Guide: Running CoffeeLake/Refresh CPUs on Sky\KabyLake motherboards.

[1van]

Hello guys.

I used a search engine and found that the possibility to run CoffeeLake processors on Sky\KabyLake motherboards was brought up here before, but did not receive a wide coverage, even though there are many people who have good Z170/270 motherboards and want to upgrade their obsolete 4C/8T i3s i7s.

Spoiler

Sending coffee into the sky

Coffee Lake on Z170 with DDR3 Ram?

BIOS help for msi Z170, i3 8100

Core i7 8700 in i3 7100 machine

9th Gen Intel and Maximus VIII Extreme

Many such cases.

 

The modification itself is more than a year old, but it's better late, than never

To those who are interested, I present the translation of this guide below. Thanks to all the people who made this modification possible and to the all people who contributed to this guide. I am not a native speaker, so corrections are welcome.

 

 

0. Before You Begin. Disclaimer

You are responsible for your actions and consequences thereof. There is no guarantee that everything will work as it should or work at all.

1. Highlights

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• Many of the 100- and 200-series motherboards can run Coffee Lake processors;
• Both production and engineering Core and Xeon processors can be used;
• The modified BIOS will still support Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs provided the 506E3 and 906E9 microcodes are left in the BIOS;
• iGPU, PCIe x16, and NVME are fully operational after the modification;
• The modification does not remove the overclocking limitations: a Z-chipset and a K-CPU are required for overclocking. However, H- and B-chipsets support DDR4 up to 2666MHz with Coffe Lake CPUs after the modification;
• Coffee Lake IMC supports DDR3/DDR3L;
• The main problem is a limited number of supported CPU threads for some of the motherboards and BIOS versions, i.e. some boards are only capable of running 8-thread CPUs, or up to 12-thread CPUs, etc. But if a board is capable of running an i7-9700K, it will be able to run an i9-9900K with HT disabled, too. UPD: Coffeetime v. 0.99 adds 16-thread CPU support for most motherboards. Common sense and VRM limitations still apply.
• H310C, B365, and Z370 motherboards are capable of running Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs after a ME version downgrade and inclusion of the necessary microcodes.

2. BIOS Dump and Personal Data Extraction

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2.1 Dumping a BIOS

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Saving a dump of your original BIOS helps to preserve motherboard identification data (serial number, UUID) and MAC address of Intel NIC. A dump will allow you to transfer the data to a modified BIOS.

• Using an SPI-programmer is a fail-safe option. The process is described in the paragraph 5.6.
• FlashProgrammingToll v11 (FPT)

If there are no command line keys specified, the FPT tries to perform a full BIOS dump, which may lead to the Error 318 meaning that there is no read access to some of the BIOS regions, a ME region most frequently. In this case you are advised to dump a BIOS-region and a GbE-region (if a motherboard is equipped with an Intel NIC) separately; ready access to these regions is allowed.

Run an elevated command prompt and input the following:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”
fptw64 -d full.backup                    // for a full BIOS dump
fptw64 -gbe -d gbe.backup                // for a GbE-region dump
fptw64 -bios -d bios.backup              // for a BIOS-region dump

• AMIFirmwareUpdate 3.05.04 (AFU)

The latest version of the AFU is suitable for dumping a BIOS, but the v. 3.05.04 may be useful for flashing a modified BIOS later.

Run an elevated command prompt and input the following:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”
afuwinx64 backup.rom /o               // for a full BIOS dump

Or you could save an original BIOS via AFUWINGUI by clicking the Save button and specifying the path and name of the file. There is a strange bug: the system may spontaneously restart 5-10 minutes after dump a BIOS.

2.2 MAC Address

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MAC address need to be transferred for motherboards equipped with Intel network controllers. In this case the BIOS will feature a GbE-region with a unique MAC-address of the network device.

There is no GbE-region in a BIOS of Realtek NIC-based motherboards, so there is no need to transfer it in that case.

The MAC sticker can be found on a motherboard itself.

The UEFITool can be used to open either a full BIOS dump or a GbE-region dump to find the MAC address:

The MAC address is shown in your network adapter's properties in Windows, too.

2.3 Personal Data: Baseboard Serial Number and UUID

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Baseboard S/N and UUID are only present in ASUS motherboards and are located in the FD44820B-F1AB-41C0-AE4E-0C55556EB9BD module.

The S/N and UUID can be found in AIDA64: Computer > Summary > DMI System UUID and DMI Motherboard Serial Number, or using HWInfo64 (Motherboard > SMBIOS DMI > System and Mainboard tabs).

A command prompt

wmic baseboard get serialnumber

will display the S/N of the motherboard.

In case if lost, the S/N can be restored using a sticker on the motherboard:

The first symbol of the serial number is the year of production: 1-9 – 2001-2009, A – 2010, B – 2011, C – 2012, D – 2013, E – 2014, F – 2015, etc., and the second symbol is the month: 1-9 – Jan-Sep, A – Oct, B – Nov, C – Dec, e.g. HA stands for 1710xxxxxxxxxxxx. The rest of the S/N is on the sticker on the front of the motherboard. The symbols you are looking for are the first 11 characters in the xxxxxx-xxxxx-aaaaaaaaa string.

A lost UUID cannot be recovered.

The last 12 characters of the UUID are the MAC address.

The FD44Editor tool allows you to transfer and edit personal data for ASUS motherboards.

 

3. CPU Preparation

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3.1 Coffee Lake Revisions

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There are 4 revisions of Coffee Lake CPUs, each requiring a specific microcode. Note that there are CPUs which exist in several revisions. The full list can be found here.

The B0 revision requires a 906EB microcode and uses a 4-core die with an "old" Kaby Lake substrate. It does not require a pinmod. The B0 CPUs are:

G4900, G4900T, G4920, G4930, G4930T, G4950, G5420 (SR3YH), G5500, G5500T, G5600, G5600T, G5600F, G5620, i3-8100, i3-8100T, i3-8300, i3-8300T, i3-8350K, i3-9100, i3-9100T, i3-9100F (SRF7W), i3-9300, i3-9300T, i3-9320, i3-9350K, i3-9350KF

The U0 revision requires a 906EA microcode and uses a 6-core die. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. The U0 CPUs are:

G5400, G5400T, G5420 (SR3XA), G5420T, i3-9100F (SRF6N), i5-8400, i5-8400T, i5-8500, i5-8500T, i5-8600, i5-8600T, i5-8600K, i5-9400 (SR3X5), i5-9400T, i5-9400F (SRF6M), i5-9500, i5-9500T, i5-9500F (SRF6Q), i5-9600, i5-9600T, i7-8700, i7-8700T, i7-8700K, i7-8086K

The P0 revision requires a 906EC microcode and uses an 8-core die. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. Most likely the P0 CPUs are no longer produced. The P0 CPUs are:

i5-9400 (SRELV), 9400F (SRFAH), i5-9600K (SRELU), i5-9600KF (SRFAD), i7-9700K (SRELT), i7-9700KF (SRFAC), i9-9900K (SRELS), i9-9900KF (SRFAA)

