Only thing I noticed is that for every restart, I need to disconnect the eGPU. It works with hotswap connection only. (Updated 8/4/2019 - I plugged the TB2 cable to one of the bottom 2 slots on the Mac Pro Late 2013 and I no longer have to unplug the eGPU during restart/reboot.
(Update 8/13/2019 - OS X did an automatic update and it actually asked to run the PureWrangler script on restart. I ran it but noticed that eGPU is not being detected. So I removed all accessories off USB and restarted in Recovery mode (CMD-r) and did "csrutil disable" then restarted. The script was already executed so the eGPU got detected and is working once more. Thought I would give anyone interested a heads up).
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System Specs:
Late 2013 Mac Pro - Quad Core 3.7 / Radeon Fire Pro D300 dGpu / 12GB Ram / 256GB SSD
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eGpu Hardware:
Razer Core X + RX 580 (Sapphire) + Apple TB3 to TB2 Adapter + Apple Official 1M Thunderbolt 2 Cable
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Installation Steps:
1. Assemble eGpu.
2. Time Machine backup on nMp.
3. Eject/unplug all drives and unnecessary devices from nMp.
4. Meet PreRequisites from the Purge Wrangler Script. Including disabling System Integrity with restart in Recovery.
4A - I made sure I logged in to Terminal using the Recover Mode (Restart System - CMD+Option+R -- at startup)
4B - Run Terminal - type - csrutil disable
4C - Turn off Secure Boot - Utilities > Startup Security Utility
4D - Restart System
5. Ensure System Integrity is Disabled.
6. Install purge-wrangler Script.
7. Follow Option for AMD cards.
8. Do not enable Ti82.
9. Restart.
10. Connect eGpu to nMp via TB2 Adapter. And ensure it is recognized.
11. Changed options on apps (right click, Get Info - or CMD-i) to prefer external GPU.
Late 2013 Mac Pro - Quad Core 3.7 / Radeon Fire Pro D300 dGpu / 12GB Ram / 256GB SSD
Thanks for the post. Am considering trying this egpu set-up, did you use the Pulse or Nitro+ card? Cheers
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
@timbousm - i have the Pulse. I actually had the Sapphire Pulse Vega 56 first but I noticed that it didn’t boost my multi-cam editing on my 2016 Macbook Pro 15” with RX 455. So I tried to go down and save money and got the Pulse RX 580. I am actually happy to save $130 and get very close to the same performance.
Installing the eGPU to the Mac Pro Late 2013 was just a bonus for Fortnite. LoL
Late 2013 Mac Pro - Quad Core 3.7 / Radeon Fire Pro D300 dGpu / 12GB Ram / 256GB SSD
@victored do you think this set-up would assist in FCPX? In built graphics card is seriously straining 🤯
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
Is there any way to attach Thunderbolt monitors to this? I have two of them to drive.
Mac Pro (Late 2013) 2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 32GB | AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB | Dual 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays | 1TB SSD | 10.12.6
What kind of Thunderbolt monitors?
A Thunderbolt monitor needs to be connected to a Thunderbolt port. Connect them to the Thunderbolt ports of the Mac Pro. If the Thunderbolt displays are 5K then you'll need to use a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card like the GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE for each Thunderbolt display. You won't be able to use the non-display features of the display (USB, Audio, Camera, etc.).
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
I just have two 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays of the non-4K variety. Will this (or any) eGPU setup provide a benefit to me if I can't connect the displays directly to the eGPU?
Mac Pro (Late 2013) 2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 32GB | AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB | Dual 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays | 1TB SSD | 10.12.6
Depends on what you want to do. Most tasks that can benefit from an eGPU can do so without having the display connected to the eGPU. For games, the resolution should be less than the max allowed by the PCIe bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2. Usually, a game is played on a single display. The Thunderbolt display is 2560×1440. That should be ok for Thunderbolt 2 which can output to two such displays.
https://egpu.io/performance-internal-vs-external-display/
https://egpu.io/forums/pc-setup/how-much-bandwidth-ovehead-does-optimusx-connect-accelerated-internal-lcd-mode-add/
https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/egpu-performance-internal-vs-external-display/
https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/how-to-egpu-accelerated-internal-display-macos/
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
Thanks Joe, that's my display all right. I'm mainly looking for improvement in overall performance of graphic design related tasks such as Photoshop and complex layouts in InDesign. It's a work computer so I'm not playing games... mainly just trying to extend the life of my 2013 Mac Pro for another eight or ten years.
