Hello,
I’ve done the CoffeeLake Mod on my Z170 MSI Gaming M7, swapped my 6700K for a 9900KF and it works great so far!
What I noticed, is that TPM isn’t working anymore, is TPM related to the Intel ME? A tutorial told me to disable it. Can I enable the Intel ME, install the BIOS via a CH341a Programmer and still use my 9900KF?
Also, I cannot get my RAM working with XMP. My 6700K also couldn’t do it @ 3600MHz but 3200MHz ran fine without issues. My 9900KF doesn’t even like 3200 MHz. Does the Mod change something there or did I just get a realy bad 9900KF sample?
Thanks in advance!
@Aphelion Yes you need ME Firmware to be present and functioning to enable PTT (Platform Trust Technology AKA TPM) on the Z170 chipset.
To keep your 9900K working you will need to use ME firmware 11.6.x.x or 11.7.0.1xxx.
I have installed a 9350K into a Z170 with Intel ME FW 11.7.0.1261 and enabled PTT to install Windows 11;
As for the RAM issue, you may need to increase VCCIO and VCCSA voltages manually to get XMP to work, try VCCIO at 1.10 V and VCCSA at 1.15 V.
You may also need to set DRAM voltage manually to 1.35 V or more.
If you are using 4 DIMMs the Z170 chipset may not set tertiary timings correctly, you might need to set both WRWR_dr and WRWR_dd to 8 to POST at higher RAM speeds.
@chinobino Thanks for your help! I will reflash my bios this week, and report back.
No I have just 2 sticks of RAM, but I will check if the value is correct.
What I also noticed, the motherboard information like serial etc are gone because I didn’t figure it out how to transfer it from my backup, and my CPU identifies as Code Name "Kaby Lake"
I have a Rivet Killer Ethernet Controller, so the MAC is present. So I guess this isn’t a problem.
@chinobino I’ve reflashed my UEFI now with activated ME and TPM 2.0 works, thank you very much!
Also tried to change the Voltage of CPUIO, CPUSA and RAM but still no luck with XMP. I settled for 2666 MHz 15-17-17-35-CR2 now and it works. Maybe I will try to reach 3200 MHz again, but I think I just lost the silicon lottery.
@Aphelion Hey, glad to hear you got ME & TPM working.
You might need to try increasing the RAM incrementally (e.g. 2800, 2933, 3000) with loose timings to see where it fails to POST.
Thanks for reporting back 
@chinobino Did that 9350K require pin mod to work? I also have an old Z270 board I want to load Windows 11 on it that is already modded for coffeelake. This time I don’t want to run pencil traces or anything risky.
Thank you
@davidm71 Hi, Asus, ASRock and Biostar boards need the AB35/AC35 SKTOCC (socket occupied) mod (connected) to POST with Coffee Lake.
The 9350K is B0 revision so it doesn’t require any additional pin/pad work.
@chinobino So the 9350K doesn’t need any pin pad mods?
I also read on techpowerup forums soldered motherboard instead
This guy instead of modding pins on the cpu connected two pins on the motherboard with solder instead. Anyhow I want to uncomplicate things and if the 9350K not need mods I’ll go with it.
Thanks.
Edit: Any difference between 9350K and KF?
Edit 2: @dsanke Found an update to the Apex bios mod ver 2603 on HWBot forums.
This update brings Rebar support. Can I update from older version of your mod by
typing: fptw64 -bios -f newbios2603.bin ?? My descriptors are all unlocked for that
matter. Also noticed my dual bios setup has ver 2000 on one side with serial uuids
and ver 2300 on other side missing serial + UUIDs. So I used 44FDeditor to correct
ver 2603 with appropriate serial numbers and wonder in just updating bios region
will update those serial uuids as well?
Thanks again a million times over.
@davidm71 That’s right, any B0 (true quadcore) CPU die doesn’t need the complicated pad insulation.
9350KF is also B0 revision but has no iGPU.
