How to Dual Boot Windows and macOS on AMD Ryzen with Dual GPUs (NVIDIA & AMD)

How to Dual Boot Windows and macOS on AMD Ryzen with Dual GPUs (NVIDIA & AMD)

Setting up a dual boot between Windows and macOS on an AMD Ryzen system with a modern NVIDIA GPU (such as the RTX 5080) and a secondary AMD GPU (like the Radeon Pro WX4100) is highly technical. macOS does not support modern NVIDIA GPUs, requiring you to completely hide the NVIDIA card from macOS while allowing Windows to use it as the primary card. This guide provides a detailed walkthrough to configure your UEFI firmware, disable the NVIDIA card via OpenCore, and achieve a successful boot.

1. Prerequisites

• Hardware configuration: MSI X870 Tomahawk motherboard, AMD Ryzen 9 9850x3D CPU, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA RTX 5080 (Slot 1), AMD Pro WX4100 (Slot 3).
• Required tools: OpenCorePkg, ProperTree, SSDT-GPU-DISABLE template, MaciASL or SSDTTime.
• Warning: Improper GPU disable configurations will cause macOS to freeze during early boot loader stages or panic during graphics initialization.

2. Compatibility Snapshot

• NVIDIA RTX 5080: Unsupported in all macOS versions. Must be disabled.
• AMD Radeon Pro WX4100: Supported out of the box in macOS Ventura and newer (Lexa core requires specific spoofing or model matching).
• AMD Ryzen CPU: Requires AMD Kernel Patches added to your config.plist to run macOS.

3. Installation Preparation

1. BIOS Settings: Set primary display output to Slot 3 (AMD GPU) in your MSI BIOS. Disable Secure Boot and Fast Boot. Enable Above 4G Decoding and Resize BAR (disable Resize BAR in macOS boot args if boot stalls).
2. Prepare USB Installer: Build a standard macOS Ventura or Sonoma installer.
3. Identify GPU ACPI Path: Use Windows Device Manager to locate the exact ACPI path of your NVIDIA GPU (e.g., _SB.PCI0.GPP8.PEG0).

4. EFI and config.plist Review

1. Disable NVIDIA GPU: Create a custom SSDT (e.g., SSDT-GPU-DISABLE.aml) using MaciASL, referencing your NVIDIA GPU\'s ACPI path to set its status to 0. Place it in EFI -> OC -> ACPI.
2. Config.plist Patches: Add the latest AMD Kernel Patches to your Kernel -> Patch section.
3. Boot Arguments: Add -v keepsyms=1 debug=0x100 agdpmod=pikera. If your AMD Lexa-based GPU requires spoofing, add the device-id in DeviceProperties.

5. Post-Installation

1. Verify GPU Status: Once booted into macOS, open System Information and confirm that only the AMD WX4100 is visible with full hardware acceleration.
2. Setup Dual Boot: Install Windows on a separate SSD. Windows will use the RTX 5080 natively when booted directly or through the OpenCore picker.

6. Troubleshooting

Reported Issue: Stuck Before macOS Installation Screen

1. PCI Configuration Stall: If the boot hangs at PCI configuration, ensure Above 4G Decoding is enabled and Resize BAR is disabled in your macOS configuration.
2. SSDT Mismatch: If the NVIDIA GPU still powers on or causes a panic, verify that the ACPI path in your custom SSDT matches your MSI motherboard\'s layout exactly.

Common Hackintosh Checks

• Check that Lilu.kext and WhateverGreen.kext are updated to the latest builds.

7. Dual Boot and Advanced Configuration

• Separate Disks: Never install macOS and Windows on the same physical SSD if you want to avoid Windows Update overwriting the OpenCore EFI bootloader.

8. Verification, Maintenance and Rollback

• Verify: Run benchmark tools in macOS to confirm that the WX4100 is rendering graphics with Metal support.
• Rollback: If an MSI BIOS update resets your settings, re-enable Above 4G Decoding and set the PCIe slot priority immediately.

9. References and Glossary

• References: Dortania GPU Disabling Guide, AMD OSX Kernel Patches repository.
• Glossary: ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), SSDT (Secondary System Description Table), Spoofing (faking a hardware ID for driver compatibility).