Hi guys,
Wanting some advice on the eGPU. Pretty new to this as I just purchased a monitor which probably needs eGPU to work with my Mac.
Just bought a 49" Philips monitor
With a Mac Mini 2020 on an i7 processor and 10GB Ethernet. Also replacing the 8Gb ram with 64GB setup.
I know Apple has its own recommended BlackMagic eGPU which is relatively expensive and limited.
Wanted to get thoughts and advice on the BlackMagic eGPU vs other recommendations.
Thanks.
Thanks @paw, I think you had me at "likely quieter than most GPU". This probably important. Not entirely sure if I will need eGPU, I will be running multiple applications on a 49" screen but nothing on the likes of video editing.
But I guess to get the full 5K resolution I would need the eGPU to give me the resolution that I desire. I currently have a 5k 27" iMac and needs an additional monitor hence why the upgrade to a single 49inch instead.
I was curious and was having a look and came across this: The best monitors for Mac mini. The first model in the list appears to be a 5k monitor, that probably means it's okay. :)
Also, Apple does mention that the 2018 Mac mini can support these:
Mac mini (2018) supports one HDMI display with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 at 60Hz, PLUS one of the following configurations:
- One 5K display with a resolution of 5120 x 2880 at 60Hz
- Two single-stream transport (SST) 4K displays with resolutions of 4096 x 2304 at 60Hz
- One multi-stream transport (MST) 4K display with a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2304 at 60Hz
If I'm not mistaken it probably means that you're okay! :)
The Phillips monitor states
Maximum resolution 5120 x 1440 @ 70 Hz
Would the 70Hz be a problem if Mac Config sugges @60Hz?
@mr chow: That I would have absolutely no idea about. :( Having said that, it is possible to change the refresh rate of an external display (for example, I have the option to change my 60 Hz external display to 50 Hz); there may be other caveats that I'm not aware of, and I think that's actually very good reason to give Apple a call —- they'll probably be able to give you an answer immediately!
I saw some of the comments that others have made about cost and I tend to agree that the BlackMagic is overpriced, and I think it's definitely worthwhile spending a little bit of time on researching. Setting an AMD eGPU up should be relatively straightforward, but do keep in mind, though, that good enclosures are not cheap and will set you back at least a couple of hundreds; so realistically with a good and quieter RX 580 you will probably already be spending $600–700 at the very least.
If you need to get a quick answer because of EOFY and haven't posted on egpu.io already, it's probably a good idea to do it today/this weekend!
As with before, I don't have experience beyond setting up the one I had a few years ago, so please take it with a grain of salt. In any case, good luck!
Wow, that Apple product is crap. A GPU worse that a $250 RX 570, for 5 times the price. Horrible price/performance.
OP you will be hard pressed to get decent 5K performance from that eGPU.
You might be better off buy a eGPU chassis, and slotting your own one in there.
Yeah thats what my concern is…
But then I have to live with to much noise as well as hacking a little bit with the eGPU to get working seamlessly with a Mac Mini.
I might give it a go first Mac Mini direct with the monitor and see if its up to expectations otherwise decision on investment i go.
I have a razer core x for sale, however, I am in Perth. where are you located?
Sydney but I probably have to go with the Black Magic unit if I want quite peace plus tax invoice return for EOFY. Thanks for the good intensions though.
Do you still have the Core X for sale?
ah sorry mate, it's sold a few days back on gumtree. can hardly realize there was an ozbargain notification
hi mate i've got a akitio node with an upgraded PSU for sale now. let me know if you're interested!
I can't PM you. If you can PM me that'd be great.
Get a razer core X chroma, it also has 4 USB ports and provides 100w power in case you ever need to connect a mbp in the future. Get a sapphire pulse Rx 5500 xt card to go in it if you just need to drive the displays and don't need the absolute best GPU performance. This card is silent (fans off) at low usage and still relatively quiet under load, and still pretty fast. The razer core X is not very loud but it is audible. But you can get a longer tb3 cable and stick it under the desk. You can also replace the fans inside it with quieter noctua fans easily.
The Blackmagic is more expensive for less performance and only provides 87w power which is not enough for current 16 inch MBP. It's also likely not even readily available. Last I checked the wait time on the Apple store was 8 or 12 weeks.
