Did you download the update Apple pushed yesterday? I saw a video for iPhonedo claiming that no issues with Fortnite after the update.
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MacBook Pro 2018 gaming?
- Thread starter ginofresh
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Did you download the update Apple pushed yesterday? I saw a video for iPhonedo claiming that no issues with Fortnite after the update.
Yes first thing I did as I was going to bring it back without opening it, before they released the update.
The only thing I can think of now is that there's some network issue where it needs a wired connection. I will test it again when I buy a dongle.
I'll also test it in Bootcamp to see how it does there.
Stuttering is not a network related issue. We are talking about sudden FPS drops to under 10 then going back up, right?
Apple’s fix doesn’t include bootcamp yet. Don’t waste your time.
Cmon guys don’t get that Blackmagic egpu. You can’t upgrade it. The 580 is a mediocre card to begin with. Imagine being stuck with that garbage 2 years from now. I love Apple stuff but this Blackmagic egpu is overhyped nonsense.
But a Sonnet, Mantiz Venus, Akitio Node, anything that is upgradable please. Don’t buy into this trash.
But a Sonnet, Mantiz Venus, Akitio Node, anything that is upgradable please. Don’t buy into this trash.
I been trying the Razer Core X (with a GTX 1080 in it) with my 2018 Macbook Pro 13" i5 today and it's mixed results. First off I had to use Intel XTU to fix the problems that Apple is yet to fix in Bootcamp but I got decent clocks after that (around 3.3-3.4 Ghz stable). For casual gaming it works nice but for more than that, nope.
Was playing PUBG at 2560x1440 on my external monitor and was getting around 80 FPS, sometimes I would get drops down to 60 and for periods it would be at 90. The laptop also got VERY hot to the touch.
My main rig is running a 7700k at 5 Ghz, 16 GB ram, the same GTX 1080 and I am getting around 40 or so more FPS on that rig compared to the Macbook setup.
That kind of sealed the deal for me so the eGPU is going back, I will have to use 2 computers.
Was playing PUBG at 2560x1440 on my external monitor and was getting around 80 FPS, sometimes I would get drops down to 60 and for periods it would be at 90. The laptop also got VERY hot to the touch.
My main rig is running a 7700k at 5 Ghz, 16 GB ram, the same GTX 1080 and I am getting around 40 or so more FPS on that rig compared to the Macbook setup.
That kind of sealed the deal for me so the eGPU is going back, I will have to use 2 computers.
I just used the Intel Xtu app on Bootcamp, 49w to the CPU and 55w limit for Turbo boost. I'll try to test the game later tonight but ended up with 1142 on Cinabench, which is actually higher than on MacOs, so I have some hope.
Update: Ok so I went ahead and installed the game. Set Intel XT to 45 whats with no turbo boost so it won't throttle. The game runs better than on Mac but still can't manage to get 30fps at 1280x800 resolutions with everything on medium. Setting them on low makes almost no difference and still doesn't fix the fps.
The fps is fine on the initial island, but as soon as you get in the bus it drops below 30. Intel XTU shows no thermal throttling to 800mhz at all, so that can't be it. I am really interested if someone can run this game on a eGPU, both black magic and something more powerfull. I'd like to see if its the GPU or the CPU causing these problems (I assume its probably the combination of the heat of both).
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Please see my post above yours. I tested Fortnite on Bootcamp and MacOS, both were basically unplayable at any resolution at any settings. It's not because of the throttling as its after the patch and Intel XTU also shows none after adjusting the settings.
I hope that someone else can test it to see what I did wrong (if I did something wrong) and also with eGPU's. It doesn't seem to be the CPU that's limiting it in my case.
Then they really didn’t fix the issue completely. Apple is advertising gaming on the MacBook Pro page and they even included a screenshot from Fortnite so at least this one should run good...
I see where you're coming from; 100%; I also like using my things as they're designed!
However, for the purpose of troubleshooting, have you tried plugging in your mouse and/or any other stuff directly to your Mac to see if it makes a difference?
Best of luck. I hope you get everything sorted soon!
Unfortunately, I don't have a dongle to convert it. I'm 100% certain it is due to the stress as the game I play is predominately text-based, but there is a graphics engine which is used every now and again, and that is when the eGPU kicks in and the mouse stutters.