The R0 revision requires a 906ED microcode and uses an 8-core die; the substrate is visually no different from the P0, but the S-spec string on the lid is SRGxx. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. The R0 CPUs are:

i5-9400 (SRG0Y), i5-9400F (SRG0Z), i5-9500F (SRG10), i5-9600K (SRG11), i5-9600KF (SRG12), i7-9700, i7-9700F, i7-9700K (SRG15), i7-9700KF (SRG16), i7-9700T, i9-9900, i9-9900K (SRG19), i9-9900KF (SRG1A), i9-9900T, i9-9900KS

 

3.2 CPU Pinmod

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For most CoffeeLake CPUs, a “pinmod” is required:

Recommendations:

• The pinmod is not required for B0-CPUs.
• #SKTOCC pin of the CPU socket has to be shorted to the GND to make the motherboard “understand” that the CPU is present in the socket and allow it to power on.
• The easiest way to short the pins is to stick a small strip of a food foil to the CPU with a double-sided scotch tape. Other options are metallic tape, conductive glue, conductive marker, conductive varnish, or even a soft pencil (as a temporary solution, use it to draw a thick line between the CPU pads).
• It is extremely important to make sure that the jumper does not move when installing the CPU and closing the socket lid, and does not short any other pads or pins.
• For insulation of the pads it is more convenient to use either a Kapton tape or an acrylic insulation varnish. A PVC insulation tape can be used, too. DO NOT use a nail polish for insulation, it is not sturdy enough and is not heat-resistant.
• The yellow color in the pinmod map indicates the pins which function is different in LGA1151-1 and LGA1151-2, but no motherboards so far required insulation of this area.
• Before applying the insulation and conductive glue make sure to clean the CPU pads using alcohol.

Consequences of a pinmod gone wrong:

• If the motherboard requires shorting of #SKTOCC and GND pins, it would not power up without it.
• If the jumper installed on the CPU is moved and shorts wrong pins, it would prevent the motherboard from running properly and may damage iGPU and/or IMC.
• Insulation (except Gigabyte motherboards): if you do not insulate the pads indicated in the pinmod map (or if the insulation either moves or peels off) a corresponding socket pin would act as a fuse and burn. Most likely, no more damage would occur.
• Insulation (Gigabyte motherboards): I you fail to insulate a larger area of the pads shown in red in the pinmod map, the pins of the socket would remain intact, causing a part of the VRM to blow up. If case if the insulation would shift, a corresponding socket pin would act as a fuse and burn. Most likely, no more damage would occur.

Notes:

• The insulation of the CPU pads according to the pinmod map is made to ensure that nothing would burn and to keep the intact appearance of the CPU and the motherboard.
• The insulation is not necessary for some motherboards. To check it you need to use a multimeter and make sure that there is no short circuit neither pin-to-pin, nor pin-to-gnd. If there is a short circuit, the corresponding pins must be insulated.
• Instead of connecting the socket pins with a foil tape, the corresponding pins may be traced on the motherboard itself and connected there. It requires a bit of searching and some soldering skills.
• If you do not want to preserve the appearance of the socket, the corresponding pins can be physically cut/removed from the socket, instead of insulating. It will allow to run both Sky\Kaby- and Coffee Lake CPUs.

Comparison of LGA1151-1 and LGA1151-2 pinouts.

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by 1van
Updates

[1van]

4. BIOS Modification

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4.1 Choosing a BIOS Version

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Make sure to download a BIOS from the motherboard’s manufacturer website. A dump will not work.

Choose the right version based on the compatibility table below. The BIOS to be modified must support Kaby Lake CPUs!

UPD: Coffeetime v. 0.99 adds 16-thread CPU support for most motherboards, including MSI. The table below is no longer accurate. Common sense and VRM limitations still apply.

VENDOR	SERIES	BIOS (with KBL support)	G49xx, G55xx, G56xx, i3-8xxx, i3-9100F (SRF7W), i3-93xx, i3-9100, i3-9100T (B0 – 2C/2T, 2C/4T, 4C/4T)	G54xx, i3-9100F (SRF6N) (U0 - 2C/4T)	i5-8xxx, i5-9xxx (U0/P0/R0 – 6C/6T)	i7-9xxx (P0/R0 – 8C/8T)	i7-8xxx, ES QN8x, QNLx, QNMx (U0 – 6C/12T)	i9-9xxx, ES QQBx, QQCx, QQZx (P0/R0 – 8C/16T)	XEON ES QNTM (U0 – 6C/6T)	XEON ES QNCx (U0 – 6C/12T)	XEON ES QQMx, QRAx (P0 – 8C/16T)
ASUS	100	2xxx	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NOT ALL*	NOT ALL*	NOT ALL*
		3xxx/4xxx	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	NOT ALL**	NO
	200	0xxx	YES	YES	YES	YES	50/50***	NO****	YES	50/50***	NO****
		1xxx	YES	YES	YES	YES	50/50***	NO****	YES	50/50***	NO****
ASRock	100	ALL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
	200	ALL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO****	YES	YES	NO****
GIGABYTE	ALL	ALL	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
MSI	100	8MB Size	YES	99%	YES	99%	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO
		16MB Size	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
	200	ALL	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO****	NO****	YES	NO****	NO****

YES – tested, works.

99% - is supposed to work, but not tested

NO – tested, does not work.

NOT ALL – tested, does not work for some motherboards, a dependency has been revealed.

50/50 – does not work for some motherboards, a dependency has not been revealed yet.

 

* – in many of the “top” 100-series boards (e.g. Maximus VIII series, 170-Deluxe, 170-A) disabling the ME when using a ver. 2xxx BIOS (to run Xeon CPUs) does not allow the system to boot. There is no solution yet.

** – some of the 100-series motherboards (e.g. M8F, M8HA, 170-A, 170-AR, 170-ProGaming) when using a ver. 3xxx BIOS to run 12-thread Xeon CPUs would only boot successfully one time and fail to boot again. It is solved by using a ver. 2xxx BIOS for the modification.

*** - some of the 200-series motherboards (e.g. ROG 270-series, 270-A) can work with 12-thread CPUs using a ver. 0xxx modded BIOS. Some of the boards (e.g. 270-P, 270-Dragon) run a 12-thread CPU after removing a so-called “12T blocker” module (as called in the CoffeeTime, GUID=64BEA199-7C6C-4F51-B0DA-F42C897DA5CC) if it is present. The dependency has not been identified yet. A possible solution is to use a ported BIOS of a compatible Z370 motherboard.

**** – for most of the 200-series motherboards it is worth trying to use a BIOS ported from a compatible Z370 motherboard (it it exists). A Z370 BIOS can be ported to a non-Z 200-series motherboard.

 

Keep a CPU’s power consumption and a motherboard’s VRM capabilities in mind: while top-tier Z170/Z270 motherboards are capable of running an i9-9900K at 5GHz and above, it would be unwise to install such a CPU to a low-end H110 motherboard.

