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pastrychef's build - Asus Maximus VIII Gene - i7-7700K - GTX 1080

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Yes, I don't have any problems with my content right now. But I according to Jellyfish Bitrate Test Files:

Screen Shot 2017-07-07 at 10.21.34 AM.png


I tested the 140 Mbps video using Iina (Project IINA - The modern video player for macOS ) on Skylake and it was choppy. The same video on Kaby Lake should be smooth at 30fps.
 
As I’d mentioned earlier, I scored an i7-7700K CPU for $280 recently. Originally, I had planned on waiting for Apple to release macOS Sierra 10.12.6 because it offered official support for Kaby Lake, but all the talk recently got me worked up and I couldn’t wait anymore… So, I decided to go ahead with the upgrade ahead of the 10.12.6 release.

I didn’t even bother with testing the CPU and just went right to delidding it as I had previously done with my i7-6700K. This time around, I think I did a neater job. When I removed the old CPU, I had to clean off the old liquid metal from the CPU and heatsink. It wasn’t hard, just a bit messy.

BIOS version 2202 did allow me to boot with the i7-7700K, but the system acted strangely. The Asus A.I. Suite was not able to overclock the CPU properly. I really, really wanted to stay with 2202 for the native NVRAM but it just didn’t work well.

With great reluctance, I upgraded the BIOS to 3401. Now, the A.I. Suite was finally able to properly overclock the CPU and I walked away with a stable 5.1GHz. Temperatures seem to be about 4-5C hotter than my old i7-6700K with lows at idle at about 33C to about 77C at full load. I continue to use the same Noctua NH-D15S which has proven to be extremely efficient and amazingly quiet.

Since macOS Sierra 10.12.5 doesn’t have native support for Kaby Lake, I had to use FakeCPUID in my config.plist and create a new ssdt.aml. Secondly, I had to install the EmuVariableUefi-64.efi and RC scripts because I upgraded my BIOS. The last thing I needed to do was install FakePCIID.kext and FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics.kext for Quick Sync to work. That’s it. No other changes needed to be made for macOS to continue to work as it had.

Recap of what needed to be done to make i7-7700K work with my existing install:
  • Upgrade BIOS to 3401. (for better Kaby Lake CPU support)
  • Use FakeCPUID in config.plist. (to fake Skylake CPU)
  • Create new ssdt.aml. (for better speed step and power management)
  • Install EmuVariableUefi-64.efi and RC Scripts. (needed for BIOS 3401)
  • Install FakePCIID.kext and FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics.kext. (for Quick Sync to work)

As per my usual modus operandi, I didn’t bother to do a clean install as I didn’t think it was necessary. In my brief testing, everything continues to work as it had including sleep/wake, Quick Sync, iBooks, Messages/Continuity, etc. Once macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is released, I should be able to just remove the FakeCPUID and continue rolling along.

Previously, I had looked in to the new 200-series motherboards but decided against it because, apparently, the new Kaby Lake iMacs are still using Z170 chipset. Also, it would save me a few bucks and quite a few hours from the hardware install and software tweaking to achieve this level of stability.

Screen Shot 2017-07-07 at 7.24.03 AM.png Screen Shot 2017-07-07 at 7.32.17 AM.png
 
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Nvidia finally released their web drivers for Sierra 10.12.6 and I upgraded macOS immediately.

Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 2.58.53 AM.png

Since I've upgraded my CPU to an i7-7700K, I had to make a few changes to my config.plist after updating to 10.12.6 to take advantage of the new native support for Kaby Lake.

In Clover Configurator:
  • Devices section, leave IntelGFX blank.
  • Devices section, delete AAPLGfxyTile. It's no longer needed.
  • Graphics section, change ig-platform-id to 0x59120003. This will keep Quick Sync enabled.
  • Kernel and Kext Patches section, leave FakeCPUID blank.
  • Kernel and Kext Patches section, delete AppleIntelSKLGraphicsFrameBuffer since we are no longer using it.
Also, I installed Lilu.kext, NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext, and IntelGraphicsFixup.kext.

Update:
Forum member mlg has come up with a great solution to fix iBooks and Xcode bug:
Releases · mologie/NVWebDriverLibValFix · GitHub

I tested the iMac18,3 system definition briefly but will stay with iMac17,1 for now because I noticed some weird anomalies...
  1. Some of my USB devices were not appearing while other devices on the same hub did appear.
  2. My 10GbE PCI-e card was not seen.
For now, I recommend that everyone using this Gene motherboard stick with either iMac14,2 or iMac17,1 system definition for now.

Update #2:
I tried iMac18,3 system definition again with the latest version of USBInjectAll.kext and all my issues have been resolved. :clap:
 
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pastrychef said:
Nvidia finally released their web drivers for Sierra 10.12.6 and I upgraded macOS immediately.

[snip]
Since I've upgraded my CPU to an i7-7700K, I had to make a few changes to my config.plist after updating to 10.12.6 to take advantage of the new native support for Kaby Lake.

In Clover Configurator:
  • Devices section, leave IntelGFX blank.
  • Devices section, delete AAPLGfxyTile. It's no longer needed.
  • Graphics section, change ig-platform-id to 0x59120003. This will keep Quick Sync enabled.
  • Kernel and Kext Patches section, leave FakeCPUID blank.
  • Kernel and Kext Patches section, delete AppleIntelSKLGraphicsFrameBuffer since we are no longer using it.
Also, I installed Lilu.kext, NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext, and IntelGraphicsFixup.kext.

Update:
Forum member mig has come up with a great solution to fix iBooks and Xcode bug:
Releases · mologie/NVWebDriverLibValFix · GitHub

[snip]
Click to expand...

