iMac Pro: Weak performance with Bootcamp

[Schaufelmann]

I installed Windows 10 via Bootcamp on my iMac Pro (8 Core, 64 GB Ram, Vega 64) and tested a few games and applications. Some of them are running great (e.g. Quake Champions), but some run extremely bad. Examples:

- Doom (2016) is a slideshow, even the menu renders with 5 fps.
- PUBG has sporadic but heavy frame drops.
- Far Cry 3 crashes on launch

I connected my Vive to try a few VR apps. While none of the tested apps stuttered, some graphic features were unavailable. For example, in "The Lab" (Valve) or "theBlu VR" (Wevr), many surfaces were rendered without advanced shaders, no bump mapping etc, so everything looked completely flat.

All apps run fine under Bootcamp on my 2017 iMac 4,2 with the Radeon 580.

Some have suggested to install the most recent Vega drivers, but the official drivers from AMD do not support Boot Camp (the installer does not recognize the Vega in the iMac Pro).

Inofficial drivers from Bootcampdrivers or mXDriver are not available yet.

So anyone who would like to run some games or one of the many VR experiences on the iMac Pro on Windows: It's probably a good idea to wait until Apple has released better drivers.

Oh and by the way, I played some Fortnite on macOS with maximum details and it runs fantastic. However, the fans were really noisy while the game was running. I didn't expect that, as many of the early testers said that the iMac Pro is so quiet.

Of course, it would be great if anyone has suggestions how Windows performance can be improved.

 

[BergerFan]

Not that I’m going to be buying an iMac Pro any time soon, but it’s still disappointing to read.

Just like with native FCPX 4K h.264(and below) video editing, you’d think the improved CPU & GPU would yield instant substantial benefits, but no, for some reason, Apple refuses to let the Pro use the machine’s full resources to complete these tasks, as if it’s running in 2017 5K iMac mode, or something.

Pro users want to have fun at times too,
Apple.

 

[ThatSandWyrm]

Not that I’m going to be buying an iMac Pro any time soon, but it’s still disappointing to read.

Just like with native FCPX 4K h.264(and below) video editing, you’d think the improved CPU & GPU would yield instant substantial benefits, but no, for some reason, Apple refuses to let the Pro use the machine’s full resources to complete these tasks, as if it’s running in 2017 5K iMac mode, or something.

Pro users want to have fun at times too,
Apple.

Frankly, Apple has released a "pro" machine that runs most current software slower than an i7 Mac or PC would. When the software is optimized properly for high core counts, it really does fly at 75-100% CPU utilization. But that's pretty much limited to Adobe Camera RAW, 3D rendering and certain game engines right now. Watching a poorly optimized app chug along slowly while only hitting 25% (or less) CPU utilization is painful.

 

[Stanfield]

Apple's out-of-the-box bootcamp drivers are about one step up from a generic VGA driver required to run DOS. I think we'll have to wait until we get support from bootcampdrivers, as you mentioned.

I tried WoW on the macOS side and it ran pretty well at 5k resolution on max settings. I thought that was impressive. I have Windows 10 installed via bootcamp but haven't tried a game yet. I'll let you know if my mileage differs. I have a 10c/32gb/vega 64.

 

[BayouTiger]

Way too many folks watching benchmarks videos. I have been using my new iMP all weekend and I can assure you that it is crazy fast and blows away my old 12c tube in every way.

If You are dependent on Quicksync for your workflow, maybe you should get an i7. Frankly, I’ve never even loaded boot camp on a Mac in years . Fusion does a great job with My Windows needs and gives me nice interoperability with my esx servers.

 

[Strelok]

Most games run worse on the high core CPUs. Intels X299 architecture is weak for games, at the same clock speeds it is still slower than a 7700K/8700K. Vega is also so-so. Unless you know your programs can take advantage of more than 4 cores, there’s no real point in the iMac pro. Doing research and knowing what you need is important here.

 

[smgfreak]

could you Run Unigine VALLEY in MAC OS please here are my Results with a Super Charged iMac 2017 would be nice if you run the Exact same Resolutiions Test as i did ! i expect my iMac Pro these days ,but i dont think it will be worth the Ugrade .

[doublepost=1514863358][/doublepost]oh and here is Bootcamp Results

 

[Stanfield]

Here is my 10 core vega 64 results. It's about half of what you are running.

 

[Trebuin]

Here is my 10 core vega 64 results. It's about half of what you are running.

View attachment 744816

I’m assuming that’s with the bootcamp drivers & not the ATI provided or tweaked drivers, correct?

 

[smgfreak]

Here is my 10 core vega 64 results. It's about half of what you are running.

View attachment 744816

oh ! that is not what i expected with the Vega64 !

 

[Trebuin]

oh ! that is not what i expected with the Vega64 !

