2014 15" MacBook Pro Retina (GT750M) [4th,4C,H] + RX 580 @ 16Gbps-TB2>TB3 (Razer Core V2) + macOS 10.14 [vinhdiesel]  

@vinhdiesel

I am using similar setup with mbp 13 2015 with the gigabyte box RX580. It is very fast and extremely quite. Do you have any benchmarks?

my Performance 

Heaven is the same as with beta 41fps Min 26/Max 80 with high settings 2x anti and test on.

FCP works with egpu and uses it for both editing, rendering. With background render off 4k video 3.45min with one transition, one generator one title and broadcast safe filter it exorts to h264 in 3.20 min. 1080p 3.35 min the same footage with all the above is exported in 2.35 min and when i take out the generator is exported in 1.25min. Awesome.
Bruce X is 25sec vs 2 min with internal iris 6100.

The only negative with public release is that compared to beta versions not all apps, especially apple apps, use the egpu automatically however they do when you click the option in finder. Strange.

Posted by: tsakal

@vinhdiesel

I am using similar setup with mbp 13 2015 with the gigabyte box RX580. It is very fast and extremely quite. Do you have any benchmarks?

my Performance 

Heaven is the same as with beta 41fps Min 26/Max 80 with high settings 2x anti and test on.

FCP works with egpu and uses it for both editing, rendering. With background render off 4k video 3.45min with one transition, one generator one title and broadcast safe filter it exorts to h264 in 3.20 min. 1080p 3.35 min the same footage with all the above is exported in 2.35 min and when i take out the generator is exported in 1.25min. Awesome.
Bruce X is 25sec vs 2 min with internal iris 6100.

The only negative with public release is that compared to beta versions not all apps, especially apple apps, use the egpu automatically however they do when you click the option in finder. Strange.

@tsakal
I haven't experienced any problems with epu usage so far. However, I have only tested with Dota and WoW until now. I checked the boxes in the info tab with the newest mojave release just to be sure.
I am struggling with clamshell mode and having the internal macbook screen turn off when connected to the egpu. Do you have similar problems?

Hardware pics please! Love Razer Cores....

Posted by: Eightarmedpet

Hardware pics please! Love Razer Cores....

yes will post them as soon as possible 🙂

@eightarmedpet updated

Lovely... trying to resist ordering a core as I don't really need it and set up pics like that are defo not helping...  😉

Posted by: Eightarmedpet

Lovely... trying to resist ordering a core as I don't really need it and set up pics like that are defo not helping...  😉

The built quality is exceptional. However the fans can get pretty loud for a second generation product imo. Using the Sapphire RX580 now, the core fans are louder than the actual gpu.

Hmmm.. thats a worry... my Mini egpu set up was so noisy I had to replace it but that was a Thunder3 with a single fan 1060.

I'll do some googling and see if fan replacement is possible...

edit: Found a bit of info... and this... "the culprit is the tiny fan in the back, facing down.. literally a half inch above a non-vented portion of the bottom. just unplug it. or add in a resistor plug to slow it down. Check in on the temps, so if yours fries no responsibility on my end. but the thing is silent now-- if it weren't for the LEDs, I wouldn't be able to tell that it's on.
Mine ran fine with firestrike running for 24hrs, no issues so far."

what is that fan cooling so far. I wouldnt know where to unplug which cable.

Caved in, bought one.

Posted by: Eightarmedpet

Caved in, bought one.

awesome. Did you get the core v2? Let me know how you handled those fans please!

I found a cheap V1 which I will prob regret buying and sell for a V2 ending up costing me more money than I tried to save and Apple will prob announce their own version and a new Mac mini this month. 

Either way way will do! My current egpu sits on the floor but I’m planning a new desk soon which will have shelves above it where the core could sit if it’s too noisy on the desk, will update ya!

From users experience on Razer forum core v1 has quiter PSU fans compared to v2. Btw i saw also in notebookforum review user who assembled  his core, for poeple who isn’t satisfied with their enclosure Fans noise and doesn’t want moding it, they buy 2m active TB3 cable and put it on floor areas instead beside the host. Razer offers that cable too actually but with their famous Razer tax for €90

the only thing with the v2 is that you kind of want to have it sitting on the desk because of the port hub on the back

do you think apple will come out with their own egpu enclosure?

I can’t imagine using the ports much, I hear it effects performance, I may plug in my steam dongle and leave it at that. 

Apple plan on releasing a modular Mac Pro and a more pro focused Mac mini, I read between the lines and pray that translates to an egpu as part of both those solutions. 

A more realistic me very very much doubts it though.

Posted by: vinhdiesel

do you think apple will come out with their own egpu enclosure?

