Better performance with LG 5K and Blackmagic egpu?

[fpenta]

Hey guys,

I’m using the Ultrafine 5K display with a maxed out 15" MacBook Pro 2016 and I have never been happy with the performance in clamshell mode.
Once connected, the fans start spinning like crazy and performance is reduced a lot especially when running Lightroom.
It is impossible to edit the raw files of a Nikon D850, I need to scale down the resolution of the monitor to run it smoothly. It looks to me that the dedicated card of the Macbook is not powerful enough to drive the huge resolution of the 5k display.
Do you think using the egpu Blackmagic will make everything run quiter and better just like without having it connected?

Thanks in advance

 

[Eason85]

imo that's throwing good money after bad.

 

[smirking]

Part of the problem is that you're running Lightroom.

 

[fpenta]

Part of the problem is that you're running Lightroom.

True, Lightroom is so badly optimized! But the the drop in performance is noticeable even not running LR.
With LR it reaches the apex

imo that's throwing good money after bad.

I actually love the monitor, it looks really amazing! If only I could use it tho..

 

[smirking]

True, Lightroom is so badly optimized! But the the drop in performance is noticeable even not running LR.
With LR it reaches the apex

I'm a bit curious if the BlackMagic eGPU makes a difference or not too. I edit my photos using Capture One Pro 11. When I was using Capture One Pro on my 2012 Unibody MBP on a 30" Apple Cinema Display, it was fast! It was faster than Aperture. I'm not editing d850 RAW files, but the d750 RAW files I'm handling ain't nothing to sneeze at either.

When I upgraded to a 2016 MBP and an LG 5K, it was unbearably slow. After some updates to Capture One Pro, the speed got a lot better, but nothing like I had when I was running it on an Apple Cinema Display 30". If the Blackmagic eGPU gives me significantly boosted performance to edit photos so I can save time, I'm leaning toward a purchase.

 

[pubmsu]

Hey guys,

I’m using the Ultrafine 5K display with a maxed out 15" MacBook Pro 2016 and I have never been happy with the performance in clamshell mode.
Once connected, the fans start spinning like crazy and performance is reduced a lot especially when running Lightroom.
It is impossible to edit the raw files of a Nikon D850, I need to scale down the resolution of the monitor to run it smoothly. It looks to me that the dedicated card of the Macbook is not powerful enough to drive the huge resolution of the 5k display.
Do you think using the egpu Blackmagic will make everything run quiter and better just like without having it connected?

Thanks in advance

Which dGPU do you have?

 

[fpenta]

Which dGPU do you have?

Radeon 460.

 

[AdamA9]

I only have a 4k monitor, but I run it through the Blackmagic eGPU. I get no fan noise from my MacBook when gaming, for example, and everything seems relatively smooth. A few things I have noticed, though.

• Having my Bluetooth dongle plugged into the eGPU causes some issues when the eGPU is processing heavy work. The mouse cursor stutters and is hard to control. I'm guessing it doesn't handle multi-tasking very well
• I had to set the main display as my 4k monitor to get the best out of it via the eGPU
• I found that putting the monitor into cinema mode made it smoother than whatever it was before. Gaming in game mode really is bad.

As above, I don't know if you're throwing good money at bad, though, and don't know if anything above applies to the 5k.

 

[pubmsu]

I don't run Lightroom but my 2016 15-inch with 455 dGPU flies with the 5K under heavy load - many many desktops and windows.

 

[fpenta]

So, I picked up a Black Magic GPU at the Apple Store and I can say that there is no noticeable difference with attached the LG Ultrafine 5K.
Nevertheless I noticed a HUGE performance improvement upgrading to High Sierra (I was still running Sierra)! The fans are quiter in idle and the overall performance is much improved! Happy to have solved the problem and saved €700.

 

[pubmsu]

So, I picked up a Black Magic GPU at the Apple Store and I can say that there is no noticeable difference with attached the LG Ultrafine 5K.
Nevertheless I noticed a HUGE performance improvement upgrading to High Sierra (I was still running Sierra)! The fans are quiter in idle and the overall performance is much improved! Happy to have solved the problem and saved €700.

Excellent!

 

[kodos]

I use Lightroom "Classic" because I am a Adobe CC customer (I have several PCs and it is nice to be able to move back and forth). What do folks recommend these days for RAW file editing on a Mac? I am back on a Mac after years away. I left shortly after Apple canned Aperture (which I LOVED).

 

[smirking]

I use Lightroom "Classic" because I am a Adobe CC customer (I have several PCs and it is nice to be able to move back and forth). What do folks recommend these days for RAW file editing on a Mac? I am back on a Mac after years away. I left shortly after Apple canned Aperture (which I LOVED).

I loved Aperture too. I hung onto Aperture for a long time after it was discontinued. I finally switched a couple of years ago. I evaluated about a dozen replacements before settling in on Capture One Pro which had a combination of the features that I wanted with an interface that was closest to matching the ease of use in Aperture.

There's actually one program whose interface is even closer to being like Aperture, but it's one to avoid because the RAW processing is awful. Avoid Corel Aftershot Pro. It'll turn a da Vinci into a Jackson Pollack when you hit the export button. It's THAT bad and it also crashes a lot.