System specs
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
- 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7
- 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
- Graphics: Radeon Pro 560X 4096 MB
- Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB
- External monitor: DELL P2715Q
eGPU hardware
- Razer Core X
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti OC Black 11G
Hardware pictures
https://imgur.com/a/Ujv0n4M
Installation steps
1. Powered down the MBP.
2. Installed GPU inside eGPU casing. Connected power, HDMI to external monitor and TB3 cable to MBP.
NOTE: I DID NOT hot plug. Connected at shutdown. (basically followed this post: https://egpu.io/forums/builds/macbook-pro-15inch-2018-aorus-gaming-box-gtx1080/)
3. Powered on the Mac, pressed option key and boot to windows.
4. Logged in to windows. Windows started installing the new graphics adapter.
5. After installation, rebooted the machine to windows again and the external display lit up.
NOTE: I connected HDMI first since I didn't have a DP cable handy. Later, I shutdown the machine, removed HDMI cable, connected DP cable and booted up. Did not have any issue.
6. Downloaded NVIDIA latest drivers and started playing games.
Benchmarks
- Will post Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider soon
Comments
1. I was kinda afraid that the setup will not work. But it couldn't have been better. Everything worked like a charm.
2. Razer Core X is slightly bigger than rest of the casings out there. I haven't tried any others yet, but I can hear the fans while the GPU is in full speed. Other than that, I love the setup. More importantly, its the cheapest eGPU casing out there as of now (I think).
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
2. Installed GPU inside eGPU casing. Connected power, HDMI to external monitor and TB3 cable to MBP.
NOTE: I DID NOT hot plug. Connected at shutdown. (basically followed this post: https://egpu.io/forums/builds/macbook-pro-15inch-2018-aorus-gaming-box-gtx1080/)
Yes, the Bootcamp setup for the 15" MacBookPro 2018 it is very easy, despite the bad rumors. I have a 13" MBP 2015, too and this is difficult, you have to hot-plug there.
Here you go, the benchmarking results for Shadow of the Tomb Raider!
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Screen Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Preset: Highest
Average FPS: 37
Settings
Texture Quality: Ultra
Shadow Quality: High
Preset: High
Average FPS: 44
Preset: Medium
Average FPS: 45
Preset: Low
Average FPS: 55
Preset: Lowest
Average FPS: 65
Full details (screenshots with all specs) available here: Images
Actual benchmarking screen capture available here: Video
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Benchmarking results for Rise of the Tomb Raider!
Title: Rise of the Tomb Raider
4K Highest: 49.21 FPS
4K Lowest: 59.99 FPS
1080p Highest: 55.34 FPS
1080p Lowest: 60.00 FPS
Full details (screenshots with all specs) available here: Images
Actual benchmarking screen capture available here: Video
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Benchmarking results for Rise of the Tomb Raider!
Title: Rise of the Tomb Raider
4K Highest: 49.21 FPS
4K Lowest: 59.99 FPS
1080p Highest: 55.34 FPS
1080p Lowest: 60.00 FPSFull details (screenshots with all specs) available here: Images
Actual benchmarking screen capture available here: Video
You may note that your FPS is capped by 60 FPS. Obviously you have VSYNC=on.
Thank you for pointing it out @oliverb, I was trying to figure why the FPS was getting capped at 60. Here is the updated results with VSync=off.
Title: Rise of the Tomb Raider
4K Highest: 57.00 FPS
4K Lowest: 96.57 FPS
1080p Highest: 85.62 FPS
1080p Lowest: 113.56 FPS
Screenshots here: https://imgur.com/a/xO3goN3
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Thank you for pointing it out @oliverb, I was trying to figure why the FPS was getting capped at 60. Here is the updated results with VSync=off.
Title: Rise of the Tomb Raider
4K Highest: 57.00 FPS
4K Lowest: 96.57 FPS
1080p Highest: 85.62 FPS
1080p Lowest: 113.56 FPSScreenshots here: https://imgur.com/a/xO3goN3
I already know those things 🙂 Of course having a 60 Hz Monitor VSYNC=on is great, but not for benchmarks. Can you do (to compare) 1440p Highest and 1440p High in Shadow Of the TombRaider? Thx 🙂
Hello @manu_ignatius, I have the same MacBook model with the Razer Core X and it works fine, but when I plug an external SSD it shows an error and Windows has to restart.
Does it happen to you or is there any way to fix this?
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Sorry to hear that @gameboy. I have not faced something like this yet as I haven't plugged in anything external (except the eGPU and a wireless mouse). At the moment, I don't have access to an external SSD, but I can try with an external HDD and see whether I see the issue.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Thank you @manu_ignatius, first I was wondering why I got some higher results (having the same hardware)
1440p Highest : 66 FPS
1440p High : 73 FPS
then I saw the different Anti-Aliasing (TAA vs 2xSMAAT). From what I hear, TAA is the best choice for decent performance and still good enough.
*Gasp*, soon enough this will be over, I am actually plannig to replace my 1080Ti with a 56Vega, because of the MacOSX Support...
Cool, let me try with TAA later.
