(2019) 16" is HOT & NOISY with an external monitor! :(

[Yurk]

Will the i7 model get less hotter than the i9? How exactly does the displayport fix it and does it help significantly? Even that is a $100 investment for a clunky dongle. I really like the single cable USB C setup that I have, but sucks that we have to do these barbaric workarounds.
[automerge]1599603330[/automerge]

exact model specs?

MB Pro 16", Intel i9 8 core 2.3 GHz, 1 TB SSD, 16 GB RAM, Radeon 5500M 4 GB.

Is this a Bootcamp problem only? I play Company of Heroes 2 (definitely amore demanding game than AOE 2 regarding performance) in macOS with my MBP 16" Base model in 2560x1440 on my external monitor without any problems. Power supply via original 96W Apple Power Adapter. No discharging and temps at around 70C.

The discharge might happen in bootcamp mainly (due to Apple having no throttling in place in Bootcamp, they throttle more aggressively in MacOS). I have heard of cases were it happened in MacOS, but I do not use GPU+CPU heavy programs in MacOS.

 

[Yurk]

Will the i7 model get less hotter than the i9? How exactly does the displayport fix it and does it help significantly? Even that is a $100 investment for a clunky dongle. I really like the single cable USB C setup that I have, but sucks that we have to do these barbaric workarounds.
[automerge]1599603330[/automerge]

exact model specs?

With Turbo boost enabled, the 6 core i7 runs cooler than the 8 core i9.
But if you disable turbo boost, then the i9 is faster without being hotter.

I did not say displayport. I said displaylink. DisplayLink needs a driver and uses some CPU power (not much, 5-15% of one core on idle, around 70% of a core when watching youtube, but I have 8 cores, so total power consumption is under 20 Watts for the whole MacBook, as the Radeon GPU stays at 0 Watts, it does not get activated at all.) Only the internal Intel GPU is awake, powering the macbook monitor. The external monitor is powered by the CPU and the DisplayLink chip in the dongle.

There are smaller and cheaper DisplayLink dongles for under $50, if you do not need 4K @ 60Hz:

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI Video Graphics Adapter with Audio for Multiple Monitors up to 2560x1440 Supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 7, XP, and Mac

Performance Featuring the DisplayLink DL-3500 chipset, the Plugable UGA-2KHDMI graphics adapter lets you connect an additional HDMI display up to 2560x1440@50Hz (lower resolutions at 60Hz) to your Windows-based laptop, desktop, tablet, or Mac 10.14+ systems via USB 3.0 to enable multitasking with...

www.amazon.com

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

www.amazon.com

 

[zjzsliyang]

I will continually go to the Genius Bar to ask them to return the 5500M and buy a 5600M. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE that I bought a 4k dollar machine and can not use it with 2 external monitors.

 

[macbookfan21]

With Turbo boost enabled, the 6 core i7 runs cooler than the 8 core i9.
But if you disable turbo boost, then the i9 is faster without being hotter.

I did not say displayport. I said displaylink. DisplayLink needs a driver and uses some CPU power (not much, 5-15% of one core on idle, around 70% of a core when watching youtube, but I have 8 cores, so total power consumption is under 20 Watts for the whole MacBook, as the Radeon GPU stays at 0 Watts, it does not get activated at all.) Only the internal Intel GPU is awake, powering the macbook monitor. The external monitor is powered by the CPU and the DisplayLink chip in the dongle.

There are smaller and cheaper DisplayLink dongles for under $50, if you do not need 4K @ 60Hz:

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI Video Graphics Adapter with Audio for Multiple Monitors up to 2560x1440 Supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 7, XP, and Mac

Performance Featuring the DisplayLink DL-3500 chipset, the Plugable UGA-2KHDMI graphics adapter lets you connect an additional HDMI display up to 2560x1440@50Hz (lower resolutions at 60Hz) to your Windows-based laptop, desktop, tablet, or Mac 10.14+ systems via USB 3.0 to enable multitasking with...

www.amazon.com

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

www.amazon.com

Thanks so much! This displaylink dongle seems like a good idea, do your fans even go off at all when you use it and does it heat up? I am wondering why noone ever mentioned this in this thread and why people dont just do this instead of buying eGPUs or upgrading to the expensive 5600AMD...

Have you tested i7 vs i9 to find out that i7 is cooler? What exactly does turboboost do and will it limit or be bad to use for long run?