@davidm71 Yes, any 6 core or 8 core Coffee Lake CPU (CPUID 906EA U0 revision, 906ED P0 revision) requires CPU pad insulation.
U0 quad core Coffee Lake CPU’s (CPUID 906EA) do need pad insulation.
B0 quad core Coffee Lake CPU’s (CPUID 906EB) do not need pad insulation.
I hope that helps 
It actually depends on the CPU and the specific mainboard model whether modifications on the socket are necessary.
Connecting two socket pins (which can sometimes alternatively be done by connecting certain points on the mainboard, as described on techpowerup) connects a signal (SKTOCC#) to ground. Intel explains the purpose of this signal as follows:
SKTOCC# (Socket Occupied): Pulled down directly (0 Ohms) on the processor package to the ground. There is no connection to the processor silicon for this signal. System board designers may use this signal to determine if the processor is present.
The important detail is “may use this signal”. So it does not mean that SKTOCC# is used on every LGA1151 revision 1 mainboard, instead, it is only relevant in case the hardware developer has decided to use this feature.
I would recommend to look into a boardview for the particular model to see if AB35 is connected to a net and if so, where it is routed to. In case the boardview shows that there is a connection to the PCH (which means that the signal is being used on that model), you can also find alternative points in the boardview easily where you could tap into SKTOCC#.
For the socket pins which are recommended to be isolated, you can also check in a boardview whether they are connected to something. If so, you should definitely insulate them with tape. If there is no connection at all on these pins, you can also leave out the tape and there will still be no short circuit.
I still think the generic recommendations (connect SKTOCC# to ground and isolate some other pins) make sense because they ensure that a Coffee Lake CPU can be installed relatively safely. If you don’t have or cannot find a boardview for your particular mainboard (or simply want to use a Coffee Lake CPU without taking a closer look at this detail), it definitely makes sense to follow these recommendations. You should only deviate from them if you can safely rule out that they are necessary.
Are there any four core 8 thread coffee lake cpu’s out there?
According to HWBot thread: https://community.hwbot.org/topic/184577-asus-maximus-ix-apex-and-coffee-lake-cpus/#comments
They detail which to points to solder together. According to them thats all I need for full out Coffeelake support. Looks easy enough except I looked at my board and the points are really small and afraid I’ll get solder all over the place. I have magnification loops though and maybe with some effort I could pull it off.
Last time I tried physical blocking pads and pencil mod on the back of a 9700K and that didn’t go over so well with the system unstable so trying to keep it simple and convert this into a machine I could use at work.
Thanks
@davidm71 Hi, unfortunately not - I would have liked to replace my 6700K with a quadcore that had hyperthreading, but they don’t exist for 8th/9th Gen.
Today I looked for a boardview of the mainboard you mentioned (ASUS Maximus IX Hero, Z270 chipset) and found one here. This is what it looks like in the overview:
And this are the generic recommendations for the socket mod. Lets take a look at the pins highlighted in green and blue since this is an ASUS mainboard:
Green is the connection between AB35 (SKTOCC#) and AC35 (ground). There is a net (a connection) leading to two other points, pin 1 at part OR205 and pin 102 at part OU1:
OR205 seems to be a pull-up resistor (pin 2 of this part is connected to +BAT_3V). I can’t see whether a component is assembled there or whether it’s just a few unused pads. You need to take a look at your mainboard to find this out.
This is pin 102 on OU1. It seems to be an IC that is soldered underneath:
Both parts can be found in this area of the mainboard:
If there is no resistor soldered at OR205, I would assume that it is not necessary to connect H_SKTOCC# to ground, because the signal seems to be unused in this case.
About the two blue pins. AK27 is obviously not connected to any net:
AJ30 leads to a net (named N18192843):
This net can only be found at another point (HT144), which appears to be a through-hole. It is possible that it leads to nowhere, but could also be connected to something:
Insulating AJ30 on this mainboard therefore seems to be a good idea.