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mateusz_

macrumors newbie
Mar 2, 2020
5
1
I just tested all the scaling resolutions in clamshell mode with only Chrome open and got the same results. They all hover between 5.2W and 8.7W, fans under 2000rpm, CPU around 50°.

I have very same monitor and thinking of switching from MBP 13 (2018) to the latest MBP 16, but I'm afraid of the issue described in this thread. Can you confirm that when operating in open lid mode you still got issues with heat&noise when connected directly to the monitor with USB-C to USB-C cable?
 

cpk1

macrumors newbie
Dec 4, 2019
17
4
I have very same monitor and thinking of switching from MBP 13 (2018) to the latest MBP 16, but I'm afraid of the issue described in this thread. Can you confirm that when operating in open lid mode you still got issues with heat&noise when connected directly to the monitor with USB-C to USB-C cable?

I've got the 27UL650 which doesn't have USB-C, so guessing you have the 27UL850? I'm using Displayport connected to a Caldigit TS3 Plus.

It's going to be hot and noisy with any external monitor in open lid mode, as that constantly pulls 19W from the GPU. I'm only working in clamshell mode which isn't ideal, but still a big improvement over the last monitor which made the fans constantly run at 5000rpm.
 

mateusz_

macrumors newbie
Mar 2, 2020
5
1
I double checked and I actually have LG 27UD88-W - sorry for the confusion. These LG names are weird sometimes.

Anyway, thanks for replying. I wonder if direct connection from MBP 16 to the monitor via USB-C to USB-C would make any difference here. I can consider working in clamshell mode, however I would prefer to use both built-in and the external display at the same time. So I'm holding back one month after another to see if Apple at least acknowledge there is an issue, but nothing happens in this matter. So I guess I'll stick to my MBP 13 until rumored MBP 14 is out.
 

davidbend

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2019
44
51
I know that 99% of you are using Mac OS, but I've installed Windows via Bootcamp for gaming purposes and I checked the GPU power consumption, it was 14W. It's at least 2-3W less than what I've got in the Mac OS.
I don't know what the reason for that, but I can only assume that it's because of the AMD drivers that I've installed on the OS. Maybe it's giving us some hope that it's a driver issue and not hardware?
 

ChromeCrescendo

macrumors 6502
Jan 3, 2020
450
252
I returned the MSI monitor as it constantly used 19W from the GPU at 2560x1440 in clamshell mode.

I just replaced it with a LG 27UL650 which is working great and only pulls ~6W at 2560x1440 60hz over Displayport.


Do you think that using an Apple or Apple-approved monitor like the LG is what made the difference?
 
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Soragon

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2020
3
2
Has anyone tried the supplemental 10.15.4 update?
Yep, no difference.

This is quite an annoying issue. I upgraded from a 13" Early 2016 MBP and the integrated Intel GPU handled by 4k quite easily compared to this 16" MBP.

Also strange is that I can't get the computer to recognise the native resolution of my 1440p monitor which the old 13" MBP handled fine...
 

MrGunnyPT

macrumors 65816
Mar 23, 2017
1,313
804
I just tested all the scaling resolutions in clamshell mode with only Chrome open and got the same results. They all hover between 5.2W and 8.7W, fans under 2000rpm, CPU around 50°.

So you think this has to do with monitors? I really can't return my ultra wide works fine with everything else...
 

recoil80

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,117
2,756
I got mine a couple of days ago, as you know after a fresh install you have a lot of stuff going so the first day it was really hot but I didn't mind. Yesterday I used it as a laptop for a while and didn't feel it hot under my wrists while typing, I'd say it wasn't different from my previous laptop.
Today I'm using it in clamshell mode, doesn't seem hot at the moment but it is only been running for an hour. I elevated it by an inch from the desk to help a little bit. I do it for the battery, as it is charging in clamshell mode I want to avoid to overheat
 

Abaganov

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2016
375
239
Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 3.10.53 PM.png



this what happens when I connect my 16" to a 1080 display. only thing is running is chrome (no videos) with 10 tabs open. everything become sluggish and slow, fan is very audible and the machine is very hot to touch.


and this is a few minutes after I disconnect the MBP from the monitor, still hot but no fan noise and everything is running smooth again.

