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choreo

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2008
910
357
Midland, TX
Indeed, this seems to be dragging on for many months. I’ve lost a lot of respect for Apple and simply don’t have much faith in their QC/QA or their engineers. When issues linger across multiple OS releases there’s a serious problem! Some people have dropped more money on these machines than very nice automobiles. Apple should be embarrassed.

I am no Computer Engineer, but just glancing through a lot of these threads on this Forum, it is easy to draw some possible correlations across categories.

  • It seems like several people are experiencing similar issues exclusive to "5700" GPUs (not just on Mac Pros)
  • 1/3 of the people responding to a 7,1 Poll with this card installed reported similar unresolved issues.
  • I see several "Catalina OS" posts that are similar
  • Waking for "sleep" definitely is a major irritant. I say "waking", because until recently I let my 7,1 sleep every night and CCC was set to clone various drives one hour apart during sleep and those clone operations always completed, so the crash/logout must have tripped on wake. While it was random, anyone would see this behavior on a machine like mine fairly quickly. Since I turned off computer sleep, I have only had (3) crashes in the past week (all when waking up my displays).
My "guess" is there is something related to Catalina and the 5700 drivers or NAVI that just are not worked out?

When I worked my way up the Apple Tech Support ladder and mentioned these Forum threads, the response was always the same. "Ignore those forum threads as they are mostly people who complain that post". That is true in many cases, but does not mean they are not experiencing the issue?
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2017
1,962
2,379
I am no Computer Engineer, but just glancing through a lot of these threads on this Forum, it is easy to draw some possible correlations across categories.

  • It seems like several people are experiencing similar issues exclusive to "5700" GPUs (not just on Mac Pros)
  • 1/3 of the people responding to a 7,1 Poll with this card installed reported similar unresolved issues.
  • I see several "Catalina OS" posts that are similar
  • Waking for "sleep" definitely is a major irritant. I say "waking", because until recently I let my 7,1 sleep every night and CCC was set to clone various drives one hour apart during sleep and those clone operations always completed, so the crash/logout must have tripped on wake. While it was random, anyone would see this behavior on a machine like mine fairly quickly. Since I turned off computer sleep, I have only had (3) crashes in the past week (all when waking up my displays).
My "guess" is there is something related to Catalina and the 5700 drivers or NAVI that just are not worked out?

When I worked my way up the Apple Tech Support ladder and mentioned these Forum threads, the resample was always the same. "Ignore those forum threads as they are mostly people who complain that post". That is true in many cases, but does not mean they are not experiencing the issue?
I agree completely. The question is how long should it take to work out the kinks of the 5700? People are having issues with the 5700 XT and the 2020 iMac too. What’s the deal with this GPU?
 

choreo

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2008
910
357
Midland, TX
I agree completely. The question is how long should it take to work out the kinks of the 5700? People are having issues with the 5700 XT and the 2020 iMac too. What’s the deal with this GPU?

One of my fears is that they are possibly focusing all their efforts on Apple Silicon and Big Sur now, when they still have not ironed the kinks out of what they are currently selling. For the past 15 years I am always having to struggle with either Apple or Adobe or both, but this is the first time I ever bought a new Mac and had these kinds of problems and by far the most I have ever spent on a base computer! Very frustrating.
 
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Hotshoe

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2017
81
48
Seattle, WA
"Ignore those forum threads as they are mostly people who complain that post".
Talk about a lack of customer empathy. After all, why should anybody who spends between $6K and $25K on a machine have the right to complain? Or we must all be stupid to think our machines are crashing when they're not.

The question is how long should it take to work out the kinks of the 5700?

GPU drivers are very complex -- definitely not your average device driver! Navi is relatively new and will probably take a few iterations to get all kinks out. That said, Apple has the benefit of largely locked down configuraiton, so this one shouldn't have gotten by them.

