Success with High Sierra on i9-7900x X299 GA Aorus 9, Radeon Vega

[Arkanis]

Vega is the way to go now... and the combination of two of them + metal 2 + optimized software is going to be awesome. The path is getting clearer now... and when you see that with a low end AMD card you can now edit 4K+ footage without a hitch on FCPX, compared to that Premiere CC is drag... even with top cards like the 1080Ti.

[Philterino]

I guess the Nvidia thing could be part of the problem... but I think my Geekbench scores are WAY off for multicore. the lower ones on GB are around 30000... most seem to be around 38000... most seem to be like 6 or 7 times the single core speeds... so im just wondering is there something ive missed.

 

Im using thePMDrvr.kext. etc. but i havnt done any custom SSDT as i cant get the app to work due to unsupported CPU.

 

Not sure what to look at next.

[PunkNugget]

I had a good chance to talk with one of these programmers that said that for now high sierra Beta is working, but what if Apple gets smart and decides to change things to make things not work for the current X299/7900X set up? Something that I did not consider. I am committed to it now so hopefully that will not happen. What are your thoughts surfinchina?

[Philterino]

Apple's Mac OS X software was programmed to to work natively with Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs and it's showing itself to be true. You're using Nvidia GPU (and an old GPU at that)..

Aren't Geekbench scores CPU and memory only so the GPU should make any difference?

 

Regardless of what GPU should I not be able to get same score as Surfchina if I had the same cooling and settings etc.?

[surfinchina]

Aren't Geekbench scores CPU and memory only so the GPU should make any difference?

 

Regardless of what GPU should I not be able to get same score as Surfchina if I had the same cooling and settings etc.?

 

Right, this one first

I'm pretty sure it's your bios. I got similar scores when I changed some things in there to settings that a certain other person has posted on another site. Which is a lesson that we should never take anything seriously over there haha.

In advanced frequency settings, advanced CPU core settings you will have this:

 

 

Don't worry about the package TDP limit, that's just for overclocking so leave it on auto.

note turbo boost is set to legacy. Apple doesn't support native yet.

note energy efficient turbo off, EIST off, the rest is auto or enabled.

 

You don't need any kexts or patches for xcpm, in fact they hurt, not help. PMDriver doesn't hurt but it gives me a 8 speedsteps instead of 6, so it's not that important.

 

Here is a kext to enable audio attached:

VoodooHDA.kext.zip

[Philterino]

Right, this one first

I'm pretty sure it's your bios. I got similar scores when I changed some things in there to settings that a certain other person has posted on another site. Which is a lesson that we should never take anything seriously over there haha.

In advanced frequency settings, advanced CPU core settings you will have this:

 

20170826_083822.jpg

 

Don't worry about the package TDP limit, that's just for overclocking so leave it on auto.

note turbo boost is set to legacy. Apple doesn't support native yet.

note energy efficient turbo off, EIST off, the rest is auto or enabled.

 

You don't need any kexts or patches for xcpm, in fact they hurt, not help. PMDriver doesn't hurt but it gives me a 8 speedsteps instead of 6, so it's not that important.

 

Here is a kext to enable audio attached:

Awesome thanks... yeah I did use the bios settings from some person on some other site. I will give this a go.

[surfinchina]

I had a good chance to talk with one of these programmers that said that for now high sierra Beta is working, but what if Apple gets smart and decides to change things to make things not work for the current X299/7900X set up? Something that I did not consider. I am committed to it now so hopefully that will not happen. What are your thoughts surfinchina?

 

I don't exactly know what Apple are thinking, but these rumours float around constantly. Some people prefer to look on the gloomy side and look for worst case scenarios. This is not me.

The hackintosh community is way small and completely unimportant to Apple. They barely know we exist.

I'm pretty sure nobody has found any code to support these rumours.

 

Good about your GPUs I saw a 2 x Vega throw up 40,000 on geekbench.

I've reverted to SMBIOS 18 something, my scores have dropped 20% on GPU from my experimental 19,1 SMBIOS, so I predict the hacks will just get better as we get to the release of the new Mac Pro.

Awesome thanks... yeah I did use the bios settings from some person on some other site. I will give this a go.

Also try this bit of software, it shows you your speedsteps.

CPU-S.zip

[Philterino]

Thanks! Yeah I have that CPU-S... I've had 8 steps at one point I think with the PMd 2 driver. Bit it didn't do much for the GB score

[PunkNugget]

Awesome thanks... yeah I did use the bios settings from some person on some other site. I will give this a go.

Good that you're giving it a go, just remember no matter how much you want Nvidia to perform the same is AMD again Apple did not write the code to work with Nvidia. It comes down to the programs that you're using, especially when you're using Adobe products and like kind applications. Sure you might get GB scores that will almost match and may even do better, but at the end of the day it's what is going to work for the programs you're using. Again it wasn't like this five years ago where nVidia was king, but things have changed. If you can show me otherwise then please show me a YouTube video that can prove it to me because everything I've seen on YouTube so far (at least a dozen plus videos showing both cards competing against each other) are showing a very different scenario. You have to remember that Nvidia = gaming, AMD = editing software. Believe me I don't want to see true as I've already spent quite a bit of money on Nvidia graphics cards and from what I'm seeing from one AMD card I'm blown away already. Again if I'm incorrect on this then please show me proof when he comes to rendering programs like: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and the like.

