[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

[manHands]

Fortunately you have a good selection to choose from when it comes to SATA PCIe cards. Here are some suggestions:

• Shinestar
  • 4 Port card from Amazon (x1)
  • 6 Port version of same card (x4)
• QNINE
  • 4 Port card from Amazon (x1)
  • 6 Port version of same card (x4)

As you can see, 4-port cards are available in x1 configurations, but 6-port cards jump to x4 because of the need for more bandwidth.

I don't have direct experience with these cards, but if I were in the market for a SATA card, I would most likely start with one of these. Be sure to read the user reviews!

Thanks a lot!!

I've been stalking this thread for a few weeks as I gather all my components for a new Z390 build. Thanks for posting this as I was also looking for a new SATA card, but need an 8 port for 8 HDDs. There are no reviews, but the description does say Mac compatible. Any thoughts on the 8 port QNINE?

QNINE 8 Port SATA Card

 

[CaseySJ]

I've been stalking this thread for a few weeks as I gather all my components for a new Z390 build. Thanks for posting this as I was also looking for a new SATA card, but need an 8 port for 8 HDDs. There are no reviews, but the description does say Mac compatible. Any thoughts on the 8 port QNINE?

QNINE 8 Port SATA Card

As with its 4- and 6-port siblings, I think it may be a good choice. Given its price and Amazon's frustration-free return policy, I would certainly try it. Unfortunately there are no Amazon reviews for it yet so maybe you could be the first!!

 

[Hackintoshron]

@CaseySJ ,

Do you know of any SATA PCIe (preferably x1) card for additional 4-6 drives that would work out of the box on macOS?

This is the one I’m using for my 12TB RAID which is (4) 3TB Enterprise drives together. No drivers necessary: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124056

 

[manHands]

As with its 4- and 6-port siblings, I think it may be a good choice. Given its price and Amazon's frustration-free return policy, I would certainly try it. Unfortunately there are no Amazon reviews for it yet so maybe you could be the first!!

I've got no problem being a guinea pig! Quick follow-up though...

I'll either be going with the Aorus Ultra or Master. I'll have all three M.2 slots occupied, and a Vega 56 in the PCIX16 slot. So this SATA card will either need to go into the PCIEX8 slot (thus forcing the PCIX16 slot to operate in X8 mode), or the PCIEX4 slot (which would operate in X2 mode since M2P would be occupied).

I'm hesitant to install it in the X8 slot (even though I've read the Vega operating in X8 makes no difference). So I'll probably go for the X4 slot. Since I'll have 8 7200k RPM HDDs on the SATA card, will the card working in X2 mode create a bottleneck? My head hurts trying to do the math, but I can't imagine so with the limited read/write speeds of HDDs (even in a software appleRaid). What's the easiest way to figure this math out?

Depending on the answer above, is this card overkill for just HDDs? Will the slew of 8 port PCIe 2.0 X2 cards out there suffice? Or should I just stay away from those completely and rather look for PCIe 3.0 Xn cards?

 

[CaseySJ]

So I'll probably go for the X4 slot. Since I'll have 8 7200k RPM HDDs on the SATA card, will the card working in X2 mode create a bottleneck? My head hurts trying to do the math, but I can't imagine so with the limited read/write speeds of HDDs (even in a software appleRaid). What's the easiest way to figure this math out?

Depending on the answer above, is this card overkill for just HDDs? Will the slew of 8 port PCIe 2.0 X2 cards out there suffice? Or should I just stay away from those completely and rather look for PCIe 3.0 Xn cards?

Back of the napkin calculations:

• Assuming an average sustained data rate of 150MB/s per drive or 1.25 Gbps, this gives us exactly 10 Gbps when applied cumulatively to all 8 drives.
• One PCIe 3.0 lane has a rate of 8 GT/s or about 7.88 Gbps.
• Two PCIe 3.0 lanes (16 GT/s) should therefore be perfectly okay.
• If the card is PCIe 2.0, it will operate at 5 GT/s per lane or about 4 Gbps.
• With two PCIe 2.0 lanes, you get 10 GT/s or 8 Gbps. In this case you are certainly saturating the bus.

