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

[c0ppo]

I've been thinking about getting either an X1E or P1 Gen 3 and running RHEL. Do you have the GTX 1650 Ti? Are you able to run multiple monitors? How is driver support? How quiet is your machine?

Yes, 1650Ti. I'm using mine connected to LG 5K. And works like a charm, no noise in idle at all. But I've also undervolted by -125.

I would suggest that you purchase 2nd gen. Same machine, same gpu. 10th gen Intel can't be undervolted, while 9th gen can.

 

[Appledoesnotlisten]

All my screens running at native resolutions. I played with SwitchResX a bit when I had the now returned i9 5500M, in attempting to reduce the GPU power consumption, and without success. Having the 5k screen runs without highRes looks terrific, but just the font is too small to read.

What do you want to see? GPU power consumption of 5600M at 5K lowRes?

Yes, I want to see whether your 5600m gets hot with 2 monitors at 7000x4000 (approximately), one at 3840x2400 and the internal. My eGPU RX 570 is 100% silent under that load, while 555x was suffering.

 

[DesertNomad]

Yes, I want to see whether your 5600m gets hot with 2 monitors at 7000x4000 (approximately), one at 3840x2400 and the internal. My eGPU RX 570 is 100% silent under that load, while 555x was suffering.

I can find out soon. My 16" arrives Monday and will be hooked to an XDR and 27" Thunderbolt.

 

[petterihiisila]

So we have to factor in that we cannot even get something simple as an external Monitor without loud fans or have to shell out even more money? Isnˋt that a bit ridiculous?

It is silly indeed. But important to know as a new buyer. Good for them this thread exists.

 

[king11527]

Yes, I want to see whether your 5600m gets hot with 2 monitors at 7000x4000 (approximately), one at 3840x2400 and the internal. My eGPU RX 570 is 100% silent under that load, while 555x was suffering.

I have LG5k at home, the other two lowRes monitors at office. So can't test LG5k with another monitor. Here is result of LG5k at highest resolution (7680x4320) plus internal monitor at native resolution, the GPU power slightly increased to 8W, no animation activity on LG5k screen.

LG5k with native resolution plus internal monitor at default resolution, GPU power at 7W:

 

[Appledoesnotlisten]

I can find out soon. My 16" arrives Monday and will be hooked to an XDR and 27" Thunderbolt.

Yes please, I am very interested to see your temps.
Look at the 4 crazy resolutions that I am running on a 6-core with a budget eGPU RX570 while everything is cool, silent and smooth.
Admittedly, this script helped do disable the dGPU: sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0.

 

[DesertNomad]

Mine will have a 5600M, 64GB RAM. I am planning to plug the XDR into the right side for cooler charging and the 27" will be connected beyond a OWC RAID system connected to the left side.

 

[king11527]

Yes please, I am very interested to see your temps.
Look at the 4 crazy resolutions that I am running on a 6-core with a budget eGPU RX570 while everything is cool, silent and smooth.
Admittedly, this script helped do disable the dGPU: sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0.

View attachment 959764View attachment 959767View attachment 959768View attachment 959766View attachment 959765

Here is internal monitor runs at 6400x3600 and LG5k at 7680x4320, and 5600M consumes 8W at idle:

 

[adgoodma]

Ill update that the fans on the 5600m will run at 100% all of the time when plugged into 4k and 5k monitors in clamshell at native resolutions.

 

[IceStormNG]

Ill update that the fans on the 5600m will run at 100% all of the time when plugged into 4k and 5k monitors in clamshell at native resolutions.View attachment 959808

You tell me now that I don't have to bug Apple and hope they will let me upgrade to the 5600M?

BTW: How are temperatures and power draw? Especially temps of the TB3 controllers and the GPU

 

[ght56]

Yes please, I am very interested to see your temps.
Look at the 4 crazy resolutions that I am running on a 6-core with a budget eGPU RX570 while everything is cool, silent and smooth.
Admittedly, this script helped do disable the dGPU: sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0.

View attachment 959764View attachment 959767View attachment 959768View attachment 959766View attachment 959765

Here's a question for you...

With an eGPU, if all external displays are plugged into the eGPU, but the dGPU on the MacBook Pro is enabled, what does the wattage look like in this instance? Does it eliminate the 20 watt pull and drop to wattage that would be seen with just dGPU operation of the clamshell only?