There's a strategic shift in what products Apple are willing to put their logo on. Mac accessories are not something Apple is interested in because of low margin. First they stopped making displays and the venture with LG turned out to be a mess. The Blackmagic eGPU is as close as we get to an Apple eGPU in my opinion.

I think you’re right in regards to an egpu but pretty sure a new pro display has also been confirmed as in development. 

I should find sources....

when will you get your Core v1 , 

I'm considering unplugging addtional fans of my core v2 however wouldnt know which one is the loudest and wouldnt hurt the cooling as much. But the PSU and GPU have their own. Is there a lot of potential of overheating and damage you think?

Hey @itsage,
shall me move this thread to build guides? Sorry for the inconvenience

Hopefully my Core will arrive next week, eBay isn’t telling me much. Fan wise I’ve read it’s the very bottom fan that’s the noisy one but I just got that from forums, I’ll prob leave as is as I’ve just bought some gaming headphones which will cancel out any noise. 

any headphones you can recommend? I dont wanna spend too much money on that

I went for these as I found them on offer and had. random voucher I forgot about so ended up paying about 30 quid.... most are far too "gamer" for my liking...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072BY1H95/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@itsage do you know why this build cannot be found under the build guides by users section?

@eightarmedpet any update on your core?

@vinhdiesel none yet! slowest postage ever, don't think it's even crossed the channel yet... getting a bit impatient now, should have bought locally.

RTX 2080's are in stock in the UK now... not sure if its worth me buying one to pair with my 2017 13inch. If the USB C port worked with my Ultrafine I prob would but haven't found anyone able to confirm...

Why can't you just use a regular RTX HDMI output. What would the benefit be? I thought the important thing is that thunderbolt 3 connection between egpu and macbook

@vinhdiesel check my build links in my sig, but basically its been the bane of my eGPU life - the LG Ultrafine 5K monitor. It's a beautiful monitor and fantastic in macOS but only support TB3 input (it patches together 2 Display port signals).

I'm losing some frames as I have to pipe the eGPU power back to the laptop then out to the monitor, if the USB C/VR link works on the RTX series that will be a god send. I doubt it will but I did read somewhere that VR link combines 4 display port somethings and support up ot 8k, so I'm not giving up home yet.

Oh and those headphones I bought are amazing, incredible surround sound, crustal clear mic, and non gamer aesthetic, thoroughly recommended. Once my core arrives and I get it working (fingers crossed plug and play like my other builds) I'll prob do a new guide for fun as I am about to move house (I hope) and am designing a workspace/desk for everything to fit on perfectly.

Posted by: vinhdiesel

@itsage do you know why this build cannot be found under the build guides by users section?

I think it's because this thread started out as a non-build guide. I moved it to the Build Guide section but it's possible @nando4 missed it.

I have a late 2013 Macbook Pro that has basically the same specs. Core i7, 16gb of ram, 750m, Thunderbolt 2 etc.
I bought an Aorus RX580 gaming box and ran the same two scripts to get it working.

I've ran benchmarks like valley and heaven, and I've also tested apps like final cut pro and I've experienced huge gains with all of them.

My problem is gaming performance.  I noticed that you said you played Dota with this set up.  I tried playing Dota 2 yesterday and it's basically unplayable for me.  When I move the cursor to the edge of the screen to move the camera across the map, the game drops from like 90 fps down to single digits.  Sometimes the whole screen will just freeze for a couple of seconds.  What is your performance like? What settings are you playing at?  I think I have some issue that I need to figure out.  Trying to ask/reach out to people that have the same set up as me.

Sorry got it resolved RX580 IS NOT compatible with the Razer Core V1

Posted by: vinhdiesel

System specs 
Macbook Mid 2014

Intel Core i7, 2,5 GHz
Nvidia GT750M dGPU
16 GB RAM
512 SSD

 

 

eGPU hardware (eGPU enclosure, video card, any third-party TB3 cable, any custom mods)

Razer Core v2
Apple Thunderbolt 2/3 Adapter
Thunderbolt 2 Cable

Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+ 

Other hardware:

Logitech MX Master 2S
Logitech K780 Keyboard
Sony PS4
Xiaomi Desklight
Desk is all Ikea
LG 43ud79-b Monitor (wall mounted)

Hardware pictures 

 

Installation steps
Ran purge-wrangler and purge-nvda to get it working. 
Purge Wrangler to get the eGPU running through TB2.
Purge Nvda to get the external Monitor working.

Current problems:
Clamshell mode plug and play doesnt work with plug and play.
Using Purge nvda to get external monitor working. Internal display doesn't natively turn off though.

 

Have you tried using the internal display with the tb2 and the egpu on Wow? If so what kind of performance did you get?