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'15 MBP 15" with 28" Samsung UHD 4k, sluggish mouse and keyboard

S

Standard

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
296
59
Canada
Hi guys. I have connected my base 2015 MBP 15" to my 28" Samsung 4k Monitor. The mouse is a MadCatz RAT 5. The drivers are installed.

Currently, keyboard and mouse are sluggish. Is this because of the integrated GPU? It can't produce good performance on this resolution? I was under the impression hooking up to a monitor of this size would be fine.

It's very frustrating. I have tried playing around with the settings but I cannot seem to get anything working flawlessly.
 
Step one, make sure no motion interpolation modes are turned on, turn it to a PC or Game mode if it has it, my Samsung Series 7 has an upwards of 250ms lag with movie mode on.

Edit: Nevermind I overlooked you said it was a monitor specifically, not a 4K TV you are trying to use
 
Hellhammer said:
That's your problem. HDMI only supports 4K at 30Hz due to bandwidth limitations. You need to use DisplayPort for 60Hz.
Click to expand...

So my monitor came with a full sized display port cable. My MBP only has a Mini Display port I am assuming? Or Thunderbolt? If I get a mini to HDMI conversion will that be acceptable?

jerryk said:
Could you please report back how this monitor works with your MacBook. I am considering a similar monitor.
Click to expand...

Most definitely. Keep you all posted in this thread!
 
Standard said:
So my monitor came with a full sized display port cable. My MBP only has a Mini Display port I am assuming? Or Thunderbolt? If I get a mini to HDMI conversion will that be acceptable?
Click to expand...

Thunderbolt 2 uses the Mini DisplayPort connector, so what you will need is simply mDP to DP cable like this one. Then connect it to one of the Thunderbolt ports.
 
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Hellhammer said:
Thunderbolt 2 uses the Mini DisplayPort connector, so what you will need is simply mDP to DP cable like this one. Then connect it to one of the Thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much! Going to get this ordered. Keep you posted.
 
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Hellhammer said:
Thunderbolt 2 uses the Mini DisplayPort connector, so what you will need is simply mDP to DP cable like this one. Then connect it to one of the Thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

Got my cable. Works great!! Thank you so much.

For anyone interested, there are no lag issues with this Samsung 4k UHD monitor. It works like a charm even with the Intel GPU.

A side question though, is it possible to increase the UI font size of OS X? I can scale it on Windows 10, not sure if I can on here. 4k is excellent for the real estate but it's hard to read menus without being able to upsize the font.

Thanks.
 
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Standard said:
Got my cable. Works great!! Thank you so much.

For anyone interested, there are no lag issues with this Samsung 4k UHD monitor. It works like a charm even with the Intel GPU.

A side question though, is it possible to increase the UI font size of OS X? I can scale it on Windows 10, not sure if I can on here. 4k is excellent for the real estate but it's hard to read menus without being able to upsize the font.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'm buying the same cable is it the one labeled for 4k it's 14.99? I have a mid 2014 rmbp 15 and also having the same problem connected to my lg 27 4k monitor
 
Had a 2014 and it was sluggish, had to return the 4k monitor. Amazing how a laptop that costs so much can't even handle a simple 4k monitor. It was due to the integrated graphics
 
Grolubao said:
Had a 2014 and it was sluggish, had to return the 4k monitor. Amazing how a laptop that costs so much can't even handle a simple 4k monitor. It was due to the integrated graphics
Click to expand...

4K means a lot of bits to push on every screen refresh. More heat, more wear and tear on the machine, .....
 
jerryk said:
4K means a lot of bits to push on every screen refresh. More heat, more wear and tear on the machine, .....
Click to expand...

Sure, but it's a 2014 machine... One would expect right? Also, to be honest, I was kind of expecting it to look like a retina display and is not even close. I ended up switching to a regular 27" and I'm fine with it
 
Grolubao said:
Sure, but it's a 2014 machine... One would expect right? Also, to be honest, I was kind of expecting it to look like a retina display and is not even close. I ended up switching to a regular 27" and I'm fine with it
Click to expand...

So how different is your 27 inch from the 4K? How about text? I write code and stare at text a lot.

I ask because I am considering getting a couple of 4Ks to replace my 2-24 inch 1920 X 1080 monitors.
 
When I bought the 4k I was expecting retina like, but in the end it is only marginally better. Maybe 5k is what one should be aiming for.

i tried this https://www.amazon.co.uk/inch-Dell-...e=UTF8&qid=1467270851&sr=8-8&keywords=Dell+27 and performance was sluggish specially noticeable when scrolling. Investigated a lot and the culprit is the laptop that is not powerful enough.

Ended up trading it for this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-U2715...e=UTF8&qid=1467270851&sr=8-1&keywords=Dell+27
 
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Grolubao said:
Had a 2014 and it was sluggish, had to return the 4k monitor. Amazing how a laptop that costs so much can't even handle a simple 4k monitor. It was due to the integrated graphics
Click to expand...

No what's amazing is that a thin light laptop runs them well at all, as above though it was probably a matter of the wrong cable rather than anything wrong with the computer or monitor.
 
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Trust me, I tried everything. Different display port cables, hdmi, 30hz, 60hz, the whole shebang. There's several threads in MacRumours complaining about this. It's the integrated gpu, it simply can't handle it and even if it could, it's definitely a huge stress to the processor. The quality is no near a retina display
 
Grolubao said:
Trust me, I tried everything. Different display port cables, hdmi, 30hz, 60hz, the whole shebang. There's several threads in MacRumours complaining about this. It's the integrated gpu, it simply can't handle it and even if it could, it's definitely a huge stress to the processor. The quality is no near a retina display
Click to expand...

That's because there is a difference in overall resolution and HiDPI. The Retina Display while offering a high resolution, you never get the "full" resolution of the screen. Instead it is scaled and the pixels are doubled running the display in HiDPI mode. Finding a monitor that can run in HiDPI mode will make it look just like a retina display.
 
Just received the cord for 4k resolution thunderbolt on my monitor and let me say a huge difference from hdmi cord... Thanks everyone
 
killaz05 said:
That's because there is a difference in overall resolution and HiDPI. The Retina Display while offering a high resolution, you never get the "full" resolution of the screen. Instead it is scaled and the pixels are doubled running the display in HiDPI mode. Finding a monitor that can run in HiDPI mode will make it look just like a retina display.
Click to expand...

Any recommendations on monitors that support HiDPI? A google search turned up pointers to an old Dell monitor from 2014. Perhaps HiDPI is called something else?
 
I use two side-by-side monitors in portrait orientation driven by a 2014 13" MacBook Pro. One is a Dell 27" at 1440x2560 and the other is a 24" Samsung U24E590D UHD 4k monitor at 1080x1920 in HiDPI mode. Although one of the Samsung's HDMI inputs is HDMI v2.0 so it supports a 60 Hz refresh rate over HDMI, no current Macs have HDMI v2.0 I don't really notice the 30 Hz refresh for the text work I do.

Scrolling and window resizing on both monitors is fast -- no sluggishness at all in Safari. Image quality on the Samsung is excellent. Scaled resolutions also look good. Of course text at the native 2160x3840 is too small to read comfortably.

The Samsung stand doesn't allow the monitor to pivot, so I use its VESA mount with a monitor arm. I have been following these monitors at Amazon over the last month or so. The Amazon price has varied from $330-$350 although when they sell out, third-party sellers charge considerably more until Amazon restocks.
 
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