| XFX Speedster QICK 308 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Black 8GB GDDR6 |
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Although graphics cards assembled by XFX have negative comments in Hackintosh forums by having custom BIOS that can be more problematic for macOS that of other brands, I have installed a XFX QICK 308 AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB in Monterey 12.2.1 and the result has been excellent, installation was very simple and performance is much higher than that of the previous card, RX580 8GB.
This card is one of the 6600 XT cheapest even though it can still be considered expensive compared to what would be logical in other circumstances (shortage of components and mined cryptocurrencies).
The main components of my computer are Z390 Aorus Elite board and Intel i9-9900K CPU.
Current macOS status of AMD 6000 series graphics cards is:
| Working on macOS | |
| Family Navi 21 | 6800, 6800 XT and 6900 XT (since Big Sur 11.4) |
| Family Navi 23 | 6600 and 6600 XT (since Monterey 12.1) |
| NOT working on macOS | |
| Family Navi 22 | 6700 XT |
| Family Navi 24 | 6400, 6500 and 6500 XT |
Of course 6800 and 6900 series are clearly more powerful than the 6600 but their current market price is very high. The 6600 XT has higher performance than the 6600 and this model of XFX can now be found for a price of around 500-550 €.
The card is long size but no longer than the XFX RX 580 it will replace. Surprisingly, it's even slightly lighter, probably because of the metal housing that the RX580 incorporates. Requires 8 pin power connector and recommended power supply is at least 600-650W. It has 4 DisplayPort ports and 1 HDMI port.
Physical placement of the card does not deserve comment, it's like any other PCI-e slot card.
Installation on macOS is very simple. The same EFI with OpenCore 0.7.8 (Lilu and WhateverGreen included) that worked with the RX580 works for the 6600XT with a single change: add agdpmod=pikera in boot-args to prevent the screen from going black on the desktop.
The card is well recognized as seen in System profile.
Overall performance is very good, smooth, with 2560x1440 resolution at 60Hz on a 4K monitor. The score in the GeekBench 5 test is around 60% higher than the RX580 (around 80000 vs 50000).
Many Hackintosh users have double booting with Windows. Here the impressions are also very good, system has kept the same AMD drivers without requiring update.
The score in the Geeks3D FurMark test is double with the RX 6600 XT than with the RX580 (approx. 6100 vs 3000).
Starting with the Radeon VII model, it is necessary to use kexts to read the temperature of AMD graphics cards since macOS stopped exposing that data directly. This also applies to the 6000 series. To know the temperature of the card you can use Aluveitie RadeonSensor. It consists of 3 elements:
- Radeon sensor.kext: Lilu plugin to read card temperature
- SMCRadeonGPU.kext: to export data via VirtualSMC to monitoring tools such as iStat Menus
- RadeonGadget.app: to display the temperature in the menu bar, it requires RadeonSensor.kext only.
Note: SMCRadeonGPU.kext has to go after RadeonSensor.kext in the config file.plist of OpenCore and of course both after Lilu and VirtualSMC.
I have tested these 2 extensions together and they seem to work well, iStat Menus adds the temperature of the 6600 XT as one more sensor to display in the menu bar.
AMD Radeon 6600 cards support ReBAR. To activate this feature you must:
- Enable it in BIOS menu (usually next to Above 4G Decoding option, ReBAR is displayed when enabling this other option)
- Set config file.plist in order for OpenCore to boot with ReBAR enabled, you have to set the value of Boot >> Quirks >> ResizeAppleGpuBars=0 (instead of -1, default value).
Note: UEFI >> Quirks >> ResizeGpuBars must always be -1.
I have tested the card with ReBAR on and off and I have not noticed any difference. GeekBench 5 test scores on macOS and FurMark on Windows have been virtually identical. It is likely that with a CPU of 10th generation or newer and games of big graphic demand the performance will improve with ReBAR enabled but, at least in my system, there is no gain in it.
By default, fans of the RX 6600 XT card (like other AMD models) are stopped below 60º, it is what is known as Zero RPM. This has as main advantage the absence of noise except when there is a high graphic requirement.
Users who have this card in a Hackintosh with dual boot have observed that temperature, with idle system, is usually 10-15º lower in Windows than in macOS (35-40º vs 50º). In both systems Zero RPM keeps fans stopped until 60º is reached.
On Windows it is easy to enable/disable Zero RPM from the Radeon software that has this option in custom settings. But on macOS there is no such possibility. So far, existing option to disable Zero RPM in macOS is the creation on Windows, from the AMD card ROM, of a SoftPowerPlayTable (sPPT) (contains the graphics card settings in the form of a hexadecimal value) that OpenCore can load into DeviceProperties. If the sPPT is saved in Windows after disabling Zero RPM, macOS when loading the sPPT also works with Zero RPM disabled. But it is a complex task that requires specific programs and is not within the reach of the inexperienced user.
