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Haswell 13" rMBP general UI lag? Underpowered?

commac said:
No offence but I'm convinced people who claim no lag/frame rate drop either don't push their machines very hard or maybe do not know the difference.
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If the older machine was slower in CPU and GPU and no one had lag issues.

It's more likely that the new GPU needs better drivers, or there is an issue someplace else. the computer is NOT underpowered.

I used two run my older 13in model with its display and an external 1920x1200 LCD. If it was an issue of being "under powered" then trying to use that external LCD would have been impossible. I would have many Chrome Tabs, and Netflix, and java chartrooms, Word, Excel, IRC and Xcode at once.
 
If the older machine was slower in CPU and GPU and no one had lag issues.

It's more likely that the new GPU needs better drivers, or there is an issue someplace else. the computer is NOT underpowered.

I used two run my older 13in model with its display and an external 1920x1200 LCD. If it was an issue of being "under powered" then trying to use that external LCD would have been impossible. I would have many Chrome Tabs, and Netflix, and java chartrooms, Word, Excel, IRC and Xcode at once.
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It must be rooted in the way "retina" works. Dropping out of HiDPI and using native 2560x1600 is buttery smooth so far as I can see (even while pushing a second monitor) where as the "retina" equivalent of 1280x800 can be jittery pushing only itself.

Retina definitely needs optimization.
 
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got a rMBP 13 2.6/8/256

Only lag I am experiencing is with Safari. I have been switching back and forth with chrome and I've noticed chrome is much quicker. Safari has slower loading times, and it lags when moving back or forward a page.

Only time I use Safari is if I am not plugged in now cause it does use less battery than chrome. Not sure why everyone is saying chrome is not optimized for retina... it's faster (but heavier on the resources). I have installed same extensions on both browsers. Adblock, synology download assistant, and lastpass.


I also use my 55 inch Panasonic plasma through hdmi and experience no lag. 1080p on tv while default resolution on rMBP.


I have been using XLD to transcode FLAC into MP3... have to say, this dual core hyperthreading is fantastic. :)

Around normal usage my ram is 7.9GB out of 8GB but about 4GB is used in file cache. Mavericks is using all the RAM efficiently. Fantastic.


Only issues I have so far is the safari lag, 1 out 4 threads maxed out on wake (takes awhile to calm down?) and that is about it. Everything else it does wonders for, especially in windows 7 playing Civ V at default settings smooth.
 
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No lag at all on my 2.4/8/256. Even scrolling quickly through complex web pages is perfect smooth. Does not feel underpowered at all. I've even thrown some video editing and rendering at it without issue.
 
Solution for UI lag

I've been there, you may find solution stupid but trust me. Download and run once Xbench (free version). http://www.xbench.com

Please report if this solve your problems.
 
I've been there, you may find solution stupid but trust me. Download and run once Xbench (free version). http://www.xbench.com

Please report if this solve your problems.
Click to expand...

Not sure what this is suppose to accomplish?

I ran it and things are the same as usual. Sometimes choppy on HiDPI and smooth when not.

Comparing the Xbench graphics tests scores for HiDPI enabled vs disabled the results are almost double with HiDPI disabled.

Running the test fixed something for you?
 
rawraggi said:
Checked out the 13" at an apple store yesterday, and to me, just swiping into mission control in 1680x1050 scaled was choppy.. Not to the point of "omg this pos is unusable!", but still odd in a laptop of this caliber.

Mind you, my girlfriend swore she didn't see it, and subsequently called me a pedantic nerd. :(
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That resolution in particular got laggier with Mavericks. I run one notch down on mine and it's very smooth, just as smooth as Best for Retina. I don't know what happens when it crosses that resolution threshold but it was actually better in ML.
 
PhilPilsner said:
Only lag I am experiencing is with Safari. I have been switching back and forth with chrome and I've noticed chrome is much quicker. Safari has slower loading times, and it lags when moving back or forward a page.
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That is a totally different issue. This thread is about UI lag: and people use the term lag here meaning low FPS when scrolling/moving windows/animations/switching workspace etc. You are describing some network issues which might be caused by DNS prefetching or something else.You should search that with google. That should be fixable.

Chrome will deplete your battery faster than Safari. Keep that in mind.
 
rilot said:
I have the lag issue with my new 13" rMBP. I did some testing after installing RDM.

1280x800 (Best for Retina) - No lag
1440x900 (Middle) - Some lag
1680x1050 (More space) - Lots of lag

Then using RDM I tested no retina modes

1920x1200 - No lag
2560x1600 - No lag

The lag is most visible when transitioning in and out of full screen. In 1680x1050 it's REALLY bad.

I don't understand why some people say they have no lag at all. I was in an Apple store at the weekend and I tried 1680x1050 in 3 different rMBP 13s and all exhibited the same issue as mine when switching in to and out of full screen.

I guess, because there's no lag at the default (best for retina) resolution, Apple don't see it as a problem.

