Ryzen 7 Hackintosh

[WanderingMendicant]

Very nice, looks like compatibility is really good so far. Good write up. Helps to know a SSD is needed.

It's definitely possible to get the m.2 SSD working on a Hackintosh. Head over to tonyxmac86 and there are a few long threads. But it looked like a huge PITA compared to SATA or PCIe SSDs and I wanted to keep my operating systems on separate hard drives anyway... so I didn't bother.

I've overclocked up to 3.8 GHz/1.4V on both operating systems and it's quite stable. I'm sure it can go higher but I don't feel the need to stress the system, especially since it's a small case. Here's the geekbench result:

http://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/3648769

Not bad for $1,300. The current top-of-line Mac Pro has a multi core score of 25,061 which I could easily surpass if I OCed to 4.0 GHz... and the trash can costs $5,199. It's too bad, I have loved my MacBookPros and the iMac I used from about 2011-2015... but the products are way too overpriced these days. It will be interesting to see if the next rendition of the Mac Pro is modular/customizable or another ripoff.

 

[neilhart]

Very nice write up on your hackintosh installation. I went the InsanleyMac route and have nearly the same thing on my Ryzen 7 1700X hack.

On my system the GPU performance is low as compared to on my Intel systems. Have you compared your GPU performance in Windows and macOS? Cinebench_R15 is the benchmark that gives both GPU and CPU data on both Windows and OS X. I don't run Windows so I can not get the data myself without going out and acquiring a license for Win10.

Neil

 

[WanderingMendicant]

Very nice write up on your hackintosh installation. I went the InsanleyMac route and have nearly the same thing on my Ryzen 7 1700X hack.

On my system the GPU performance is low as compared to on my Intel systems. Have you compared your GPU performance in Windows and macOS? Cinebench_R15 is the benchmark that gives both GPU and CPU data on both Windows and OS X. I don't run Windows so I can not get the data myself without going out and acquiring a license for Win10.

Neil

I ran Cinebench on Windows 10 and OS X. I got almost the exact same value (1669 vs 1668 or something) for the CPU, but also got a low GPU value running OS X. It was around 100 fps on Windows 10 and 50 fps on OS X. No idea if that is an issue with actual performance or Cinebench or Hackintosh drivers, etc. I will do all my gaming on Windows and audio production on OS X so it doesn't really affect me, but definitely a bit odd.

 

[neilhart]

I ran Cinebench on Windows 10 and OS X. I got almost the exact same value (1669 vs 1668 or something) for the CPU, but also got a low GPU value running OS X. It was around 100 fps on Windows 10 and 50 fps on OS X. No idea if that is an issue with actual performance or Cinebench or Hackintosh drivers, etc. I will do all my gaming on Windows and audio production on OS X so it doesn't really affect me, but definitely a bit odd.

Thank you for the Cinebench data. I found an old copy of Window 8 and installed it so that I could run the same thing on my system and found that in Windows I had 93 FPS and on maxOS I had 42 FPS (this on 10.12.6 and GTX 960, MB Gigabyte AB350N).

Also please share your observation of the "About this Mac": the processor is not identified on my system and on your screen capture it is "3.4 GHz AMD Ryzen 1700X" . Did you make edits to get this displayed?

And when I run GeekBench 3 or 4, the app displays "1 Processor 16 Cores" . And in Cinebench I see "Cores x GHz 16 Cores, 16 Threads @ 3.39 GHz" . Do you see this or is the info correct on your system?

Neil

Edit: I think my problem is my macOS installation. The Core and Thread information is presented correctly in Windows Cinebench and not so in macOS Cinebench.

Neil

 

[WanderingMendicant]

Thank you for the Cinebench data. I found an old copy of Window 8 and installed it so that I could run the same thing on my system and found that in Windows I had 93 FPS and on maxOS I had 42 FPS (this on 10.12.6 and GTX 960, MB Gigabyte AB350N).

Also please share your observation of the "About this Mac": the processor is not identified on my system and on your screen capture it is "3.4 GHz AMD Ryzen 1700X" . Did you make edits to get this displayed?

And when I run GeekBench 3 or 4, the app displays "1 Processor 16 Cores" . And in Cinebench I see "Cores x GHz 16 Cores, 16 Threads @ 3.39 GHz" . Do you see this or is the info correct on your system?

Neil

Edit: I think my problem is my macOS installation. The Core and Thread information is presented correctly in Windows Cinebench and not so in macOS Cinebench.

Neil

Yeah, I edited the 'About this Mac' info and changed the picture to match my case. To change system logo, go to /Applications/Utilities/System Information -> Show Package Contents -> Contents/Resources and then replace SystemLogo.tiff (can replace it with SystemLogo.jpg/png, as long as you delete the tiff).

To edit computer model, go to Users/XYZ/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist. You probably have to enable showing hidden files/folders and XYZ is your login name. Edit the description that follows 'CPU Names' to whatever you'd like. I couldn't think of a very creative name for my little guy

To edit the CPU description, go to System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleSystemInfo.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/AppleSystemInfo.strings and then edit the string after 'UnknownCPUKind'.

Cinebench recognized my CPU on both operating systems... didn't try GeekBench on OS X yet because you need to be online and I don't have ethernet at the apartment, just wireless.

 

[phaelax]

but got it up and running within an hour

Support for a hackintosh must've come a long way since I last tried it with a P4. Never thought I'd see it run on an AMD though.

 

[neilhart]

Yeah, I edited the 'About this Mac' info and changed the picture to match my case. To change system logo, go to /Applications/Utilities/System Information -> Show Package Contents -> Contents/Resources and then replace SystemLogo.tiff (can replace it with SystemLogo.jpg/png, as long as you delete the tiff).

