System specs
-MacBook Pro 15 inch 2018, i7-8850 6-core, 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD
-iGpu Intel UHD Graphics 630
-dGpu AMD Radeon Pro 560X
-External Monitor Samsung 2560x1440
-Mac OSX 10.13.6
-Windows 10 Build 1803 Bootcamp
eGPU hardware
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX Vega 56
Hardware pictures
It looks great in the Asus XG Station Pro. Perfect in size.
Installation steps
MacOSX:
This is not even remotely funny. It's the way it should always be. Perfectly supported, plug'n'play, stable, neat. There is no need to do anything. It just works.
Windows:
Actually, this is quite easy, too, unless you care that your internal display won't work. It looks like there is nothing we can do to make it work.
Step-by-step:
Just boot, plug-in egpu, internal monitor goes black, reboot blindly => external monitor will work fine with your new Radeon eGPU.
Both gpus work fine, what doesn't work, is your internal display. A Perhaps interesting fact is that AIDA64 calles both gpus "Vega", even though one is not a Vega.
Benchmarks
-Coming Soon-
Comments
The first impression is great. Good quality, great looking and very, very silent. I haven't tested heavy load yet. For once you don't have to hack, time-your-hotplug, install driver, uninstall driver, disable one display, you name it.
-Coming more soon-
can I use amd rx 570, node pro in Mac mini 2012?? pls give me suggestions.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
One note: I have done a lot of builds already, with different MacBooks, different enclosures, different TBs and different gpus. I never had those dreaded Error 12, "allocated memory problems", "PCI Bus enabling/disabling" or a persistent Error 43. Before I have bought the eGPU, the reports were very scary but it never happened. So there is no need to be afraid.. Generally, it works!
But there are some rules that won't bent for nobody:
1) the internal display of MBP with AMD dGPU won't work under Bootcamp with an AMD eGPU.
2) you have to hack the system in order to get an nVidia eGPU running under MacOSX.
Another thing I got to know with the Asus XG Station Pro. While being all in all a fantastic enclosure and very silent, there are some issues with the enclosure fans switching on and off during normal(gpu-idle) work in MacOSX. It's not loud, but in time it's gets a little annoying. It's not related to the GPU, it happened to the former GTX1080Ti as well.
Does anyone know anything about this? Is there a fan control for MacOSX?
Another thing: I got the internal display under Bootcamp working, with the "Microsoft Display Adapter" running it: It's no perfect, but better than black.
@oliverb Your screen capture shows the Intel iGPU is activated and showed up as "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter". The Radeon Pro 560X dGPU is yellow-banged due to the presence of Radeon RX Vega eGPU. Did you check to see if it says error 43? You can always right click and disable the dGPU prior to rebooting with eGPU attached so that the internal display remains working. There's no acceleration but like you said it's better than black internal display.
Yes, @itsage, it's an Error 43. I could not get rid off it by disabling other PCI Devices. For whatever reason, the Microsoft Display Adapter is working without this dreaded Error. But of course, there are some disadvantages like no resolution changing (stuck to 3360x2100), no starting of DirectX Application in the internal display (yields a lot of error) and no clean acceleration.
I say "clean", because there is acceleration if you start an application on the external display and then drag it into the internal display. But this is only a workaround and it performs worse than if it has been started cleanly in the internal display.
Another thing I got to know with the Asus XG Station Pro. While being all in all a fantastic enclosure and very silent, there are some issues with the enclosure fans switching on and off during normal(gpu-idle) work in MacOSX. It's not loud, but in time it's gets a little annoying. It's not related to the GPU, it happened to the former GTX1080Ti as well.
Does anyone know anything about this? Is there a fan control for MacOSX?
No there isn't, but you can plug the fans directly to your graphics card. I plugged them to the Asus Strix Vega 56 and this on/off-situation is solved because the XG Station Pro fans now are synced to the graphics cards fans (and in case of the Strix these aren't running for the most time). You need two cable extensions (for each fan one): they are called 4 pin PVM cables. I used two Nanoxia 900100012 with 60 cm. Perhaps 30 cm would work as well, but I'm not sure if it isn't to short.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
@whitesnake, thank you! This is very helpful. Can you tell, if this is possible with every modern gpu like Vega or
Geforce 1080/2080? I am still deciding which one to keep.
Thank you again!
@whitesnake, thank you! This is very helpful. Can you tell, if this is possible with every modern gpu like Vega or
Geforce 1080/2080? I am still deciding which one to keep.
Thank you again!
I think that depends on the connections of the graphics card. It the graphics card can trigger external fans, than it should work with the Asus XG Station Pro (because their two fans are normal fans). The motherboard of the Asus XG Station Pro does‘t alert if you unplug the fans from its motherboard.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
@oliverb Hi! How's the benchmarks coming along? Really curious. I just ordered a Vega 56 Pulse and Razer Core X for my late 2016 15" MBP (Touch Bar). I would be really interested to see how the performance between the two Macmodels hold up with the same Vega 56 Pulse (except my enclosure is a Razer). Have you flashed the 64 bios onto it? And do you like the performance on macOS?
Kind regards
Test1
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
@oliverb Hi! How's the benchmarks coming along? Really curious. I just ordered a Vega 56 Pulse and Razer Core X for my late 2016 15" MBP (Touch Bar). I would be really interested to see how the performance between the two Macmodels hold up with the same Vega 56 Pulse (except my enclosure is a Razer). Have you flashed the 64 bios onto it? And do you like the performance on macOS?
Kind regards
Test1
@Test1, I do not have the card anymore. I didn't flash the Bios and was quite happy with the performance on MacOSX. On Windows the performance was ok, but not overwhelming, so I returned it and kept my GTX1080Ti.
Hi, @oliverb
huge thanks for all this info - very useful,
I have
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) - If it makes since to upgrade this I will
2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB
On MAC OS - I want to run Unreals - twinmotion to create 3D Visualizations from Archicad 22
I have installed twinmotion on Mojave and it chugs along..
I am a total newbie to the graphics card area -
Would all of the following cards below work with your spec above?
What would be a good set up?
Are there different brands of the AMD card that are Mac Friendly?
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
- AMD Vega Frontier Edition Air
- AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100
thanks
Garyion
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts