I’ve just bought new MacBook Pro with Radeon Pro 560 4Gb. In cycle I’ve activated the GPU mode and I’ve switched the viewport in render mode and I noticed that all the system (other open applications) slow down a lot. I was on rush and I didn’t have time to investigate more in deep, but anyone else did have the same issue?
Moreover I read on the new feature list in the “Faster OpenCL” section this:
Note to macOS users: AMD is currently working on the drivers, OpenCL rendering should work once they are updated.
Can someone explain me what does it mean? And if this as anything to do with the issue above?
The slowdown is normal, while Cycles is rendering your GPU can not handle updating the display. There’s a tradeoff between faster rendering and smoother viewports. Cycles isn’t configurable here. It’s also common that people have multiple GPUs with one dedicated for display.
Can someone explain me what does it mean?
OpenCL has always been unreliable on AMD GPUs until drivers improved recently. Apple is still behind in that regard. If you have issues here, it’s probably not Blender’s fault and you need to wait for driver updates.
Thank you for the answer BeerBaron.
So since Apple/AMD don’t release a new openCL driver, OpenCL rendering it won’t work properly, right?
At work I have a MacPro (not the new one) with a GeForce GTX 1080 with 4Gb, I know that it’s a really good card for Blender, and it’s working really good, fast and smooth. Instead, as I said before, my personal computer it’s a new MacBook Pro just bought with Radeon Pro 560 4Gb, it works good but not perfect as the work’s MacPro. I know that I’m comparing a fixed card with a mobile card and GeForce with AMD and the first one it has always been better with Blender. But it is possible this huge difference between them?
I know that some days I have to build a PC for Blender with good Graphic card if I want to get into big project, but since I’m still a beginner/intermediate in 3D I would like to get the best out of my MacBook Pro.
So since Apple/AMD don’t release a new openCL driver, OpenCL rendering it won’t work properly, right?
I don’t know the current status, both the Cycles code and the drivers are changing on a regular basis. Cycles on AMD GPUs is a very long story without a happy ending. My impression from reading the other threads on AMD hardware is that it is working rather well on Windows by now, but I haven’t read anything from Mac users lately. Just try it. If there’s a problem, chances are you’ll have to try again later.
Another complication is that rendering kernels are compiled depending on the features you need, so using certain features may cause compilation to fail while in other cases it might pass. I’m not aware of this being documented extensively anywhere (ideally it should work in all cases).
Let me also fit in a grievance: Apple’s support for graphics/compute APIs (OpenCL/OpenGL) has been terrible for many years now, just like their misguided decision to exclusively ship AMD hardware with their own drivers.
NVIDIA hardware is actually supported fairly well (by NVIDIA), but (aside from old Mac Pros) the only way to use it is somewhat costly external PCIe adapters. That may or may not be an option for you.
At work I have a MacPro (not the new one) with a GeForce GTX 1080 with 4Gb
I’ve never heard of such a model, 1080s are supposed to have 8GB. Maybe it’s a 980?
Yes, sorry, you are right it’s GeForce GTX 970 4Gb.
Today (at the office), I’ve tried at the same time the BMW scene on a new MacPro with dual AMD FirePro D300 2Gb (colleague’s workstation) and my workstation (MacPro with a GeForce GTX 970 with 4Gb) and the difference it’s huge!! And I noticed the new MacPro has the same issue I described above that happen on my MacBook Pro:
In cycle I’ve activated the GPU mode and I’ve switched the viewport in render mode and I noticed that all the system (other open applications) slow down a lot.
Damn Apple! It means that some days I have to build a linux-box workstation with Blender!
BeerBaron, if you don’t mind, can I ask you what PC/Mac configuration do you have and what kind of level of knowledge do you have in Blender?
