“How is eGPU gaming with a Mac?” or “What does eGPU gaming look like?” are often asked questions. Thanks to one of our members, @gamesonmacbookpro who has been documenting his experience in the past year, we now have some very visual answers.
System specs:
- MacBook Pro 15″ Mid 2014 “MacBookPro11,3”
- 2.5GHz Quad Core (I7-4870HQ) – with Turbo Boost 2.0 (up to 3.7 GHz for this model)
- 16 GB DDR3 1600MHz
- GeForce GT 750M with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 SDRAM dGPU
- Intel Iris Pro 5200 with 128 MB iGPU
- 512GB SSD (Internal) / 500GB Samsung SSD (External)
- Win 10, version 1909
eGPU hardware:
- eGFX Breakaway Box (GPU-350W-TB3Z)
- MSI AMD RX 580 ARMOR 8G OC 8 GB GDDR5
- Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
- StarTech Thunderbolt Cable (1.0 m)
- 24″ Samsung SF4F350 monitor (connected with HDMI cable)
Sonnet Breakaway Box + RX 580 eGPU + Apple TB3 to Thunderbolt adapter + Thunderbolt cable
2014 15″ MacBook Pro + Samsung 24″ FHD monitor
Gameplay Recording setup/process:
- Bandicam software to record gameplays
- Youtube 1080p default settings
First thing you’d notice is his host computer, a mid 2014 15″ MacBook Pro. Yes, the eGPU is running on a Thunderbolt 2 connection. No, it’s not a terrible idea at all when playing through an external monitor. @Gamesonmacbookpro noted that running Bandicam to record gameplay robs the performance by 5~10 fps depending on the game. Overall the eGPU gaming performance is a significant improvement over the dGPU. Check these videos out!
Greedfall
Die Young
Man of Medan
Devil’s Hunt
Sea of Solitude
Palmyra Orphanage
The Surge 2
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
Intruders: Hide and Seek
CodeVein
Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition
Rain of Reflections
Dual Blade: Battle of The Female Ninja
Sniper Elite 3: Afrika
The Technomancer
GRID
Trine 4 : The Nightmare Prince
Rage 2 : Rise of the Ghosts | Cult Of The Death God : Nicholas Raine’s uniform and gun!
The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds : Sneak and Sniper/Range build : Edgewater Quests – Part 1
Terminator: Resistance
Borderlands 3
Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order
This Land Is My Land
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
Heavy Rain
Kings of Lorn: The Fall of Ebris
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This is such a good reference/resource. Cheers for sharing chaps.
Very cool. Thanks for this. 👍
Isn’t there any similar resource on Mac OS games running on Macs with eGPU ? Is Mac gaming that far off the Windows world to really have to go to Bootcamp for any gaming at all ?
I know http://www.macgamerhq.com but I have not been able to compare resolutions and availability of titles between Mac and Windows. I do not need hundreds of titles, only enough choice to find a couple of games I like and have my new eGPU get some use. Does Steam provide enough of those ?
J
If there are the tweaks on software side listed , it will be a better reference. I am using a similar machine