 

[macuser5123]

I am sorry for not reading all the 157 pages of this thread but could anyone please tell me: I want to use the 16" MBP with three external monitors for office kind of work. Is that possible without worrying about the other components because the mashine is running so hot with external monitors? Or is my usecase no big deal? Would it make a difference upgrading to the 5500M instead of the 5300M ?

Thanks so much!

 

[IceStormNG]

The 5500M and the 5300M suffer equally from this problem. The 5600M is supposed to be way less affected.

We don't know whether it will negatively affect the lifetime of the components significantly. Theoretically, the additional heat will wear out the components faster. But whether this is an actual issue in reality is something only time can tell. Actually, every AMD Radeon GPU has this problem, but the ones with HBM2 memory are not that extreme because of their much higher energy efficiency.

You can run 3 monitors without any "issues". I put that in quotes because for certain people (like me) excessive heat and unnecessary fan noise IS an issue. For Apple, the machine works as designed.

 

[Appledoesnotlisten]

With an eGPU, if all external displays are plugged into the eGPU, but the dGPU on the MacBook Pro is enabled, what does the wattage look like in this instance?

0W
it jumps to 5W when I launch Figma or something like that
I am very happy. Everything stays silent and cool. The only inconvenient is that the eGPU enclosure generates extra heat (albeit still silent) that is noticeable if room ventilation is poor.

I am very curious to see what wattage the 5600m draws when all the resolutions are crazy high. I suspect that the two best cases we are choosing from are:
5600m with 5W, which eliminates the need for eGPU, while still keeping the computer a bit warm because of the 5W.
OR
eGPU with the scrip (sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0), which reduces dGPU draw to 0W, while generating heat in the enclosure. I will google if I can put the enclosure in some kind of energy saving mode. The eGPU temps are attached.

 

[topcat001]

0W
it jumps to 5W when I launch Figma or something like that
I am very happy. Everything stays silent and cool. The only inconvenient is that the eGPU enclosure generates extra heat (albeit still silent) that is noticeable if room ventilation is poor.

I am very curious to see what wattage the 5600m draws when all the resolutions are crazy high. I suspect that the two best cases we are choosing from are:
5600m with 5W, which eliminates the need for eGPU, while still keeping the computer a bit warm because of the 5W.
OR
eGPU with the scrip (sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0), which reduces dGPU draw to 0W, while generating heat in the enclosure. I will google if I can put the enclosure in some kind of energy saving mode. The eGPU temps are attached.

Thanks for the update. Which eGPU are you running?

 

[ght56]

0W
it jumps to 5W when I launch Figma or something like that
I am very happy. Everything stays silent and cool. The only inconvenient is that the eGPU enclosure generates extra heat (albeit still silent) that is noticeable if room ventilation is poor.

I am very curious to see what wattage the 5600m draws when all the resolutions are crazy high. I suspect that the two best cases we are choosing from are:
5600m with 5W, which eliminates the need for eGPU, while still keeping the computer a bit warm because of the 5W.
OR
eGPU with the scrip (sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0), which reduces dGPU draw to 0W, while generating heat in the enclosure. I will google if I can put the enclosure in some kind of energy saving mode. The eGPU temps are attached.

Forgive my lack of knowledge on eGPUs, but does that mean the eGPU is not only powering the graphics on the external displays, but is also powering the graphics on the MBP's built-in display? (if so, I'll need to figure out very quickly whether a 5600M or an eGPU is better for my usage now and in the future!)

 

[topcat001]

Forgive my lack of knowledge on eGPUs, but does that mean the eGPU is not only powering the graphics on the external displays, but is also powering the graphics on the MBP's built-in display? (if so, I'll need to figure out very quickly whether a 5600M or an eGPU is better for my usage now and in the future!)

No eGPU does not power the internal display normally. However, an app running on the internal display can use the eGPU to do its rendering (with some caveats).

From reading the posts it seems using an eGPU just to drive external monitors and leaving everything else to default gives the best overall performance. Note that if an application needs a dGPU it might be faster for it to use the internal dGPU.

 

[ArPe]

Yes please, I am very interested to see your temps.
Look at the 4 crazy resolutions that I am running on a 6-core with a budget eGPU RX570 while everything is cool, silent and smooth.
Admittedly, this script helped do disable the dGPU: sudo pmset -a gpuswitch 0.

View attachment 959764View attachment 959767View attachment 959768View attachment 959766View attachment 959765

Do the pmset settings remain every time you reboot?

 

[ght56]

No eGPU does not power the internal display normally. However, an app running on the internal display can use the eGPU to do its rendering (with some caveats).

