The 4K Dell OptiMac - 9020 MT - Core i7-4790 - Radeon RX 570 - LG 4K IPS Monitor

[uli27]

A very strange situation has happened. When connected via HDMI / HDMI, the image turns black when loading the apple halfway. But when I leave it on for a long time, it goes to sleep and when I wake it up, I have a normal picture.

If I have a dp / dp monitor connected, the apple image loads normally, the system starts but the problem occurs when waking from sleep, I have a black screen.

 

[bulbmkr]

A very strange situation has happened. When connected via HDMI / HDMI, the image turns black when loading the apple halfway. But when I leave it on for a long time, it goes to sleep and when I wake it up, I have a normal picture.

If I have a dp / dp monitor connected, the apple image loads normally, the system starts but the problem occurs when waking from sleep, I have a black screen.

Bingo! That was my work-around as well

 

[nicksoph]

I'm not with my machine. But I have been reading a bit on the Dell BIOS/UEFI configs, and, if I was able to play. I would be checking;

Does having Intel Management Engine Enabled/Disabled have any effect on sleep/wake with Enable Legacy Option ROM's with NO tick?​

Does the Intel ME setting effect whether the HD 5200 can be changed to 4600?​

Does unlocking CSR and removing the config.plist fix for that, effect PM?​

If anyone is willing to go into the technical bits - a search for 'coderush pm' on this and other sites will produce old but related info. im not able to understand much of it but it seems significant.

 

[lofidub]

Are people able to stream iTunes protected content on these Macs?
I can only watch it if the file is able to be downloaded first, and then it plays from the hard drive. Otherwise, I just see a black screen and the DRM content doesn't load... I have tried with the latest WEG/Lilu, etc.
Everything else is working iCloud, sleep, etc.

 

[trs96]

How to Modify your 7020/9020 MT to use Longer Graphics Cards
​

This Youtube video shows you what tools to use and how to do this correctly. If you have a graphics card 10+ inches in length this is the best way to make it fit without buying a different case. If you don't use 3.5" mechanical hard drives you won't miss the HDD cage anyway. After the drive bay is removed don't forget to clean out all the metal filings in the case. The key point to remember, go slow and be careful not to damage the side of your case. Wear protective eyeware of some kind.

To install a front fan, you'll need more case preparation

​

It is amazing how much better this case looks with these mods. Really so much more "pro" looking than the stock Dell setup. The front fan will pull in a lot more air to cool your GPU so consider that if it will be needed for your high end graphics. Make sure to watch the follow up build videos on this channel. Coming soon.

If you install a 1070 as pictured, you will be limited to using High Sierra as the most current version of macOS. The AMD RX 580 or 590 are probably two better choices if you will be using Mojave/Catalina most of the time instead of Windows.

Here's a video explanation as to why XFX RX 570/580 cards are not suggested for use in your Optiplex.

 

[bluepr0]

How to Modify your 7020/9020 MT to use Longer Graphics Cards
​

This Youtube video shows you what tools to use and how to do this correctly. If you have a graphics card 10+ inches in length this is the best way to make it fit without buying a different case. If you don't use 3.5" mechanical hard drives you won't miss it anyway. After the drive bay is removed don't forget to clean out all the metal filings in the case. Happy drilling.

​

It is amazing how much better this case looks with these mods. Really so much more "pro" looking than the stock Dell setup. The front fan will pull in a lot more air to cool your GPU so consider that if it will be needed for your high end graphics. Make sure to watch the follow up build videos on this channel. Coming soon.

View attachment 431040

If you install a 1070 as pictured, you will be limited to using High Sierra as the most current version of macOS. The AMD RX 580 or 590 are probably two better choices if you will be using Mojave/Catalina most of the time instead of Windows.

Looks nice! I think if you paint it matte black would look even better. Including the little blue pieces of plastic

 

[trs96]

Looks nice! I think if you paint it matte black would look even better. Including the little blue pieces of plastic

When the side panel is on, no one can see that anyway. This is primarily to enable the use of longer than 10 inch graphics cards and to make space for a front fan to increase airflow.

 

[trs96]

Are people able to stream iTunes protected content on these Macs?
I can only watch it if the file is able to be downloaded first, and then it plays from the hard drive. Otherwise, I just see a black screen and the DRM content doesn't load... I have tried with the latest WEG/Lilu, etc.
Everything else is working iCloud, sleep, etc.

Getting DRM content to play on a hackintosh is always a difficult task. The only SMBIOS that seems to work consistently is iMac Pro which has no iGPU. The regular iMac 14,2 or 15,1 usually has problems with this. Some get it to work by completely disabling their iGPU but that is not possible on these Dell systems. You can either have it enabled or running in headless mode. All Haswell CPUs that we use in the OptiMac have HD4600 iGPU. So for guaranteed playback you can use iTunes on a PC or you could simply use a real Mac, Apple TV or iPad to play DRM protected content.

 

[unclejarvis]

Hi all, given the choice between a 9020 i7-4770 MT or a 7020 i7-4790 MT for the same price, which would be the preferred option in your opinions? I have a 7010 SFF that I got up and running thanks to the updated 7010/9010 guide (thanks trs96) and Apple Music works on there. Does anyone know if Apple Music will work on the suggested SMBIOS or if a different SMBIOS can be used if one does not require 4K? Thanks.
-UJ

 

[trs96]

Hi all, given the choice between a 9020 i7-4770 MT or a 7020 i7-4790 MT for the same price, which would be the preferred option

Not much difference between these. The 4790 is a Haswell refresh so it's a year newer and clocked higher. The only difference between a 9020 and 7020 is that the BIOS/UEFI of has a raid option (for the 9020).

Does anyone know if Apple Music will work on the suggested SMBIOS or if a different SMBIOS can be used

It shouldn't make any difference which SMBIOS you use as long as it's compatible with this hardware. 14,2 or 15,1 iMac are the two main ones used. Apple Music will work with either one.