I mainly use laptop for google chrome, microsoft word, ppt, email, adobe pdf, youtube videos, and zoom/teams. Do you think I should go for i7 or i9? Its only a 200$ difference since I will be upgrading memory to 1TB if I do i7 either way. However, I should mention that my previous MBPro 16" was i9 and continous use on the monitor would heat the laptop, ramp up fans, and few weeks in the USB-C ports stopped working and it was pronounced dead. Now idk if it was just defective or if the heat led to that.

 

[pshufd]

Thanks so much! This displaylink dongle seems like a good idea, do your fans even go off at all when you use it and does it heat up? I am wondering why noone ever mentioned this in this thread and why people dont just do this instead of buying eGPUs or upgrading to the expensive 5600AMD...

Have you tested i7 vs i9 to find out that i7 is cooler? What exactly does turboboost do and will it limit or be bad to use for long run?

I mainly use laptop for google chrome, microsoft word, ppt, email, adobe pdf, youtube videos, and zoom/teams. Do you think I should go for i7 or i9? Its only a 200$ difference since I will be upgrading memory to 1TB if I do i7 either way. However, I should mention that my previous MBPro 16" was i9 and continous use on the monitor would heat the laptop, ramp up fans, and few weeks in the USB-C ports stopped working and it was pronounced dead. Now idk if it was just defective or if the heat led to that.

DisplayLink has limitations on resolution and performance.

I bought one a few years ago and couldn't get it to work because there were a bunch of bugs with DisplayLink drivers and one of the point releases of High Sierra. I needed to stay on HS for a while and their solution was to upgrade to Mojave. So you are at the mercy of them doing driver updates for you. It'e less of a problem on Windows.

 

[johngwheeler]

DisplayLink has limitations on resolution and performance.

I bought one a few years ago and couldn't get it to work because there were a bunch of bugs with DisplayLink drivers and one of the point releases of High Sierra. I needed to stay on HS for a while and their solution was to upgrade to Mojave. So you are at the mercy of them doing driver updates for you. It'e less of a problem on Windows.

I'm using my MBP16 (8-core, 32GB, 5500M 8GB) with a Dell D6000 USB-C docking station (latest firmware) and 2 x 1080p monitors.

This defaults to using the integrated GPU and I have no issues with excessive heat or fan noise. Even if using an app that requires the dGPU (e.g. FCPX, Photos) it doesn't seem to increase fan noise appreciably unless I'm doing something intensive such as rendering a video.

DisplayLink seems to work OK at FHD resolutions and I can't say I've noticed any performance issues.

I keep the laptop open on a stand, so it is well ventilated - not sure if this makes much of a difference.

Presumably, the fans come on because the machine is hot, and it's hot because the GPU or CPU is working hard on one or more processes. Find out what these are from the ActivityMonitor or OS-level tools, and then work out which application is causing this.

I expect 4K monitors work the GPU much harder than FHD!

 

[Minga089]

Will the i7 model get less hotter than the i9? How exactly does the displayport fix it and does it help significantly? Even that is a $100 investment for a clunky dongle. I really like the single cable USB C setup that I have, but sucks that we have to do these barbaric workarounds.
[automerge]1599603330[/automerge]

exact model specs?

Base Model: i7 |16 GB RAM | 512 GB SSD | 5300m

 

[Minga089]

With Turbo boost enabled, the 6 core i7 runs cooler than the 8 core i9.
But if you disable turbo boost, then the i9 is faster without being hotter.

I did not say displayport. I said displaylink. DisplayLink needs a driver and uses some CPU power (not much, 5-15% of one core on idle, around 70% of a core when watching youtube, but I have 8 cores, so total power consumption is under 20 Watts for the whole MacBook, as the Radeon GPU stays at 0 Watts, it does not get activated at all.) Only the internal Intel GPU is awake, powering the macbook monitor. The external monitor is powered by the CPU and the DisplayLink chip in the dongle.

There are smaller and cheaper DisplayLink dongles for under $50, if you do not need 4K @ 60Hz:

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI Video Graphics Adapter with Audio for Multiple Monitors up to 2560x1440 Supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 7, XP, and Mac

Performance Featuring the DisplayLink DL-3500 chipset, the Plugable UGA-2KHDMI graphics adapter lets you connect an additional HDMI display up to 2560x1440@50Hz (lower resolutions at 60Hz) to your Windows-based laptop, desktop, tablet, or Mac 10.14+ systems via USB 3.0 to enable multitasking with...

www.amazon.com

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

www.amazon.com

Does DisplayLink support HiDPI in macOS and if so, can it handle HiDPI resolutions without problems? I run my external 24" WQHD monitor in 2048x1152 HiDPI...