From reading the posts it seems using an eGPU just to drive external monitors and leaving everything else to default gives the best overall performance. Note that if an application needs a dGPU it might be faster for it to use the internal dGPU.

Thank you very much! So, if I have a 5500M BTO MBP16 which I really like but am concerned about the long-term heat when using it on external displays (it sees about 40 hours a week of usage with two QHD externals and the clamshell open...the rest being used without), at this point my options appear to be the following:

1 - Try using DisplayLink
(It sounds like some have more luck here than others, and that to some extent it still means heat as it places more emphasis on the CPU)

2 - Purchase an eGPU
(Where both externals would be powered by the eGPU, and the iGPU or dGPU would power the built in display unless I am assigning this task to certain apps. I assume I could go cheaper as my work isn't highly GPU dependent)

3 - Try to return and get a different MBP with a 5600M
(This would be the biggest PITA process, as it would necessitate a return, waiting for a BTO to be built and shipped, and then reconfiguring a gazillion settings if I don't restore with a carbon clone.)

Does one pop out as a superior option to the other? Other than living with it or switching computers in total, are there any options I have missed?

 

[topcat001]

Thank you very much! So, if I have a 5500M BTO MBP16 which I really like but am concerned about the long-term heat when using it on external displays (it sees about 40 hours a week of usage with two QHD externals and the clamshell open...the rest being used without), at this point my options appear to be the following:

1 - Try using DisplayLink
(It sounds like some have more luck here than others, and that to some extent it still means heat as it places more emphasis on the CPU)

2 - Purchase an eGPU
(Where both externals would be powered by the eGPU, and the iGPU or dGPU would power the built in display unless I am assigning this task to certain apps. I assume I could go cheaper as my work isn't highly GPU dependent)

3 - Try to return and get a different MBP with a 5600M
(This would be the biggest PITA process, as it would necessitate a return, waiting for a BTO to be built and shipped, and then reconfiguring a gazillion settings if I don't restore with a carbon clone.)

Does one pop out as a superior option to the other? Other than living with it or switching computers in total, are there any options I have missed?

Since you have two QHD monitors to drive (plus internal), an eGPU will give you the best performance (with say the RX580 card). DisplayLink has some performance issues with higher scaled resolutions, if you want to use that. It's what I'd do for the best thermals on the machine. It's a bit of an expense but better long term.

 

[rioriojc]

I'm in the same boat...outside of my return window and the fans are driving me nuts in my studio. Does anyone have an affordable eGPU recommendation for my situation (assuming thats the best route to mitigate the fan/heat)?

I'm using Logic Pro X for work for 8+ hours a day, fans running at 4.5-5.5k and machine super warm. Usually lid closed with my Asus PB278Q display, but occasionally I have the screen open ...no gaming or bootcamp. No chrome or other power-hungry apps.. Just Logic.

My Specs:

2.4GHz 8‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory
64GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory

 

[petterihiisila]

Does anyone have an affordable eGPU recommendation for my situation (assuming thats the best route to mitigate the fan/heat)?

Razer Core X and a 580 card with a 0 dB fans-off mode would be one of the “proven” solutions. You may find 2nd hand options for both.

 

[rioriojc]

Razer Core X and a 580 card with a 0 dB fans-off mode would be one of the “proven” solutions. You may find 2nd hand options for both.

Thank you so much! Already found a lead on an affordable Core X. Can you refer me to where the 0DB fans-off mode was discussed? Not quite sure what you mean by that (excuse my tech newbiness )

 

[IceStormNG]

Can you refer me to where the 0DB fans-off mode was discussed? Not quite sure what you mean by that (excuse my tech newbiness )

Some GPUs have a 0dB fan. That means that the fan will actually stop under light load and therefore make no noise at all. I'm still not sure how important that is. Doesn't the Razer Core also have a fan inside its PSU?

Anyway. It's a feature of the GPU itself. The manufacturer usually advertises that or has it somewhere in the description. Keep in mind that it can be different from one OEM to another. So if one RX570 has it, it doesn't meant that all RX570s have it.

 

[rioriojc]

Some GPUs have a 0dB fan. That means that the fan will actually stop under light load and therefore make no noise at all. I'm still not sure how important that is. Doesn't the Razer Core also have a fan inside its PSU?

Anyway. It's a feature of the GPU itself. The manufacturer usually advertises that or has it somewhere in the description. Keep in mind that it can be different from one OEM to another. So if one RX570 has it, it doesn't meant that all RX570s have it.

Gotcha- thank you!