Stable X99 Hackintosh w/ FCP X | AKA: Build "FN-2187"
Let me start this out by saying if you are building a Hackintosh and want it to "just work" then get an Intel Skylake LGA 1151 based motherboard/processor. It is supported by macOS and will make the whole process easier. If you are crazy like I was and don't mind a lot of tinkering and redoing things then proceed with X99 and this article.
SPECS FOR BUILD "FN-2187": Asus X99 Deluxe/U3.1 Intel 6 Core i7 5930K Gigabyte G1 Gaming Nvidia GTX 970 4GB 64 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 RAM FULL BUILD SHEET
USEFUL TOOLS: Clover Configurator- Let's you safely edit the EFI's config.plist, update the Clover boot loader, manage EFI's and do a ton of other really useful things. Xcode- Let's you safely edit many things in the EFI's config.plist in an easier to understand layout then text edit. Textwrangler- Another place to safely edit the EFI's config.plist but provides a different way of viewing the info that can be more helpful at times. EFI Mounter V3: Let's you mount EFI's without Terminal (which is important to understand basic use of as well).
BOOT LOADER: Clover. Get it. It's really pretty simple to use. If you find older guides for installing clover ignore any suggesting that you need to patch your boot loader for X99 systems. The newer boot loader versions have the necessary pieces for X99. Clover made more sense to me then the Tonymac tools, which I didn't have luck with when I first started. Make sure you have the most up to date version installed (currently Clover_v2.3k_r3974) or it won't let you install macOS Sierra.
Drivers used. This is what I had at the time I posted this. I has since removed OsxLowMemFixDrv-64.efi. Once I installed my Thunderbolt card it was causing issues:
Kexts used:
The thing about drivers and kexts is that there are some that you definitely need depending on your hardware, like the 6 core flavored VoodooTSCSync.kext, and then others that you add in that either help, hurt, or do nothing depending on your setup. You'll likely try a lot as you go along. I may or may not need all of the above items but those are what ended up in my working system.
For boot flags you will likely go through using a number of them before you find the right combination (unless you're really lucky). My final boot flag combo is "npci=0x2000 nada_drv=1 kext-dev-mode=1". While you are getting everything up and running, if you use a Nvidia GPU, nv_disable=1 is a commonly used flag to bypass the graphics driver which will cause issues till the proper driver is installed and then you generally switch to nada_drv=1. Though that is changing with macOS Sierra as I'll go into below.
It's a very good idea as you go along through the process to periodically back up your config.plist file. I just duplicate it and name it config copy.plist. That way you can always boot to that instead if you screw something up. I usually did it after getting something to work and then I would move on to the next issue.
Here's the download to my full working (for me) EFI: ASUS X99 DELUXE, i7 5930K, GTX 970 4GB - EFI (if you use this you must change the SMBIOS serial number or you could cause issues for both of us)
OS VERSION/S: I went through a whole saga on this one. I first tried Mavericks I think, maybe Yosemite. It was my first go at any of this and it did not go well. Every step of the way was a struggle and I ended up with a very buggy installation that only sometimes booted correctly. Eventually I realized it was busted so I wiped the drive clean and started over with the experience I had gained. This time using Clover everything went incredibly smooth. Through the base install and then booting up the first time only had one minor boot flag issue to fix. I was able to boot reliably and installed the Nvidia web graphics driver (make sure the one you get matches your SMBOIS)
I was able to get almost everything working in El Capitan. App Store was fairly automatic as it just worked but iMessage/Facetime took a lot of troubleshooting. Careful doing that or Apple may flag your Apple ID. USB also had to be manually added but was never fully stable and at times there were random unexplained restarts (a common X99 problem).
I wanted to use this for video work with FCP X though, instead of my 2012 iMac, but I was never able to fully get to where I needed with the USB issue. Despite everything else essentially working. So I didn't use it for a good 6+ months. I have a working Windows drive install though and used that for other post production programs.
The iMac was having issues recently though and I figured, why not? I upgraded to macOS Sierra and magically it fixed my issues! USB is stable, no random disconnects, and no unexpected restarts. At least for the last few days (crossing my fingers). It appears to be more compatible with X99 then any previous OS. So far everything (essentially) is working. FaceTime, messages, airdrop, usb, stability, wifi, ethernet etc. There is a new way of managing the graphics drivers though in macOS, so note that. I did not have to remove the Nvidia boot flag as optionally suggested.
