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

[karambit]

Hi Pastrychef

Do you think that Apple will sign off on the RX 5700 and 5700XT AMD drivers anytime soon or would I be better off trying to obtain an MSI, or Sapphire Vega VII.. It's mostly for content creation (FCPX). Is there that much performance gains with a Vega VII opposed to a Sapphire Vega 64 with most content creation programs? Those would mostly be FCPX, Logic, DiVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Apple Motion ?

Thanks a ton ahead of time, even if its ONLY your opinion at this point.

 

[pastrychef]

Hi Pastrychef

Do you think that apple will sign off on the RX 5700 and 5700Xt AMD drivers anytime soon or would I be better off trying to obtain an MSI, or Sapphire Vega VII.. It's mostly for content creation ( FCPX) is there that much performance gains with a Vega VII opposed to a Sapphire Vega 64 with most content creation programs. Those would mostly be FCPX, Logic, DiVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere, After Effects and Apple Motion ?

Thanks a tonne ahead of time, even if its ONLY your opinion at this point.

In my opinion, since Apple is AMD only, they are going to have to add support for the RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT eventually. How long it will take them to add support is the only real question...

I don't use those apps, but I have run the BruceX benchmark on my old Vega 56 and the Radeon VII. Vega 56 completed the benchmark in ~14 seconds and Radeon VII completed it in ~10.5 seconds. Not sure how that translates in to real world performance...

Below are a few articles that may interest you. They benchmarks and tests were all done in Windows, but it should give you an idea of where the Vega, Radeon VII, and RX 5700 XT stand in terms of content creation performance:

DaVinci Resolve GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

More than any other NLE, having a fast GPU (or multiple GPUs) is incredibly important in DaVinci Resolve. With both AMD and NVIDIA recently launching a number of new video cards, it is time to once again see what the best GPU is for Resolve.

www.pugetsystems.com

After Effects GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

Outside of very specific situations, After Effects is usually going to be limited more by your CPU than your GPU. However, the more GPU accelerated effects you use, the larger the benefit to using a faster video card. Both AMD and NVIDIA have recently released a number of new video cards, but is...

www.pugetsystems.com

Premiere Pro GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

While the CPU still does most of the heavy lifting, depending on how many accelerated effects you use, having a more powerful GPU can sometimes make a significant impact on performance. With both AMD and NVIDIA recently launching a number of new video cards, it is time to once again see how...

www.pugetsystems.com

 

[karambit]

In my opinion, since Apple is AMD only, they are going to have to add support for the RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT eventually. How long it will take them to add support is the only real question...

I don't use those apps, but I have run the BruceX benchmark on my old Vega 56 and the Radeon VII. Vega 56 completed the benchmark in ~14 seconds and Radeon VII completed it in ~10.5 seconds. Not sure how that translates in to real world performance...

Below are a few articles that may interest you. They benchmarks and tests were all done in Windows, but it should give you an idea of where the Vega, Radeon VII, and RX 5700 XT stand in terms of content creation performance:

DaVinci Resolve GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

More than any other NLE, having a fast GPU (or multiple GPUs) is incredibly important in DaVinci Resolve. With both AMD and NVIDIA recently launching a number of new video cards, it is time to once again see what the best GPU is for Resolve.

www.pugetsystems.com

After Effects GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

Outside of very specific situations, After Effects is usually going to be limited more by your CPU than your GPU. However, the more GPU accelerated effects you use, the larger the benefit to using a faster video card. Both AMD and NVIDIA have recently released a number of new video cards, but is...

www.pugetsystems.com

Premiere Pro GPU Roundup: NVIDIA SUPER vs AMD RX 5700 XT

While the CPU still does most of the heavy lifting, depending on how many accelerated effects you use, having a more powerful GPU can sometimes make a significant impact on performance. With both AMD and NVIDIA recently launching a number of new video cards, it is time to once again see how...

www.pugetsystems.com

Ahh of course. I momentarily forgot about Puget Content creation custom systems. Thanks for the Extremely helpful links PastryChef !

 

[Scott1204]

My Radeon VII is from PowerColor. But all Radeon VIIs are the same. All are reference cards.

My Z390 motherboard is the Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming (rev. 1). I needed to stick to the mATX form factor and, on paper, this motherboard seemed to be the best.

