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Spectrum

macrumors 68000
Mar 23, 2005
1,799
1,112
Never quite sure
I have a Mac Mini core i7 + LG Ultrafine 5K and the UI scaling + animations are fine! It all depends on the amount of ram you put in (strangely)
Yeah - when I had 8GB RAM, I was able to watch my swaps transiently increasing and then decreasing in chunks of about 1 GB when invoking LaunchPad, with very slow performance in the animation. After adding more RAM, it no longer happens (although it does transiently increase the amount of "wired" memory by about 1GB). It sounds astonishing, but I think with 8GB, the Launchpad animation was causing some RAM to swap to disk to make space in main RAM for the GUI animation.
 

Spectrum

macrumors 68000
Mar 23, 2005
1,799
1,112
Never quite sure
sure, I know that now. But it's still a bit misleading wouldn't you agree? The average consumer would expect the Mac Mini to work fine with a 5K screen out of the box. even with 8GB. That's how Apple advertises it.
Maybe...but Apple happily sold the 2011 Mac mini installed with Lion, and the GUI animations were absolutely abysmal on a 2560x1440 screen. It was unusable. Because of this, I made a huge effort to get Snow Leopard installed on it, and stayed there for years.

So Apple have form for this. At least there is a way to enhance GPU performance in the 2018 model (more ram or external GPU!). And overall, in comparison, I think the 2018 GPU is, relatively speaking, more powerful than the hd3000 they shipped with the 2011 models. It handles 5K and 4K better than the HD3000 handled 2.5K in my opinion.
 

Spectrum

macrumors 68000
Mar 23, 2005
1,799
1,112
Never quite sure
Just to demonstrate the point of how much RAM the GPU subsystem appears to use.
Here is RAM usage and WindowServer when idle with a 5K+4K desktop: <0.8GB for Windowserver.
upload_2019-2-8_16-52-47.png


Now trigger Launchpad animation (with a nested folder): Windowserver hits 2.5GB, with wired RAM jumping ~1.7GB
upload_2019-2-8_16-53-23.png


Now trigger launchpad animation (F4) in quick succession: Windowserver hits >6GB of RAM, with wired RAM peaking 5.5GB over idle.
upload_2019-2-8_16-54-29.png
 

T-Bob

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2013
673
363
Just to demonstrate the point of how much RAM the GPU subsystem appears to use.
Here is RAM usage and WindowServer when idle with a 5K+4K desktop: <0.8GB for Windowserver.
View attachment 820605

Now trigger Launchpad animation (with a nested folder): Windowserver hits 2.5GB, with wired RAM jumping ~1.7GB
View attachment 820606

Now trigger launchpad animation (F4) in quick succession: Windowserver hits >6GB of RAM, with wired RAM peaking 5.5GB over idle.
View attachment 820607

You’re running 5 and 4 simultaneously with igpu? Does it manage to keep up to 60.
 

Spectrum

macrumors 68000
Mar 23, 2005
1,799
1,112
Never quite sure
You’re running 5 and 4 simultaneously with igpu? Does it manage to keep up to 60.
For regular usage, I think so, yes. MacOS animations like expose possibly drop to around 30 fps. With 8GB RAM, launchpad was 1fps. With 32GB it is a little choppy, but OK. Overall, the animations are smoother than was the 2011 mini HD3000 running 2.5k + 2k screens.

Scrolling webpages can be a little choppy. But in this regard, Chrome is much smoother than Safari.

