z590 // z490, MSI and F CPUs

[caniggia]

Hi all! Since 10th gen is a tad ... old some prices got a bit higher. So after searching all forum, golden builds and buying advises i got some questions:

Z490 vs Z590
I can see that all buying suggestions are strictly Z490. Shall i forget Z590? They are cheaper ...

MSI
msi's Z490 are significantly cheaper compared to the rest remaining Z490s in the market. ex. the Z490 Pro. But they are not included in the buying proposals or the golden builds. I found a post thought that claims it works great. Any thoughts, experience or wisdom on the matter ... ?

F CPU
F CPUs do not have IGPU, i couldn't care less and they are much more cheaper. Will i have a problem with macOS compatibility?

cheers all!!

 

[trs96]

I can see that all buying suggestions are strictly Z490. Shall i forget Z590? They are cheaper ...

I've not bought anything 11th gen or newer. From the posts I've read, Z590/690 require that you have the specific BIOS version installed that works well with macOS. You can figure this out by learning from other people's posts that describe what works the best with a certain board. That seems to be a key sticking point when you venture into builds with unsupported chipsets. It seems to be a non-issue when using Z490 or older chipsets in a hack.

 

[Edhawk]

Using an 'F' CPU is fine as long as you have a macOS compatible discrete GPU. Your RX 6600 XT is compatible with Monterey 12.1 or newer releases.

You need to use a SMBIOS / System Definition for a iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1 when running Monterey/Ventura or Sonoma. As these two Apple systems rely on the discrete GPU for all graphics processes.

MSI boards can work just fine. I have found they take a little more work to get 100% correct than say an Asus or Gigabyte motherboard.

As @trs96 said the bios used can make a huge difference to how the MSI board behaves when running macOS. This is why they are not listed in the buyers guide, as they are not as straightforward or compatible out of the box as some other boards.

Paying more for an Asus or Gigabyte board might save you some grief when it comes to creating your new Hack.

 

[caniggia]

Using an 'F' CPU is fine as long as you have a macOS compatible discrete GPU. Your RX 6600 XT is compatible with Monterey 12.1 or newer releases.

You need to use a SMBIOS / System Definition for a iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1 when running Monterey/Ventura or Sonoma. As these two Apple systems rely on the discrete GPU for all graphics processes.

This is good news. Will a macPro7,1 SMBIOS have troubles with a 10th gen Z490 though? They shipped with 9th, didn't they?

MSI boards can work just fine. I have found they take a little more work to get 100% correct than say an Asus or Gigabyte motherboard.

As @trs96 said the bios used can make a huge difference to how the MSI board behaves when running macOS. This is why they are not listed in the buyers guide, as they are not as straightforward or compatible out of the box as some other boards.

Paying more for an Asus or Gigabyte board might save you some grief when it comes to creating your new Hack.

I understand. It is such a huge difference though. More than 150 euro more for an Asus or Gigabyte. Very few models remaining. But above all i got bargain here...

- MSI Z490-A Pro Motherboard ATX. Intel 1200 Socket 122,59 €
- Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB DDR4 RAM 2 Modules (2x16GB) 3600 81,63 €
- Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9GHz 97,89 €

 

[Edhawk]

You can use either an iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1 SMBIOS with the 10th Gen CPU. AMD system use these two SMBIOS's to run macOS, and they don't have any issues due to the SMBIOS. So the difference between using a 9th and 10th Gen CPU will be negligible.

OK, at under 400 Euro for the three main components in your new Hack it is understandable why you want to go with the MSI board.

So to clarify; Creating a hack with an MSI board as the base is totally feasible, but can be a bit more tricky. I am not saying don't use an MSI board, just that you need to be aware that it might not be as simple a process to run macOS on this system as it would if you were using an Asus or Gigabyte board. Once it is up and running you won't notice any difference.

You might be fortunate with the bios installed working without any issues. But that is a risk you need to accept when selecting to buy the MSI board.

At the end of the day, economics plays a big role in which components everyone uses. 150+ Euro price difference for a more compatible board does seem a bit steep.

 

[caniggia]

Thank you so much for your help.
We are talking a 302 euros for the above build. it is irresistible.
The funny part is that after reading what you said about MSI boards i realized a "BUT" in the title of the post i referred to as an MSI Z490 success story.
i mean... @sergzel WHY???

anyways, i ll take 6 deep breaths and i then decide !
(wait .. was it 6 or 10 ??? )

 

[Edhawk]

The post you linked is neither a guide nor a good base, as the poster hasn't really provided any background in to the workings, options selected, trials and tribulations faced while creating the system. Posting an EFI folder is not a guide. It can be used as a shortcut to getting your system booting macOS, but do not rely on it to be 100% accurate.

There are better, more thorough and clearer guides for an Z490 system such as this one linked below.

[GUIDE] OC 10.13.6 Z490 Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme + Core i5 10400 / i9 11900K + Nvidia GTX 1060

Not long ago, it was said that it was impossible to boot a Z490 based 11-gen system on High Sierra, and it was also said that it could not run Opencore. Well folks, this is the guide you've all been waiting for! This system is both High Sierra AND Mojave compatible...

www.tonymacx86.com

While it isn't an MSI board, the guide is much clearer and has some depth to it, unlike the post you linked.

 

[etorix]

This is good news. Will a macPro7,1 SMBIOS have troubles with a 10th gen Z490 though? They shipped with 9th, didn't they?

If SMBIOS compatibility is required, go for Z490 and a non-F CPU, as this allows to use an iMac SMBIOS with iGPU support (for display or headless).

 

[caniggia]

The post you linked is neither a guide nor a good base, as the poster hasn't really provided any background in to the workings, options selected, trials and tribulations faced while creating the system. Posting an EFI folder is not a guide. It can be used as a shortcut to getting your system booting macOS, but do not rely on it to be 100% accurate.

There are better, more thorough and clearer guides for an Z490 system such as this one linked below.

[GUIDE] OC 10.13.6 Z490 Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme + Core i5 10400 / i9 11900K + Nvidia GTX 1060

Not long ago, it was said that it was impossible to boot a Z490 based 11-gen system on High Sierra, and it was also said that it could not run Opencore. Well folks, this is the guide you've all been waiting for! This system is both High Sierra AND Mojave compatible...

www.tonymacx86.com

While it isn't an MSI board, the guide is much clearer and has some depth to it, unlike the post you linked.

You are right, I know. It was the only succesfull post i found in the forum running Ventura. Or at least reporting it does. I have pinned few detailed builds that i found in github and i am already studying the ones from the golden builds on Z490. So many years i am struggling with X79 which where always a pain and then i got me the worst possible CPU i could. So although never say never, i a ready to mess with this MSI

 

[caniggia]

ok so just to clear this post out:
MSI, z490 (in my case MSI Z490-A Pro) + F CPU (my case i5- 10400F) seems to work flawlessly !
Thank you everybody for your precious advise (as always in this community).
Haven't done a macOS upgrade yet but all in all i had it up and running in 4-5 days more or less.
Could be i was lucky cause bios didn't troubled me at all.
Anyway i'll create a different post for that.

Just wanted to answer my question in case anyone has the same combination in his/her mind.