I don't exactly know what Apple are thinking, but these rumours float around constantly. Some people prefer to look on the gloomy side and look for worst case scenarios. This is not me.

The hackintosh community is way small and completely unimportant to Apple. They barely know we exist.

I'm pretty sure nobody has found any code to support these rumours.

 

Good about your GPUs I saw a 2 x Vega throw up 40,000 on geekbench.

I've reverted to SMBIOS 18 something, my scores have dropped 20% on GPU from my experimental 19,1 SMBIOS, so I predict the hacks will just get better as we get to the release of the new Mac Pro.

Also try this bit of software, it shows you your speedsteps.

Good to know. We will see what happens. What I'm noticing is that it seems like the game is changing where things are not CPU intensive and they're leaning more towards GPU usage. Especially since were seeing things natively working with AMD's Vega card. The rendering videos that I've seen online on YouTube are showing that Final Court Pro and Adobe Premiere are rendering so much better using the new AMD Vega cards as opposed to the Nvidia cards.

[Philterino]

TBH I have no preference for nvida or AMD just what works.. I'm mostly using the 10 cores for cinema 4d rendering. I havnt got in to GPU rendering too much so I don't need that much GPU horse power other than to power one 4K and one 1080p display which the 780ti seems to handle. If I move to GPU rendering I will look at whatever is the fastest option at the time.

TBH I have no preference for noida or AMD just what works.. I'm mostly using the 10 cores for cinema 4d rendering. I havnt got in to GPU rendering too much so I don't need that much GPU horse power other than to power one 4K and one 1080p display which the 780ti seems to handle. If I move to GPU rendering I will look at whatever is the fastest option at the time.

[PunkNugget]

TBH I have no preference for nvida or AMD just what works.. I'm mostly using the 10 cores for cinema 4d rendering. I havnt got in to GPU rendering too much so I don't need that much GPU horse power other than to power one 4K and one 1080p display which the 780ti seems to handle. If I move to GPU rendering I will look at whatever is the fastest option at the time.

TBH I have no preference for noida or AMD just what works.. I'm mostly using the 10 cores for cinema 4d rendering. I havnt got in to GPU rendering too much so I don't need that much GPU horse power other than to power one 4K and one 1080p display which the 780ti seems to handle. If I move to GPU rendering I will look at whatever is the fastest option at the time.

You believed in your statement so much you had to say twice! XD

[jonathanzhu]

Trying to do the same with a TUF X299 Mark 1, get stuck by a USB related problem.

[surfinchina]

Trying to do the same with a TUF X299 Mark 1, get stuck by a USB related problem.

 

It's possibly not a USB related problem, that's just where it stopped.

Anyway, in case it is, try some different USB kexts. I use the X99 0ne:

X99_Injector USB 3.kext.zip

[Arkanis]

Generally after USB comes AHCI and mounting different partitions. Check you Bios, in which ports your HD is plugged, etc. Some motherboards won't come Ith AHCI enabled by default, others have multiple chipsets for SATA, pick the most compatible one. And of course avoid USB3 until machine starts booting completely.

 

Regarding what Punk said about "Apple becoming smart", I don't think it is a dark and gloom premonition, it is a fact and it has happened in the past with dual CPU rigs (and it is still happening) where Apple made it harder for us to get these machines working on purpose...

 

Also, I don't think we mon-existant to them, we aren't a threat that is for sure, but I'm pretty sure they have an eye on what is going on, performances, etc.

[jonathanzhu]

Generally after USB comes AHCI and mounting different partitions. Check you Bios, in which ports your HD is plugged, etc. Some motherboards won't come Ith AHCI enabled by default, others have multiple chipsets for SATA, pick the most compatible one. And of course avoid USB3 until machine starts booting completely.

 

Regarding what Punk said about "Apple becoming smart", I don't think it is a dark and gloom premonition, it is a fact and it has happened in the past with dual CPU rigs (and it is still happening) where Apple made it harder for us to get these machines working on purpose...

 

Also, I don't think we mon-existant to them, we aren't a threat that is for sure, but I'm pretty sure they have an eye on what is going on, performances, etc.

 

Thanks! Cloud you tell me how to avoid USB3? btw, I also have USB 3.1 on Board.

It's possibly not a USB related problem, that's just where it stopped.

Anyway, in case it is, try some different USB kexts. I use the X99 0ne:

 

Thanks! But I tried this one at the first time and it does not work....

[PunkNugget]

Regarding what Punk said about "Apple becoming smart", I don't think it is a dark and gloom premonition, it is a fact and it has happened in the past with dual CPU rigs (and it is still happening) where Apple made it harder for us to get these machines working on purpose...

