Hi there,
I'm looking to run a 3D-heavy (CAD) Windows application on my Mac by using the GPU of a local PC.
At the bottom I will list what I already tried but to keep it short, I ended up with mirroring/streaming the Desktop from a Windows machine.
At 1440p in fullscreen it would work for me but on my 5K display macOS smoothes/interpolates the image so everything looks extremely blurry and is unusable for CAD.
One can easy replicate what I mean when setting "Open in Low Resolution" for any app on macOS - it looks totally blurry.
Is there a way to force sth. like "preserve hard edges" for an app, meaning one pixel of the app is simply displayed on 4 pixels of the retina screen without smoothing?
VMware Fusion/Player does exactly what I want when disabling "utilize full resolution for retina display" for a VM (see screenshot, it's still 1440p but way sharper on a 5K retina screen)
To my tests: (I'm using a Mac Pro 6,1 D300 on the Mac side and a Windows PC with RX 6800 XT)
- For streaming, I got the best result (60 Hz and low latency at 1440p) using LizardByte/Sunshine server and the macOS Moonlight client. Using a native 1440p monitor with the Mac looks great and sharp but I want to use my main 5K screen.
- RealVNC and Microsoft Remote Desktop (even with hardware H.264 acceleration) were too choppy.
- Parsec was smooth but heavily distorted when rotating items (and it requires an internet connection for connection).
- AMD Link could be promising, but there is no macOS app and it doesn't work in a Windows VM or CrossOver.
Other discarded options:
- The D300 is too slow for a Windows VM and the intended use.
- The 6800 XT as an eGPU on the Mac and a Windows VM would be great, but I'd like the option to play games on the Windows PC in a different room.
- Physically switching the GPU between PC (PCIe) and eGPU is not viable on the long-run.
- I could add a Thunderbolt 3 controller to the PC and switch the eGPU between Mac and PC but the performance loss in games seems too high.
- Buying a 2nd card is off the table.
First I was thinking of PCoIP but so far I'm overwhelmed with the trying to setup Windows Server, VMware Horizon and matching GPU driver. Not to mention the cost. But I'd just like to see how it would work.
Any ideas are highly appreciated.
Thanks !!
I'm looking to run a 3D-heavy (CAD) Windows application on my Mac by using the GPU of a local PC.
At the bottom I will list what I already tried but to keep it short, I ended up with mirroring/streaming the Desktop from a Windows machine.
At 1440p in fullscreen it would work for me but on my 5K display macOS smoothes/interpolates the image so everything looks extremely blurry and is unusable for CAD.
One can easy replicate what I mean when setting "Open in Low Resolution" for any app on macOS - it looks totally blurry.
Is there a way to force sth. like "preserve hard edges" for an app, meaning one pixel of the app is simply displayed on 4 pixels of the retina screen without smoothing?
VMware Fusion/Player does exactly what I want when disabling "utilize full resolution for retina display" for a VM (see screenshot, it's still 1440p but way sharper on a 5K retina screen)
To my tests: (I'm using a Mac Pro 6,1 D300 on the Mac side and a Windows PC with RX 6800 XT)
- For streaming, I got the best result (60 Hz and low latency at 1440p) using LizardByte/Sunshine server and the macOS Moonlight client. Using a native 1440p monitor with the Mac looks great and sharp but I want to use my main 5K screen.
- RealVNC and Microsoft Remote Desktop (even with hardware H.264 acceleration) were too choppy.
- Parsec was smooth but heavily distorted when rotating items (and it requires an internet connection for connection).
- AMD Link could be promising, but there is no macOS app and it doesn't work in a Windows VM or CrossOver.
Other discarded options:
- The D300 is too slow for a Windows VM and the intended use.
- The 6800 XT as an eGPU on the Mac and a Windows VM would be great, but I'd like the option to play games on the Windows PC in a different room.
- Physically switching the GPU between PC (PCIe) and eGPU is not viable on the long-run.
- I could add a Thunderbolt 3 controller to the PC and switch the eGPU between Mac and PC but the performance loss in games seems too high.
- Buying a 2nd card is off the table.
First I was thinking of PCoIP but so far I'm overwhelmed with the trying to setup Windows Server, VMware Horizon and matching GPU driver. Not to mention the cost. But I'd just like to see how it would work.
Any ideas are highly appreciated.
Thanks !!
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