🙁 In fact I had considered a lot about getting a Vega due to OSX support, but in the end decided to get a 1080Ti as I wanted to play with CUDA. I wish Apple and nVidia stopped their pissing match and start supporting the eGPUs. One of these days, I will get enough time to muck around with my setup and get the 1080Ti to work on OSX (fingers crossed).
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Cool, let me try with TAA later.
🙁 In fact I had considered a lot about getting a Vega due to OSX support, but in the end decided to get a 1080Ti as I wanted to play with CUDA. I wish Apple and nVidia stopped their pissing match and start supporting the eGPUs. One of these days, I will get enough time to muck around with my setup and get the 1080Ti to work on OSX (fingers crossed).
I have both now and will have to decide between them. This will really be a difficult decision. The GTX1080Ti performs 30-40% better than the Vega56, but this is only under Windows/Bootcamp. I have a 1440p Monitor and for this the Vega56 is easily fast enough. But what when I want a 4k Monitor one day?? Oh, this is difficult. I like them both and I hate the war between nVidia and Apple.
BTW: The easiest way to get the GTX1080Ti to run under MacOSX is @goalque's EFI Bootloader, but you can forget about Plug'n'Play or good support/performance by MacOSX-Software.
Yeah, I plan to follow the @goalque's EFI Bootloader setup steps to get it to work. I really want to get the eGPU acceleration in OSX since I do a lot of photo/video editing, even if that means no plug 'n play. 🙁
What programs/games have to tried in OSX using 1080 Ti @oliverb?
I tried with TAA and got similar, if not as good results as yours. (Might be due to the monitor, do you think?)
1440p Highest : 63 FPS
1440p High : 69 FPS
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Hello @manu_ignatius, I have the same MacBook model with the Razer Core X and it works fine, but when I plug an external SSD it shows an error and Windows has to restart.
Does it happen to you or is there any way to fix this?
@gameboy, I tried hot plugging an external SSD (borrowed from a friend of mine), but didnt face any problems. Its an old SSD (USB 2.0) though.
Have you tried plugging in the SSD before boot?
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
It depends on the port I use, it seems that plugging the eGPU in any other port than the top left one, allows me to connect the SSD while running Windows.
As I explain on my build guide, I´m using a hub with my MacBook Pro and everything is working fine.
Yeah, I plan to follow the @goalque's EFI Bootloader setup steps to get it to work. I really want to get the eGPU acceleration in OSX since I do a lot of photo/video editing, even if that means no plug 'n play. 🙁
What programs/games have to tried in OSX using 1080 Ti @oliverb?I tried with TAA and got similar, if not as good results as yours. (Might be due to the monitor, do you think?)
1440p Highest : 63 FPS
1440p High : 69 FPS
I tried, Unigine Benchmarks, daVinci Resolve, Luxmark, Some MacOSX Games, some WineBottled Games.
Except for the Unigine Benchmarks, the GTX1080Ti doesn't perform any better than the Vega56 in MacOsx. I will post soon enough some benchmarks clarifying this to my build post:
https://egpu.io/forums/builds/2018-15-macbook-pro-rp560x-vega5632gbps-tb3-asus-xg-station-pro-macos10-13-6-win10-oliverb/
It is quite clear that under MacOSX a Vega is the better solution. I will elaborate more in my build-article.
I don't think that the monitor has anything to do with the peformance, I guess my GTX1080Ti (EVGA SC2) is especially fast. I cannot improve anything with overclocking, so it looks, it's already optimized. A pity all this performance is worth so little under MacOSX :/
It depends on the port I use, it seems that plugging the eGPU in any other port than the top left one, allows me to connect the SSD while running Windows.
As I explain on my build guide, I´m using a hub with my MacBook Pro and everything is working fine.
I have only connected the eGPU to my top right port so far and no issues. Good that you solved the issue using a hub as described in your post.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Yeah, I plan to follow the @goalque's EFI Bootloader setup steps to get it to work. I really want to get the eGPU acceleration in OSX since I do a lot of photo/video editing, even if that means no plug 'n play. 🙁
What programs/games have to tried in OSX using 1080 Ti @oliverb?I tried with TAA and got similar, if not as good results as yours. (Might be due to the monitor, do you think?)
1440p Highest : 63 FPS
1440p High : 69 FPSI tried, Unigine Benchmarks, daVinci Resolve, Luxmark, Some MacOSX Games, some WineBottled Games.
Except for the Unigine Benchmarks, the GTX1080Ti doesn't perform any better than the Vega56 in MacOsx. I will post soon enough some benchmarks clarifying this to my build post:
https://egpu.io/forums/builds/2018-15-macbook-pro-rp560x-vega5632gbps-tb3-asus-xg-station-pro-macos10-13-6-win10-oliverb/It is quite clear that under MacOSX a Vega is the better solution. I will elaborate more in my build-article.
I don't think that the monitor has anything to do with the peformance, I guess my GTX1080Ti (EVGA SC2) is especially fast. I cannot improve anything with overclocking, so it looks, it's already optimized. A pity all this performance is worth so little under MacOSX :/
Yeah, its a pity. Apple being Apple, I dont think they will fix this anytime soon. 🙁
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts