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October 3, 2020 11:21 am
System spec:
- 2017 27" iMac 5K
- 3.6GHz Quad-Core i7 7700
- 48GB DDR4 2666MHz
- AMD RP 570 4GB dGPU
- macOS Catalina 10.15.7
- Windows 10 Pro 2004 build 19041.508
eGPU hardware:
- Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G
- Razer Core X
- Belkin Active 2m TB3 Cable
- External 4K 60Hz LG27UL650-W
Installation steps:
macOS 10.15.7
- Just plug and play after boot
Windows
- Update to Windows 10 v2004
- Install Adrenaline August 2020 Blue Enterprise Edition Driver from bootcampdrivers.com following their instructions (DDU in safe mode first then install after reboot)
- Shut down
- Connect TB 3 cable to iMac and power on eGPU (I'm using DP from eGPU to external monitor)
- Power on iMac (I can only get eGPU working by cold booting in Windows and I set bootcamp as my default startup disk)
- Enjoy!
Benchmarks:
- I am not able to get full performance on macOS, tried using dummy hdmi/DP but they don't seem to help (58,303 for Metal and 56,347 for Open CL on Geekbench 5)
- On Windows I am able to get the most out of it (70,405 for Open CL and 39,551 for Vulkan on Geekbench 5)
- Unigine Superposition Benchmark 1080p medium runs between 15-35fps depending on scenes
- Most games that I play run at 2K resolution 60fps High settings (eg. Forza Horizon 4, GTA V, Civilisation VI)
- MS Flight Sim runs at 2k resolution medium settings 30fps
- Export time for large photoshop files were improved slightly but this doesn't bother me much anyway
Comments:
- I was lucky that I didn't have to tinker much to get it working in bootcamp but I still can't figure out how to fully utilise the performance on macOS
- There was a problem with MS Flight Sim initially as the game refuse to run on eGPU, I tried disabling dGPU, selecting high performance GPU through system settings but they didn't work still. In the end I changed the display option to only display on my external monitor (yes, by disabling my 5k display) then the game runs perfectly. I was able to reenable my iMac display after loading up the game and use it as my second monitor.
- Noise level is bearable as I sit my eGPU under the desk and I use headphones while gaming/working
- Very happy with the performance on Windows but not so much on mac (hopefully Apple sort out their driver/whatever issue with eGPU soon)
2017 27" iMac 5K (RP570) [7th,4C] + RX 5700 XT @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Razer Core X) + macOS 10.15.7 & Win10 2004 [build link]