4.2 Auto-Modification Software

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Currently there are two automated BIOS modification tools available:

CoffeeTime by svarmod, The original guide (in Russian)

AllInOne_Tool by Revlaay, www.win-raid.com forum

This guide describes using the CoffeeTime.

4.3 CoffeeTime

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Pay attention to the messages of the software.

To begin, download CoffeeTime, disable an anti-virus software, and unpack the archive to a root folder of a drive.

(!) For the program to work properly, neither the application path nor the BIOS file path may contain spaces, non-Latin, and non-letter characters.

Start CoffeeTime.exe

The starting screen features the program's usage, feedback contacts, etc.

Type 1 and press Enter to continue.

An Explorer window will appear, select the BIOS file downloaded from the motherboard’s manufacturer website and click Open.

Or you could simply drag the factory BIOS file and drop it on CoffeeTime.exe using Drag'n'Drop.

(!) If you're running CoffeeTime for the first time and haven't used FlashImageTool before, you will be prompted to accept the license agreement of the FlashImageTool before it can be used.

The main menu of the program will appear.

By pressing i you may get a short description of the CPU revisions.

Type in a number of the target CPU to proceed and press Enter.

If your target CPU is not displayed, select a CPU with the same revision and core/thread count.

The components that do not require a modification are shown in green, and the components that require a modification are shown in red. The items shown in yellow do not affect the success of the modification.

To make future modifications easier it is recommended to disable read and write protection by entering 2.

The main part of the modification is performed after pressing 1.

In the next screen select the processors that you want to keep compatibility with:

CoffeeTime 0.8.5a allows injecting microcodes for all CPUs for ASUS motherboards. This version includes an old R0 microcode, so if you plan to install and R0 CPU you will have to replace it manually. The latest microcodes are available here. For example, download the ver. C6 microcode (cpu906ED_plat22_ver000000C6_2019-08-14_PRD_FB15B2A4.bin), put it in the data\mcodes subfolder of the CoffeeTime folder, then rename the file to cpu906ED_plat22_ver000000B8_2019-03-17_PRD_F414211B.bin for CoffeeTime to “see” it.

Type in the corresponding number and press Enter. The automatic modification process will begin:

Sometimes during a modification of a BIOS to support 12/16-thread CPUs, a part of the ACPI tables is not modified (typical for ASUS ver. 2xxx firmwares):

If the error is NOT in the A M I table, it is not a big deal – just press 1 and continue.

The process is over. Make sure there are no red lines left!

You can now use MAC address transfer features (any boards with an Intel network controller) and personal data transfer (ASUS boards only). This step is not obligatory, but it allows you to keep your board’s MAC address and personal data.

Press 3 and Enter if this option is present:

The available options are:

1 – Transfer the MAC address from the host computer where CoffeeTime is running.

2 – Input MAC address manually.

3 – Transfer all data from a previously created dump (ASUS boards only).

Select the necessary options, then return to the main menu by pressing b and Enter.

Then press e and Enter to complete the modification process.

For ASUS boards a screen will appear with a suggestion to restore the capsule file .CAP for flashing it via USB Flashback. Select it If your motherboard is equipped with such a function and you are going to use it (see the limitations described in the paragraph 5). Otherwise press n and Enter to proceed.

 

The last screen shows the name of the output file, brief recommendations on the firmware flashing method, and warnings.

If a pinmod is required for your CPU, press v to see the diagram.

Press s to output a text file with detailed information, and press e to exit.

The modified BIOS is ready!

5. Flashing the Modified BIOS

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5.1 General Information

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• DO NOT use built-in firmware flashing utilities to flash a modified BIOS, it will not work.
• Gigabyte, MSI, and Maxsun motherboards do not have locked regions and can be flashed by any method of the described below.
• ASUS, ASRock, Biostar, and other motherboards block flashing of the FD- and ME-regions, therefore it is the easiest to flash it using a programmer.
• To flash using FPT or AFU it is possible to unlock the regions manually by switching the motherboard to the service mode.
• ASUS motherboards have an additional BIOS-lock (FPT: Error 368) that prevents flashing of a modified BIOS using software methods. AFU is able to deactivate this protection.
• The way to bypass it using FPT is described here: Grub Fix Intel FPT Error 368 - BIOS Lock ASUS/Other Mod Bios Flash.
• ASUS Flashback feature can make the firmware process easier, but it doesn't always work as desired.

5.2 Revision B0 CPUs

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• When installing a Coffee Lake B0 CPU, sometimes neither a programmer nor unlocking the regions is required on any motherboard.
• B0 processors need only a specific ME-version and a modified BIOS region to run (U0/P0/R0 CPUs additionally require a modification of the FD region).
• Thus, if your board already has the right version of ME, you will only have to flash a modified BIOS-region which is always open for flashing with FPT, AFU, or ASUS USB Flashback.
• To work with Coffee Lake CPUs the following ME versions are suitable: 11.0.x.Nxxx - 11.7.x.Nxxx, where N is not equal 3.
• The ME version of the system can be seen either in AIDA64 (Computer → DMI → Intel vPro → ME Firmware Version) or in Intel ME DetectionTool.

5.3 Manually Unlocking the Regions (HDA_SDO)

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• To temporarily (until a reboot) unlock the firmware regions is implemented by shorting the relevant pins of the Realtek audio chip.
• To switch the motherboard to service mode, you need to supply 3.3V (logical high) to the HDA_SDO pin from the moment you press the power-on button and until the POST display on the screen.
• The Realtek chip has +3.3V at the DVDD pin (pin 1), and HDA_SDO is the SDATA-OUT pin (pin 5).
• Power-off the PC (disconnect from the outlet), short the mentioned pins with tweezers or a bent paper clip, then power on the PC and wait for the POST screen to appear, then remove the tweezers/clip. If successful, any reading and writing operations for all UEFI BIOS regions will be possible until a reboot.

 

HDA_SDO in other sources:

[EN] Unlock Intel Flash Descriptor Read/Write Access Permissions for SPI Servicing (item E1)

[RU] BIOS firmware FAQ for ASUS Intel 6- and 7-series motherboards (paragraph

5.4 FlashProgrammingTool (FPT)

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Copy the modified BIOS file to the FPT directory, run an elevated command prompt and input the following commands:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”

fptw64 -rewrite -f modbios file name            // to perform a full flash

fptw64 -bios -f                                             // to flash the BIOS, see item 5.2

If the procedure is successful, the green inscription "Flash operation successful" will appear.

Make sure to input the following command next:

fptw64 -greset                                             // the computer will automatically restart

If rebooted without issuing this command there is a great chance to brick the motherboard!

If the ME was disabled (i.e. to run Xeon CPUs), the -greset command will not work, displaying an error message. In this case you will need to power off the system, unplug it from the wall and remove the BIOS battery for a minute to complete the process.

