Hey all,
I've got a 13" 2019 base Macbook Pro and an LG Ultrafine 5K display (the original one, not the recent refresh). The Macbook is really struggling to power the 5K display, and gets insanely hot after 3-4 minutes of just being connected to it. I understand the Ultrafine 5K requires a Thunderbolt-3 connection in order to push all of its ~14 million pixels, and I know the Blackmagic eGPUs have this. However, they're also disgustingly overpriced for the components ($700 for a Radeon 580 in 2019?). All of the threads I've been able to find on the subject are from 2018. Have there been any cards/enclosures released in 2019 that also have TB3 output? If not, would a Blackmagic eGPU do the trick in driving the display and sparing the laptop from this heat? I'm unsure if Mac OS itself pulls from an eGPU, or if it's an application-to-application basis.
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
.No other solutions yet. If you don't have a Blackmagic eGPU then you need a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card.
https://egpu.io/forums/builds/late-2018-mac-mini-wx-910032gbps-tb3-mantiz-venus-thunderbolt-3-monitor-output-macos-10-14-1-itsage/
The Blackmagic might help with the heat. I don't know for sure. In the 2019 13" MacBook Pro, Both the internal display and any display connected to a Thunderbolt port of the MBP are powered by the iGPU. Connecting an LG 5K display tripples the number of displays (from one to three). I don't know how much that increases heat. There's also the heat of the Thunderbolt controller converting DisplayPort signals to Thunderbolt signals. The Blackmagic eGPU should reduce the heat from both of those sources but I don't know by how much.
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
I'm running the new LG UltraFine 5K off a Razer Core X with a Radeon VII and a Mac mini 2018.
Connecting the display to the eGPU is a Moshi USB-C to DisplayPort Cable
https://www.moshi.com/en/product/usb-c-to-displayport-cable-5k/white
It works fine (puts out 5k), but I'm not getting the full benefit of the display. Speakers and camera is not working.
Mac Mini (2018), Razer Core X, Radeon VII, LG UltraFine 5K (2 gen)
@palad20 Good to hear the Moshi cable can power the new LG 5K UltraFine from the eGPU DisplayPort connection.
Â
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2020 13" MacBook Pro [10th,4C,G] + RX 6700 XT @ 32Gbps-TB3 (CM MasterCase EG200) + Win10 1903 [build link]
I wish I had the second gen... le sigh. Good to hear it's power able by the Mooshi cable, V1 defo isn't (have tried).
2017 13" MacBook Pro Touch Bar
GTX1060 + AKiTiO Thunder3 + Win10
GTX1070 + Sonnet Breakaway Box + Win10
GTX1070 + Razer Core V1 + Win10
Vega 56 + Razer Core V1 + macOS + Win10
Vega 56 + Mantiz Venus + macOS + W10
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LG 5K Ultrafine flickering issue fix
2018 Mac Mini [8th,6C,B] + RX 580 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (AKiTiO Node Lite) + Win10 20H2 [build link]
Can you use SwitchResX to verify that the output timing is 900+ MHz? macOS doesn't actually tell the user what the output signal is anywhere. It's possible that you have a 5K frame buffer but are only outputting a 4K signal (533 MHz).
Also, because DisplayPort 1.4 has only 75% the bandwidth of dual DisplayPort 1.2 (what Thunderbolt connection to LG 5K displays uses), the max color depth is reduced from 10 bpc to 8 bpc.
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
If the Moshi cable works, then maybe the Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable can enable USB functions of the display? The description of the cable says DisplayPort 1.2, but we haven't proven yet that the LG UltraFine 5K gen 2 supports 5K over DisplayPort 1.4, and DisplayPort 1.4 is only 50% faster than DisplayPort 1.2 so the cable might be able to transmit a DisplayPort 1.4 signal. The cable has worked with the LG UltraFine 4K display.
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
You're right. I´m getting the following in SwitchResX
Also:
Mac Mini (2018), Razer Core X, Radeon VII, LG UltraFine 5K (2 gen)
I think you're looking at the EDID of the display. Can you post it here? I would like to see if there's any other useful info in there. 522.61 MHz matches CVT-RB v2 timing for 4K.
To see the timing info for the current resolution, double-click the current resolution in the Current Resolutions tab in SwitchResX.
I wonder if you can create a 5K resolution with lower refresh rate such as 30 Hz? SwitchResX lets you create custom timings and scales. Use CVT-RB or CVT-RB v2 timing to create a 5120x2880 30Hz resolution.