Here are some of my observations and opinions of this motherboard, so far:
NVRAM

• While the motherboard itself is really, really good, the fact that there's no NVRAM support means that it does not run macOS nearly as well as the Asus Z370G Gaming.
• Booting in to macOS is inconsistent. Depending on the Aptio fix that is used, sometimes, booting will result in an error during the boot process and will stop around the "End random seed" portion of the boot process. When this happens, I have to press the reset button to restart the boot process.
• Other than the Aptio fix, my standard EFI folder (as found on post #1) works fine without any changes. I still have not been able to successfully boot the Gigabyte motherboard using OpenCore.

VRM, Overclocking, and Power consumption

• Overclocking my i9-9900K is vastly different between the two motherboards. On the Asus, I needed 1.320v to get a stable 5.0GHz all core overclock. On the Gigabyte, I only need 1.235v. These are the voltages needed to pass two hours of Prime95 testing. I assume the disparity is due to the the differences in VRM because everything else was the same, i.e. power supply, CPU cooler, etc. The Gigabyte seems to handle the overclock much more gracefully.
• I can't seem to be able to configure the BIOS to make the chassis fans run at full speed when the CPU is under heavy load (Prime95). This results in the CPU temp topping out at 90C vs ~84C on the Asus. However, the fans remain nearly inaudible to me while, on the Asus, I can clearly hear the movement of a lot of air.
• Power consumption is much lower with the Gigabyte. With pretty much the same hardware (same number of drives, PCI-e cards, etc.) the Gigabyte consumes much less power at idle. Approx 75-77W vs 95-108W. When testing Prime95, total system power draw was under 300W while the Asus was ~20W higher.

Other anomalies

• The Gigabyte motherboard won't even post when my 10GBase-T PCI-e card is installed but system sleeps and wakes fine with the Radeon VII.
• The Asus can not wake with the Radeon VII installed. This is true for both Windows and macOS. However, it boots fine with the 10GBase-T PCI-e card installed... Go figure...
• I have installed a Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card in place of the 10GBase-T in to the Gigabyte, but I'm still awaiting delivery of my first Thunderbolt accessory to see if it's working right. Right now, on System Information, Thunderbolt appears to be working...
• When sleeping, the Gigabyte motherboard does not pulse the power light on the computer case.
• Usage of the second M.2 NVMe SSD slot will disable one of the SATA ports. I do not remember seeing this mentioned on the Gigabyte website when I was shopping for motherboards.

So, in conclusion, I still feel, if macOS is your primary operating system, Z370 is the better choice. It's unfortunate that the Radeon VII didn't work right on my Z370G Gaming because macOS ran so well on it whether I used Clover or OpenCore.

There are more compromises when using macOS on this Gigabyte motherboard. None of them real deal breakers, more like annoyances. On the other hand, it's considerably more power efficient than the Asus and performance is really great.

I guess it can best be described as... My Asus felt almost like it was designed to run macOS, whereas, the Gigabyte requires more hacking and still isn't quite as compatible...

I came from a Gigabyte board...it always had quirks. Just when I though I fixed everything, something new would crop up. I'm sure some of it was user-error, but I have to say, since switching to the Asus Z370, everything just seems solid. And I like the extra M.2 without changing SATA ports.

That's strange about your sleep issue. I can imagine the frustration. Are you getting your old board repaired?

 

[pastrychef]

I came from a Gigabyte board...it always had quirks. Just when I though I fixed everything, something new would crop up. I'm sure some of it was user-error, but I have to say, since switching to the Asus Z370, everything just seems solid. And I like the extra M.2 without changing SATA ports.

That's strange about your sleep issue. I can imagine the frustration. Are you getting your old board repaired?

Yeah, the Asus Z370 motherboard are really fantastic for hackintoshing. I really wish I didn't have to switch from it.

I believe that most, if not all, the anomalies I experience with my current Gigabyte motherboard are related to lack of NVRAM support. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that fixes are coming anytime soon. Emulated NVRAM kinda works but it sucks compared to real working NVRAM.

Yes, I'm still in the process of fine tuning my Gigabyte motherboard. It's taking longer than I expected...

