(SFF Build) Gigabyte AORUS Z390-I-PRO-WIFI + 9900KS + 5700XT (UPDATED: Catalina 10.15.4)

[aokman]

Components in Build:

• Intel 9900KS (4.7Ghz All Core undervolted to 1.18v for better thermals and silent operation at idle)
• Gigabyte AORUS Z390 I PRO WIFI (F8c BIOS)
• 32GB G.SKILL Trident (3200Mhz)
• Sapphire Nitro+ 5700XT (2x HDMI / 2 x DP) (Modified to run fans at 10% instead of off)
• Corsair MP600 2TB NVMe SSD
• Corsair SF750 Platinum Power Supply
• Noctua NH-U9S
• Streacom DA2 Chassis
• Apple 27" Cinema Display

Software / Hardware I Used:

• Unibeast 10.0.0
• Catalina Base image 10.15.2
• Catalina system offline update 10.15.4
• Clover Configurator
• Samsung 32GB USB3 Key

My process used for install:

1. Download Unibeast 10.0.0 on a Mac running Catalina (Remember to turn off System Integrity Protection (SIP) or USB creation will fail)
2. Create USB key using Unibeast
3. Open my config.plist file using Clover Configurator and change the serial number / board serial number using "Generate New" and save file
4. Delete EFI folder from EFI partition on USB key and replace with my folder
5. Boot USB key and run Catalina installer from Clover boot menu
6. Follow the bouncing ball as usual for an OSX install
7. Once you are at OSX desktop, run and install the 10.15.3 system update (if applicable)
8. Install Clover if desired on system drive and copy across EFI folder from USB key

Important things to note!

• As my SFF build is in a very small case, I am running my CPU undervolted. This Gigabyte board has very poor VCORE management and fluctuates a lot from idle to load, as a result some settings needed to be changed such as setting "CPU Vcore Loadline Calibration" to Turbo to stop severe undervolting and instability.
  
  
• My board also had an issue where it would instantly reboot after running a heavy load and returning to idle. If you run a similar configuration or issue to me, I found that the cause was "CPU Vcore/VAXG Protection" - setting this to 400mv resolved the issue. I suspect the cause was a voltage spike when load is suddenly taken away from the CPU.
  
  
• Other BIOS settings are attached in the images also, most have little to no effect on the system but are just good practice when overclocking.
  
  
• Settings have already been applied for full acceleration and booting of the Radeon 5700XT - The system must be set to iMacPro1,1 definition for proper hardware acceleration and bootflag agdpmod=pikera to boot without a blank screen.
  
  
• This particular 5700XT has an annoying issue in an SFF case where all fans shut off until the card heat soaks and hits 60c which is followed by the fans ramping up fast and loud. Card cools down, fans turn off and around we go again... very annoying. I have attached another config plist with PowerPlay injection that will run the fans at 10% (inaudible) instead of off. Replace the existing config file with the config_5700XTsilent.plist and rename it to config.plist if you want to use it
  
  
• WIFI and Audio are disabled on my build - I use an external DAC with native MacOS support and WIFI is not supported as far as I'm aware

System Status:

Sleep - works!
iMessage - works!
iCloud - works!
Airplay - works!
Apple TV - works!
USB3 All Ports - works!
H.264 / HEVC Hardware Acceleration - works!

 

[vitorpvcampos]

Hey, @aokman , have you had any trouble fitting the MP600 into the mobo?

 

[aokman]

SSD fits great on the back of the board

Original thread also updated for 10.15.4 - Refer to file EFI_v2

100% working with updated CLOVER and KEXTS - all included

 

[vitorpvcampos]

SSD fits great on the back of the board

Original thread also updated for 10.15.4 - Refer to file EFI_v2

100% working with updated CLOVER and KEXTS - all included

Great! Two more questions, if you please:
1 - Can one fit two MP600 in this mobo? Or at least one MP600 and one MP510?
2 - I read in several places on the Internet saying that Gigabyte Designare is the best card for Hackintosh. What do you think? I haven't decided yet ....
Thanks!!!!

 

[aokman]

Great! Two more questions, if you please:
1 - Can one fit two MP600 in this mobo? Or at least one MP600 and one MP510?
2 - I read in several places on the Internet saying that Gigabyte Designare is the best card for Hackintosh. What do you think? I haven't decided yet ....
Thanks!!!!

I have not tried the designare board but I can say this Aorus is as good as it gets when installing a hackintosh, the only exception is the WIFI which basically doesn't work on most boards. I use USB boot and its pretty much plug and play, flawless.

You may be able to run another MP600 but you will have to ditch the factory SSD cooler, personally I think there is no point as you are limited to PCIe x4 Gen3 on current intel chipsets which bottlenecks the SSD anyway. Drop a slightly lower spec one on the front if needed.

 

[essentiial]

Thank you so much for this guide aokman, I'm a newbie here and this mobo is giving me such a hard time with the random restarts. It happens every 10-15 minutes. I have a different CPU so I tried to replicate your bios settings as much as I could. I attached a bunch of pics, can you take a look at them and let me know if I need to make any adjustments? I used your EFI.

Thank you a bunch!

 

[jquequezana]

Hi I have the same PCB motherboard some comment that looks interesting for me is
"Airplay - works!"
You are using other wifi adapter?

Regards

 

[Leopard2000]

oakman, thank you so much for sharing your EFI folder.

On my side I just had to add a patched SSDT for USB configuration to avoid troubles on boot.

 

[hubbobubbo]

@aokman two quick questions out of curiosity since I am looking at getting this same motherboard.
1. Did Bluetooth work using the integrated chipset without problems?
2. Regarding the NvMe and second ssd. I am planning a dual boot with Win10 and MacOS, I am not sure I interpret you comment correctly but is it only one of the m.2 slots that supports NvME and the other one should use a normal ssd?

 

[aokman]

Hi I have the same PCB motherboard some comment that looks interesting for me is
"Airplay - works!"
You are using other wifi adapter?

Regards

Airplay works over normal networking, I have not made any attempts to get onboard WIFI working as it generally doesn't work...

oakman, thank you so much for sharing your EFI folder.

On my side I just had to add a patched SSDT for USB configuration to avoid troubles on boot.

Weird, what issue did you have?

@aokman two quick questions out of curiosity since I am looking at getting this same motherboard.
1. Did Bluetooth work using the integrated chipset without problems?
2. Regarding the NvMe and second ssd. I am planning a dual boot with Win10 and MacOS, I am not sure I interpret you comment correctly but is it only one of the m.2 slots that supports NvME and the other one should use a normal ssd?

1. Haven't tried to get internal BT or WIFI working
2. Both front and back work as full NVMe


Sorry for the late replies, haven't been on in a while!