 

[petterihiisila]

Does DisplayLink support HiDPI in macOS and if so, can it handle HiDPI resolutions without problems? I run my external 24" WQHD monitor in 2048x1152 HiDPI...

I don't have a DisplayLink, went with the eGPU route. I've got a pair of WQHDs with the same resolutions as yours.

I'd suggest you wait for the HiDPI answer from someone who's personally tested it, because it looks sketchy upon first inspection. There's a support article recommending against scaled resolutions, and a feature request from 2019 to enable HiDPI via DisplayLink. I guess you might be using RDM to enable the scaled resolutions, and that's the one that the feature request mentions.

4K monitors scaled "Retina mode" 1920x1080 resolution performance – DisplayLink Support

support.displaylink.com

"Despite ‘1920x1080’ and ‘1080p’ resolutions look similar, the first one has affected performance by an addiiontal [sic] need to upscale 1080p content up to 3840x2160 4K resolution. This extra effort cannot be worked around by DisplayLink as this macOS WindowServer internal behaviour."

Support lightning (aka HiDPI) resolutions

On Mac Mojave, Displaylink does not support HiDPI resolutions. These are screen modes that render the desktop at double the size so that fonts become more crisp. For example on my 1440p monitor, there's a 720p HiDPI mode. When I connect the monitor directly to my mac, this mode can be selected...

support.displaylink.com

"A related issue is that custom resolutions added by the above application do not work when the monitor is connected via Displaylink - but do work when the monitor is connected directly."

 

[Kogut]

I have the 16" MacBook with the defective Radeon 5500M GPU and have the standard power draw / fan noise / overheat problems. I disabled Turbo Boost on the CPU (with Turbo Boost Switcher Pro), and have it enabled automatically for select programs only. Clamshell mode helps, but I wanted to keep the lid open.

So now I use a DisplayLink USB dongle or dock to completely bypass the Radeon GPU.

These are a few options out of many:

WAVLINK USB 3.0 and USB-C Dual 4K Display Laptop Docking Station,5K/Dual 4K @60Hz Docking Staion Dual Monitor for Windows and Mac,(2 HDMI & 2 DP, Gigabit Ethernet, 6 USB 3.0,Audio)

WAVLINK USB 3.0 and USB-C Dual 4K Display Laptop Docking Station,5K/Dual 4K @60Hz Docking Staion Dual Monitor for Windows and Mac,(2 HDMI & 2 DP, Gigabit Ethernet, 6 USB 3.0,Audio)

www.amazon.com

StarTech.com USB-C & USB-A Dock - Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz Dock DisplayPort + HDMI - Hybrid USB 3.0 Docking Station for USB-C/USB-A Laptops - 6x USB Type-A, GbE - USB 3.1 Gen 1 - Mac/Windows (DK30A2DH)

This dual-4K docking station offers wide flexibility in setting up your workstation, working with both USB-C and USB-A port laptops and supporting multiple combinations of Ultra HD 4K DisplayPort and HDMI monitors. Enhance Productivity with Dual-4K 60Hz Video Ideal for highly detailed graphics ap...

www.amazon.com

Plugable USB-C Dual 4K DisplayPort Adapter with Gigabit Ethernet for Windows (Supports Two DisplayPort Displays up to 3840x2160@60Hz, Windows 10, 8.1 & 7).

The Plugable USB-C Dual 4K DisplayPort adapter allows you to connect up to two additional displays that support up to 3840x2160@60Hz resolutions each, as well as a gigabit Ethernet port. Our adapter is compatible with most modern Windows laptops, desktops and tablets that have a USB Type-C or Thu...

www.amazon.com

Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI 2.0 Adapter with Gigabit Ethernet for Windows (Supports Two HDMI Displays up to 3840x2160@60Hz, Windows 10, 8.1 & 7)

The Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI 2.0 adapter allows you to connect up to two additional displays that support up to 3840x2160@60Hz resolutions each, as well as a gigabit Ethernet port. Our adapter is compatible with most modern Windows laptops, desktops and tablets that have a USB Type-C or Thunde...

www.amazon.com

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI Video Graphics Adapter with Audio for Multiple Monitors up to 2560x1440 Supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 7, XP, and Mac