Like any current Mac running hiDPI, rendering PDF content takes ~2x as long to get completely sharp compared to when running at lower (non retina) resolution. This is a CPU dependent task it seems.
 

open0

macrumors member
Dec 29, 2018
41
14
This is BS and you know it. There is literally no reason why an i3 would be less capable then the i5 as they all have the Intel UHD 630. It's all about the memory.
Yes, 16 GB RAM instead of 8 GB to make better perfomance. I stiil stay at 8 GB RAM because of using 4K monitor without any issues.
 

evan201

macrumors newbie
Feb 6, 2019
15
4
Planning on building out a base model mini i7 with aftermarket 32gb RAM and Samsung X5 SSD. Really hoping this will drive my LG 27UK650 4k monitor with 1440 hiDPI without a hiccup. If not I can stick with 1080 hiDPI and set browsing windows to taste. Day to day I'll be running Plex library and doing light tasks, but will also be using Logic Pro X from time to time.
If I run into any issues i'm thinking about investing in a Razer Core X w/ Vega 64 on top of it to get better streaming 4k/60hz out of the monitor. Any thoughts?
 

Ploki

macrumors 601
Jan 21, 2008
4,308
1,558
This is BS and you know it. There is literally no reason why an i3 would be less capable then the i5 as they all have the Intel UHD 630. It's all about the memory.

well... in the i7 it can boost to 1.2GHz, i3 to 1.1GHz and i5 to 1.15GHz
[doublepost=1549973503][/doublepost]
Planning on building out a base model mini i7 with aftermarket 32gb RAM and Samsung X5 SSD. Really hoping this will drive my LG 27UK650 4k monitor with 1440 hiDPI without a hiccup. If not I can stick with 1080 hiDPI and set browsing windows to taste. Day to day I'll be running Plex library and doing light tasks, but will also be using Logic Pro X from time to time.
If I run into any issues i'm thinking about investing in a Razer Core X w/ Vega 64 on top of it to get better streaming 4k/60hz out of the monitor. Any thoughts?

i have the ultrafine 4K and it runs perfectly fine if scaled to 2560*1440, but i keep it native because i prefer the crispiness of the screen at native.

Logic works great, if you don't get the audio T2 issues... but that's unrelated to CPU/GPU performance.
I use Logic Pro X daily professionally but am mostly running on Firewire, but even on builtin output i don't get much issues.
 

T-Bob

macrumors 6502a
Oct 23, 2013
673
363
well... in the i7 it can boost to 1.2GHz, i3 to 1.1GHz and i5 to 1.15GHz
[doublepost=1549973503][/doublepost]

i have the ultrafine 4K and it runs perfectly fine if scaled to 2560*1440, but i keep it native because i prefer the crispiness of the screen at native.

Logic works great, if you don't get the audio T2 issues... but that's unrelated to CPU/GPU performance.
I use Logic Pro X daily professionally but am mostly running on Firewire, but even on builtin output i don't get much issues.

Just curious. Using same monitor at the moment and have it set to default scaling which is: 2048 x 1152. Do you mean that, or actual 4k native?
 

evan201

macrumors newbie
Feb 6, 2019
15
4
i have the ultrafine 4K and it runs perfectly fine if scaled to 2560*1440, but i keep it native because i prefer the crispiness of the screen at native.

Logic works great, if you don't get the audio T2 issues... but that's unrelated to CPU/GPU performance.
I use Logic Pro X daily professionally but am mostly running on Firewire, but even on builtin output i don't get much issues.


Thank you for your response. Looking forward to getting this thing put together.
 

m_LA

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2018
17
5
back on topic....

interesting about the RAM increases allowing the intel graphics to push the 5k

I was one of the people who posted that the 5k was unusable with the intel graphics and got a rx580 egpu. I've since upgraded RAM so when i have some free time i'll unplug the egpu and see how things are.
 

evan201

macrumors newbie
Feb 6, 2019
15
4
back on topic....

interesting about the RAM increases allowing the intel graphics to push the 5k

I was one of the people who posted that the 5k was unusable with the intel graphics and got a rx580 egpu. I've since upgraded RAM so when i have some free time i'll unplug the egpu and see how things are.

I for one would love to hear the results of these tests. I assume everything is running butter smooth with your RX580 eGPU set up with the mini? What RAM level you going up to on the i3?
 
