Contribute
Register

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

@CaseySJ Assuming the motherboards come out Q1 next year with the appropriate processors, will you upgrade at that point but still maintain your Z390 system with the latest applicable MacOS releases?

I'm only asking as if you're not, I'm going to have to curb back spending at Christmas so I can upgrade with you :p. My plan was to keep this system for at least a 3 or so years, but don't mind upgrading earlier if it means you are (and won't be supporting the Z390 further).

Besides, these builds are way cheaper than Mac Pros and even iMacs, and come with more headroom for gaming etc (no thermal limitations, can upgrade SSD whenever etc) so we've saved loads of money in the long-run anyway. A Comparable iMac with i9/16GB RAM/1TB NVMe SSD and a Vega 48 (WHAT!?) comes to a whopping £3600 (granted there's a 5K screen too), which is astounding. I've always only bought MacBook Pros as they're not too bad when it comes to buying and then selling on after a few years, plus would never dream of hacking a laptop as too much effort. But I just can't justify Apple's desktop pricing. The mini is a thermal frying pan when it comes to heat, and I've read/heard setting up eGPUs with the mini and then bootcamping etc is almost as much of a pain as an actual Hackintosh!
 
Has anyone tried single modules of 32GB RAM with Z390 Designare?
i.e a setup with 2x32GB or 4x32GB?

If so, has it caused any problems, what brand and model did you use?

I am using 4x32GB of OLOy memory (least expensive kit I could find). No issues at all. In clover I had to create a custom memory mapping that split it up into 8x16GB, but in OpenCore it works out-of-the-box (P.S. thanks to you and everyone else who have made that amazing guide possible). I have the XMP profile enabled, but the memory speed is set to 2666 (instead of the default 3000 for my kit) because I was having some issues with the machine waking up properly otherwise.
 
Anyone having problems accessing the site today? I'm having to VPN in to access it. Charter/Spectrum is ISP.
 
Sure, please try the modified NVM 50 for GC-Titan Ridge attached here. Because I don't currently own Thunderbolt monitors, I cannot say whether this will work.
@CaseySJ

I flashed this version to my GC-Titan Ridge and it appears to be non-functional for my machine. No devices operate, at all, and the bus does not show up. On first boot attempt, system booted several times and reset bios. Strange.

-Edit

I have gone back to the first patched NVM 50 on my TR card. My devices are recognized again, and I'm seeing the TB bus again, but basically my 4K monitor is not recognized. I want to clarify that I do not have any TB monitors, but I am passing 2 DP channels out of my Radeon VII into my GC-Titan Ridge and then going into a CalDigit TS3 Plus dock. The dock has a built in DP which is where my 4K monitor is plugged in. Originally I could plug my HD monitor into the TB3 port on the dock using a usb-c to HDMI adapter. So far none of the patched firmware I have tried allows the CalDigit DP to be recognized.
 
Last edited:
I am using 4x32GB of OLOy memory (least expensive kit I could find). No issues at all. In clover I had to create a custom memory mapping that split it up into 8x16GB, but in OpenCore it works out-of-the-box (P.S. thanks to you and everyone else who have made that amazing guide possible). I have the XMP profile enabled, but the memory speed is set to 2666 (instead of the default 3000 for my kit) because I was having some issues with the machine waking up properly otherwise.
Thank you for your answer. Great to know that OC works well for you.

I was wondering. Did you have to use another RAM module 16GB or less, just to upgrade the UEFI FW (BIOS) to a UEFI FW with capabilities of 32GB single modules?
 
I don't want to cause thread drift but Elias64Fr encouraged me to post the results, for research purposes (!) with my NUC8i3BEH. thanks to dgsga for modding and posting the NUC8 thunderbolt firmware (post 16,584) and of course to Osy for the original NUC TB firmware work. and to Elias64Fr (via PM) for his help in determining which of the ROM chips on the NUC was the TB chip and his encouragement along the way.

I flashed the NUC firmware with my RPi2B, and because there is a component very close to the Winbond chip I had to sand down one edge of the clip to provide clearance for it to attach.

I used CaseySJ's Alpine Ridge DROM SSDT and changed the UID and recalculated the CRC8.

result: I only have a TB1 seagate HD dock to test, but it works properly, including hot plug. there is only a single TB port on the NUC so I had to eject the HD and remove the dock cable to test USB2 and USB3 via a USB-C to USB-A dongle. both usb2 and 3 work properly including ejecting and reattaching.

so, another success thanks to those above and all the others here who have helped develop and test the firmware and SSDT's.

I'll also note that I have achieved similar results as above with a flashed GC-Alpine Ridge installed in my Z390 Aorus Pro.

@faithie999 @Elias64Fr Firstly, thanks for putting together the custom firmware for the NUC8i3BEH. And major thanks for @CaseySJ too! Can one of you tell me where the ROM chip is on the NUC8i3BEH? I have the same model and I'm planning on flashing it with the custom firmware @CaseySJ has attached in post #16395. Attaching the mainboard images below. Help is appreciated! Thanks :)

nuc8i3beh_mainboard.jpg

nuc8i3beh_fan.jpg
 
Anyone having problems accessing the site today? I'm having to VPN in to access it. Charter/Spectrum is ISP.
I’ve been unable to login all day from both wired and cellular. Cellular seems to be working for the time being, but may stop at any moment.
 
I'm fine on Wired LAN. Good to see you CaseySJ :thumbup:

I'm just using Time machine to restore to High Sierra and then update to Catalina from there
 
I’ve been unable to login all day from both wired and cellular. Cellular seems to be working for the time being, but may stop at any moment.
Hey CaseySJ.

#1 – I’ve changed my SMBIOS lately from iMac 19,1 to test iMac Pro 1,1 and MacPro 7,1 and now back to iMacPro 1,1 and I’m now having a strange issue where my Messages won’t deliver and new ones don’t show up. Everything else iCloud related works fine. I’ve tried logging out and back into icloud but same thing. I’m using native NVRAM; maybe that’s got something to do with it. Any idea what might be causing the non deliveries and inability to get new text updates?

#2 – Also, earlier I thought I saw that you said there was something possibly wrong with the SSDT for AMD acceleration I sent you. What did see anything weird in it?

EDIT: #1 – I figured it out. Would still like your thoughts on #2 though when you get a chance. I also am testing the Radeonboost.kext way for GPU injection and it seems to be a winner as well with no configuration needed in config.plist. Nice speed improvement.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top