Macbook Pro With Radeon GPU Performance

christopher_graham586

I know an Nvidia GPU is recommended but I use Macbooks for almost all my work.   I have a Windows laptop with Nvidia that performs well for OnShape but for travel I'd rather not have to bring the Macbook Pro and the Windows laptop.   A Macbook Pro with only the Intel GPU is too slow. 

Does one of the 2018 Macbooks with a Radeon give a significant performance boost over Intel only?

If someone has a Radeon based Macbook Pro could you please report the results of the OnShape performance test, preferably with Chrome?

Thanks.

awk

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro - our Compatibility Check page (https://cad.onshape.com/check) reports 27.8 million triangles per second and 232.5 million lines per second when using the Radeon GPU.

awk

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro - our Compatibility Check page (https://cad.onshape.com/check) reports 27.8 million triangles per second and 232.5 million lines per second when using the Radeon GPU.

brian_brady

andrew_kimpton said:

I have a 2018 MacBook Pro - our Compatibility Check page (https://cad.onshape.com/check) reports 27.8 million triangles per second and 232.5 million lines per second when using the Radeon GPU.

Impressive lines per second when compared to my 2014 MacBook Air with lowly Intel HD 5000 graphics (only 43.5M). However, my triangles per second is head and shoulders better at 111.5 million. Which measure is more important for overall performance, triangles or lines per second?

christopher_graham586

That 27.8 triangles per second is surprisingly low, and disappointing.   I not an expert but think triangles per second is just as important as lines per second.

I get this on my 2015 15 inch Macbook Pro with GL renderer Intel Iris Pro OpenGL Engine:

Measured triangles per second 85.9 million

Measured lines per second 25.2 million

OnShape is painfully slow at times on it vs my low end Acer Gaming laptop with NVidia GPU.   I was hoping a newer faster Mac with Radeon would at least be somewhat better than my 2015 Mac.

There is also a report https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/44178#Comment_44178 xxx  on a 2014 Macbook Air:
Intel HD Graphics 5000 OpenGL Engine:

Measured triangles per second   115.9 million

Measured lines per second   46.7 million

Strange how the new Mac with Radeon GPU is worse than a 2014 Macbook Air.

Evan

The 27.8 measurement is suspiciously low.  We suspect there is either an issue with the measurement in this case, or there is a bad interaction with our triangle shaders and that particular hardware.  We will investigate this further to track down the cause.

christopher_graham586

It would be great to have an official performance measurement on a Radeon based Macbook as there are probably quite a few Mac users who would prefer not to have to use a Windows computer for OnShape.  I'd also rather not have to use virtualized Windows on a Mac.  

I'm leaving on a trip in a couple of weeks, during which I will need to do some design with OnShape and would prefer to take only one computer..  I'd buy a new Mac if I thought it would give acceptable performance.  The other option is an NVidia eGPU but I would have to buy a Mac with USB C, plus the eGPU, and it's not very convenient.