SMBIOS & graphics config suggestions

[FormerUser-50757]

Hi all, I’m looking for some SMBIOS & graphics config suggestions/help.

My new setup that I’d like to maximize for video edits is:

10.15.2
9900k
5700xt
z390 Designare mobo

Currently I’m using smbios iMac 19,1 + WEG & LILU, clover 5100 with my 9900k’s igpu working alongside my 5700xt graphics. i feel like my graphics performance is stable and works ok, but benchmarks and render times in some apps could be better in some scenarios.

I am wondering if there’s a better combo of setup that would get me faster or more consistent video realtime and render performance. Apps differ in how the harness the cpu and gpu, but I’m guessing with my gpu, it might outperform my igpu for h264/h265 encoding tasks.

For example - should I : disable the igpu in bios and force the 5700 xt to take care of h264/265 duties and/or use the iMac Pro 1,1 or the new Mac Pro 7,1 smbios. I’ve made myself as aware as possible of the benefits and costs of the different setup options, and am just wondering if anyone suggests any golden method or combo here?

also, with the new Mac Pro and 10.15.2 update, are we anywhere near being able to run dual GPUs in a hack yet?

if anyone has already looked into this with a similar setup, please let me know what your finding ps were.

thanks

 

[jaymonkey]

@FormerUser-50757,

The iMac 19,X SMBIOS should be fine with a Z390 + 9900K + 5700 XT + Headless IGPU setup, the only thing that may give you issues is playback of DRM video & music. Most of these issues can be fixed with the new WEG boot argument shikigva=16 ..... see the DRM section of the Lilu & WEG guide for more info on that :-

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-ins

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-in's Last Update: 22nd Jan 2021 (Add note about OpenCore config.plist modifications) About this Guide Note: This guide was written when Clover was the boot loader of choice as such the config.plist examples in this guide are mostley Clover specific ... if...

www.tonymacx86.com

However you may get better compatibility by using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS which is also detailed in the same section of the guide. However I don't know if it will improve bench marks any more than what you already are getting.

Best bet is to just try it, you can always fall back to your current config if you not happy with it.

Cheers
Jay

 

[FormerUser-50757]

Thanks Jay. I’ll try some different combos Nd see what I get performance wise. Might just be final cut, as DaVinci resolve seems to use everything the system has, whereas final cut seems like it’s not really issuing all it can. I’ve never noticed any DRM issues, but I never watch or listen to apple Music, Netflix etc on this machine.

 

[gabevf]

@jaymonkey you seem to know what you're doing, so I'm gonna hijack this thread and ask:

Hardware: OS: 10.13.6, GPU: 3x 1080ti, CPU: i9-10940X

SMBIOS: Clover 4722 + iMacPro1,1 + Lilu

So far everything's been working well, though GPU rendering (I use lots of CUDA-heavy processes) is not as fast as it is on the Windows side, and I've had intermittent KPs under heavy load.

I'd like to switch to MacPro7,1 (mostly for aesthetics), do you think that's a good idea? any tips on how to go about that?

 

[jaymonkey]

I'd like to switch to MacPro7,1 (mostly for aesthetics), do you think that's a good idea? any tips on how to go about that?

@gabevf,

Switching SMBIOS is pretty straight forward ...

First I would recommend that you make a full clone backup of your system using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper that way if things dont pan out you've got a path back to your current set up.

Once you've got a good backup logout of all Apple on-line services such as iCloud, iMessages, App store ... etc.

Disconnect the system from the internet.

Edit you config file and change the SMBIOS type, S/N, MLB, ROM .. etc. I would also recommend injecting a new/unique SM-UUID .. that way there should be no issues with any Apple on-line services.

You can use GenSMBIOS to generate all the new ID's you need :-

GitHub - corpnewt/GenSMBIOS: Py script that uses acidanthera's macserial to generate SMBIOS and optionally saves them to a plist.

Py script that uses acidanthera's macserial to generate SMBIOS and optionally saves them to a plist. - corpnewt/GenSMBIOS

github.com

Or you can use 3rd party tools such as Clover Configurator or Open Core Configurator depending on the boot loader your using.

Dont forget to check that the new S/N using Apples on-line check utility.
See the iMessage quick guide for details on how to do that :-

An iDiot's Guide To iMessage

Actually this is less of a guide and more of an explanation of the procedures that I use in my own builds in order to enable access to the App Store, iMessage and FaceTime. Do not be offended by the term 'iDiot', it is not intended as an insult but more my attempt at a humorous play on words...

www.tonymacx86.com

Once you happy that the S/N is ok and all critical id's are persistent (you can use iMessage Debug or Hackintool) then you should be able to log back in to Apple services.

One thing to note that neither the iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1 SMBIOS do not officially support Nvidia GPU's ... they can only be purchased with AMD GPU's so those SMBIOS will most likely not have been tested by Nvidia as such you may not get the best out of your Nvidia GPU's with the web drivers.

Another thing to consider is that MacPro7,1 was released with MacOS Catalina so that SMBIOS will most likely not be optimised for running High Sierra as Apple would never have intended it to run High Sierra.

I ditched Nvidia for MacOS a long time ago so i'm no expert on Nvidia compatibility with MacOS these days but I would expect you would get the best compatibility using an old Mac Pro SMBIOS such as MacPro5,1 which does support High Sierra and PCIe Nvidia GPU's.

Good luck
Cheers
Jay

 

[gabevf]

@gabevf,

One thing to note that neither the iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1 SMBIOS officially support Nvidia GPU's ... they can only be purchased with AMD GPU's so those SMBIOS will most likely not have been tested by Nvidia as such you may not get the best out of your Nvidia GPU's with the web drivers.

Another thing to consider is that MacPro7,1 was released with MacOS Catalina so that SMBIOS will most likely not be optimised for running High Sierra as Apple would never have intended it to run High Sierra.

I ditched Nvidia for MacOS a long time ago so i'm no expert on Nvidia compatibility with MacOS these days but I would expect you would get the best compatibility using an old Mac Pro SMBIOS such as MacPro5,1 which does support High Sierra and PCIe Nvidia GPU's.

Ah, this is the secret sauce right here!

Thanks so much for all your info, really helpful in figuring this out

I did some digging, and I think the iMac Pro 1,1 SMBIOS might be best for my machine after all because those machines use the same LGA 2066 CPU socket type as my x299, while the MacPro7,1 uses LGA 3647, and the MacPro5,1 uses the LGA 1366 socket.

 

[jaymonkey]

@gabevf,

When selecting a SMBIOS you must consider your target CPU and GPU not just one or the other, in your case I would think GPU compatibility should be given over the CPU ... most SMBIOS can run most CPU types and if not they can usually be patched using something like CPUFriend :-

GitHub - acidanthera/CPUFriend: Dynamic macOS CPU power management data injection

Dynamic macOS CPU power management data injection. Contribute to acidanthera/CPUFriend development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

That being said X299 can be a bit more picky and if everything is working with the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS then i would tend to stick with that.

You could always try a different SMBIOS on a spare or external boot drive just to see if it works any better before making any changes to your daily driver boot drive.

Cheers
Jay