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 3.27.28 PM.png
 
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cpk1

macrumors newbie
Dec 4, 2019
17
4
Do you think that using an Apple or Apple-approved monitor like the LG is what made the difference?

I have no idea, but the 27UL650 isn't really an Apple-approved monitor. It might be because it's 4K instead of 1440, Displayport 1.4 instead of 1.2, or how it handles refresh rate (60hz instead of 59.97hz).

So you think this has to do with monitors? I really can't return my ultra wide works fine with everything else...

I don't know, but there's lots of people in this thread having issues with 1440p monitors. 4K scaled to 1440 seems to work fine. It's definitely a macOS / AMD driver issue as the MSI monitor worked fine in Windows 10 Bootcamp, and only pulled 3W from the GPU in clamshell mode instead of 19W.
 
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The-Reporter

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2014
7
11
View attachment 904667


this what happens when I connect my 16" to a 1080 display. only thing is running is chrome (no videos) with 10 tabs open. everything become sluggish and slow, fan is very audible and the machine is very hot to touch.


and this is a few minutes after I disconnect the MBP from the monitor, still hot but no fan noise and everything is running smooth again.

View attachment 904668
The question is why CPU load is @ 63.7% ?

You can open "Activity Monitor" and see which process is so hungry.
 

PeterJP

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2012
1,136
896
Leuven, Belgium
run coconutbattery for us and post a pic. Just curious. Would like to see current capacity after 7 years. I try to keep my 2013 MBP at or below 80% and leaving it unplugged when not using. My current capacity is still at 93% after 250+ cycles.
Screenshot 2020-04-09 at 15.06.31.png

Here you go. The machine isn't entirely 7 years old, rather 6 years and a bit. But still, at +85% battery capacity, I'm happy.
 
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dcaplan2010

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2020
1
1
Hello,

I am new here and I ended up at this post because I too am experiencing loud fan noises while running only the Brave browser with 4 tabs open connected to one external monitor. The CPU's seem to be running very hot for not having to do a lot of work.

System: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 1.56.28 PM.png


Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 2.01.34 PM.png

[automerge]1586455801[/automerge]
I just ran a test and unplugged my monitor and the CPU Temps dropped down to around 40 degrees within seconds. Something about the second monitor is causing the CPU temperature to rise very quickly.
 

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  • Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 1.56.28 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 1.56.28 PM.png
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tanoanian

macrumors member
Dec 4, 2016
88
160
So I'm on 10.15.5 beta (19F53f) and I went from over 19 watts Radeon high side all the time to 7.87 watts. The only setting I've changed is in SwitchResX I went to a non HiDPI setting. I use two external displays and have never seen it draw less than 19 watts until today.
 
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ChromeCrescendo

macrumors 6502
Jan 3, 2020
450
252
So I'm on 10.15.5 beta (19F53f) and I went from over 19 watts Radeon high side all the time to 7.87 watts. The only setting I've changed is in SwitchResX I went to a non HiDPI setting. I use two external displays and have never seen it draw less than 19 watts until today.


Hmmm could Apple have finally fixed it?

Is anyone using an XDR with the MBP 16"? If so, same heat and fan noise issues?
 
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Camarillo Brillo

macrumors 6502a
Dec 6, 2019
531
525
Fingers crossed for a fix in 10.15.5!

I’m still on 10.15.3, with all the bad stuff I’ve read about .4, I’ll just wait for .5 before I update again. Not really interested in trying the beta because I have work to do, but would love to hear from others who are testing it for a fix to this issue.

I’ll take back everything bad I ever said about my 16” if they fix it
 

TheJulianJES

macrumors newbie
Mar 28, 2020
14
2
Getting 18 watts for 10.15.5 (Dev Beta 1) in clamshell mode for some LG monitor (2560x1080, CalDigit TS3+ DisplayPort -> CalDigit Active DP to HDMI -> LG monitor)
Works fine with 1920x1080 though.
 

mrmachine79

macrumors regular
Mar 31, 2020
134
165
I'm having similar problems on my 2019 15" MBP (thinking about upgrading to 16", hence checking this thread).

When attached to an external 4K monitor (LG 27UK850-W) in "looks like 2560x1440), I get ~17-19w Radeon High Side and while doing something like a video chat in Discord, apps and the OS in general will freeze up for 10s or more sometimes. "Looks like 1920x1080", "looks like 3008x1692", and "2560x1440 (low resolution)" all only draw ~12W Radeon High Side, and the machine does not freeze up as much. Unfortunately, 2560x1440 is the native resolution for a non-4K 27" monitor, so "looks like 2556x1440" is my ideal resolution.