5.5 AMIFirmwareUpdate (AFU)

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The version 3.05.04 is required because it supports using the /GAN key, allowing you to flash through all the regions available for rewriting.

Copy the modbios file to the AFU directory and run an elevated command prompt. Enter the following commands:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”

afuwinx64 modbios file /GAN                        // to flash all of the available regions

To eliminate the possibility of the ME update failure it is recommended to use the fpt (see the paragraph 5.4) and command:

fptw64 -greset                                             // the computer will automatically restart

If the ME was disabled (i.e. to run Xeon CPUs), the -greset command will not work, displaying an error message. In this case you will need to power off the system, unplug it from the wall and remove the BIOS battery for a minute to complete the process.

5.6 SPI Programmer

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• Recommended models:
  • CH341A "GOLD" (black PCB) – this one is cheap (~ $2) and works well, there is no need to pay for more expensive models.
  • E-P2010
  • SkyPro, MiniPro
  • Any other programmers or tools that supports SPI Flash, including Arduino-based DIY programmers.
• A DIP-8 socketed flash chip can be removed from the motherboard (removal of the battery is recommended first) and installed in the programmer’s ZIF-socket, according to the indication on the programmer. If the flash chip is soldered on the motherboard you will have to use either a SOIC8-clip or a JSPI-cable, if available.
• When connecting the clip, be sure that the pin-1 of the chip (marked with a dot) is connected to the lead of the clip with the red wire.
• To connect via the JSPI connector you'll need to understand the pin-out of the programmer and of the JSPI-connector for your motherboard. It is recommended to use a multimeter to find which pin of the JSPI-header is connected to which lead of the BIOS chip.
  Spoiler

  

• The JSPI-connector has a 2mm pitch while most of the other motherboard headers have a 2.54mm pitch. However it is more reliable than attaching a clip directly to the chip.

• Some motherboards with a soldered BIOS chip (such as the ASRock 200 series) are difficult to flash using a clip or a JSPI-header due to insufficient power supplied from the programmer. In this case keeping the coin battery in the motherboard or providing stand-by power supply from the 24-pin EATX power connector might help.

• To use the CH341A-programmer you need to install the appropriate drivers. [RU] Turning the digital signature verification off may be required in Windows.

• The software recommended to use with CH341A-based programmers:

  • CH341A Programmer v1.18 (v1.18 only, the other versions are buggy)

  • AsProgrammer

  • Colibri

Using CH341A Programmer v1.18:

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Press Detect to identify the BIOS chip automatically. If the result is wrong, specify the correct chip using the Type (25 SPI FLASH), Manufacturer, and Name drop-down lists. If there is no exact model in the list, choose a model of similar size by the same manufacturer. The specification of SPI Flash chips can be found on the Internet: chip model data sheet, e.g. Winbond 25Q128FVIQ datasheet.

To save the original dump click Read (3) and when the reading has been completed (there must not be any error messages) click Verify to make sure that the dump was correct, then save it to a file by clicking Save (5).

To flash the modified file click Open (6) and select the file, then click Erase to erase the chip and wait until the process is over, then click Program to program the chip, and then Verify to make sure that the programming was successful. The reading, writing, and verifying processes can take up to 3-4 minutes for each step, depending on the size of the chip.

 

5.7 ASUS USB Flashback (FB)

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• FB preserves a valid MAC address and board identification data, so there's no need to transfer them.
• The method is convenient, but depends on a flash drive and does not always give the desired result. For example, it works reliably with Maximus 8 Hero boards (a board from the store normally has a factory BIOS ver. 2202 with original FD locks in place). In other cases the feedback is mixed.
• In general, FB adheres to the read/write rules set by the FD region. The FB method is well suited for the case described in the paragraph 5.2.
• Here is the ASUS USB Flashback guide: https://event.asus.com/2012/mb/USB_BIOS_Flashback_GUIDE/
• Make sure to read the USB BIOS Flashback of your motherboard’s User manual.
• Be sure to choose to restore the .CAP file in the final step of the modification with CoffeeTime. Rename the resulting .CAP file as instructed in the User manual.
• Copy the renamed file to the root of the flash drive and proceed as instructed in the ASUS guide.

6. First Start

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• Before powering the system, make sure that the CPU pinmod is done correctly and all the necessary pads are insulated and/or connected, as applicable for your motherboard model.
• Prior to starting the motherboard with a Coffee Lake for the first time, it is recommended to completely de-energize the motherboard for some time and reset the CMOS.
• Make sure that all cables and devices are connected correctly.
• If the computer has started, just wait patiently: first boot can take some time, the system might reboot several times on its own.
• For ASUS boards, set 0.01 for the IA AC Load Line and IA DC Load Line after booting to the UEFI.
• Be sure to check the voltages and temperatures during stress tests, benchmarks, and games.
• If your PC doesn't start, check that all the previous steps have been performed correctly, pay special attention to the modification of the CPU substrate.

7. Troubleshooting, Bugs, and Features

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• Early engineering samples of Coffee Lake P0 (QQC0, QQBZ, QQBY, QQM5, QQM6) may have a defective PCIe controller (graphics card drops, PCIe malfunction, etc.). The PCIe bug is supposed to have been fixed in later revisions of the P0 ES (QQZ6, QQZ5, QRA2), but there is no accurate data on this. If you buy such a processor, be sure to check it properly before closing the order. If the PCIe bug didn't show up right away, it's likely that the processor is devoid of it.
• Revision P0 and R0 CPUs require VBIOS 1059 or more recent to run the iGPU.
• ME 11.0 may limit the maximum amount of RAM to 16GB.
• Coffee Lake non-K ES CPUs are restricted in memory overclocking: U0 – up to 2666 MHz, P0 – up to 3333 MHz.
• If your NVMe cannot be selected as a boot drive in the UEFI, you should convert the drive from MBR to GPT.
• [ASUS]
  • Inflated VCore when left in Auto (up to 1.5 V) is an ASUS branded bug. The problem is solved by setting 0.01 for the IA AC Load Line and IA DC Load Line.
  • On ver. 2xxx BIOS, setting 2.1 for IA AC Load Line and IA DC Load Line may help remove trotting.
  • Sometimes for P0 processors the default AVX Ratio Offset is set to 1. The 906EC_rev_96 microcode solves this problem.
  • Some 200 series boards can run 12-thread CPUs with ver. 1xxx of the BIOS using the 906EA_rev_6A microcode.
  • If the board does not start with an XMP-profile or a previously-tested memory overclock, try setting both the Boot Voltage VCCIO and Boot Voltage System Agent to 1.1 or 1.2.
  • A bug was spotted in the 8700 K + Z170-ProGaming + Radeon RX 470: the discrete AMD card could not be initialized as the primary video adapter. The problem was solved by a one-time launch of the system with an nVidia card (the motherboard identified the video adapter in the PCIe slot and applied the necessary settings), after that the AMD graphics card worked normally.
• [MSI]
  • If the ME is disabled the system shows a warning when booting and then continues booting as normal.
• [ASRock]
  • Some H110-based motherboards do not work with VBIOS 1059 (ver. 1062 was not tested), but work with the older ver. 1054.