To edit computer model, go to Users/XYZ/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist. You probably have to enable showing hidden files/folders and XYZ is your login name. Edit the description that follows 'CPU Names' to whatever you'd like. I couldn't think of a very creative name for my little guy

To edit the CPU description, go to System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleSystemInfo.framework/Versions/A/Resources/English.lproj/AppleSystemInfo.strings and then edit the string after 'UnknownCPUKind'.

Cinebench recognized my CPU on both operating systems... didn't try GeekBench on OS X yet because you need to be online and I don't have ethernet at the apartment, just wireless.

Thank you for the info. I am seeing the wrong Core info in CineBench on maxOS. Again, could you check yours?

Neil

 

[WanderingMendicant]

Thank you for the info. I am seeing the wrong Core info in CineBench on maxOS. Again, could you check yours?

Neil

Hadn't noticed it the first time around, but same as you on OS X... 16 cores, 16 threads. It does change the 3.39 when I overclock, so I assume it is detecting the important stuff.

 

[JasonY]

Have the exact same hardware configuration as you listed here, but the install is hanging at the root device line and then i get the circle with the line through it.

The only thing I have done differently is I made the usb boot drive using my mac - when i get to the first boot screen I've tried adding the -v npci=0x2000 nv_disable=1 to the stuff that is already there, and also tried clearing the existiing boot flags out and just putting in -v npci=0x2000 nv_disable=1.

Not sure why this keeps crashing, any thoughts would be totally appreciated.

-J

 

[neilhart]

Have the exact same hardware configuration as you listed here, but the install is hanging at the root device line and then i get the circle with the line through it.

The only thing I have done differently is I made the usb boot drive using my mac - when i get to the first boot screen I've tried adding the -v npci=0x2000 nv_disable=1 to the stuff that is already there, and also tried clearing the existiing boot flags out and just putting in -v npci=0x2000 nv_disable=1.

Not sure why this keeps crashing, any thoughts would be totally appreciated.

-J

Jason I have a clone macOS 10.13 build 17A405 running with the Bronya Kernel and system.kext found on insanelymac.com at this link: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/325514-amd-high-sierra-kernel-release-and-testing/

I am using Clover_v2.4k_r4220 and I use boot arguments "npci=0x3000 busratio=34" in my config.plist and run as iMac 14.2.

In my opinion, less is better so I do the minimum of hacks to the Apple OS.

There are some key processes found in the AMD section at: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/324392-ryzen-clover-installation-guide-macos-sierra/page-1

I find this process useful. See this at the link above. "On first boot hit the space bar at clover screen (after setting bus ratio above) and select: Verbose, Single User, KeepSymbols, Don't Reboot on Panic, and Debug Kexts options, scroll to bottom hit return and the enter to boot.

It should stop at Root: type in "mount -uw" hit enter, type "fsck -fy" hit enter and wait then type "exit". All of these are done without the " " marks. It will either boot into Sierra or stop very close to booting. reboot if necessary and just hit enter.
If you get booted run Kext wizard and then try a reboot. "

And as needed, to re-build the prelinked kernel, use the terminal.app with the following;

sudo -s

rm -f /Volumes/New1/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel

touch /Volumes/New1/System/Library/Extensions

kextcache -u /Volumes/New1

exit

Note you use your partition name instead of "New1" .

Good luck,
Neil

 

[zzmadd]

Hi All,

I found this forum while doing research on the several mini ITX AM4 motherboards. I've been using a MacBook Pro for my audio recording and various computing needs over the past few years, but it just doesn't have the cpu/core strength for Pro Tools at this point. So I've decided to build a mini ITX Ryzen Hackintosh. Parts are still arriving, but I wanted to list the build and ask a couple questions. Here's the PC Part Picker:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FFcbPs

• AMD Ryzen 1700x
• Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4
• ASRock AB350 Mini ITX
• G.Skill Trident Z 16GB DDR4-3200
• Samsung 960 EVO 250GB M.2
• Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
• Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Low Profile
• Cooler Master Elite 110
• Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX

I know the PSU is a bit of overkill, but I wanted modular and also the option to flip it without overly straining the PSU. That's actually my primary question. I've read that Cooler Master recommends inverting the power supply to use its intake fan to pull out hot air from the MB to the exterior, while the 120mm case fan is used as an intake. Meanwhile I will be able to rotate the L9x65 90 degrees (in both cases, fan will be vertically-oriented.. just rotating sideways). Case has not yet arrived, but I'm just wondering if others with the Cooler Master Elite have arrived at a consensus with regards to the most effective use of the 120mm case fan and PSU for intake/exhaust.

I'm also having second thoughts about my CPU choice; maybe I should have gone for the lower wattage 1700 instead of the 1700x. I don't really plan to OC, though, so let's see how hot it gets with the Noctua.

All parts should arrive by Friday and I'll post pictures of the build process. My first time building a PC since.. the 90's? Guess it's a lot easier now. I remember setting jumpers and actually reading manuals.. pre Google and YouTube days!

Thanks.

WanderingMendicant
what is the exact mITX motherboard that you're using?
I use the ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac and I'm having USB issues both in USB2 and 3 with my Apple USB keyboard.
Issues "per se" with USB and related to sleep / wake

Do you have a flawless system?
Thanks for your help.
Luca

 

[TimurLivanov]

Did you manage to solve the problem with FPS? I have the same situation in games and on the benchmark FPS is low ((

 

[TimurLivanov]

Thank you for the info. I am seeing the wrong Core info in CineBench on maxOS. Again, could you check yours?

Neil

Did you manage to solve the problem with FPS? I have the same situation in games and on the benchmark FPS is low ((