pastrychef's Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (WI-FI AC) build w/ i9-9900K + AMD 6600 XT

[pastrychef]

Thanks for the info! I was indeed a bit scared as well because the 5700 seems quite new so I was afraid it won't work well when using the 2 DP out through the Titan Ridge so I can get 5k on the LG. I'm actually looking for the 5700 and not the 5700XT as it's more than enough for me.

In any case, I guess it's a matter of time that the guys working on WEG fix this if I'm unable to get it working. I also wondered if the 5700 would work with iGPU enabled and set as headless.

Also in your System definitions table, am I correct to asume that you are using iMacPro1,1 with iGPU as headless too?.

IGPU headless = IGPU enabled in BIOS but no monitor connected (the "head" being the monitor).

Yes, I'm using iMacPro1,1. No, my IGPU is disabled in BIOS.

I don't have a 5K monitor to test, but I think it should work...

As far as I know, 5700 and 5700 XT are virtually identical so compatibility should be the same for both.

No, you should not enable IGPU and use it in headless mode if you have a 5700/5700 XT. It currently won't work like that. IGPU needs to be disabled and, therefore, iMacPro1,1 would be best system definition to use.

 

[bluepr0]

IGPU headless = IGPU enabled in BIOS but no monitor connected (the "head" being the monitor).

Yes, I'm using iMacPro1,1. No, my IGPU is disabled in BIOS.

I don't have a 5K monitor to test, but I think it should work...

As far as I know, 5700 and 5700 XT are virtually identical so compatibility should be the same for both.

No, you should not enable IGPU and use it in headless mode if you have a 5700/5700 XT. It currently won't work like that. IGPU needs to be disabled and, therefore, iMacPro1,1 would be best system definition to use.

I tihink this is one thing I’m not understanding then.

You mentioned the iMacPro1,1 has no compromises but if you disable the iGPU, aren’t your losing that additional power aside from the dGPU?

Thanks once again!

 

[pastrychef]

I tihink this is one thing I’m not understanding then.

You mentioned the iMacPro1,1 has no compromises but if you disable the iGPU, aren’t your losing that additional power aside from the dGPU?

Thanks once again!

No, because the video card outperforms the IGPU.

 

[bluepr0]

No, because the video card outperforms the IGPU.

Ah okay! I thought they worked together so it was the processing power from dGPU plus the additional processing power from iGPU

 

[pastrychef]

Ah okay! I thought they worked together so it was the processing power from dGPU plus the additional processing power from iGPU

I could be wrong, but, as far as I know, apps use either/or not both...

 

[bluepr0]

I could be wrong, but, as far as I know, apps use either/or not both...

I think I remembered what was the advantage of having iGPU enabled: QuickSync!. AFAIK this will help with video production and will work together with the dGPU (or I could also be very wrong).

BTW! I've researching the internetz and I've found some interesting stuff:
- It seems there's people using iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS but also got the iGPU enabled. Not sure why, maybe is the Quicksync thing.
- There's also people using 5700XT with SMBIOS iMac19,1 so it seems that it's not only limited to iMacPro1,1. I've actually asked this user to send an screenshot of VideoProc and see what's going on with encoding/decoding and playback of 264 and 265. Will report back if he send it.

 

[pastrychef]

I think I remembered what was the advantage of having iGPU enabled: QuickSync!. AFAIK this will help with video production and will work together with the dGPU (or I could also be very wrong).

BTW! I've researching the internetz and I've found some interesting stuff:
- It seems there's people using iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS but also got the iGPU enabled. Not sure why, maybe is the Quicksync thing.
- There's also people using 5700XT with SMBIOS iMac19,1 so it seems that it's not only limited to iMacPro1,1. I've actually asked this user to send an screenshot of VideoProc and see what's going on with encoding/decoding and playback of 264 and 265. Will report back if he send it.

You can test the difference with and without IGPU.

Real iMacPro1,1s don't have IGPU. I can't imagine it being slower than iMacs that do have IGPU...

I don't know how using iMacPro1,1 with IGPU enabled will make the system behave. I don't know how that would affect DRM.

As far as I know, 5700/5700 XT doesn't work right when IGPU is enabled. It's possible to use iMac19,1 with 5700/5700 XT and IGPU enabled, but it will break Preview and Quick Look. This can be worked around by using NoVpaJpeg.kext, but that disables hardware decoding so, I feel it completely defeats the purpose of having a good GPU.

 

[bluepr0]

Real iMacPro1,1s don't have IGPU. I can't imagine it being slower than iMacs that do have IGPU...

This is actually the case, look at this real-world benchmarks here (start at 3:20)

 

[pastrychef]

This is actually the case, look at this real-world benchmarks here (start at 3:20)

That was true before macOS 10.14.6. 10.14.6 made GPU improvements.

It's one of the reasons why I didn't make the switch to iMacPro1,1 until after 10.14.6.

 

[scottkendall]

I could be wrong, but, as far as I know, apps use either/or not both...

I thought the OS would send different stuff to what ever video card it wanted if there was more than one to help speed up performance. Or maybe that only works if you have two of the same card since they both can equally handle the load. Some apps have an Auto setting does that just mean it is using either or? or does that mean it will pick and choose and load balance if its needs to?