Edited June 13, 2021 by 1van
Updates

[1van]

8. Links

Spoiler

• The gallery of successfully Coffee-modded systems
• [DE] Z170/Z270/Z370/Z390 motherboard VRM database
• [EN] First attempts to start Coffee Lake CPUs on Sky\Kaby motherboards
• [EN] Perhaps the first guide to Coffee Lake modification
• [EN] Solving the issue with the non-working PCIe x16 with Coffee Lake CPUs
• [EN] Solving the HT problem with Coffee Lake CPUs
• [EN] Coffee Lake + ASRock Z170/Z170M OCF Discussion
• [EN] Guide to a CH341A programmer
• [RU] Manual transfer of VBIOS settings
• [RU] A bunch of useful info on UEFI BIOS modifications
• [RU] UEFI structure
• [RU] ASUS firmware guide (paragraphs 6, 7, and 8).

 

Coffee Lake CPUs + Sky\Kabylake motherboards on Youtube:

• In English:
  • Luumi
    • How to run a Coffee Lake CPU ( i7 8700K) on Z170/Z270 Motherboard
    • Coffee Lake Core i9 9900K + Z170/Z270 setup and overclocking guide to 5.5ghz
    • How to run a Coffee Lake CPU (8700K/9700K/9900K) on Z170/Z270 Motherboard, 2020 Update
• In Russian:
  • PRO IIIu3Hb videos
    • QNCW on Z270-A Prime (Live)
    • Coffee Xeon ES (QNCW) on H170 Pro Gaming with GTX-1080Ti (benchmark)
  • КупиДешево
    • i5 8400 Coffee on a Z170
    • QL2X for LGA1151. As cheap as possible.
• In Korean:
  • Z170 + 8700K = 가능? / 바이오스 개조 구형메인보드 + 8세대/9세대 커피레이크 / 우린 답을 찾을 것이다. 늘 그랬듯이… / [4K] [playsin플레이신]
• In Portugese:
  • Biosmod CoffeeLake Automatizado. 8700K + Z170 e todas outras placas mãe de 6a e 7a geração
• In Japanese:
  • 【自作PC】BIOS改造！！DeskMini「110」に、第8世代Coffee LakeのCPUを載せてみた！

User articles:

• [RU] Running Intel Core i5-8400 on ASUS B150 mITX/gaming/aura
• [RU] 5GHz 9900K on the sub-6000 rubles motherboard. Hero VIII
• [RU] Running I9-9900K on Z270! Overclocking and tests

9. Useful Items

Spoiler

The links are for reference, you could buy the items locally or wherever is more convenient for you. The programmer and the SPI-cable are not absolutely required for the mod, but are convenient if you plan to mod more than 1 motherboard. Check the paragraph 5 to see if you will need a programmer.

• CH341A Programmer:
  • A programmer only – if your motherboard has a socketed DIP-8 FLASH chip;
  • A SOIC-clip – if your motherboard has a soldered SOIC-8 FLASH chip;
• Kapton tape – to insulate the CPU pads. A locally-available PVC insulation tape can be used, too.
• Conductive glue – to short the CPU pads. A metal foil + a thin double-sided scotch tape can be used, too. Or a soft pencil.
• Making an SPI-cable – if your motherboard has a soldered BIOS chip and a you want a more reliable solution than a SOIC-clip:
  • 2-mm pitch female header – to connect to the SPI-header on a motherboard;
  • 2.54 mm pitch female header – to connect to the header of the CH341A programmer;
  • Ribbon cable – to connect the headers together according to the diagram in the paragraph 5.6. The cable must not be too long. I’ve tested a 1 m cable, worked great.
  • You might want to get some heat-shrink tubes to make the cable more reliable to use and nicer to look at.
• W25Q128FVIQ DIP8 SPI FLASH chips, commonly used in ASUS 100-series boards. Not required, you can flash the same chip that is in your motherboard.

 

[1van]

Related:

Spoiler

 

 

[Uptivuptiz]

I gotta say... It's always fun to learn new things. But holy god! This is a lot of stuff to take in when you've never tried this before  

[1van]

2 minutes ago, Uptivuptiz said:

This is a lot of stuff to take in when you've never tried this before  

It looks much harder than it is, because of the size of the guide

Check the playsin's video out to see how simple it actually is. It is in Korean, but it is very visual and subtitles are available.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

I wonder if this might work to enable me to drop an i9-9900 into my Clevo P750DM-G?  It currently has an i7-6700K and I'd definitely like more CPU threads.

Don't think I'll be going for the 9900K as I kinda want to keep the power consumption under 100 watts or so under all-core load.  (That would also rule out the 9900KS, unless it would be better binned, and I could TDP down and run at lower voltage with lower / moderate clocks, like 4 to 4.5 GHz.)

I'd really like to put a 10nm many-core CPU in when they come out (or 7nm if Intel skips 10nm on desktop), but I'm hearing rumors that the socket will be physically incompatible by then. (Unlike what has happened in the past: 1150 had 22 & 14nm, 1155 had 32 & 22nm, 1156 had 45 & 32nm, 775 had I think 130, 90, 65 & 45nm, I forget what the rest of the sequence was going back to the 4004.  I expected 1151 to have 14nm and 10nm CPUs, even if it took a few extra generations to get 10nm.)

[1van]

16 hours ago, PianoPlayer88Key said:

Clevo P750DM-G

I assume you've read the guide?

The pinmod map for Clevo is included, try using CoffeeTime to mod you BIOS (from Clevo's website) and see if it goes well. As for the mod itself, use search at win-raid forum, I believe there were some Clevo owners there who did the mod successfully.

[agent2]

Hey there, 

a bit late and nearly off-topic: Is this also possible on 2017 iMacs as they also only go up to the 7700K? 

Many thanks in advance! 

[surferoo]

https://youtu.be/hghT2iOvWTU
 

[ekkocat]

thaks for this guide it work for my Gigabyte ga-b250-ds3h-cf and i3 9100f U0 step

[BrunonoxX]

21 hours ago, ekkocat said:

thaks for this guide it work for my Gigabyte ga-b250-ds3h-cf and i3 9100f U0 step

In your processor, it was necessary to physically isolate the pins? 

[ekkocat]

3 hours ago, BrunonoxX said:

In your processor, it was necessary to physically isolate the pins? 

yes if you have a processor U0 step you need to isolate pins and some times short 2 pins, all depends on the motherboard you are installing it into.

[BrunonoxX]

On 4/22/2020 at 4:37 PM, ekkocat said:

yes if you have a processor U0 step you need to isolate pins and some times short 2 pins, all depends on the motherboard you are installing it into.

 

And which method did you use to update the bios of the motherboard Gigabyte? Is it necessary to use the SPI-programmer?