Mac Pro (Late 2013) 2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 32GB | AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB | Dual 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays | 1TB SSD | 10.12.6
@craigj
I'm not sure image apps benefit much. Video apps benefit more.
https://petapixel.com/2018/07/18/why-that-699-macbook-egpu-may-be-a-waste-for-photographers/
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2612767
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
Wow, very disheartening, but glad you shared this. Looks like I should save my money and wait until Adobe puts full eGPU compatibility into their CC suite, ID in particular.
Mac Pro (Late 2013) 2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 32GB | AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB | Dual 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays | 1TB SSD | 10.12.6
FWIW these are the preferences in the five Adobe CC 2019 apps I have installed. InDesign and Premiere Pro don’t show the eGPU while Illiustrator, Lightroom, and Photoshop have it. The host computer is 2019 13″ MacBook Pro (10.14.6).
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Thanks for this. It would seem that when Blackmagic was developing their eGPU with Apple, no one bothered to consult with Adobe to let them know they were doing it. Adobe learned of it along with the general public when it was released. Hopefully, though, they are working on incorporating eGPU support into future versions of their primary software mainstays, including InDesign. Then I might be back to look at builds. But for the time being, it doesn't seem to be worth hacking the OS and buying hundreds of dollars worth of new hardware for a barely noticeable bump in Photoshop performance.
Mac Pro (Late 2013) 2.7 GHz 12-Core Intel Xeon E5 | 32GB | AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB | Dual 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays | 1TB SSD | 10.12.6
eGPUs have been around much longer than the Blackmagic eGPU. And a GPU doesn't need to be external to be useful. Mac Pro's have had PCIe slots to add extra GPU's since 2007. And you can add as many PCIe slots as you like. The 2013 Mac Pro came with two GPUs where one of them is explicitly meant for compute.
Mac mini (2018), Mac Pro (Early 2008), MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), GA-Z170X-Gaming 7, Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5, Sonnet Echo Express III-D, Trebleet Thunderbolt 3 to NVMe M.2 case
Great site folks, will probably be looking to use the same build here for my Mac Pro, have just upgraded the CPU, the only thing left is the GPU to do
Pending: Mac Pro late 2013, 12 core Xeon, 64g ram D300 cpu my signature to give context to my posts
Hello,
Thank's for sharing all this informations. I am currently working on a late 2013 Mac Pro - 3,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 - AMD FirePro D300 2 Go
I already upgraded with 32 Go 1866 MHz DDR3, 1 To SSD from OWC
Recently I learned that next versions of After Effects will treat a lot more information through GPU and my AMD FirePro D300 2 Go is obviously yet starting to be old.
I a kind of a newbie in hardware but I am trying to do it myself anyway, learning the most I can.
My only solution seems of course to be the eGPU. I am considering your build for budget reasons which appears sufficient to me.
My questions are: Should I also upgrade my processor to a Intel E5-2697 v2 2.7GHz 12 Core Processor in order to get the most out of the eGPU or is it enough with the current?
I am reading about problems concerning "video" but can't seem to figure out precisely what is the issue, considering I mostly work on After effects/Premiere/Illustrator and photoshop, is it still a good option?
Thank you again for all this precious work, hoping for an answer,
Best regards!
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
how does it run on bootcamp?
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
My apologies for such a late reply. I am curious what you ended up doing.
but if you’re still thinking about it. I would upgrade to a 10-core 3.0 ghz because you may want a faster single core speed for some apps.
is it still a good option? Yes! It is a Xeon. I still edit 4K videos with it.
I dont run bootcamp on mine so I can’t tell you. Sorry.
Late 2013 Mac Pro - Quad Core 3.7 / Radeon Fire Pro D300 dGpu / 12GB Ram / 256GB SSD