Picked up a new 650 watt Breakaway Box from Sonnet. It's not small, but it is quiet.
Installed a XFX Thicc II Pro RX 5500 XT (also quiet) inside for temporary use. Big Navi (redacted) product launch (redacted) AMD PR (redacted) grrrrrr. 🤨
There was a minute when the XFX Thicc II wasn't too over-priced. But literally the day after I bought mine - I saw Best Buy tacked on another $40.
Mac OS
Upgrading directly from Catalina 10.15.6 to Big Sur 11.1 was quick and painless.
Big Sur - got it, know it, love it. Better file management, better graphics performance, better eGPU integration.
Everything works the way I need it to.
The 5500 XT is not a gaming card. But its 8GB of VRAM and 1600-1800 MHZ clock speeds aid productivity tasks.
Here are some Metal API benchmarks at 4K resolution:
T-Rex Onscreen > Aztec Ruins Offscreen. Just saying.
Bootcamp Windows
I previously installed Windows 2004 1H and AMD Adrenelin 20.4.2 drivers in May 2020. I swapped in the Windows v1903 pic.sys file at that time.
No changes to Windows or AMD Adrenalin were needed to accommodate the new 5500 XT card.
I booted into Windows sans eGPU, signed in to the desktop screen, then hot-plugged in the Breakaway Box.
A couple minutes later, Windows had recognized the new enclosure. I shut down Windows, re-routed display cables, and started up again.
I signed in to the Windows desktop, and all was well.
Everything continues to work the way I need it. Same as in Mac OS.
Here are some Windows benchmarks at 4K:
Good times. 😎
Did someone pull the trigger to early on big Navi? 😉
nice clean build! Do you game? If so any benchmarks you could share?
2017 13" MacBook Pro Touch Bar
GTX1060 + AKiTiO Thunder3 + Win10
GTX1070 + Sonnet Breakaway Box + Win10
GTX1070 + Razer Core V1 + Win10
Vega 56 + Razer Core V1 + macOS + Win10
Vega 56 + Mantiz Venus + macOS + W10
---
LG 5K Ultrafine flickering issue fix
2017 13" MacBook Pro [7th,2C,U] + RX 5700 XT @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Mantiz Venus) + macOS 10.15.4 & Win10 2004 [build link]
@eightarmedpet, Indeed. I was premature in selling my 5700 XT rig.
I‘ve found Star Wars Squadrons (Windows) to be a good play on the 5500 XT. AMD Navi is well-optimized for its Frostbrite game engine.
Many scenes are lit beautifully. Frame rates are twice what you might expect - running between 50-70 FPS at 4K Ultra settings.
Another good match for little Navi would be Dirt 4 (on Mac OS). The benefit of Big Sur's improved graphics performance is telling.
Even with miles of terrain being rendered, the game rocks at 4K Ultra settings in Fullscreen mode.
FPS are only 30-35ish at High settings - sure, but game play is very smooth and fluid.
When it comes to Fornite Battle Royale (Windows), my friends and I usually play like a bunch of tourists. Rarely do we turn competitive.
So on my machine, setting the graphics to EPIC in 4K Fullscreen mode is still worth it. I find Battle Royale's art direction to be entirely gawk-worthy, and I’ll take that performance hit, thank you.
Running on the little 5500 XT, this very scenic and colorful game is - somehow - still enjoyable at 21 FPS.
Total War: Troy (Mac OS) is another Epic title playing out against - at times - colorfully rendered graphics.
I (of course) prefer to play at 4K res in Fullscreen mode. I keep those visual settings turned up.
Troy has its moments of visual highlights. The art direction achieves some stylish looks. And, same as with Fortnite, the 5500 XT is a bit overwhelmed, really.
I’m finding this title still entertains, tho. Even with FPS rates often falling below 30.
I missed this games update! Thanks for sharing... just won an i7 mini at a great price and will be moving desk space soon so looking forward to setting it ip and playing some games (after some real work obvs).
2017 13" MacBook Pro Touch Bar
GTX1060 + AKiTiO Thunder3 + Win10
GTX1070 + Sonnet Breakaway Box + Win10
GTX1070 + Razer Core V1 + Win10
Vega 56 + Razer Core V1 + macOS + Win10
Vega 56 + Mantiz Venus + macOS + W10
---
LG 5K Ultrafine flickering issue fix
2017 13" MacBook Pro [7th,2C,U] + RX 5700 XT @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Mantiz Venus) + macOS 10.15.4 & Win10 2004 [build link]