AMD's PowerPlay technology allows the graphics card to vary its performance according to demand, switching between high performance and maximum energy savings. It has automatic operating modes according to predefined parameters and also allows user settings. Windows 10 and 11 can make a copy of these power profiles in the form of a registry key called SoftPowerPlayTables (sPPT onwards) whose value is a long hexadecimal string. It is a way to have a quick reference by the operating system. This sPPT key can be read and modified by some utilities. Thanks to this, it is possible to modify operation's parameters of the Radeon by changing its behavior and its power management.
AMD Radeon cards of 5000 and 6000 series come from factory with the Zero RPM function activated so that fans are stopped below a temperature (usually 60º), this makes them completely silent except when the graphics processor is required (tests, games, etc.). As for the RX 6600 and 6600 XT models, it has been commented that, in macOS, they usually work at higher base temperature than in Windows, approximately 10-15º. On my PC, for example, the base temperature on Windows is 35-40º and on macOS it is 50-55º. Although these are perfectly valid safe temperatures for daily use, some users would prefer to have values similar to those of Windows.
The fastest and most effective way to achieve this is by deactivating the Zero RPM function so that fans are spinning all the time and not just above a predefined temperature. However, this is very simple to do on Windows with the Radeon software but on macOS there is no such option.
One way to disable Zero RPM on macOS without changing any other parameters is using sPPT. It is a more complex method than the patch for Monterey 12.3 but it has the advantage that the GPU behavior, including GeekBench 5 scores, do not change. To obtain the sPPT you have to go on Windows, where the registry key is generated and exported to a file that we take to macOS, here the file is modified and a new property is added to the OpenCore config.plist file.
We need 2 programs:
- GPU-Z (from TechPowerUp Loads the firmware (vBIOS = video BIOS) of the graphics card and exports it to a file that can be read by MorePowerTool.
- MorePowerTool (MPT) (from Igor'sLAB Reads the rom file and handles the registry key PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable (deleting existing or creating new).
GPU-Z loads the specifications and settings of the GPU and exports everything to a file. To export (Graphics Card tab) the arrow icon coming out of the rectangle under the AMD Radeon logo is used. In the Advanced tab you have to note the Bus number in the DeviceLocation key, this number (on my system it is 3) is important later, when searching for the sPPT key in the Windows registry.
MPT is where the task of generating the sPPT with Zero RPM disabled and writing it to the registry is performed.
- At the top, choose the GPU model, it usually shows at the beginning of the name the bus number that we wrote down earlier (3 in this case).
- It is recommended to delete the table that may have existed before >> Delete SPPT button.
- Load the previously generated rom file from GPU-Z.
- Modify the Zero RPM option by unchecking the checkbox in 2 places: Features tab and Fan tab.
- Write the new table to the registry (Write SPPT button): the registry key is called PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable and is located in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\There are several numbered keys here, choose the one that matches the bus number that you have written down from before:0003\PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable. With the0003key selected, export it as reg file, not as txt file. File structure is different in each case and I have seen that it is easier to edit the reg file. Regedit exports the complete0003key, I have not found a way to export only the PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable key. Change the file extension from reg to txt and save it in a place accessible from macOS.
Fix the text file to be able to use it in OpenCore. I have used BBEdit but any app capable of editing plain unformatted text can do.
- Select the block starting with
"PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable"=removing the rest of the text. - Also delete
"PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable"=hex:leaving only the hexadecimal string composed of several lines. - Find and replace:
- remove commas
- remove spaces at the beginning of the lines
- remove backslash () at the lines
- remove line breaks to get a single-line string, you have to use Grep for this in the Find and Replace dialog.
Text before the tweak is like this (not the whole string is displayed, only a part):
"PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable"=hex:a6,09,12,00,02,22,03,ae,09,00,00,22,43,00,00,83,\ 00,18,00,00,00,1c,00,00,00,00,00,00,76,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,0d,00,00,00,52,0b,00,00,00,05,00,00,e8,03,00,00,\
After the tweak is like this:
a6091200022203ae090000224300008300180000001c000000000000760000000000000000000000000001000000010000000d000000520b000000050000e8030000
It is necessary to know the PCI path to the graphics card, it can be done with the gfxutil tool (Terminal) or from Hackintool in the PCIe tab. So you get the PCI path which in my case is this:
PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)
Note: Device Name and Device Path may be different on your system.