 

**I have a ga-h270m , and error occurs when trying to update the bios by Q-flash.

[ekkocat]

12 hours ago, BrunonoxX said:

 

And which method did you use to update the bios of the motherboard Gigabyte? Is it necessary to use the SPI-programmer?

 

**I have a ga-h270m , and error occurs when trying to update the bios by Q-flash.

use intel flashing programing tool to flash the bios

[BrunonoxX]

4 hours ago, ekkocat said:

use intel flashing programing tool to flash the bios

I understand, so you didn't need to use the physical update of the bios directly from the motherboard?

[ekkocat]

1 hour ago, BrunonoxX said:

I understand, so you didn't need to use the physical update of the bios directly from the motherboard?

nope just software and the pinmod on the processor

[BlastingKap]

Just wanted to leave a thanks here for the guide. Picked up an i7 8700 and it's been fun getting it to work in a z170 maximus hero.

 

One thing i wish i'd realized sooner is that the stock voltages for the non-k parts are waaaay too low. I've essentially had to 'OC' the 8700 up to stock speeds by adjusting voltages and power manually. SVID and Auto anything was a complete mess and it couldn't even reach the Windows login screen.

 

Methods/Tools used:

- kapton tape for the two isolated pins

- a very small strip of conductive tape for the SKTOCC pins

- a CH341A to flash the bios

- a cheap chip puller (almost destroyed the legs on the poor DIP chip without it)

- stock BIOS v2202 (as it came highly recommended)

- the russian coffeetime tool (v0.85) - picked the experimental 'inject all' option for Asus.

 

Lessons learned:

- The CoffeeTime tool ships with the 64-bit version of cecho. I ran the tool in an old Win7-32bit VM and had to replace it with the 32-bit version.

- The AIO Tool from Win-raid has no config menu. It also needs to be executed close to root folder - I ran into a bunch of MMTool crashes due to path length exceeding the maximum. Even when it worked I was stuck on POST code 31 with a skylake CPU installed. It's possible the AIO tool doesn't keep skylake support?

- CH341A windows software sucks. If you can run it on linux do that. I had problems flashing (read/verify would fail) until I tried  v1.31 'Free' version. 

- All of these tools trigger virus scanners and unpacking them will get a bunch of their files quarantined/nuked instantly. Likely false positives but if you like to be cautious just use a VM or a PC that's isolated from the net.

- If you care about your boar'd SN and MAC address, make a backup of your OG BIOS with the programmer before you start!

- Even after dialing up the vcore to 1.4v, couldn't obtain an all-core sync higher than 3.5GHz. Turns out the Auto CPU Core Cache Ratio is also garbage and I had to dial in 34 min and max. I could then drop the vcore down to 1.3v and achieve a stable system (Prime95 - Blend - 30mins). Cache Ratio of 36 or higher wasn't stable without putting in more vcore than i was comfy with running 24/7.

[1van]

!!!A Coffee Time update has been released!!!

It has a GUI and includes the latest microcodes. The main changes are listed here:

Spoiler

---------------------------------| CoffeeTime |------------------------------------
--------------------| s1151 bios updater for Coffee Lake CPUs |--------------------
-----------------------| ABOUT LICENSE TERMS AND DISCLAIMER |----------------------
- CoffeeTime bios modification tool distributed as free software and not using any license agreement.
- You can use and distribute CoffeeTime at your own decision.
- CoffeeTime tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.
- All responsibility for the consequences of using CoffeeTime lies with the end user without any reservations.
----------------------------------| CHANGELOG |------------------------------------
v0.92 (06.10.2020)
+ Changed PCIe patch to improve compatibility: old patterns replaced and new added. If old patch will detected - label color changes to yellow. Replaced patterns has no any difference from old for work consumer CFL CPUs
+ Fixed PCIe 1440 patch for notebook CPUs. Left one type of fix for all cases. This fix required only for 6c/12t notebook CPUs (QNCT, QQLT)
+ Combo of changed PCIe and PCIe 1440 patches now make a better compatibility for notebooks 1440 CPUs. But still not 100%
+ Added new patterns for Init 8+ CPUs patch to improve compatibility
+ Uefireplace and Uefipatch tools downgraded to 0.25.0 to prevent problems with module updating
+ Completely reworked VBIOS and GOP updating system. Now it find and update all VBIOS, GOP driver and GOP Vbt copies at all places. Thanks to Dsanke for algo. Module from internal VBIOS base or custom module will inserted without any settings transfer, so it's not recommended for general using.
+ Added tooltips with basic info for all mods
+ Added SPD Write Protection unlock patch
+ Added fix for cores/threads count display type in BIOS from hexadecimal to decimal
+ Added fix to unlock maximum 128Gb RAM
+ Added possibility to patch AMI table with non-standard identifier. Some manufacturers (notebooks and servers mostly) may changes AMI table name to any custom for no reason. If ACPI patching finishes by info-window with unpatched single table name it may be the case. CoffeeTime use hardcoded algo to make all tables patched full and correctly. You can create a file "data/custom/aminames.txt" and place custom table name there (full name or partially, ID can be founded in the information message after ACPI patching try), one line - one identifier. Then reopen image and try patch ACPI again.
+ GOP driver module updated to 9.0.1107
+ Added microcodes:
. - 906EB_5E, 906EC_98

v0.9 (24.09.2020)
+ CoffeeTime rewritten using C++, added GUI
+ Only advanced mode available atm. No any hints, so you need to know mod list wich required to make modbios exactly you want
+ Completely rework ACPI patch - now it works for everything, even for rare tables
+ Added custom modules support - just drop your microcode/ME/Vbios/GOP into "data/custom" directory
+ Improved personal data replacing system - partial/full/transfer. Fixed for MAC transfer from slot2 (e.g. ASUS Z170iPG)
+ Improved microcodes replacing system - specific microcodes selection and show available space
+ Added Vbios universal update using BMP. Vbioses from base also available, just in case
+ Available Vbios versions list for universal update:
. - 1062, 1059, 1058, 1055, 1054
+ Available ME versions list changed to:
. - 11.0.0.1168 | CON | Full
. - 11.7.0.1229 | CON | Full
. - 11.7.0.3307 | COR | Cut
. - 11.8.77.3664 | COR | Cut
+ Available Microcodes list changed to:
. - 506E0_18, 506E1_2A, 506E2_2E, 506E3_74, 506E3_DC, 506E8_34, 906E9_DE,
. - 906EA_6A, 906EA_AA, 906EA_DE, 906EB_AA, 906EB_DE, 906EC_96, 906EC_BE, 906EC_DE, 906ED_BE, 906ED_DE
+ Changed NVMe fix - now it removes only 1 GUID
+ If loaded BIOS from Z370/B365/H310C board - PCIe patch switches to Xeon adaptation mode
+ MeRecovery fix deletes GUID according vendor - ASUS / Gigabyte
+ Added NVRAM defaults settings setup:
. - BIOS Lock
. - Hyper-Threading
+ Added two-options patch to fix processor PCIe lines when 1440 CPUs installed. Correct fix type is determined by test method. Not 100% cases working for now
+ No more any symbols restrictions in paths
+ Drag'n'Drop implemented
+ Using of dumped BIOS isn't restriction
+ Added launch option "Skip NVRAM" - may be useful if CT stucks on NVRAM checking (ifrextract.exe problem)
+ MSI: Patches for 8+ threads was blocked because it useless for MSI boards and even may be harmful (e.g. ACPI patch breaks any MSI BIOS)
+ ASUS: To restore capsule just save image with ".cap" extension

Download links:

Spoiler

https://mega.nz/folder/4oRViKSI#nn-8ZRHBa6_PDwNLzgubNA

https://yadi.sk/d/i4FE9b-o3apk5b

Just in time for Intel's Coffee Lake discounts

[EYFHR]

Thank you for this guide!