I've done extensive tests in a fresh install of Catalina with only Cinebench R20, Luxmark 3.1, iStat menus, gSwitch, and Intel Power Gadget installed and running.

Here's my testing process:

- Run Cinebench on all cores with min duration 86400 seconds (1 day) to force multiple continuous passes to put continuous load on the CPU.
- Run Luxmark and set the mode to "Stress Test (OpenCL GPUs) to put continuous load on the GPU.
- Run Intel Power Gadget and watch Power/PKG. I'm looking how many watts the CPU can sustain under CPU and CPU+GPU loads.

Then, for each combination of external monitor resolution, and with no external monitor attached, I do the following:

- Just before a Cinebench pass finishes, set a new resolution on the external monitor.
- Watch the Power/PKG value in Cinebench for the duration of at least 1 full pass, or a few passes if the results are not stable.
- Record the LOWEST value for Power/PKG during a stable pass.

Here are some notable results:

21W internal screen only
14W internal + external (high-DPI 1920x1080)
8W internal + external (high-DPI 2560x1440)

Some notes:
- This does not appear to be thermal throttling of the CPU, as Intel Power Gadget reports a steady ~80c. At least, it's not thermal throttling because of the temp of the CPU. It might be thermal throttling the CPU because of the temp of the GPU, TB3 controller, or other components. Looks like the system is either dynamically allocating more power to the GPU and away from the CPU, or dynamically withholding power from the CPU because the overall system temp is too high.
- From a cold start, with just Cinebench (no Luxmark to load the GPU), the CPU can sustain about 52W for most of the first pass. This is around 2.8GHz.
- At 14W it is around 1.4GHz. At 8W it is around 800MHz. At both of these, I see a lot of high CPU usage for `kernel_task` in iStat menus.
- Using Turbo Boost Switcher Pro to disable turbo boost does not seem to help much, because it is the GPU and NOT the CPU that is contributing to the bulk of heat generation.

I'm considering either:

1) Upgrading to a 16" MBP, if I can confirm that it is able to sustain more watts (Power/PKG) under CPU+GPU load than my current machine, and avoid freezing up (even if hot and noisy, which I can live with).
2) Adding an eGPU to avoid heat generation and power consumption by the dGPU, and therefore allow the system to sustain ~50W and 2.8GHz.
3) Perhaps my logic board is just faulty, even though it has passed all of Apple's diagnostic tests during service. These diagnostic tests do not run with an external display, though, so they may just not be detecting the issue. 8W and 14W seem like crazy low values given that this is a 45W TDP processor at 2.3GHz. Even 21W with no external display attached seems to indicate that Apple's cooling solution is woefully inadequate for BOTH the CPU and GPU under load at the same time.

Can someone else with a 15" or 16" MBP with 8-core i9 CPU and external 4K monitor run the above test and report back the lowest value for Power/PKG that can be sustained? I'd also love to know if the 5500M or 5300M (both 4GB) turns in a better result.
 

Abaganov

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2016
375
239
So I'm on 10.15.5 beta (19F53f) and I went from over 19 watts Radeon high side all the time to 7.87 watts. The only setting I've changed is in SwitchResX I went to a non HiDPI setting. I use two external displays and have never seen it draw less than 19 watts until today.

would love to get more inputs on this and if this update is really a game changer

I already sent my return request to apple and they are coming to pick up the machine on the 16.4, which totally sucks and leaving me without a laptop
 

dschulian

macrumors regular
Apr 29, 2015
242
523
Germany
I have no idea, but the 27UL650 isn't really an Apple-approved monitor. It might be because it's 4K instead of 1440, Displayport 1.4 instead of 1.2, or how it handles refresh rate (60hz instead of 59.97hz).


Actually if you connect the display using USB-C it’s using something called „DP Alt Mode“.
 
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ratex

macrumors newbie
Jan 5, 2020
18
1
I'm thinking about buying a screen to use with my 16 incher in clamshell mode.
Does the 16 incher generate a lot of heat and fan noise while running in clamshell mode?

What screen do you guys recommend? Dell P2415Q?
 
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