@choreo, I am curious, did you ever get a replacement or loaner GPU to try out?
 

daveedjackson

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 6, 2009
401
262
London
Talk about a lack of customer empathy. After all, why should anybody who spends between $6K and $25K on a machine have the right to complain? Or we must all be stupid to think our machines are crashing when they're not.



GPU drivers are very complex -- definitely not your average device driver! Navi is relatively new and will probably take a few iterations to get all kinks out. That said, Apple has the benefit of largely locked down configuraiton, so this one shouldn't have gotten by them.

@choreo, I am curious, did you ever get a replacement or loaner GPU to try out?
Fundamentally Apple started selling the system with the card and separately. Before it was fully tested. False advertising the fact that it said fully supported on Catalina.
Apple will not do a loaner card in anyway. I can’t even get them to replace the card with the same one. Until the issue is verified by either Apple or a service provider. It’s just nuts.
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2017
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Does anyone have a clue what Apple is even doing these days with issues that linger month after month? Are they lacking resources? 😂 *sarcasm*
 

bsbeamer

macrumors 601
Sep 19, 2012
4,313
2,713
Have heard from teams working with developers on video tools that they have basically abandoned the macOS-side platform development for now. Initially was prompted by the ARM switch, but the continued lack of true "roadmap" for GPU support or pathways forward became more of a concern. Really seems like things will be stuck where they are for the coming months, at least for many third party tools.

Many of those teams were focused on improving GPU workflows (not specifically for MP7,1). They are completely unsure if AMD GPUs will even be supported in macOS after the 5XXX series. They say it is not worth their effort to continue to invest in development without having that clarity.

Lack of access to the GPU architecture within macOS has also been a recurring complaint for several macOS versions. The top-level access or SDK was never released, as promised or stated by Apple at one time.
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2017
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Have heard from teams working with developers on video tools that they have basically abandoned the macOS-side platform development for now. Initially was prompted by the ARM switch, but the continued lack of true "roadmap" for GPU support or pathways forward became more of a concern. Really seems like things will be stuck where they are for the coming months, at least for many third party tools.

Many of those teams were focused on improving GPU workflows (not specifically for MP7,1). They are completely unsure if AMD GPUs will even be supported in macOS after the 5XXX series. They say it is not worth their effort to continue to invest in development without having that clarity.

Lack of access to the GPU architecture within macOS has also been a recurring complaint for several macOS versions. The top-level access or SDK was never released, as promised or stated by Apple at one time.
That’s one of my biggest gripes with Apple. Things always feel like they are in a state of flux. There’s seemingly no periods of calm stability.
 
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choreo

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2008
910
357
Midland, TX
From these threads, it's 580X or Vega as a "solution" that many do not want to hear. Longterm that may change.
Agreed. So why does Apple not at least pull the 5700 from its BTO lineup for now? Either we all know something on this Forum that they do not know or they are aware and still pumping out these crippled units?
 
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Theophilos

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2015
171
178
California
I’m sorry for all those experiencing these issues, but I wouldn’t put much hope in a fix. One of the earlier problems with the new Mac Pro involved kernel panics while sleeping. After months of troubleshooting and working with Apple Support, helping them to hone in on the problem, OWC identified the issue as a timing bug on the PCIe bus, which manifests itself when the user has a Sonnet, Highpoint, OWC m.2 sled installed. It’s been months since OWC alerted Apple, and until now, the problem has not been addressed. I hope 5700 owners don’t have the same experience.
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2017
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I’m sorry for all those experiencing these issues, but I wouldn’t put much hope in a fix. One of the earlier problems with the new Mac Pro involved kernel panics while sleeping. After months of troubleshooting and working with Apple Support, helping them to hone in on the problem, OWC identified the issue as a timing bug on the PCIe bus, which manifests itself when the user has a Sonnet, Highpoint, OWC m.2 sled installed. It’s been months since OWC alerted Apple, and until now, the problem has not been addressed. I hope 5700 owners don’t have the same experience.
Very discouraging. It’s awful feeling like issues are being ignored on machines costing more than a lot of people spend on automobiles. Is it wrong to think that Apple should have a dedicated team of engineers who are intimately involved with the MP to assure stability across the board?
 