With windows not having good drivers yet, this is what we get

 

[smgfreak]

I’m assuming that’s with the bootcamp drivers & not the ATI provided or tweaked drivers, correct?

no his Bench was running under >10.13.2
[doublepost=1514866656][/doublepost]

With windows not having good drivers yet, this is what we get

i was Running Both MAC and WIN , guess ill wait until i get my imac Pro Shipped ! but it looks like it will be Returning mine after couple days.

 

[Trebuin]

no his Bench was running under >10.13.2
[doublepost=1514866656][/doublepost]

i was Running Both MAC and WIN , guess ill wait until i get my imac Pro Shipped ! but it looks like it will be Returning mine after couple days.

You may want to check out the non-Apple drivers. I have always noticed a significant improvement in performance & stability with the non-Apple drivers. The only downside is that you may lose the ability to adjust the brightness using the brightness keys. I’m not home yet so I can’t install the better drivers yet, not to mention, I have to find them.

 

[smgfreak]

You may want to check out the non-Apple drivers. I have always noticed a significant improvement in performance & stability with the non-Apple drivers. The only downside is that you may lose the ability to adjust the brightness using the brightness keys. I’m not home yet so I can’t install the better drivers yet, not to mention, I have to find them.

there are no Better Drivers for the iMac Pro under Bootcamp !#yet and i dont think some Tweaked Drivers would do much better, the Vega 64 in the imac Pro is not worth the extra Cash !

i checked Barefeats latey and they Run nice Test for the iMAc Pro but not with a EGPU and a Nvidia 1080TI/TTIAN GPU

 

[Trebuin]

there are no Better Drivers for the iMac Pro under Bootcamp !#yet and i dont think some Tweaked Drivers would do much better, the Vega 64 in the imac Pro is not worth the extra Cash !

i checked Barefeats latey and they Run nice Test for the iMAc Pro but not with a EGPU and a Nvidia 1080TI/TTIAN GPU

So AMD has not released Vega pro compatible drivers yet?

 

[Stanfield]

So AMD has not released Vega pro compatible drivers yet?

Negative. Any of the software packages available for download from AMD do not recognize the Vega as an AMD part.

 

[Trebuin]

Negative. Any of the software packages available for download from AMD do not recognize the Vega as an AMD part.

That actually what I meant as tweaked drivers. Apple cards have a special part number that needs to be injected in the correct line of AMD drivers to install. There’s a tool I’m trying to find that does that...no luck yet. It’s been a long while since I’ve run it, but I’m sure I will find it.

 

[gerrard0804]

there are no Better Drivers for the iMac Pro under Bootcamp !#yet and i dont think some Tweaked Drivers would do much better, the Vega 64 in the imac Pro is not worth the extra Cash !

i checked Barefeats latey and they Run nice Test for the iMAc Pro but not with a EGPU and a Nvidia 1080TI/TTIAN GPU

this results?

Were they testing them in Mac Os or bootcamp win 10?

 

[Stanfield]

Here is another Unigine Valley run, this time in Windows 10 with default bootcamp drivers. Roughly 20% increase over macOS.

 

[smgfreak]

i did not bother to spend Extra for the VEGA64 instead i build me 2 x EGPU with TITAN XP i think it is much better ! i remember back in FEB 2014 i spend a lot of money for the D700 Upgrade and it was 100% pure Trash out of the Box,the Mp6.1with D700 was allready OLD when it came out. the VEGA64 will be the same for that Reason i did order the Tiny Vega56 and 32GB RAM.
[doublepost=1514868880][/doublepost]

Here is another Unigine Valley run, this time in Windows 10 with default bootcamp drivers. Roughly 20% increase over macOS.

View attachment 744822

could you RUN 1920 x 1080

 

[Stanfield]

could you RUN 1920 x 1080

Here is 1920x1080 on Windows 10 using standard bootcamp driver.

 

[smgfreak]

Here is 1920x1080 on Windows 10 using standard bootcamp driver.

View attachment 744824

thank you ! if there will be a Tweaked AMD driver ! give it 10% to 15% Speed bump but thats it !
for a Premium VEGA64 ! i cant wait to get mine with and check the vega56

any chance you could run a TIME SPY Bench ?

 

[Stanfield]

thank you ! if there will be a Tweaked AMD driver ! give it 10% to 15% Speed bump but thats it !
for a Premium VEGA64 ! i cant wait to get mine with and check the vega56

any chance you could run a TIME SPY Bench ?

Here you go - 6265 was the score. This seems on par with OC'd 1070s and stock 1080s. Seems fine to me based on pre-launch expectations.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Have you tried manually installing the graphics drivers in Windows either from Device Manager or running the individual driver executables?

 

[Schaufelmann]

Have you tried manually installing the graphics drivers in Windows either from Device Manager or running the individual driver executables?

If I run the individual driver executables an error is displayed. I don't know any other "more manual" way to install drivers (I don't have much experience with Windows 10).