- Joined
- May 19, 2011
- Messages
- 45
- Motherboard
- ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero Z390 (WiFi)
- CPU
- i9-9900K
- Graphics
- Radeon VII
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
Components
ASUS ROG Maximus XI HERO (WI-Fi) Motherboard [Amazon]
Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 16GB 3200 MHz C16 RAM [Amazon]
Intel Core i9-9900K Processor [Amazon]
Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R RGB All-in-one 360mm CPU cooler [Amazon]
AMD Radeon VII 16GB Graphics Card [Amazon] (currently being only sold by 3rd party scalpers who ask > $800 for it) [Alternative link with better prices]
Intel 760p 1 TB NVMe SSD (Boot drive for Windows 10) [Amazon]
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB HDD (macOS) [Amazon]
Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB HDD (shared storage) [Amazon]
TP-LINK Archer T4U V2 AC1300 Wi-Fi 802.11ac Adapter (EU) [Amazon (link to newer? V3 adapter)]
Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000W PSU [Amazon]
Thermaltake Core P90 Tempered Glass ATX Open Frame Tower [Amazon]
HP ENVY 32" 2560x1440 60Hz FreeSync Monitor [Discontinued; unavailable on Amazon/Newegg]
ASUS ROG Claymore Mechanical Keyboard Cherry MX Red [Amazon]
Comments
I've had the same PC from all the way back in 2012, and it was able to run the latest version of OS X pretty much out of the box without extra config until the whole NVIDIA driver problem when macOS High Sierra was launched. I saved up a bit and splurged it all on a fancy-schmancy PC. Due to work, I'm forced to use Windows as a daily driver, but I can't quit running macOS on my PC for something as silly as work constraints.
For setup, I wasn't able to boot up Clover straight out of the USB drive with Unibeast. I had to edit and backup config.plist, install Clover v.4920 and manually select the kexts and drivers to boot macOS Installer. Here are the drivers I chose for the successful bootup (Some may not have been necessary but that's what made it boot up finally):
- ApfsDriverLoader-64.efi
- AppleImageCodec-64.efi
- AppleKeyAggregator-64.efi
- AppleKeyFeeder-64.efi
- AptioMemoryFix-64.efi
- AudioDxe-64.efi
- DataHubDxe-64.efi
- EmuVariableUefi-64.efi
- FSInject-64.efi
- NvmExpressDxe-64.efi
- PartitionDxe-64.efi
- SMCHelper-64.efi
- VBoxHfs-64.efi
I kept the same config.plist from the Unibeast installation and only edited a single field. Under Boot, I set Debug to false. Otherwise, Clover would load slower than molasses in January.
* BIOS
I followed the usual recommendations set out in the basic guide on this website. After setting the system back to factory settings, I placed the following settings:
- Overclocker Tuner -> X.M.P I
- Xtreme Tweaking -> Enabled
- USB Config > Legacy USB Support -> Enabled
- USB Config > EHCI Hands Off -> Enabled
- Advanced > System Agent (SA) Config > Primary Display > PCIE
- VT-d -> Disabled
- Secure Boot -> Disabled
- OS Type -> Other OS
- Launch CSM -> Disabled
- Fast Boot -> Enabled
- Boot Logo Display -> Enabled
This part is easy enough. Resetting and jumping into the installation, I mashed F8 until the boot override menu appeared. I selected the USB drive and booted with the following boot args:
dart=0 -v nv_disable=1
This way I could see what's going on as the installer loaded. A few seconds later, I was greeted with the Installer GUI. It's all standard fare here; I formatted a hard drive to APFS and named it "Macintosh HD". The installation process was quick. I had to be nearby and override the boot to the USB a couple times or it would boot into Windows. (I was too lazy to set the boot priority in BIOS, whatever lol). Make sure to select the HDD when in Clover, not the USB installer.
After the last reboot, I was able to set up my new macOS. I had Multibeast and the Wi-Fi dongle drivers on the USB installer, so I loaded both. For Multibeast I selected the following settings:
Code:
>Drivers
>Audio
>AppleALC
>Misc
>FakeSMC
>FakeSMC Plugins
>FakeSMC HWMonitor Application
>Network
>Intel
>IntelMausiEthernet v2.4.0
>USB
>Remove XHCI USB Port Limit
>Bootloaders
(nothing here. I had to install Clover similarly to how I created the USB installer to use the latest version)
>Customize
>System Definitions
>iMac
>iMac 19,1
Note that I haven't installed Clover, Lilu or WhateverGreen just yet. I downloaded the latest versions from Clover's homepage and tonymacx86's Downloads/Kexts tab. I also grabbed KextBeast and slapped the kexts to Desktop. Using KextBeast, I installed Lilu and WhateverGreen.kext to /Library/Extensions. I also copied the following kexts to EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other on the EFI partition:
- AppleALC.kext
- FakeSMC.kext
- Lilu.kext
- WhateverGreen.kext
- ApfsDriverLoader-64.efi
- AptioMemoryFix-64.efi
- AudioDxe-64.efi
- DataHubDxe-64.efi
- FSInject-64.efi
- PartitionDxe-64.efi
- SMCHelper-64.efi
- VBoxHfs-64.efi
Shut down was still not working at this point. To fix that, I downloaded Clover Configurator, loaded config.plist and enabled ACPI > Fix Shutdown.
Benchmarks
I do get better results on Windows for some reason. I think it's because of better optimization and drivers. I don't know if there is a way to increase performance on macOS. :/
What Works
Graphics acceleration (monitor is detected at native res/refresh rate), Audio, stability and basically everything I tried so far. iCloud and iMessage work fine.
What Doesn't Work
Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are not supported by macOS, so I use dongles instead.
EDIT: Image Preview doesn't work right out of the box. To fix this issue, I downloaded the latest version of NoVPAJpeg, a Lilu plugin kext and installed it to Library/Extensions using KextBeast. I also copied it to the kexts folder in Clover but I think that wasn't necessary per se.
Pictures
Putting together this gizmo was fun but a bit time-consuming. The case was ridiculously heavy (~50 pounds empty) and it arrived disassembled so this felt like putting together an IKEA table. Other than the wacky case, it's a standard PC building procedure. Just follow the manuals, take your time and don't hurt your back by hunching all the time as I did
Wrapping Up
This PC is bonkers. I wanted a computer that looks nothing like the usual rectangular boxes. The case is more form than function but it's fully featured and looks stunning. Performance on both macOS and Windows is a dream. Coming from a 7-year old machine, this is a huge shift.
Thanks to this community, I wouldn't have had the resources nor help to install macOS on my PC. I've been here for just under eight years and I've been making my computers into Hackintoshes since Mac OS X Tiger went Intel, so I think it's proper to thank everyone here for taking the time to post all the tips and guides that helped me along since then.
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