I do have a MSI Z170-A Pro with a 16MB BIOS and want to use an i7-9700k.

According to the table above, this doesn't seem to be possible. Could this work with the latest update or is something planned in the future?

[1van]

@EYFHRFortunately there is a ported BIOS for this board (a port from MSI Z370A). The original one is tested, but it is dated 2019 so it does not include the recent CPU microcodes. I have updated the microcodes, please check the attached (this one has not been tested).

 

Pinmod is still required!

 

Even though MSI boards can be flashed via FPT (see the guide), it is better to have a programmer available if something goes wrong.

 

Z170APRO_CFL_2019.zip Z170APRO_CFL_UPD.zip

[gaav]

@1van Hello i have a big question.

 

"+ Added SPD Write Protection unlock patch"

 

Did you unlock the ram SPD for 1440 fcbga (notebook) cpus. Because ram was limited to 3000 mhz on 1440 CPUS QQLT/QQLS.

Or is is still 3000 mhz limited for the 1440 CPUS ?

If its still limited do you know if in future there will be possibility of them going higher then 3000 mhz ? Talking about Z370 BOARDS

 

 

 

 

[1van]

@gaavFirst, I'm not the developer. Second, I don't believe the 3000 MHz memory limitation is somehow related to the SPD Write Protection patch. Afaik, the limit is mostly due to substrate quality.

[Remiix_Dripgxd]

On 10/29/2019 at 8:08 AM, 1van said:

Hello guys.

I used a search engine and found that the possibility to run CoffeeLake processors on Sky\KabyLake motherboards was brought up here before, but did not receive a wide coverage, even though there are many people who have good Z170/270 motherboards and want to upgrade their obsolete 4C/8T i3s i7s.

  Reveal hidden contents

Sending coffee into the sky

Coffee Lake on Z170 with DDR3 Ram?

BIOS help for msi Z170, i3 8100

Core i7 8700 in i3 7100 machine

9th Gen Intel and Maximus VIII Extreme

Many such cases.

 

The modification itself is more than a year old, but it's better late, than never

To those who are interested, I present the translation of this guide below. Thanks to all the people who made this modification possible and to the all people who contributed to this guide. I am not a native speaker, so corrections are welcome.

 

 

0. Before You Begin. Disclaimer

You are responsible for your actions and consequences thereof. There is no guarantee that everything will work as it should or work at all.

1. Highlights

  Reveal hidden contents

• Many of the 100- and 200-series motherboards can run Coffee Lake processors;
• Both production and engineering Core and Xeon processors can be used;
• The modified BIOS will still support Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs provided the 506E3 and 906E9 microcodes are left in the BIOS;
• iGPU, PCIe x16, and NVME are fully operational after the modification;
• The modification does not remove the overclocking limitations: a Z-chipset and a K-CPU are required for overclocking. However, H- and B-chipsets support DDR4 up to 2666MHz with Coffe Lake CPUs after the modification;
• Coffee Lake IMC supports DDR3/DDR3L;
• The main problem is a limited number of supported CPU threads for some of the motherboards and BIOS versions, i.e. some boards are only capable of running 8-thread CPUs, or up to 12-thread CPUs, etc. But if a board is capable of running an i7-9700K, it will be able to run an i9-9900K with HT disabled, too.
• H310C, B365, and Z370 motherboards are capable of running Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs after a ME version downgrade and inclusion of the necessary microcodes.

2. BIOS Dump and Personal Data Extraction

  Reveal hidden contents

2.1 Dumping a BIOS

  Reveal hidden contents

Saving a dump of your original BIOS helps to preserve motherboard identification data (serial number, UUID) and MAC address of Intel NIC. A dump will allow you to transfer the data to a modified BIOS.

• Using an SPI-programmer is a fail-safe option. The process is described in the paragraph 5.6.
• FlashProgrammingToll v11 (FPT)

If there are no command line keys specified, the FPT tries to perform a full BIOS dump, which may lead to the Error 318 meaning that there is no read access to some of the BIOS regions, a ME region most frequently. In this case you are advised to dump a BIOS-region and a GbE-region (if a motherboard is equipped with an Intel NIC) separately; ready access to these regions is allowed.

Run an elevated command prompt and input the following:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”
fptw64 -d full.backup                    // for a full BIOS dump
fptw64 -gbe -d gbe.backup                // for a GbE-region dump
fptw64 -bios -d bios.backup              // for a BIOS-region dump

• AMIFirmwareUpdate 3.05.04 (AFU)

The latest version of the AFU is suitable for dumping a BIOS, but the v. 3.05.04 may be useful for flashing a modified BIOS later.

Run an elevated command prompt and input the following:

cd /d “full path to the FPT directory in quotation marks”
afuwinx64 backup.rom /o               // for a full BIOS dump

Or you could save an original BIOS via AFUWINGUI by clicking the Save button and specifying the path and name of the file. There is a strange bug: the system may spontaneously restart 5-10 minutes after dump a BIOS.

2.2 MAC Address

  Reveal hidden contents

MAC address need to be transferred for motherboards equipped with Intel network controllers. In this case the BIOS will feature a GbE-region with a unique MAC-address of the network device.

There is no GbE-region in a BIOS of Realtek NIC-based motherboards, so there is no need to transfer it in that case.

The MAC sticker can be found on a motherboard itself.

The UEFITool can be used to open either a full BIOS dump or a GbE-region dump to find the MAC address:

The MAC address is shown in your network adapter's properties in Windows, too.

2.3 Personal Data: Baseboard Serial Number and UUID

  Reveal hidden contents

Baseboard S/N and UUID are only present in ASUS motherboards and are located in the FD44820B-F1AB-41C0-AE4E-0C55556EB9BD module.

The S/N and UUID can be found in AIDA64: Computer > Summary > DMI System UUID and DMI Motherboard Serial Number, or using HWInfo64 (Motherboard > SMBIOS DMI > System and Mainboard tabs).

A command prompt

wmic baseboard get serialnumber

will display the S/N of the motherboard.

