Proof FCPX 10.4.7 is slower than 10.4.6 and eGPU use worse

The “commenter” is the one whose coming in this thread (don’t know why since he doesn’t have the same issue we have) and telling you and everyone else the problem is with us not the software. Don’t waste your time just ignore him. Like I said this is a real issue, I went back to 10.4 6 and the issue is gone eGPU is fully working and amazing. Talk to Apple and follow up that’s what we’re all doing ( except for you know who)

10.4.7 is definitely slower for me too & something about the eGPU isn't working.

I'm on a 2018 6 core mac mini with an eGPU (Vega56 card) - before the update I could easily edit a 4 track multicam clip all with 160mbps footage, now even with 2 tracks it stutters & keeps dropping frames.

According to activity monitor the eGPU is never used & even with the eGPU selected in system preferences it's the built in Intel graphics doing all the work.

This is consistent to how Apple develops final cut pro and there is nothing new it has been noted in the past on other forums

The macbook pro 16" and any iMac current model can perform perfectly fine in final cut pro once you beef up the system with a decent discrete GPU option and are models for which an eGPU in final cut pro has limited to negative benefit

When it comes to eGPU really is suited to machines like the macbook pro 13 and mini that only have an integrated GPU at least for final cut pro. In those cases the benefits are significant especially as the eGPU can drive an external display and accelerate all applications not just final cut pro. I have both a MBP 13 and a mini and I bought this system exactly for this reason.

I think there is an element of vendors and other 3rd parties wanting to sell the eGPU idea for professional applications however those guys have a gaming background (for which eGPU can change entirely the experience) and don't really understand editing or other pro apps. It must be frustrating for those who bought an eGPU ebay is your friend

The argument that there is no problem, as one of the commenters on here keeps harping about, ( don't know why he's in this group if he sees no problem) is redundant. Im using 4.6 and it works fine, since I downgraded from 4.7/8 If a judiciary recourse is what it takes then we'll need to do that. I just don't see why Apple doesn't give it the same optional feature they have on the 4.6?

Just checking that you're selecting your eGPU in the FCPX preferences. (Final Cut Pro -> Preferences -> Playback -> Render/Share GPU)?

OK so from what I am seeing this has to be something of a problem directly related to FCP X 10.4.7 because I am still running Mojave (10.14.6) on my 2017 4.2 GHz Quad Core Intel Core i7 iMac (32GB RAM) and it's doing the exact same thing that everyone else is having issues with. I cannot get my eGPU to be recognized for rendering use and this is even after switching it over to make my external monitor the primary which is what I run with my eGPU. I have noticed also though that my eGPU ((*) OWC Mercury Helios FX 650 Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure) Isn't specifically listed on the Apple supported article which is quite odd considering it's only the OWC Mercury Helios FX that is listed which they don't actually make? So I am at a loss right now myself,

Can you give me a link to where Apple says that?

You macbook pro will not benefit from an eGPU you have 8 GB of video ram, apple developer guidelines say to prefer the discrete gpu because PCI bandwidth is much higher than thunderbolt so it is likely it does not even call it at all except background rendering when you have the screen on.

Your iMac 2017 depending on graphic card will also have no benefits for the same reason above

It is possible that with Open CL the situation was better and now that final cut pro is re-written for metal is worse but there are plenty of independent tests that show that an average discrete gpu performs better than an eGPU on final cut pro in any release which is what the poster of this thread wrote himself.

Please use feedback to report your problem in as much detail as you can fit.

You get no arguments from me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JErCE1Xtlog

I can get no better than about 5-6 frames per second whether the storyline is rendered or not. They both play about the same. In 10.2 - 10.4.6, after rendering that scene would play just fine. Plus — I have NEVER scene that black rectangle before!!

I've been running into a lot of trouble in some of my Motion projects as well. The interface is bogging down terribly... on unbelievably simple projects (that were butter smooth in 5.4.3).

I don't know where "they" are getting all of these benchmarks for the improvements in Metal I've been seeing, but I think it's a disaster, probably only optimized to pass the standard benchmarks while everything else is suffering. Or maybe you need at least 8 cores. I'm stuck with a 4 core. Or maybe more GPUs are listed as supporting Metal, but they really don't.

I thought I was doing well when I upgraded to Mojave 10.4.6 from High Sierra and was able to install FCPX and Motion - and everything seemed to update okay. Now I'm having to deal with all these slow downs. It's annoying.

I can’t disagree as I don’t run an eGPU. I’ll give you my experience exporting the Bruce X project to H.254 on a 2016 TouchBar MBP 16 GB RAM and 4 GB VRAM. In 10.4.6 the export took 42 seconds. In 10.4.7 the export took 27 seconds. I can only put that down to the update’s performance with Metal.

I don't have an eGPU either, and my tests with the BruceX benchmark agree with yours: 10.14.7 is significantly faster than 10.1.46 (about 52 seconds on 10.14.7 vs about 72 seconds on 10.14.6 on my 2014 MBP with GeForce 750m GPU).

I don't know if the problems Andy and Fox are experiencing are due to specific GPU or mac models, the particular external box, or some particular software combination, as the reports and tests that I can find on the web seem to indicate 10.14.7 to render and share faster than 10.14.6; and both seem to make decent use of the eGPU, even on machines where the built-in is already pretty great, like the iMac Pro.

That's a fascinating test! I think we might have that same configuration somewhere in the office. Do you think you can zip and upload your 10.4.6 libraries with the media somewhere so I can see if I get the same render times?

"10.4.8 FCPX and iMovie are still chronic (unusable) on Catalina 10.15.2, i9 8-core MacBook pro. Truly unbelievably bad performance, like minutes of SBODs for small (few GB) video files, it'd be faster to hand sketch them. "

Obviously there is some issue that is specific to your setup. That is not how most people experience FCP X or iMovie.

You should start a new thread and give more details for us to be able to offer assistance.

Great post, I can't believe Apple have ignored this issue for so long. I'm now pushing for a refund on my (now) useless hardware that I bought from them and the egpu hardware.

My issue is that projects that took 4-5 mins to render in 10.4.6 now take 30 mins in 10.4.7 + on the same hardware, and the same project.

Is the display attached directly to the external GPU box or to the mac mini?