I've switched to using 1920x1200 with RDM and my rMBP is now as speedy as it should be. It's a little small for a 13" display but livable until Apple maybe fix it.
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what does this RDM mean???
 
commac said:
Not sure what this is suppose to accomplish?

I ran it and things are the same as usual. Sometimes choppy on HiDPI and smooth when not.

Comparing the Xbench graphics tests scores for HiDPI enabled vs disabled the results are almost double with HiDPI disabled.

Running the test fixed something for you?
Click to expand...

Running this tool is not for benchmark results per se :). I used this method to get back smooth UI animations. In my case whenever I get choppy animations and tearing I run once xbench (opening auto desk autocad also helps but not everybody use it). Intensive computation seems to 'exercise' the system and bring back overall smoothness.
However by reading forums I learned that we are very different with noticing lag and tearing. Generally this is very subjective matter and depends on the particular user (some are just overreacting ;))
 
However by reading forums I learned that we are very different with noticing lag and tearing. Generally this is very subjective matter and depends on the particular user (some are just overreacting )
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Some may not notice but that xbench test shows almost half the graphics performance on retina vs standard on the same machine.
 
native resolution is twice as fast.

Just ran the 2 graphics test using xbench on my rMBP late 2013 mid model and got 210 using the best for display res. I then used rdm and ran it using the native 2560x1600 and got 400. Thats almost double. Something is not optimized for the non native resolutions or it has to do some extra procession/conversion that causing the lag. I have not done a lot of tests at the native resolution to see if the lag is gone. Screen looks great at that resolution but I don't want to go blind.

I have a feeling if I hooked it up to the 27" thunderbolt display and used it in clamshell mode the lag would be gone.
 
commac said:
Some may not notice but that xbench test shows almost half the graphics performance on retina vs standard on the same machine.
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It does have quadruple the number of pixels so I'm not surprised ;)

richard371 said:
Just ran the 2 graphics test using xbench on my rMBP late 2013 mid model and got 210 using the best for display res. I then used rdm and ran it using the native 2560x1600 and got 400. Thats almost double. Something is not optimized for the non native resolutions or it has to do some extra procession/conversion that causing the lag.
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The best for display res is still pixel-doubling everything so it is to be expected that it would score less than running a native resolution, no matter how optimised it is.

Update: Did you guys deselect all the checkboxes on the left in xbench when you benchmarked it?
 
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I have a feeling if I hooked it up to the 27" thunderbolt display and used it in clamshell mode the lag would be gone.
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It indeed does disappear. At the very least improves enormously. The lag is also gone when powering an external while keeping the 13" if in a lowDPI state.

The best for display res is still pixel-doubling everything so it is to be expected that it would score less than running a native resolution, no matter how optimised it is.
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Less is understandable but less to the point that the UX suffers is disappointing.

Update: Did you guys deselect all the checkboxes on the left in xbench when you benchmarked it?
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I did deselect the left tests as the thread test seems to hang and figured graphics is what we're looking at.
 
What score did you get for it?
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Don't have the computer with me but I remember the total score being similar to what "richard371" posted above. Almost double on the lowerDPI.

Are yours better?
 
I only selected the 2 graphics options. Running CPU it never completes on any mac I've tried..

kwokaaron said:
It does have quadruple the number of pixels so I'm not surprised ;)



The best for display res is still pixel-doubling everything so it is to be expected that it would score less than running a native resolution, no matter how optimised it is.

Update: Did you guys deselect all the checkboxes on the left in xbench when you benchmarked it?
Click to expand...
 
Hmmm... I know this isn't really a fair test since I'm using a 15" rMBP but I did force it to only use the HD 4000 gpu. I get a score of 233. I would have thought that the Iris 5100 on the late 2013 13" rMBPs should have scored better. :confused:
 
Hmmm... I know this isn't really a fair test since I'm using a 15" rMBP but I did force it to only use the HD 4000 gpu. I get a score of 233. I would have thought that the Iris 5100 on the late 2013 13" rMBPs should have scored better.
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Are you running Mavericks? What version of xbench? Do you have 2 or 3 graphics test on right?
 
Who knows. Where you running it on the MBP screen using retina or native? I get 400 on my 13 using native 2560x1600. The entire thing is just weird. Most of the time I don't notice the lag and its not always consistent.

Too bad Apple only includes the dGPU with top of the line $2600 model 15 now.

kwokaaron said:
Hmmm... I know this isn't really a fair test since I'm using a 15" rMBP but I did force it to only use the HD 4000 gpu. I get a score of 233. I would have thought that the Iris 5100 on the late 2013 13" rMBPs should have scored better. :confused:
Click to expand...
 
richard371 said:
Who knows. Where you running it on the MBP screen using retina or native? I get 400 on my 13 using native 2560x1600. The entire thing is just weird. Most of the time I don't notice the lag and its not always consistent.

Too bad Apple only includes the dGPU with top of the line $2600 model 15 now.
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I'm running it on retina. Haven't tried native. Same, its running really smoothly without lag on mine on the iGPU. Yeah, its annoying that only the most expensive one has a dGPU, but I do understand why they did it :/
 
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