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Motherboard Advice


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Hi, I am eager to start my first hackintosh. I want this computer to be able to last me the next multiple years. Probably 5, so i was trying to use the most current tech at my disposal which is currently skylake. I wasn't that crazy about the Gigabyte z170x ud5th that a lot of people over on tonymacx86 seem to be using right now towards their builds since it only has 1 m2 hard drive slot and it is much more expensive than the Gigabyte z170x Gaming 7. I think the gaming 7 looks nicer and should perform all around as a great board but I don't know if I am being foolish by wanting to pick it because of its look and price point. Is there anything inherently wrong with going with that motherboard? The gaming 7 does have a thunderbolt 3 port albeit only one but that should be enough for what I might need in the future. 

 

I have just about every other part already ordered and delivered except for the motherboard, cpu, and ram. It is awful tempting to go for the gaming 7 bundled with the 6600k right now for $415 from newegg. 

 

Is there any reason that the gaming 7 wouldn't work when people seem to already have the gaming 5 working? 

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I don't know what I am talking about.... so keep that in mind and don't make a buying decision based on this...  I am working on my third generation MacOS build after a P45 chipset oldie 6 years ago and a Z87 based one a few years ago.  Skylake is not going as smoothly as those other two, but that is to be expected. 

 

The asus z170-K looks like it could be good for MacOS.  It has a Realtek 8111H based NIC which should be compatible with MacOS. And is has 887 audio, which also should be OK.

 

Many of the Z170 motherboard have Intel I219-V NICs and those still are not working with MacOS. (Right?).  My own motherboard, the Giga Z170x-UD5 (not TH) has a I211 and an I219 and only the 211 works with an added Kext and doesn't come back after sleep/wake.

 

It is way to early to guess about what motherboard will eventually work, but I would say that working Ethernet is at the top of most people's list, just behind "It boots!".

 

If your interested, the z170x-ud5 that I have has a thunderbolt header on the motherboard that combines with an as yet to be released thunderbolt card to provide a thunderbolt port - could be thunderbolt 2 though.  I am not too excited about the number of PCI lanes you have to give up for Thunderbolt3 on the UD5TH for something I may never use.  To support Thunderbolt3, they take away a lot of other stuff if you read the specs.  It is not just UD5 + Thunderbolt = UD5TH.  It is UD5 - (Sata, m.2, and eSATA stuff) + Thunderbolt = UD5TH.

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I don't know what I am talking about.... so keep that in mind and don't make a buying decision based on this...  I am working on my third generation MacOS build after a P45 chipset oldie 6 years ago and a Z87 based one a few years ago.  Skylake is not going as smoothly as those other two, but that is to be expected. 

 

The asus z170-K looks like it could be good for MacOS.  It has a Realtek 8111H based NIC which should be compatible with MacOS. And is has 887 audio, which also should be OK.

 

Many of the Z170 motherboard have Intel I219-V NICs and those still are not working with MacOS. (Right?).  My own motherboard, the Giga Z170x-UD5 (not TH) has a I211 and an I219 and only the 211 works with an added Kext and doesn't come back after sleep/wake.

 

It is way to early to guess about what motherboard will eventually work, but I would say that working Ethernet is at the top of most people's list, just behind "It boots!".

 

If your interested, the z170x-ud5 that I have has a thunderbolt header on the motherboard that combines with an as yet to be released thunderbolt card to provide a thunderbolt port - could be thunderbolt 2 though.  I am not too excited about the number of PCI lanes you have to give up for Thunderbolt3 on the UD5TH for something I may never use.  To support Thunderbolt3, they take away a lot of other stuff if you read the specs.  It is not just UD5 + Thunderbolt = UD5TH.  It is UD5 - (Sata, m.2, and eSATA stuff) + Thunderbolt = UD5TH.

 

 

 

What is your opinion then of the z170x gaming 5? It seems like it is a ud5 but with better possibility of having working onboard thunderbolt. The gaming 7 now has thunderbolt. it looks like the gaming 5 uses the same setup. I guess I can't tell well enough why the gaming 5 would be a bad idea. 
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