The Asus rep suggested that I RMA the motherboard, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Every other video card that I've put it in woke from sleep without issues. It's just the Radeon VII. I suspect some one-off issue in BIOS. RMA'ing my motherboard would change nothing.

 

[karambit]

Yeah, the Asus Z370 motherboard are really fantastic for hackintoshing. I really wish I didn't have to switch from it.

I believe that most, if not all, the anomalies I experience with my current Gigabyte motherboard are related to lack of NVRAM support. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that fixes are coming anytime soon. Emulated NVRAM kinda works but it sucks compared to real working NVRAM.

Yes, I'm still in the process of fine tuning my Gigabyte motherboard. It's taking longer than I expected...

The Asus rep suggested that I RMA the motherboard, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Every other video card that I've put it in woke from sleep without issues. It's just the Radeon VII. I suspect some one-off issue in BIOS. RMA'ing my motherboard would change nothing.

Hmmm Pastrychef..? I have a gigabyte Z370 Aorus gaming 7 board here, if you're interested? Let me know.
It had a dysfunctional socket so I RMA'd it.They replaced it. I tested it, it posts and runs fine. All memory, specs, cpu and vga is identified. It's Brand new!

I bought the Z390 designare in the summer-Great price so I'm building my system around that

I even have a Brand new EK Monoblock for the cpu and Vram, mosfets and caps.

 

[pastrychef]

Hmmm Pastrychef..? I have a gigabyte Z370 Aorus gaming 7 board here, if you're interested? Let me know.
It had a dysfunctional socket so I RMA'd it.They replaced it. I tested it, it posts and runs fine. All memory, specs, cpu and vga is identified. It's Brand new!

I bought the Z390 designare in the summer-Great price so I'm building my system around that

I even have a Brand new EK Monoblock for the cpu and Vram, mosfets and caps.

Thanks!! I appreciate it. I'm okay with my Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming for now. I'm just doing some fine tuning. I have two computer cases and both are mATX cases and I don't want to go any larger.

You should hang on to your Z370 in case you don't like Z390. Personally, I am not eliminating the possibility of returning to my Z370 in the future...

 

[karambit]

I know right..It really Bugged me that EK nor Bitspower made a monoblock for any of the gigabyte Z390 boards as far as I know and I check every 2-3 weeks
I worked really well and fast with my Aorus 7 and a Sapphire Rx580 8 gig doing FCPX, Motion, Logic etc.. BUT I would get these freezes and beachball's of death almost into every project or tutorial. i tried a lot of fixes..lowering voltage on RAM, adding certain patches and what not and then with my fine 6x mag glass, I seen the slightest bent pins around 3 o 'clock .They're mostly ground pins ( 8700K was the cpu) I contacted Cancomputers and they rma'd the board to have the whole socket replaced free of charge obviously.

 

[pastrychef]

I know right..It really Bugged me that EK nor Bitspower made a monoblock for any of the gigabyte Z390 boards as far as I know and I check every 2-3 weeks
I worked really well and fast with my Aorus 7 and a Sapphire Rx580 8 gig doing FCPX, Motion, Logic etc.. BUT I would get these freezes and beachball's of death almost into every project or tutorial. i tried a lot of fixes..lowering voltage on RAM, adding certain patches and what not and then with my fine 6x mag glass, I seen the slightest bent pins around 3 o 'clock .They're mostly ground pins ( 8700K was the cpu) I contacted Cancomputers and they rma'd the board to have the whole socket replaced free of charge obviously.

I'll be interested to hear how you feel about Z390 after you complete your build. Please keep us posted.

 

[kwalter]

Yeah, the Asus Z370 motherboard are really fantastic for hackintoshing. I really wish I didn't have to switch from it.

I believe that most, if not all, the anomalies I experience with my current Gigabyte motherboard are related to lack of NVRAM support. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that fixes are coming anytime soon. Emulated NVRAM kinda works but it sucks compared to real working NVRAM.

Yes, I'm still in the process of fine tuning my Gigabyte motherboard. It's taking longer than I expected...

The Asus rep suggested that I RMA the motherboard, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Every other video card that I've put it in woke from sleep without issues. It's just the Radeon VII. I suspect some one-off issue in BIOS. RMA'ing my motherboard would change nothing.

Just to make you feel better and not alone, my Designare / Radion VII system refused to come out of sleep today as well