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
EDID report generated by SwitchResX Version 4.9.0  for display LG UltraFineÂ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MAIN EDID BLOCK ----------------------------------------------------------------------ÂEDID Version........1.4Manufacturer........GSM (1E6D)Product ID..........23412 (5B74)Serial Number.......ÂManufactured........Week 6 of year 2019Max H Size..........60 cmMax V Size..........34 cmGamma...............2.20ÂDisplay Supported Features:---------------------------Power Management: StandbyÂÂDisplay type:-------------RGB 4:4:4 Color Encoding FormatDisplay is non continuous frequencyDefault color space is not sRGB standardÂÂInput signal & sync:--------------------Digital Input10 Bits per Primary ColorDisplayPort interfaceÂÂColor info:-----------Red x = 0.680  Green x = 0.265  Blue x = 0.150  White x = 0.312Red y = 0.320  Green y = 0.690  Blue y = 0.060  White y = 0.329ÂEstablished Timings:--------------------640 × 480  @ 60HzÂManufacturer Reserved Timings:------------------------------ÂStandard Timing Identification:-------------------------------ÂMonitor Description blocks:---------------------------Descriptor #0 - Timing definition:Mode = 3840 × 2160 @ 59.999HzPixel Clock............. 522.61 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 3840 pixels 2160 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  1 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  40 pixels  53 linesBlanking................  80 pixels  62 linesTotal................... 3920 pixels 2222 linesScan Rate............... 133.319 kHz 59.999 HzÂImage Size..............  600 mm 340 mmBorder..................   0 pixels  0 linesÂSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂDescriptor #1 - Timing definition:Mode = 2560 × 1440 @ 60.000HzPixel Clock............. 234.59 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 2560 pixels 1440 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  1 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  40 pixels  32 linesBlanking................  80 pixels  41 linesTotal................... 2640 pixels 1481 linesScan Rate...............  88.860 kHz 60.000 HzÂImage Size..............  600 mm 340 mmBorder..................   0 pixels  0 linesÂSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂDescriptor #2 - Serial number:ÂÂDescriptor #3 - Monitor name:LG UltraFineÂÂ----------------------------------------------------------------- EXTENSION EDID BLOCK  1 --------------------------------------------------------------------ÂDID-EXT: Display ID Extension:------------------------------(only partly interpreted)DisplayID version........1.2ÂÂÂDisplayID Block Type = Detailed Timing Block type 1:Detailed Timing #1 in BlockMode = 3840 × 2160 @ 59.999HzPixel Clock............. 522.61 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 3840 pixels 2160 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  1 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  40 pixels  53 linesBlanking................  80 pixels  62 linesTotal................... 3920 pixels 2222 linesScan Rate............... 133.319 kHz 59.999 HzÂIs default ModeSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂDetailed Timing #2 in BlockMode = 3200 × 1800 @ 59.999HzPixel Clock............. 364.47 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 3200 pixels 1800 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  1 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  40 pixels  43 linesBlanking................  80 pixels  52 linesTotal................... 3280 pixels 1852 linesScan Rate............... 111.119 kHz 59.999 HzÂIs non-default ModeSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ----------------------------------------------------------------- EXTENSION EDID BLOCK  2 --------------------------------------------------------------------ÂDID-EXT: Display ID Extension:------------------------------(only partly interpreted)DisplayID version........1.2ÂÂDisplayID Block Type = Detailed Timing Block type 1:Detailed Timing #1 in BlockMode = 2560 × 2880 @ 59.996HzPixel Clock............. 483.37 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 2560 pixels 2880 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  1 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  120 pixels  73 linesBlanking................  160 pixels  82 linesTotal................... 2720 pixels 2962 linesScan Rate............... 177.710 kHz 59.996 HzÂIs non-default ModeSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂ
5210x2280 at 30 hzÂ----------------------------------------------------------------- EXTENSION EDID BLOCK  3 --------------------------------------------------------------------ÂDID-EXT: Display ID Extension:------------------------------(only partly interpreted)DisplayID version........1.1ÂDisplayID Block Type = Detailed Timing Block type 1:Detailed Timing #1 in BlockMode = 5120 × 2880 @ 30.000HzPixel Clock............. 455.68 MHz Non-Interlaced            Horizontal VerticalActive.................. 5120 pixels 2880 linesFront Porch.............   8 pixels  27 linesSync Width..............  32 pixels  8 linesBack Porch..............  40 pixels  6 linesBlanking................  80 pixels  41 linesTotal................... 5200 pixels 2921 linesScan Rate...............  87.631 kHz 30.000 HzÂIs non-default ModeSync: Digital separate with* Negative vertical polarity* Positive horizontal polarityÂDisplayID Block Type = ASCII String:SwitchResXÂ
Mac Mini (2018), Razer Core X, Radeon VII, LG UltraFine 5K (2 gen)