Just doing the research. Probably will go with the RX5700.
Whats the thought on Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box with 650W vs razer core X chroma?
I think the sonnet is maybe a bit quieter (but you can swap fans anyway in the core X) but does not provide 100w power or have USB ports and does not fit some of the larger cards and is not as nice to look at or work with. The razer chassis is really nice and easy. Flip the handle and slide out the inner frame. Sonnet has a bunch of screws and case sides to align etc. Razer is top rated on eGPU.io. but if you'll never use it with a laptop and so have no need for 100w charging or USB ports and don't care about ever opening it up etc. And your chosen card fits, the sonnet may be slightly quieter stock but otherwise I think no benefit and several potential downsides. You never know you might want to use it with a laptop in a few years time too.
FYI I use the chroma and sapphire Rx 5500 xt card with a 16 inch MacBook Pro for reduced thermal generation and GPU power consumption inside the laptop allowing an extra 500mhz sustained CPU performance for non GPU workloads and much quieter MacBook Pro fans. The mbp fans spin up like crazy with any external display directly attached because the internal GPU draws min 18w power at idle to drive an external display.
This guy's YouTube channel has lots of good eGPU videos. Like this one. Compare how fiddly to open the sonnet box up vs razer. https://youtu.be/JQA7Rad7gik
Leaning towards Razor x Chroma case now. Thanks for your input @mrmachine.
Just keep in mind there are ongoing issues with Mac minis, MacOS Catalina and eGPUs.
I’ve had issue since February and escalated them to support engineers at Apple and to the eGPU manufacturer. I was hoping the last Catalina update (10.15.5) would solve many of the issues yet they remain.
Don’t get me wrong – the mini is a worthy replacement to my old Mac Pro, and an eGPU is a good idea – it’s just the execution that is lacking.
What issues?
What Setup do you have to eGPU?
Issues:
Like most Mac mini users with an eGPU there are boot issue (blank screens); login issues (no login window) etc. Have a look on MacRumors and egpu.io forums for more info. There are various kludges to get around most issues. My problem is the GPU fans going off at a bazillion kilometres an hour at random times. Putting the mini to sleep usually 'fixes' it but, if not, a full restart. The card/enclosure is NOT overheating.
Setup:
Mac mini 2018
3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7
OWC Mercury Helios FX650 eGPU
Card: Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Hope this helps…
Maximum resolution
5120 x 1440 @ 70 Hz*
There's no reason for an eGPU to support that monitor with the Mac Mini simply for work. You're not talking about video games or video editor rendering, so I see no reason that you would need the eGPU.
You can save the money and use it to get some nice HiFi speakers.
yeah or a really nice chair like a Herman Millar
I've only had a bit of experience with eGPU a couple of years ago, please take my opinions with a grain of salt.
If you don't need to do anything else that actually requires a GPU, perhaps have a look at this to see if you really need a eGPU first: Connect multiple displays to your Mac mini (2018).
I haven't used the BlackMagic before, but I assume that it will "just work" and it's likely quieter than most GPU enclosures. I encourage you to research into how loud an eGPU will likely be for your use case, because noise will likely be a huge issue with eGPUs with a small form factor if you do intend to do graphics-intensive things on your Mac mini. I have hacked my Thunderbolt 2 MacBook to use an eGPU with a mini-ITX GTX 1070 a couple of years ago, it was obscenely loud under load.
With larger GPU enclosures you are not restricted to mini-ITX cards, which potentially means better cooling and therefore comparative less noise. However, they are, well, large in my opinion, and may not be suitable both space-wise and aesthetics-wise.
The last time I checked macOS doesn't support Nvidia GPUs so there will be a bit of hacking if you are going to use of of those (potentially very frustrating). I'm not sure if there are also restrictions on AMD GPUs, but from memory setting those up are mostly relatively straightforward.]
You may have come across egpu.io already, just thought I'd mention that in case you haven't —- it's a nice community dedicated to information about eGPUs and there is a huge focus on getting Macs to work with eGPUs, you will likely find much better help there, too.
I hope that helps!
Edit: added link to egpu.io