Hi Pastrychef — you've been giving me great help with a build in Stork's guide forum. Since I'm at the software install stage and facing considerable rework, I'm wondering whether I should jump to a 10.12.6 build. Your experience is very encouraging. I have the Gene and BIOS 3401. The main differences are I have:
Kaby Lake I5-7600K
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 2666MHz RAM
Gigabyte GTX 1050 D5 2G
Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD (run AHCI) I'll add HDD later

No hurry, but I'd be grateful for you advice.
 
Yes, I just updated to 10.12.6 on my Gene last night. So far, everything seems fine and you should not have any problems.

A few tips:
  • Continue using the SMBIOS that you are currently using. Do not try the iMac18,x system definitions.
  • After updating to 10.12.6, you can clear FakeCPUID in your config.plist.
  • Keep the Integrated GPU disable for now. Get everything up and running properly first. You can enable it later if you wish.
Glad I am able to help. Don't be shy with questions, there are many helpful members here.
 
pastrychef said:
Yes, I just updated to 10.12.6 on my Gene last night. So far, everything seems fine and you should not have any problems.

A few tips:
  • Continue using the SMBIOS that you are currently using. Do not try the iMac18,x system definitions.
  • After updating to 10.12.6, you can clear FakeCPUID in your config.plist.
  • Keep the Integrated GPU disable for now. Get everything up and running properly first. You can enable it later if you wish.
Glad I am able to help. Don't be shy with questions, there are many helpful members here.
Click to expand...
Pastrychef, would you mind explaining the purpose of these items, as I'm also on BIOS 3401:
EmuVariableUefi-64.efi
RC scripts
Lilu.kext
NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext

I'll go through your guide to see what other kexts and patches you have used that are different from the guide I've been following. The efi above might address some of my problems.
 
EmuVariableUefi-64.efi + RC scripts work together to emulate NVRAM. BIOS versions 2202 and prior had native support for NVRAM, but we lost it in subsequent versions of BIOS so these two are needed.

Lilu.kext and NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext is need only if you are using iMac17,1 or MacPro6,1 system definitions because using either of these system definitions would result in a black screen on boot. These two kexts fix the black screen issue. There are other workarounds but this one is easy to implement and won't break with macOS updates.
 
pastrychef said:
As I’d mentioned earlier, I scored an i7-7700K CPU for $280 recently. Originally, I had planned on waiting for Apple to release macOS Sierra 10.12.6 because it offered official support for Kaby Lake, but all the talk recently got me worked up and I couldn’t wait anymore… So, I decided to go ahead with the upgrade ahead of the 10.12.6 release.

I didn’t even bother with testing the CPU and just went right to delidding it as I had previously done with my i7-6700K. This time around, I think I did a neater job. When I removed the old CPU, I had to clean off the old liquid metal from the CPU and heatsink. It wasn’t hard, just a bit messy.

BIOS version 2202 did allow me to boot with the i7-7700K, but the system acted strangely. The Asus A.I. Suite was not able to overclock the CPU properly. I really, really wanted to stay with 2202 for the native NVRAM but it just didn’t work well.

With great reluctance, I upgraded the BIOS to 3401. Now, the A.I. Suite was finally able to properly overclock the CPU and I walked away with a stable 5.1GHz. Temperatures seem to be about 4-5C hotter than my old i7-6700K with lows at idle at about 33C to about 77C at full load. I continue to use the same Noctua NH-D15S which has proven to be extremely efficient and amazingly quiet.

Since macOS Sierra 10.12.5 doesn’t have native support for Kaby Lake, I had to use FakeCPUID in my config.plist and create a new ssdt.aml. Secondly, I had to install the EmuVariableUefi-64.efi and RC scripts because I upgraded my BIOS. The last thing I needed to do was install FakePCIID.kext and FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics.kext for Quick Sync to work. That’s it. No other changes needed to be made for macOS to continue to work as it had.

Recap of what needed to be done to make i7-7700K work with my existing install:
  • Upgrade BIOS to 3401. (for better Kaby Lake CPU support)
  • Use FakeCPUID in config.plist. (to fake Skylake CPU)
  • Create new ssdt.aml. (for better speed step and power management)
  • Install EmuVariableUefi-64.efi and RC Scripts. (needed for BIOS 3401)
  • Install FakePCIID.kext and FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics.kext. (for Quick Sync to work)

As per my usual modus operandi, I didn’t bother to do a clean install as I didn’t think it was necessary. In my brief testing, everything continues to work as it had including sleep/wake, Quick Sync, iBooks, Messages/Continuity, etc. Once macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is released, I should be able to just remove the FakeCPUID and continue rolling along.

Previously, I had looked in to the new 200-series motherboards but decided against it because, apparently, the new Kaby Lake iMacs are still using Z170 chipset. Also, it would save me a few bucks and quite a few hours from the hardware install and software tweaking to achieve this level of stability.

View attachment 265792 View attachment 265793
Click to expand...

5.1 ghz??? You are extremely lucky! How much ram do you have?

Speaking about BIOS versions, if you want a more vanilla build, I have kept bios 2202, but I updated the CPU microcode with this tool http://www.win-raid.com/t154f16-Tool-Guide-News-quot-UEFI-BIOS-Updater-quot-UBU.html
So I have a "modded" BIOS. I have a 2202 with NVRAM writable with the latest CPU support.

If you want to try my BIOS, you have to use bios flashback.
P.S. pay attention: the USB port indicated in the manual is the wrong one!!! look carefully behind your mob and you will find the correct USB port
 

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