I'll perhaps contact Apple and see if they have any suggestions.
Ok so I don't know what changed but I restarted Bootcamp to try again, because the results for Fortnite were so bad I couldn't explain it myself.
I now have the game running at around 1920x1200 with textures at medium, view distance as high/epic and the rest as low and can run the game between 40 to 60 frame (capped). There are drops but they are not that common.
My settings in Intel XTU are:
MacOS performance is still very bad for me so I'm going to give up on that. If I still have to use a program such as Volta after the patch to let it run consistent then they didn't do a good enough job still.
I now have the game running at around 1920x1200 with textures at medium, view distance as high/epic and the rest as low and can run the game between 40 to 60 frame (capped). There are drops but they are not that common.
My settings in Intel XTU are:
- Turbo Boosts short power max: disabled
- Turbo boost power max: 45w
- Turbo Boost power time window: 4s
MacOS performance is still very bad for me so I'm going to give up on that. If I still have to use a program such as Volta after the patch to let it run consistent then they didn't do a good enough job still.
I run 3dmark Time Spy in Bootcamp (i9, 16GB, 560X, most recent drivers from bootcampdrivers.com) and got a score of 1700. Which is somewhere between a 1050 and 1050 Ti, closer to the first though. Absolutely sufficient for some gaming IMO. Overall, an improvement or around 20% over the 460.
It seems to be a Fortnite for Mac issue. Many are reporting similar issues and not specific to 2018 MBP. https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/...-cheese/146807-report-mac-problems-here/page8
You can try WoW Starter Edition (free) on Mac if you feel like benchmarking your system.
Good to know, but likely not something that they'll fix (quickly) looking at how far back those complaints go. I fully understand the business reasons behind picking Fortnite as the game you advertise your Macbook with, but if it's running like this you get a lot of disappointed customers.
Yea exactly. It is as if they did no testing at all before advertising it. Even advertising WoW would do them a favor. Blizzard is really good at optimizing for Mac.
Gaming benchmarks on Bootcamp (power limit using Intel XTU as Apple’s patch doesn’t affect Bootcamp yet) according to this video:
I'll be redoing my test to see what I get. I already went as low as 30 Watts, but looking at this I should've went even lower to not let the GPU throttle.Gaming benchmarks on Bootcamp (power limit using Intel XTU as Apple’s patch doesn’t affect Bootcamp yet) according to this video:
Ok so here's the problem for me; on my i9 I can go as low as 10 watt for the CPU, but the GPU will still throttle after a minute or two. All the way down to 350mhz according to GPU-Z. Then it stabilizes at around 650mhz for the rest of the period. But I get nowhere his results, especially not with my CPU at 20 Watts.Gaming benchmarks on Bootcamp (power limit using Intel XTU as Apple’s patch doesn’t affect Bootcamp yet) according to this video:
His results were before the update Apple pushed yesterday but what we know so far is that this update doesn’t affect Bootcamp so technically nothing has changed. Idk really, this new MBP is full of mysteries.
It is no longer a question. It is not optimized and I’ve proved it with the support topic they have on Epic Forums.
The reason question is:
1. When Metal?
2. Apple claims Fortnite will benefit from an eGPU but it doesn’t actually support it. There is no way Apple meant it will on Bootcamp because Apple’s eGPU doesn’t support Bootcamp!
3. Why is Apple advertising it without testing?! WTF Apple! First missing a “digital key” now this?!
Well according to Zone of Tech , the only way to enable eGPU support for Fornite on the MacBook pro is to plug the LG 5K monitor into the Blackmagic eGPU and then plug the eGPU into the MacBook pro. The addition of the external monitor and it being subsequently plugged into the eGPU seems to trick the MacBook pro into ignoring the dGPU, allowing it to utilise the eGPU. This allowed the tester to reach 60 fps with the eGPU on Fornite on high settings.
The way it is plugged in seems to make a difference. The eGPU works when the external monitor is plugged directly into it, and then the eGPU is plugged directly into the macbook pro. It has to be in this order. When the tester plugged the external monitor directly into the MacBook pro, and then plugged the eGPU directly into the MacBook pro on another port, the dGPU overrides the eGPU.