Prius.

@Scott1204 Hi

Thanks for the reply

I edit 4k 100mbps XAVC files from my a7rII + my phantom 4 pro on a 4k timeline.

I dont work with hevc and I dont optimize the fottage, I just import to the library.

I specifically got the VEGA 64 because I thought it would work great with FCPX.

I mean, the render times are 40% better than my Macbookpro 15 with the 2 gb r9 m370x. which is ok, but they should be double or triple better.

My concern is the timeline performance, which is worse than the Macbook pro.

I mean my bruce x test was 12 seconds.

Will keep looking to see if there is someone who can help, as I am very new to this whole Hackintosh way of life.

 

[Scott1204]

Yeah I hear you, have similar issues. Got an Nvidia 1080 Ti which is an amazing card but sucks for FCX.

I looked up your card... I think it may not be supported natively by Final Cut yet:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202239

That would explain the playback difference between laptop and your hack. Without native support, you’re basically using the CPU to do all the work.

A quick fix for now would be to turn on optimize footage in FCX preferences. It will add render time in the beginning but will improve timeline playback and stutter issues. Also... check your laptop to see if that is turned on...just make sure you’re comparing apples to apples for testing...no pun intended.

You could also download a Premiere Pro CC demo and try doing the same experiment. Premiere is more hardware friendly and may use your Vega card natively...at least then you’d know if it’s your hack or FCX that’s the problem.

A more nuclear option would be to exchange your Vega for an RX580 and see if you see a difference. Obviously that solution is complicated to try but may be the fix.

 

[orbitalpunk]

@pastrychef , would your files work with a Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming motherboard? I just built a SFF PC because my aging 2013 Mac Pro is not up to par when editing h.265. I wish I could eliminated my Mac Pro but I used a handful of OSX only apps still for work and thought my hardware would not be supported at all as a Hack. But your post shows a lot of promise. I also have a I7 8700 (non-K) and a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. I would appreciate your thoughts if any of your files would work with that combination and if not, would it be possible to get it to work and throughly as yours?

Thanks so much

 

[pastrychef]

@pastrychef , would your files work with a Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming motherboard? I just built a SFF PC because my aging 2013 Mac Pro is not up to par when editing h.265. I wish I could eliminated my Mac Pro but I used a handful of OSX only apps still for work and thought my hardware would not be supported at all as a Hack. But your post shows a lot of promise. I also have a I7 8700 (non-K) and a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. I would appreciate your thoughts if any of your files would work with that combination and if not, would it be possible to get it to work and throughly as yours?

Thanks so much

My EFI folders should be generic enough to at least get you through the installation of macOS. The DSDT patches t rename devices in config.plist should also be fine. So, yes, I think you can use my EFI folder with your system.

The .aml and .dsl files for USB will not work and you will have to create your own if you wish to apply the permanent 15 port USB fix. The other post installation procedures should work with your motherboard.

 

[orbitalpunk]

My EFI folders should be generic enough to at least get you through the installation of macOS. The DSDT patches t rename devices in config.plist should also be fine. So, yes, I think you can use my EFI folder with your system.

The .aml and .dsl files for USB will not work and you will have to create your own if you wish to apply the permanent 15 port USB fix. The other post installation procedures should work with your motherboard.

Wonderful. Do you recommend a tutorial on how to create my own .aml and .dsl files? This is all new to me. Thank you again.

 

[Scott1204]

@pastrychef , would your files work with a Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming motherboard? I just built a SFF PC because my aging 2013 Mac Pro is not up to par when editing h.265. I wish I could eliminated my Mac Pro but I used a handful of OSX only apps still for work and thought my hardware would not be supported at all as a Hack. But your post shows a lot of promise. I also have a I7 8700 (non-K) and a EVGA 1080 ti SC2. I would appreciate your thoughts if any of your files would work with that combination and if not, would it be possible to get it to work and throughly as yours?

Thanks so much

Which software will you use to edit on your rig?