Last edited:

m_LA

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2018
17
5
So i just tried it out, and its maybe a bit better but imo still unusable.

UI is still a bit choppy, not terrible but clearly not 60fps.

the biggest problem is browser scrolling and youtube video. vp9 or whatever codec youtube uses is probably not being efficiently decoded. cpu and intel gpu are pegged in activity monitor and anything above 1080p@30fps does not play back smoothly. 4k@60 is a slideshow. browser scrolling is not smooth and jarring on the eyes.

80% of what i use this machine for is reading/scrolling browser pages and watching youtube, so for me the iGPU just wont cut it.
Its possible that with other monitors, even 4k, the onboard graphics are perfectly fine, but for this monitor i'm sticking with the egpu.

this is with the i3 and 16gb ram upgraded from 8.
 

Hessel89

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2017
591
328
Netherlands
So i just tried it out, and its maybe a bit better but imo still unusable.

UI is still a bit choppy, not terrible but clearly not 60fps.

the biggest problem is browser scrolling and youtube video. vp9 or whatever codec youtube uses is probably not being efficiently decoded. cpu and intel gpu are pegged in activity monitor and anything above 1080p@30fps does not play back smoothly. 4k@60 is a slideshow. browser scrolling is not smooth and jarring on the eyes.

80% of what i use this machine for is reading/scrolling browser pages and watching youtube, so for me the iGPU just wont cut it.
Its possible that with other monitors, even 4k, the onboard graphics are perfectly fine, but for this monitor i'm sticking with the egpu.

this is with the i3 and 16gb ram upgraded from 8.

Then I suggest making use of Apple's 14 day return policy because there's clearly something wrong with your Mac mini. I run both a 4K and a 5K screen and both run just fine on my mini.
 
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gusping

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2012
1,796
1,925
Then I suggest making use of Apple's 14 day return policy because there's clearly something wrong with your Mac mini. I run both a 4K and a 5K screen and both run just fine on my mini.

What scaling do you run on those displays and how much ram do you have?
 

m_LA

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2018
17
5
nah i really like my mini. but i'm just letting anyone who is curious know that you won't get a first-rate experience with the iGPU, even with extra ram. might be usable, but you'll always be on the edge of overloading your weak iGPU, leading to lags and stutters.

i do have one correction to make - youtube 4k@60 does run on Chrome with the iGPU. a few dropped frames but nothing massive. Scrolling seems smoother too, so if this is your browser, you'll be able to get by. EDIT: forgot to mention i used firefox for previous tests

again, me personally i dont use chrome and i want a smooth experience 100% of the time, so im sticking with the egpu.
 

mixart

macrumors member
Dec 2, 2012
70
14
nah i really like my mini. but i'm just letting anyone who is curious know that you won't get a first-rate experience with the iGPU, even with extra ram. might be usable, but you'll always be on the edge of overloading your weak iGPU, leading to lags and stutters.

i do have one correction to make - youtube 4k@60 does run on Chrome with the iGPU. a few dropped frames but nothing massive. Scrolling seems smoother too, so if this is your browser, you'll be able to get by. EDIT: forgot to mention i used firefox for previous tests

again, me personally i dont use chrome and i want a smooth experience 100% of the time, so im sticking with the egpu.

So with the eGPU, everything run smooth on the LG 5K monitor?
 

m_LA

macrumors newbie
Dec 15, 2018
17
5
So with the eGPU, everything run smooth on the LG 5K monitor?

yes always smooth 60fps, with plenty of headroom, which is i think the issue with the iGPU

its like hitching a trailer onto a Honda Civic, it will run ok but when you hit a hill... it will struggle

that said the rx580 is overkill, i'm only running it because its the only egpu with thunderbolt3, and i occasionally use some 3d apps. i used to run this monitor with a docked macbook with radeon 455 (which iirc is below a desktop rx560) and it was also good. both of those are many multiples of performance above the iGPU.
 
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