Edit: Corrected GT/s versus Gbps as follows:

• PCIe 3.0 needs 130 bits to encode 128 bits of data. Hence 8 GT/s * (128/130) = 7.88 Gbps.
• PCIe 2.0 needs 10 bits to encode 8 bits of data. Hence 5 GT/s * (8/10) = 4 Gbps.

 

[manHands]

Back of the napkin calculations:

• Assuming an average sustained data rate of 150MB/s per drive or 1.25 Gbps, this gives us exactly 10 Gbps when applied cumulatively to all 8 drives.
• One PCIe 3.0 lane has a rate of 8 GT/s or about 7.88 Gbps.
• Two PCIe 3.0 lanes (16 GT/s) should therefore be perfectly okay.
• If the card is PCIe 2.0, it will operate at 5 GT/s per lane or about 4 Gbps.
• With two PCIe 2.0 lanes, you get 10 GT/s or 8 Gbps. In this case you are certainly saturating the bus.

Edit: Corrected GT/s versus Gbps as follows:

• PCIe 3.0 needs 130 bits to encode 128 bits of data. Hence 8 GT/s * (128/130) = 7.88 Gbps.
• PCIe 2.0 needs 10 bits to encode 8 bits of data. Hence 5 GT/s * (8/10) = 4 Gbps.

Thanks for laying this out! Looks like PCIe 3.0 in 2 lanes is what I'll go with which is good as it'll keep my X8 slot open (maybe for future 2nd GPU). I'll pick up this 8 port QNINE card and report back.

 

[CaseySJ]

Thanks for laying this out! Looks like PCIe 3.0 in 2 lanes is what I'll go with which is good as it'll keep my X8 slot open (maybe for future 2nd GPU). I'll pick up this 8 port QNINE card and report back.

The 6-port QNINE card is PCIe 2.0. Although the same specs are not stated for the 8-port card, it may also be PCIe 2.0!

 

[manHands]

The 6-port QNINE card is PCIe 2.0. Although the same specs are not stated for the 8-port card, it may also be PCIe 2.0!

View attachment 393760

Ah yuck. Good catch. I'll email the seller before I waste my time buying, trying, and returning since even PCIx 2.0 X4 (and only using in X2 mode) would be pushing it for my needs.

 

[michelegelmini]

Newbie here. I followed your great guide and I actually made it in the first place. My build is exactly the same as yours (exept for RAM and case).
I did not finished everything, I stop at half of the post-installation section (Mojave was working!), I needed to go away and when I was back the computer was in standby. Black screen and nothing. I tried to reboot but nothing, it won't.
So I tried the process again from the start but now it's stuck in the first attempt to boot the USB drive. Specifically saying "Start ReadKernelCache". Help please

 

[CaseySJ]

Newbie here. I followed your great guide and I actually made it in the first place. My build is exactly the same as yours (exept for RAM and case).
I did not finished everything, I stop at half of the post-installation section (Mojave was working!), I needed to go away and when I was back the computer was in standby. Black screen and nothing. I tried to reboot but nothing, it won't.
So I tried the process again from the start but now it's stuck in the first attempt to boot the USB drive. Specifically saying "Start ReadKernelCache". Help please

This being your first post, welcome to the forum! But please update your profile (Account Details) by entering the name of your Motherboard, CPU, and GPU. This is required by all members when asking for help because after your second or third post we will not remember what components you have.

There are several ways of dealing with the ReadKernelCache problem:

• Shutdown computer and remove power cable for 10 seconds. Then re-plug and see if the problem goes away.
• If problem remains, boot the "Recovery" volume from Clover Boot Menu. Normally you would select the option to "Boot MacOS Mojave", but choose to boot the Recovery Volume.
  • If this works, run Terminal from the Tools menu.
  • Type the following:
    

    cd /
    kextcache -i /Volumes/Mojave

  • Select Reboot from the Apple menu.
  • When Clover appears, choose "Boot macOS from Mojave".
• If problem still remains, re-flash the motherboard BIOS then apply all of the BIOS parameters once again, starting with Load Optimized Defaults.