Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/3nFGmwg

After dreaming about building a Hackintosh for quite literally almost a decade, I finally got the time (and money) to do it. There were a few hiccups but overall, it was so much easier than I anticipated and saved me thousands! This baby screams compared to my old 13-inch MacBook.

Install Info

• Bootloader: OpenCore 0.5.5
• Initial macOS version: macOS Catalina 10.15.2
• BIOS ver.: v4.20 – I saw some guides for this motherboard that said to try to downgrade to a different BIOS version, but I had no problems on this version. All OpenCore Vanilla guide recommended BIOS settings were applied except disabling CSM made my build not POST, so I just reset the BIOS with the reset button and installed without disabling CSM and it's been fine.
• SMBios: Macmini8,1 – initially tried iMac18,1 then ended up switching to this one and sticking with it. Didn't really notice a difference.

Build Details:

• Case: Thermaltake Core V1 (Snow Edition)
• Motherboard: ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-TX/ac
• CPU: Intel i9-9900k 3.6GHz
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S w/ inc. thermal paste (almost had a breakdown trying to screw this in, but I got there!)
• GPU: iGPU
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 3000MHz 16GB (2x8GB)
• PSU: Seasonic 550w Focus Gold
• SSD: Samsung EVO Pro 500GB
• HDD: 3TB external Seagate Expansion drive that I cracked open to make internal
• WiFi/Bluetooth Card: Dell DW1560 (Broadcom BCM94352Z)
• Monitor: HP Envy 27" 4K

What's working:

• Updates – Updated successfully from 10.15.2 to 10.15.3 using the System Preferences updater without any problems.
• Sleep/Wake – Haven't tested extensively, but the computer sleeps and wakes up without issue. I did turn off Power Nap because I think it was messing with sleep.
• Graphics – Struggled with this a lot. The iGPU was recognized from the start by macOS but absolutely would NOT output 4K to my monitor (maxed at 2560x1440p). I read every post about this motherboard/CPU, and nothing worked. I even tried doing bus ID patching in case that was the problem, but it wasn't. What finally worked for me was simply not applying Framebuffer patches at all. I copied the OpenCore guide's settings for Coffee Lake, but what worked was just disabling the patch and letting macOS recognize it and sort it out!
• WiFi – slow (more below) but otherwise working fine. The installation of the card was fairly easy although I did it after the build was already completed, so I had to unplug/unscrew everything to get into the shield to replace it.
• Bluetooth – Bluetooth works great, no problems. (Needed BrcmBluetoothInjector kext to work though this seems to be not recommended?)
• AirDrop
• iMessage/iCloud – no problems here, using serial generated from GenSMBios that returns "Purchase data not validated" from Apple Coverage checker
• Audio (from front jack on case) – audio works perfect from the case jack, but won't seem to work from the back ports (see below)
• Anything else I can't think of that isn't specified below

What isn't working:

• Thunderbolt – users on other forums have reportedly got this working, but I haven't seemed to. Probably won't bother because the USB-C port still functions without Thunderbolt and I have no Thunderbolt devices.
• DRM – I believe DRM never works with integrated graphics, but correct me if I'm wrong. Not a big deal to me as I have Apple TVs if I ever want to watch something.
• Continuity/Handoff – Haven't tested extensively, but apps aren't appearing in the dock when I open them on my iPhone even with the BT4LEContinuityFixup kext.
• Audio (from motherboard ports) – I tried to use headphones in the green jack on the motherboard and got nothing out. Not sure what the problem is, since the case jack works.
• WiFi is very slow, but I think this might be because I didn't attach the internal antenna wires properly/securely enough. I don't feel like going back in and unscrewing things so maybe I will just update this post whenever I do.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a very easy build! It's the first computer I have ever built and I'm very surprised I didn't muck anything up too bad. I'm excited to have a Mac whose components I can actually upgrade when I want to – and for much cheaper than Apple.

I'm very happy I went with mini-ITX even though it was more expensive. I prefer the look of a smaller case/build immensely. I love my Core V1 case and can't recommend it enough.

Next stop, perhaps venture into overclocking?

OpenCore: OpenCore was a lot of information to grasp, after poring over the guide for a few days I feel like it actually isn't that difficult and I understand most of what is happening with my config. If I had done Clover, I probably would have just copied someones config and wondered why something wasn't working when something went wrong. I've never used Clover but I have a lot of confidence in OpenCore – it feels more native and future proof (and I've heard it boots a lot faster than Clover too).

Thank you to /r/hackintosh, the incredible OpenCore Vanilla Guide, the InsanelyMac forums, and the tonymacx86 forums for making this possible!