Performance Featuring the DisplayLink DL-3500 chipset, the Plugable UGA-2KHDMI graphics adapter lets you connect an additional HDMI display up to 2560x1440@50Hz (lower resolutions at 60Hz) to your Windows-based laptop, desktop, tablet, or Mac 10.14+ systems via USB 3.0 to enable multitasking with...

www.amazon.com

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Display Adapter,4K Ultra HD Video Graphic Adapter with Audio for Multi Monitor up to 3840 X 2160,DisplayLink Chipset DL5500,Support Windows 10/8.1/8/7

www.amazon.com

or anythink with a DL-6000 series chipset

DisplayLink Products | Synaptics

Where to buy DisplayLink productsDisplayLink technology appears in a wide range of products from the world's leading PC and peripheral brands. It features in docking stations, monitors, adapters, and more.Products with DisplayLink technology are supported on Windows, macOS, Android and Chrome OS...

www.displaylink.com

I can play light games like AoE2 DE at native 1080p@60Hz, with a 4K and a 2K monitor attached to the Stardock displaylink dock, and this completely avoids the heat and power draw problems. Power consumption is 15-50 Watts. Radeon High Side is at 0 Watts. No need to pay for an expensive eGPU or the 5600M, unless you need 4K HiDPI @60 Hz resolutions or do graphically intensive tasks.

(I'd have no problem paying for the $700 Radeon 5600M upgrade, but I do not want to reward Apple's incompetence... Especially since they blocked Nvidia and I cannot use my $3000 Titan V eGPU for CUDA.)

Hello

Could you describe how that dock works with your MacBook?
How many monitors do you have connected?
What is the watt usage of the gpu? With closed and open lid?
What is the cpu usage? Is it bigger because of display link driver?
Did you try playing games via dock? Or watching some movies?
I consider buying egpu or dock, but dock is much cheaper and has more ports..
What is you general opinion? Does dock decrease problem with dgpu?

 

[Hex25]

Hello

Could you describe how that dock works with your MacBook?
How many monitors do you have connected?
What is the watt usage of the gpu? With closed and open lid?
What is the cpu usage? Is it bigger because of display link driver?
Did you try playing games via dock? Or watching some movies?
I consider buying egpu or dock, but dock is much cheaper and has more ports..
What is you general opinion? Does dock decrease problem with dgpu?

Hi,

I use Dell DC6000 with MBP 16" i9 and Radeon 5500 for creative work and here are my impressions:

1. DC6000 HDMI port to HDMI on Dell U2718q -> no overheat but very laggy ( temps stay below 60 degrees and fans under 2400rpm)
2. DC6000 Display Port to DP on Dell U2718q - > overheat and laggy (I can't work with it like that)
3. Directly Thunderbolt to DP (lid open) - very hot and noisy but it works well (as everyone experienced)
4. Directly Thunderbolt to DP (lid closed) - below 55 degrees and fans stay below 2000rpm under lite load; the performance is very good

For me, DC6000 is not a solution to use the laptop comfortably with tasks where you have to move objects smoothly on the screen. It lags even when you scroll a webpage, and for me it's very annoying. Now I use it only to charge the laptop and to connect usb devices.

I didn't checked cpu usage with display link but I assume it's higher.
Also, I'm not sure about gpu wattage because I took the informations(temps and rpm) from terminal with powermetrics

In conclusion, my best result (performance and heat) with an external monitor was to use it in clamshell mode

 

[Mattstrete]

Will the i7 model get less hotter than the i9?

Sorry, I have the i7 base model and the problem is not the CPU. It's the GPU with its 18+ Watt power draw.

 

[soiramk]

Sorry, I have the i7 base model and the problem is not the CPU. It's the GPU with its 18+ Watt power draw.

Me too... An I only connect it to a 22'' 1680p monitor

 

[macbookfan21]

Sorry, I have the i7 base model and the problem is not the CPU. It's the GPU with its 18+ Watt power draw.

True. Do you know if the i7 itself gets hotter than i9 on basic tasks or at idle? I know the pain heater is the GPU but wandering if maybe getting a lower CPU can help

 

[Yurk]

Does DisplayLink support HiDPI in macOS and if so, can it handle HiDPI resolutions without problems? I run my external 24" WQHD monitor in 2048x1152 HiDPI...

The newer DisplayLink drivers claim to support HiDPI in macOS Catalina, but can be laggy. I have a 4K 22" monitor, and 1080p HiDPI is laggy on some applications (e.g. Slack or MS Teams), but not on others. There is no lag if I use 4K native (but things look very small) or 1080p native (but things do not look as sharp). So, not as great a solution as an eGPU, but I need to use 1080p native to screen-record my lectures anyway, so at that resolution it is good enough for me.