AUDIO:
It is a known issue that X99 Hackintoshes have issues with audio output. The Asus X99 Deluxe, I discovered personally and online, is essentially a lost cause when it comes to supporting the onboard audio. I would get it and then lose it for no good reason. So, easy fix though. There are cheap USB audio output devices you can get that work perfectly. I used this one: Sabrent External Sound Box USB-SBCV. Just plug into the USB and plug the speaker system into that.
BLUETOOTH:
Another one X99 can have issues with. It was spotty on my Motherboard despite a lot of work on it, so I opted not to have to worry about it. Got this little USB receiver that works well: IOGEAR Bluetooth 4.0 USB Micro Adapter, GBU521
THUNDERBOT:
Asus X99 Deluxe ASUS ThunderboltEX II install info: • You have to active Thunderbolt in Windows first so it kicks on in the BIOS so Mac can use it. •In Windows install the drivers from Asus ThunderboltEX II support page. •Shut down and kill power. •The card must be installed in the small PCI connection. So no GPU in the top slot and probably means no dual GPU setups. •Connect the Header cables to the header port on the motherboard. •Connect the Displayport cable from the ThunderboltEX II card to a Displayport connection on your GPU. •Power up and launch into BIOS. •In BIOS under Advanced/Intel Thunderbolt enable it. •In BIOS under Advanced/Intel Thunderbolt/Security you need to choose legacy mode from the drop down menu. •I left all other Thunderbolt setting default. •Save and restart. •*NOTE - Thunderbolt in this setup is NOT hot-swapable. Your device must be plugged in BEFORE you power up your system or it will NOT work. •Boot into Windows and ensure your Thunderbolt device shows up. I used a Thunderbolt external drive to test. It mounted correctly. •Shut down and boot into Mac. I'm on Sierra. •Mine did not boot. In my case I had both OsxAptioFixDrv and OsxLowMemFixDrv-64 in my drivers folder. I had to remove OsxLowMemFixDrv-64. Once I did it booted right up and the Thunderbolt drive mounted right away. • I hooked up my Thunderbolt RAID and success! Works great! I've included a screenshot of a speed test of it.
VIDEO:
So everything, system wise, works stable with dual GTX 970s installed with the SLI hardware. Jump into FCP X though and playback stuttered. Generally when starting and stopping playback. This occurred on OS X El Capitan and macOS Sierra.
I discovered that it was having two cards installed that caused this issue. I removed one GPU and everything in FCP X 10.3.1 works smoothly now.
Interesting note though. FCP X did appear to be able to use both GPUs to some extent! I didn't think it would be able to, but it did. The side effect though was the glitchy playback. Exports came out fine though.
Using the FCP X "BruceX Test" as a benchmark I did a comparison.
2X GTX 970 1: 41.15 Sec 2: 34.33 Sec 3: 39.77 Sec Average: 38.41 Sec
1X GTX 970 1: 52.76 Sec 2: 49.71 Sec 3: 51.57 Sec Average: 51.35 Sec There was a fairly significant change in average export time. Reliability and usability though are more important though, so the 2nd card will stay out. Hmmm, maybe time to build another system with Skylake for the other card ;)
You'll notice faster time from others with less powerful systems. I'm not sure why exactly. Probably though because X99 is not fully supported by macOS and so not fully optimized. This test is faster on Sierra though then El Capitan from previous tests. For FCP X people, the old AMD 280X is a great choice. Despite it's age the better Open CL implementation is getting people 13 sec exports on Skylake with the Bruce X test.
As far as games go having one or two cards in didn’t make a difference. Either way some games work perfectly and others not at all. Not sure why. Just be aware it’s a bit of a mixed bad as far as supported titles go. On Windows of course it works fine with whatever (generally) game wise and benefits from the extra GPU in SLI configuration (though SLI can cause issues in Windows 10).
PERIPHERALS:
For the web cam I picked this: Logitech Webcam C615
I have two screens. A LG ultra wide and a simple Dell in portrait mode next to it:
I'm using a full size standard Apple keyboard with a USB switcher to go back and forth with the iMac.
Mouse is a Logitech MX Master