In case if lost, the S/N can be restored using a sticker on the motherboard:

The first symbol of the serial number is the year of production: 1-9 – 2001-2009, A – 2010, B – 2011, C – 2012, D – 2013, E – 2014, F – 2015, etc., and the second symbol is the month: 1-9 – Jan-Sep, A – Oct, B – Nov, C – Dec, e.g. HA stands for 1710xxxxxxxxxxxx. The rest of the S/N is on the sticker on the front of the motherboard. The symbols you are looking for are the first 11 characters in the xxxxxx-xxxxx-aaaaaaaaa string.

A lost UUID cannot be recovered.

The last 12 characters of the UUID are the MAC address.

The FD44Editor tool allows you to transfer and edit personal data for ASUS motherboards.

 

3. CPU Preparation

  Reveal hidden contents

3.1 Coffee Lake Revisions

  Reveal hidden contents

There are 4 revisions of Coffee Lake CPUs, each requiring a specific microcode. Note that there are CPUs which exist in several revisions. The full list can be found here.

The B0 revision requires a 906EB microcode and uses a 4-core die with an "old" Kaby Lake substrate. It does not require a pinmod. The B0 CPUs are:

G4900, G4900T, G4920, G4930, G4930T, G4950, G5420 (SR3YH), G5500, G5500T, G5600, G5600T, G5600F, G5620, i3-8100, i3-8100T, i3-8300, i3-8300T, i3-8350K, i3-9100, i3-9100T, i3-9100F (SRF7W), i3-9300, i3-9300T, i3-9320, i3-9350K, i3-9350KF

The U0 revision requires a 906EA microcode and uses a 6-core die. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. The U0 CPUs are:

G5400, G5400T, G5420 (SR3XA), G5420T, i3-9100F (SRF6N), i5-8400, i5-8400T, i5-8500, i5-8500T, i5-8600, i5-8600T, i5-8600K, i5-9400 (SR3X5), i5-9400T, i5-9400F (SRF6M), i5-9500, i5-9500T, i5-9500F (SRF6Q), i5-9600, i5-9600T, i7-8700, i7-8700T, i7-8700K, i7-8086K

The P0 revision requires a 906EC microcode and uses an 8-core die. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. Most likely the P0 CPUs are no longer produced. The P0 CPUs are:

i5-9400 (SRELV), 9400F (SRFAH), i5-9600K (SRELU), i5-9600KF (SRFAD), i7-9700K (SRELT), i7-9700KF (SRFAC), i9-9900K (SRELS), i9-9900KF (SRFAA)

The R0 revision requires a 906ED microcode and uses an 8-core die; the substrate is visually no different from the P0, but the S-spec string on the lid is SRGxx. A pinmod is required as described in the paragraph 3.2. The R0 CPUs are:

i5-9400 (SRG0Y), i5-9400F (SRG0Z), i5-9500F (SRG10), i5-9600K (SRG11), i5-9600KF (SRG12), i7-9700, i7-9700F, i7-9700K (SRG15), i7-9700KF (SRG16), i7-9700T, i9-9900, i9-9900K (SRG19), i9-9900KF (SRG1A), i9-9900T, i9-9900KS

 

3.2 CPU Pinmod

  Reveal hidden contents

For most CoffeeLake CPUs, a “pinmod” is required:

Recommendations:

• The pinmod is not required for B0-CPUs.
• #SKTOCC pin of the CPU socket has to be shorted to the GND to make the motherboard “understand” that the CPU is present in the socket and allow it to power on.
• The easiest way to short the pins is to stick a small strip of a food foil to the CPU with a double-sided scotch tape. Other options are metallic tape, conductive glue, conductive marker, conductive varnish, or even a soft pencil (as a temporary solution, use it to draw a thick line between the CPU pads).
• It is extremely important to make sure that the jumper does not move when installing the CPU and closing the socket lid, and does not short any other pads or pins.
• For insulation of the pads it is more convenient to use either a Kapton tape or an acrylic insulation varnish. A PVC insulation tape can be used, too. DO NOT use a nail polish for insulation, it is not sturdy enough and is not heat-resistant.
• The yellow color in the pinmod map indicates the pins which function is different in LGA1151-1 and LGA1151-2, but no motherboards so far required insulation of this area.
• Before applying the insulation and conductive glue make sure to clean the CPU pads using alcohol.

Consequences of a pinmod gone wrong:

• If the motherboard requires shorting of #SKTOCC and GND pins, it would not power up without it.
• If the jumper installed on the CPU is moved and shorts wrong pins, it would prevent the motherboard from running properly and may damage iGPU and/or IMC.
• Insulation (except Gigabyte motherboards): if you do not insulate the pads indicated in the pinmod map (or if the insulation either moves or peels off) a corresponding socket pin would act as a fuse and burn. Most likely, no more damage would occur.
• Insulation (Gigabyte motherboards): I you fail to insulate a larger area of the pads shown in red in the pinmod map, the pins of the socket would remain intact, causing a part of the VRM to blow up. If case if the insulation would shift, a corresponding socket pin would act as a fuse and burn. Most likely, no more damage would occur.

Notes:

• The insulation of the CPU pads according to the pinmod map is made to ensure that nothing would burn and to keep the intact appearance of the CPU and the motherboard.
• The insulation is not necessary for some motherboards. To check it you need to use a multimeter and make sure that there is no short circuit neither pin-to-pin, nor pin-to-gnd. If there is a short circuit, the corresponding pins must be insulated.
• Instead of connecting the socket pins with a foil tape, the corresponding pins may be traced on the motherboard itself and connected there. It requires a bit of searching and some soldering skills.
• If you do not want to preserve the appearance of the socket, the corresponding pins can be physically cut/removed from the socket, instead of insulating. It will allow to run both Sky\Kaby- and Coffee Lake CPUs.

Comparison of LGA1151-1 and LGA1151-2 pinouts.

 

I know this thread is a bit  old but I really need some help and I was hoping I could get some. I have a R0 9700k I installed the latest version of the coffee time tool but I cant find any guides or forums with anyone explaining how to use it. If anyone could take a quick look at the tool and explain what I should do it'd be wonderful.  I'm doing this for a z170 deluxe. I don't know which micro code options to choose, which patches to apply or how to find my UUID or my motherboard mac address. I tried dumping my bios but I didn't know where to get the correct version of AMIFirmwareUpdate 3.05.04 (AFU). 

The one download for it I did find just gave me lots of errors. instead I used universal bios backup tool kit and I was able to get a bios backup through that but I couldn't find the correct information in the backup using UEFI tool. I'm struggling really bad, any help would be massively appreciated. I tried using Coffee lake mod tool as well but I kept getting a gop vbios error.

AmericanMegatrendsInc.-3801.rom

[1van]

@Remiix_Dripgxd Judging by your question it does not look that you've read and understood the guide. If you proceed like this the chance is high you'll just brick you board or even damage it. I won't be able to help you.

There is a video above where the guy mods his Asus Z170 Deluxe, with all the steps shown, including flashing.