 

[Yurk]

Hello

Could you describe how that dock works with your MacBook?
How many monitors do you have connected?
What is the watt usage of the gpu? With closed and open lid?
What is the cpu usage? Is it bigger because of display link driver?
Did you try playing games via dock? Or watching some movies?
I consider buying egpu or dock, but dock is much cheaper and has more ports..
What is you general opinion? Does dock decrease problem with dgpu?

A displaylink dock or dongle connect via USB and use your CPU and a displaylink chip in the dongle for video rendering. It can use 10-90% of one CPU core depending on the task (lower when browsing, higher if watching youtube or movies). That means the CPU consumes ~5 Watts for video rendering, but this is still much lower than the defective Radeon 5500M GPU.
While writing this I am connected to two external monitors at 1080p native resolution via the Startdock displaylink dock.
My CPU stays at 40 Celsius while writing this, and the fans stay at 1700 rpm, Radeon High Side is at 0.08 Watts. The total system Wattage is 10-15 Watts only! If I play a youtube video, total system Wattage goes to 20 Watts only.

By comparison, if I plug a monitor directly to the Macbook, the Radeon 5500M wakes up, Radeon High Side wattage is 20 Watts, and total system is 50 Watts, at idle (and much more if actually do something.)

I can play light games at 1080p with bootcamp, such as AoE2 DE. Do not expect to play demanding gameds via displaylink. It goes through USB so its bandwitdth is limitted compared to TB3 eGPUs.

 

[Yurk]

Hi,

I use Dell DC6000 with MBP 16" i9 and Radeon 5500 for creative work and here are my impressions:

1. DC6000 HDMI port to HDMI on Dell U2718q -> no overheat but very laggy ( temps stay below 60 degrees and fans under 2400rpm)
2. DC6000 Display Port to DP on Dell U2718q - > overheat and laggy (I can't work with it like that)
3. Directly Thunderbolt to DP (lid open) - very hot and noisy but it works well (as everyone experienced)
4. Directly Thunderbolt to DP (lid closed) - below 55 degrees and fans stay below 2000rpm under lite load; the performance is very good

For me, DC6000 is not a solution to use the laptop comfortably with tasks where you have to move objects smoothly on the screen. It lags even when you scroll a webpage, and for me it's very annoying. Now I use it only to charge the laptop and to connect usb devices.

I didn't checked cpu usage with display link but I assume it's higher.
Also, I'm not sure about gpu wattage because I took the informations(temps and rpm) from terminal with powermetrics

In conclusion, my best result (performance and heat) with an external monitor was to use it in clamshell mode

What resolution are you using? If it is 1080p HiDPI, it will be laggy as you desrribe. Also, at 4K, the Dell only supports 30 Hz, which causes more lagginess. The stardock supports 4K @ 60 Hz, and there is no lag at native 4K or native 1080p. There is some lag at 1080p HiDPI (which renders at 4K and then rescales to 1080p size, so it is more CPU intensive.)

 

[elv]

While writing this I am connected to two external monitors at 1080p native resolution via the Startdock displaylink dock.
My CPU stays at 40 Celsius while writing this, and the fans stay at 1700 rpm, Radeon High Side is at 0.08 Watts. The total system Wattage is 10-15 Watts only! If I play a youtube video, total system Wattage goes to 20 Watts only.

Interesting, the specs say: "The adapter can support 5120×2880 (5K) when both DP outputs are connected to a single monitor that supports 5K."
I would love to know how well it works with a 5k display, and how much CPU it eats.

 

[Rob.G]

Hey... just found this thread. I've read a few of the pages including this last one. I'm waiting for Fedex to dropoff my new (refurb) 2019 MBP 16... 2.4 GHz 8-core i9, 64 gig, 2 tb, 4 gb 5500M. I'm starting to wonder if I made a mistake.

My current plan is to continue using it with my nine-year-old 27" Thunderbolt display and a Dell 27" QHD HDMI monitor. With luck they may get replaced with one of those slick (and expensive) Dell 49" displays, but not for a while. I plan to have the laptop open to use its display as #3 so I'm wondering if I'm going to have issues with heat and noise?

I picked the 64 gb model because I anticipate doing a lot of video processing in the near future; after reading other threads, I concluded that 64 gb with the 4 gb 5500M was better than 32 gb with the 8 gb 5500M, and there were no 64's with the 8 gb 5500M available.