Also, I don't think we mon-existant to them, we aren't a threat that is for sure, but I'm pretty sure they have an eye on what is going on, performances, etc.

First, I think you meant to say "nonexistent." Second, I wasn't trying to communicate any type of "dark and gloom premonition." Things happen and we have to be aware of those things and that's why there are a few people out there (That want to build a similar system like what we are either building or have built already) watching this post right now waiting before they purchase what we are doing. Anything can happen with when the full version of HS comes out. People like surfinchina, myself and others like us don't mind taking the risk. But there are some that may want to wait until full version of HS comes out (whenever that finally happens).

 

By the way, you mentioned to me (In our conversation yesterday), that anything could happen to make it more difficult for us to be able to use Mac OS X when the full version of HS comes out. That was the only reason why I decided to contribute my last comment prior to this one. I actually think what you said was wise. I'm sure you're not the only one that's going to wait to see what happens. I'm sure there's a few others watching this post thinking the same way you're thinking and that's OK. There's nothing "doom and gloom" about it, you're just being wise.

[Arkanis]

Wasn't replying to you Punk on that message

[PunkNugget]

Wasn't replying to you Punk on that message

Thanks, I was just being more clear on my thoughts to back up more of what you enlightened me on.

[Arkanis]

We are cool mate, I got you message the right way.

 

@johnathan regarding USB avoid to use it in the first place, secondly try to turn it off. If it still hangs at the same place the problem doesn't come from your USB ports but something else, what is being loaded AFTER that.

 

Check AHCI for starters.

[Philterino]

Still can't get this power management sorted, I've tried a bunch of stuff, was starting to think i had a duff chip but did a Windows install and was hitting 36000 in geekbench multicore with a stock bios profile. Only getting 21000 in sierra.

 

Would the gigabyte UD 4 just not be workings same as the gaming 7\9 etc.?

[surfinchina]

Still can't get this power management sorted, I've tried a bunch of stuff, was starting to think i had a duff chip but did a Windows install and was hitting 36000 in geekbench multicore with a stock bios profile. Only getting 21000 in sierra.

 

Would the gigabyte UD 4 just not be workings same as the gaming 7\9 etc.?

 

So what kind of power management have you put in, in terms of patches or kexts?

And boot args.

[Philterino]

i used the updated pmdrvr.kext first... Got 6 speedsteps and about 18-20k f2f 1600 in cinebench

 

ssdtPRGen got me to 20-22k gb 1400-2000 in cinebench.

 

Ive tried various frequency vectors still nothing getting me in to 30k

 

In Windows i was running about 50-60 degrees in full turbo so I think cooling is ok.

 

In cinebench the cpu freqs are all over the place.. Don't look stable at all.

 

I'm totally new to this and could be missing something obvious but I've been reading tons of stuff and have tried to be pretty scientific with how I've been modifying settings to see where I'm getting gains and losses.

 

Might try a high Sierra build although I only have nvidia gpus so not sure that would work yet.

[surfinchina]

i used the updated pmdrvr.kext first... Got 6 speedsteps and about 18-20k f2f 1600 in cinebench

 

ssdtPRGen got me to 20-22k gb 1400-2000 in cinebench.

 

Ive tried various frequency vectors still nothing getting me in to 30k

 

In Windows i was running about 50-60 degrees in full turbo so I think cooling is ok.

 

In cinebench the cpu freqs are all over the place.. Don't look stable at all.

 

I'm totally new to this and could be missing something obvious but I've been reading tons of stuff and have tried to be pretty scientific with how I've been modifying settings to see where I'm getting gains and losses.

 

Might try a high Sierra build although I only have nvidia gpus so not sure that would work yet.

 

Have you got Intel power gadget? Run it and take a snapshot of it as you run cinebench. That'll let us know what frequencies you're getting.

If you've made an SSDT and put it in patched you'll need to check plugin type = 1 in Acpi in Clover config.

I check C2, C4, C6 in CPU but I don't know if that makes a difference.

If you don't have luck with this we can take another look at your bios.

[Philterino]

Just in my phone here so don't have Intel gadget stuff here but I've sceengrabbed a bunch. I'll post tommorrow. I think there is one of mine in this thread.

 

I have plugin type at 1... Hadn't checked c2, c6, etc.. Will try that tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the help! Really appreciate the time you out in to this

[surfinchina]

Just in my phone here so don't have Intel gadget stuff here but I've sceengrabbed a bunch. I'll post tommorrow. I think there is one of mine in this thread.

 

I have plugin type at 1... Hadn't checked c2, c6, etc.. Will try that tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the help! Really appreciate the time you out in to this

 

Your temps and frequencies are quite low! Power might be limited. In bios I set max watts up from 140 to 300. A lot of people recommend 400 watts but I like to be cautious.

Also remember to set turbo boost to legacy instead of native in bios. Native is the new turbo which is only supported in windows.