Open the config.plist file, look for
DeviceProperties >> Add >> PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)
and add the PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable key, its value as Data is the long text string.
Restart. If everything went well, you will see that fans are running all the time with a very low sound, base temperature rarely exceeds 35º and performance of the GPU and scores in tests have not changed.
The release of macOS Monterey 12.3 has broken the operation of Radeon 5000 and 6000 families, not in all cases but in quite a few of them judging by comments posted on the forums. This problem has also happened on real Macs but it seems to be more much more frequent on Hackintosh. 5500, 5700, 6800 and 6900 models (XT and non XT) have been most affected. 6600 models (XT and non XT) seem to be free of the issue that manifests itself in a very evident drop in graphic performance after updating to 12.3, in some cases the system becomes unusable and in other cases a big part of the graphic power is simply lost.
My GPU is RX 6600 XT so it has not been affected by this issue.
Solutions have been proposed to fix this. The simplest is to add in DeviceProperties of config.plist some properties that set Henbury framebuffer for each of the 4 ports of this GPU. By default Radeon framebuffer (ATY,Radeon) is loaded. But, in AMDRadeonX6000Framebuffer.kext >> Contents >> Info.plist, AMDRadeonNavi23Controller has "ATY,Henbury" and 6600 series are Navi 23. This is why this framebuffer is specifically proposed.
The patch is added in this way:
<key>DeviceProperties</key>
<dict>
<key>Add</key>
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,name</key>
<string>ATY,Henbury</string>
<key>@1,name</key>
<string>ATY,Henbury</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>ATY,Henbury</string>
<key>@3,name</key>
<string>ATY,Henbury</string>
</dict>
</dict>
<key>Delete</key>
<dict/>
</dict>Note: PCI path to the GPU may be the same on your system but it is convenient to check it with Hackintool (app) or gfxutil (Terminal utility).
Although my GPU has not been affected by this Monterey 12.3 issue, I have tried the patch motivated by curiosity to check if the card works differently (better or worse). When booting with the patch, it gets my attention that the GPU temperature is, with idle system, 10-15º below the usual 50º. The cause is in the deactivation of the Zero RPM feature: fans spin all the time with a small drawback that is the noise generated (very low volume, almost imperceptible except in quiet environment).
Graphics performance is good with the patch. GeekBench 5 metal scores are lower but in other benchmarks such as Unigine Valley or GFXBench Metal they are almost identical. Maximum temperature when forcing the GPU has not changed, about 80-82º, the same as without the patch. But basic temperature at iddle system ranges from 35 to 40º. Sensations when performing common tasks on macOS are the same (excellent) with or without patch.
Unexpectedly, I have seen a new way to disable Zero RPM in macOS, it is easier to implement than creating sPPT in Windows and its subsequent transfer to macOS.
It's up to you to choose what you prefer.
- Without patch: base temperature is around 50º, fans are usually stopped and GeekBench 5 score is higher.
- With patch: base temperature is below 40º, fans are always running although the noise produced is very low and GeekBench 5 score is lower.
This patch can be applied to the other Radeon models affected by the Monterey 12.3 issue to fix that bad behaviour and not only to disable Zero RPM.
Framebuffers available in AMDRadeonX6000Framebuffer.kext >> Contents >> Info.plist.
| 5700 - Navi 10 - AMDRadeonNavi10Controller |
| device-id: 0x73101002 0x73121002 0x73181002 0x73191002 0x731A1002 0x731B1002 0x731F1002 0x73BF1002 |
| framebuffer: ATY,Adder / ATY,Ikaheka |
| 5600 - Navi 12 - AMDRadeonNavi12Controller |
| device-id: 0x73601002 0x73621002 |
| framebuffer: ATY,Sunbeam |
| 5500 - Navi 14 - AMDRadeonNavi14Controller |
| device-id: 0x73401002 0x73411002 0x73431002 0x73471002 0x734F1002 |
| framebuffer: ATY,Python / ATY,Keelback / ATY,Boa |
| 6800 and 6900 - Navi 21 - AMDRadeonNavi21Controller |
| device-id: 0x73A01002 0x73A21002 0x73A31002 0x73AB1002 0x73AE1002 0x73AF1002 0x73BF1002 |
| framebuffer: ATY,Belknap / ATY,Carswell / ATY,Deepbay |
| 6600 - Navi 23 - AMDRadeonNavi23Controller |
| device-id: 0x73E31002 0x73FF1002 0x73E01002 |
| framebuffer: ATY,Henbury |
Note: Monterey 12.3.1 seems to have fixed this issue.