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2018 i7 MacBook Pro throttling discussion.
- Thread starter iamMacPerson
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Just need to correct you for a moment because I hate myths.
Adobe uses their own acceleration engine called Mercury Engine and more features use OpenCL than CUDA.
In fact, they only support CUDA for a few useless filters in Photoshop. Everything else is OpenCL (see the Preferences).
The Mercury Engine was built on top of OpenCL and OpenGL. Here's when it was introduced:
https://forums.adobe.com/message/4289204
In Adobe Media Encoder they have OpenCL and CUDA for video rendering. I've tested both across many Mac Pro configurations and on PCs with various Nvidia and AMD cards. Makes no difference which brand you use. The teraflops is what matters.
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Yeah I was gonna say that has this gentleman using a Core 2 Duo 2.2/2.4ghz machine with a DVD drive and a silky smooth silver keyboard
Also this article was very interesting. I suspect when we do see a patch it will reflect this modification in some way:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...e-performance-with-a-few-clicks.317552.0.html
For the 15 Inch:
"The situation is more problematic for the MacBook Pro 15 since the advantage of the new hexa-core over the old quad-core is not very big under sustained workloads. It is a similar issue compared to the smaller sibling with massive clock and consumption fluctuation during our Cinebench loop. The average clock after 50 runs is just above the base frequency and the TDP at little more than 37W."
"We get steady and massively improved (about 20 % more performance!!!!) results in our Cinebench loop when we set the consumption to 45W, which works with macOS as well as Windows. The result (yellow curve) is clearly visible in the following diagram. We can limit the consumption to 45W in macOS as well and the result is basically identical to Windows (see blue curve below). The cores are more than 500 MHz faster on average, but the temperature is also a bit higher in return, so there is not that much headroom left.
Windows users once again have an advantage with the MacBook Pro 15, but macOS users should limit the TDP manually to 45W as well you want steady performance figures. The same applies for the smaller Core i7 and the optional Core i9, even though the performance should be very similar as a result."
Their summary:
"Apple's philosophy of removing all consumption limitations is clearly counterproductive for the current 2018 MacBook Pro systems. Even very short load periods of ~30 seconds result in massive clock fluctuations, which will affect the performance. We recommend the manual adjustment of the CPU consumption for both model, but the 15-inch MBP in particular. You still get the maximum Turbo Boost when a single core is stressed, and the performance is better and especially steadier under maximum load. We think Apple's engineers should have figured this out and a simple software update would solve the issue, but we know that the manufacturer from Cupertino does not like to admit these things (also see keyboard problems)."
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple...e-performance-with-a-few-clicks.317552.0.html
For the 15 Inch:
"The situation is more problematic for the MacBook Pro 15 since the advantage of the new hexa-core over the old quad-core is not very big under sustained workloads. It is a similar issue compared to the smaller sibling with massive clock and consumption fluctuation during our Cinebench loop. The average clock after 50 runs is just above the base frequency and the TDP at little more than 37W."
"We get steady and massively improved (about 20 % more performance!!!!) results in our Cinebench loop when we set the consumption to 45W, which works with macOS as well as Windows. The result (yellow curve) is clearly visible in the following diagram. We can limit the consumption to 45W in macOS as well and the result is basically identical to Windows (see blue curve below). The cores are more than 500 MHz faster on average, but the temperature is also a bit higher in return, so there is not that much headroom left.
Windows users once again have an advantage with the MacBook Pro 15, but macOS users should limit the TDP manually to 45W as well you want steady performance figures. The same applies for the smaller Core i7 and the optional Core i9, even though the performance should be very similar as a result."
Their summary:
"Apple's philosophy of removing all consumption limitations is clearly counterproductive for the current 2018 MacBook Pro systems. Even very short load periods of ~30 seconds result in massive clock fluctuations, which will affect the performance. We recommend the manual adjustment of the CPU consumption for both model, but the 15-inch MBP in particular. You still get the maximum Turbo Boost when a single core is stressed, and the performance is better and especially steadier under maximum load. We think Apple's engineers should have figured this out and a simple software update would solve the issue, but we know that the manufacturer from Cupertino does not like to admit these things (also see keyboard problems)."
Eh some clickbait but interesting results. i9 smokes the i7 and gets a bit smoked itself. They’ll release a fix that handles it.
Edit: for clarity i7 quad core from 2017, thanks WristyManchego.
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Yeah but people had said due to the thermal inadequacy that it would be the other way around.
It's an important detail to note, a lot of people are gagging for full benchmarks of the 6-core i7, especially in comparison to the i9.
I respect Jon’s video, still for me, real world usage is playing a game as per their promo material, and that just straight up doesn’t work right.
The fans on my new 15 2.2ghz i7 are going a lot of the time. I don't know if this is because I am driving 2 4K displays and the internal one and its about 25-30 degrees C here at the moment but even with super low CPU usuage (under 5%) its still got the fans going. Anyone else having the same issues?
Ideally? 6 cores, 32GB RAM, no throttling problem, 30% cheaper than the 2018 MBP's, no touchbar and not a butterfly keyboard.
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Add 50% extra battery life to that list and I’m game
I’m ok with the battery life but while we are fantasizing sure why not ??
They vary quite heavily but the CPU is ramping up quickly to 4.0ghz and the temp hits nearly 100C instantly.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/52upa7w9wj6b5k1/Screenshot 2018-07-24 11.11.40.png?dl=0
I suspect that you're pushing the GPU (and VRM?) hard so, yeah it may be the reason, but there's an easy way for you test. unplug the monitors, and then do some common tasks and record the temps. That will tell you if the monitors are causing the heat. Can you also hook a single external monitor and see how the temps are as well.
I have two concerns:
1. The i9 is advertised with a clock speed of 2.9GHz and Turbo Boost of 4.8GHz.
We know that Turbo Boost is not going to happen as the CPU can hardly maintain its standard clock speed. Hence, should I be spending so much on a system where its throttled? Even if Apple release an update all that update will do is make the fans speed up sooner - not really a fix to the issue....
2. Heat - Im concerned about whether I will get the next 5 years or so from the system if its heats up so much
Hence deciding whether to return the i9 system that's to be delivered later today, and go for an iMAC instead (once updated)
1. The i9 is advertised with a clock speed of 2.9GHz and Turbo Boost of 4.8GHz.
We know that Turbo Boost is not going to happen as the CPU can hardly maintain its standard clock speed. Hence, should I be spending so much on a system where its throttled? Even if Apple release an update all that update will do is make the fans speed up sooner - not really a fix to the issue....
2. Heat - Im concerned about whether I will get the next 5 years or so from the system if its heats up so much
Hence deciding whether to return the i9 system that's to be delivered later today, and go for an iMAC instead (once updated)
First.
You posted in the i7 throttling thread, not the i9
As for your questions.
Turbo Boost doesn't fully function because of the throttling on the i9, it bumps up, but immediately drops down, which is the issue. There are solutions on hand, either undervolting, or limiting the wattage.
Heat - yes that's my concern, while I have the 2.2GHz i7, I don't want to see excessive temps constantly, and with the Volta app, I limit the wattage and for me and my needs is perfect, I largely see temps in the 40 to 60c range, depending on my tasks and I'm comfortable with that.
I'll have a test after work today but I hope not. Driving 2 4K monitors when its capable of driving 2 5K monitors makes me think it shouldn't struggle this much.
I noticed my temps were a bit higher when I had a (non-4k) monitor hooked up, but it could have been coincidental,
Ask and ye shall receive:
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/24/apple-addresses-macbook-pro-throttling/
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/24/apple-addresses-macbook-pro-throttling/