Hotshoe

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2017
81
48
Seattle, WA
It’s awful feeling like issues are being ignored

The first step to recovery is acceptance. From the sounds of Apple support, sounds like they haven't even accepted there's an issue yet. Although, as indicated earlier in this thread, the support engineer I spoke with acknowledged there's an issue.

Since switching from W5700X to Pro Vega II, my system has been issue free. That said, I'd give pause to purchasing a Mac Pro if I were considering one today based on what I know now.

Indeed, Apple seems to have the attention span of a gnat. One minute they want to show their commitment to pros with the new Mac Pro, then they're dropping Intel for ARM, then they're releasing a new iMac (with Intel), then they're abandoning their pros.
 
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dspdoc

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2017
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The first step to recovery is acceptance. From the sounds of Apple support, sounds like they haven't even accepted there's an issue yet. Although, as indicated earlier in this thread, the support engineer I spoke with acknowledged there's an issue.

Since switching from W5700X to Pro Vega II, my system has been issue free. That said, I'd give pause to purchasing a Mac Pro if I were considering one today based on what I know now.

Indeed, Apple seems to have the attention span of a gnat. One minute they want to show their commitment to pros with the new Mac Pro, then they're dropping Intel for ARM, then they're releasing a new iMac (with Intel), then they're abandoning their pros.
I couldn’t agree more. They seem bipolar lol!
 

eflx

macrumors regular
May 14, 2020
190
207
I'm actively working to return my W5700X - I've noticed some graphical graphical glitches in many places having paid closer attention. While initially I didn't have any sleep issues with this machine, I've since had both of my ethernet ports die completely requiring me to send the system in for repair (ie. motherboard replacement), and that combined with that I've noticed with the W5700X and rendering errors especially with dual XDRs hooked up is just unacceptable.

I shouldn't have to pay an extra $2,000 for a machine just for graphical stability and accuracy. I think the DSC (display stream compression) is a culprit in a lot of cases, and especially driving 2xXDR's I have for sure noticed weird screen flashing and corners on windows not rendering correctly
 
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daveedjackson

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 6, 2009
401
262
London
I failed and decided to wait having had the issues from day one. Because I waited I was no longer after 30 days to simple return or refund. My whole system has to go in to first verify I have an issue. I mean the levels of the support, engineering and customer service disconnect here is laughable. The hoops you have to jump through to actually get things sorted.
 
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eflx

macrumors regular
May 14, 2020
190
207
This is my hypothesis as well -- indicated the same earlier in this thread.

Had a bad feeling when I first bought it, DSC shouldn't be used in any way on a computer where graphical fidelity is important especially with 6K resolution displays.

Check out my 'recovery screens' - this is just one area of massive screen flashing and weird tearing I never really paid attention to. Makes sense now on boot why I get a mixture of half and full screen grey background flashing etc. and other random glitches. I'm sure it's partly drivers, but mostly the design of the graphics hardware itself and as you said Hotshoe, the DSC implementation.


IMG_0076.jpeg
 

Hotshoe

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2017
81
48
Seattle, WA
Yea, I saw several graphics artifacts with the W5700X (two different system). Not Adobe specific. Only Apple can say for sure what the issue is, but sure seems GPU related to me.
 

choreo

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2008
910
357
Midland, TX
I have not experienced any display artifacts (so far) - just freezes/restarts. Then again I am running three QHD Displays.
 

daveedjackson

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 6, 2009
401
262
London
Wonder how you guys are getting on... I had mine booked in with a service provider. Which is on hold due to live client projects. however in anticipation I put the W5700X back in the system. Interestingly there have been no Apple updates software in a while, but when checking, they did a background update on the 10.09 which installed 2 versions of XProtextPlistConfigData and since this, I've not had any panics after the system has been sleeping. Wonder if anyone else has seen these changes?
 
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