I figured this would be my last Intel-based Mac before moving to an ARM-based unit in a few years once those are all figured out.

Thoughts?

 

[Grohowiak]

Hey... just found this thread. I've read a few of the pages including this last one. I'm waiting for Fedex to dropoff my new (refurb) 2019 MBP 16... 2.4 GHz 8-core i9, 64 gig, 2 tb, 4 gb 5500M. I'm starting to wonder if I made a mistake.

My current plan is to continue using it with my nine-year-old 27" Thunderbolt display and a Dell 27" QHD HDMI monitor. With luck they may get replaced with one of those slick (and expensive) Dell 49" displays, but not for a while. I plan to have the laptop open to use its display as #3 so I'm wondering if I'm going to have issues with heat and noise?

I picked the 64 gb model because I anticipate doing a lot of video processing in the near future; after reading other threads, I concluded that 64 gb with the 4 gb 5500M was better than 32 gb with the 8 gb 5500M, and there were no 64's with the 8 gb 5500M available.

I figured this would be my last Intel-based Mac before moving to an ARM-based unit in a few years once those are all figured out.

Thoughts?

You will have same problems with external screens like everybody else with a 5300/5500.
Unfortunate truth.

 

[Rob.G]

Lovely. Well, I'll see what it's like with my setup. I may also try one of those fan speed control apps to make the fans run faster and keep it cooler. Plus there are those laptop cooler "stands" that have the giant fans built into them, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/HV-F2056-15-...ywords=laptop+fan+stand&qid=1599765388&sr=8-3

 

[Grohowiak]

Lovely. Well, I'll see what it's like with my setup. I may also try one of those fan speed control apps to make the fans run faster and keep it cooler. Plus there are those laptop cooler "stands" that have the giant fans built into them, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/HV-F2056-15-...ywords=laptop+fan+stand&qid=1599765388&sr=8-3

Personally I wouldn't waste money on something like this.
Get apple care, don't use temp monitoring and forget about this thread if you will be sticking with it.
It is a amazing laptop. It's a fact. It just doesn't like external screens too much.

 

[Rob.G]

Yeah it'll definitely get AppleCare as soon as my wallet stops smouldering from the initial puchase. But I depend on multiple external monitors... we'll see how it goes.

 

[bomby0]

Yeah it'll definitely get AppleCare as soon as my wallet stops smouldering from the initial puchase. But I depend on multiple external monitors... we'll see how it goes.

You always have 14 days to return it to Apple if you can't stand the dumb fan noise. (Don't count on Apple fixing this awful overheating bug)

 

[petterihiisila]

Yeah it'll definitely get AppleCare as soon as my wallet stops smouldering from the initial puchase. But I depend on multiple external monitors... we'll see how it goes.

The fans will ramp themselves up when necessary, and with lid open it will be necessary, because the dGPU will run at 18-20 watts constant. About 2800 RPM idle, which is fine, and 3800-4200 during light/medium use, which is easily audible but doesn't cause any hair loss for most people. It can get to 5000+ if there's a demanding process in the front or in the background. Video conferencing apps can do that too. If it becomes too annoying, headphones block it pretty well...

Don't fiddle with the fans, they aren't going to get any faster when they need to run fast, and they can't run any slower than they must. Your setup will be extremely fast for almost anything you can throw at it, without any tweaks.

Ignorance is bliss, if you don't want to make an eGPU investment or buy some DisplayLink gizmo. It's best to forget the stats, because they are what they are and there's very little you can do to change that for cheap. The dGPU/CPU will adjust themselves according to temp headroom, they can't "overheat" during heavy use, unless the unit is defective. Which is very rare in practice.

Turbo Boost Switcher is a good app, if you want to save power on the road or get a bit more relaxed RPM during light/medium use. It's free for turning TB on/off, but some auto features cost money.

A stand with a propeller sounds good initially, but it turned out to be a bad idea. They have their own cheap and noisy fan, which had no measurable effect on the internal temps. A metal stand gives you the same minor conduction improvement, and it's 0 dB quiet. Even a small book under the Mac gives most of the improvement: it raises the air vents off the table. The all-metal Mac chassis is itself a pretty good energy dispenser and the internal fans are powerful on their own.

These are both good, and you can find them or something similar from Amazon/eBay/etc.

https://macally-europe.com/vcstand (vertical, clamshell)
https://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html (lid open, raised)