Apple released 10.14.4 Developer Beta 3 [18E194d] today. It’s not plug-and-play with AMD Radeon VII just yet. I decided to try an older trick when RX 480 first released, borrowing the personality of a supported card. In this case RX Vega10 was the one to use and it worked. The Radeon VII can now function like a natively supported eGPU in macOS 10.14.4 beta. This same trick should allow it to work inside a Mac Pro tower.
System specs:
2018 13″ QC MacBook Pro – i5-8259U/Iris Plus Graphics 655 iGPU/8GB RAM/512GB SSD
eGPU hardware:
Razer Core + PowerColor Radeon VII + 2m Thunderbolt 3 cable
Hardware pictures:
Installation steps:
I’m pairing the Radeon VII with the original Razer Core which has the unsupported TI82 USB-C controller. First order of business was to run @mac_editor‘s Purge-Wrangler to whitelist this TI82 block. Once this is done the Thunderbolt 3 connection was working. Next step was to add the Radeon VII‘s PCI ID into the appropriate kext to allow the drivers to load. AMDXRadeon5000.kext was the one to inject 0x66AF1002. Run permission repair then restart and it should work.
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Benchmarks:
Here are some benchmarks. Luxmark showed all 60 compute units with strong performance.
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Comments:
Even though the drivers are not finalized, this Radeon VII looks to be a computing beast. Not sure why AMD pushed it as a gaming card. Also it does not seem to suffer from power-related crashes like the RX Vega 64. I’ve used the Radeon VII with ASUS XG Station Pro and Razer Core and no issues so far.
Do you have your BIOS updated?, i'm thinking that we would need UEFI support for it to boot with Mac no?
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Great!! I’m quite sure 10.14.4 will officially support it!
MacBook Pro 2018 Touch Bar i7 quad-core 2.7Ghz - 16GB RAM - 512GB PCIe SSD
my awesome Radeon VII eGPU
my Mantiz Venus extreme mod with Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega 64
I recall @mac_editor has kept track of typical macOS updates and .4 version brings major changes. This is shaping up well for Radeon VII driver release.
@itsage thanks! i was able to make it work with MBP 2017, however i'm not getting the beta update for my mac mini 2018, did you get it for yours?
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
I no longer have the 2018 Mac mini. I tried this kext edit on 2018 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pro. They both worked. The Macs must be enrolled to Developer Beta.
@itsage Good find. The first to get Radeon VII going on macOS. One could use a codeless kext to accomplish the same (slightly neater IMO).
This is great! Does the Radeon VII works in bootcamp as an XConnect GPU?
X1 Yoga Gen3, X1 Tablet Gen 3, MacBook Pro 15" 2018
Razer Core X / Mantiz Venus
Asrock Radeon VII, Zotac Nvidia 1080Ti Amp Core Extreme, Powercolor Vega 56 reference (flashed to V64 bios)
This is great! Does the Radeon VII works in bootcamp as an XConnect GPU?
Yes it does, I'm using it with my mac mini 2018, and let me tell you with FFXV running at 3440x1440 vsync on and Max settings (wtihout nvidia tech) it runs between 52-60fps (i have an overclock in the card) but before with my vega 64 it was in 33-42 fps
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Thanks Juan! I'm currently using Bootcampdriver for no fuss Vega 64 support in bootcamp, for this you installed the official AMD driver?
X1 Yoga Gen3, X1 Tablet Gen 3, MacBook Pro 15" 2018
Razer Core X / Mantiz Venus
Asrock Radeon VII, Zotac Nvidia 1080Ti Amp Core Extreme, Powercolor Vega 56 reference (flashed to V64 bios)
@kelvin_tan yes i used the official driver, i just tested Assassin's Creed Odyssey and didn't see any great improvements compared to Vega 64, maybe a driver bug, or something but running at Ultra high settings i'm getting 38-44, sometimes 50 (doesn't happen that often).
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Thanks for sharing this. I have a Vega 64 and a Vega vii in a Hackintosh. I managed to get the vii to work with your post.
I do have a couple of observations:
- in Geekbench 4 compute the Vega 64 outperformed the Vega vii
- in Luxmark the image validation fails
- in system profile under Metal it shows Supported with no GPUFamily.
- I am not sure if this matters but I also noticed it lists it as running at 350MHz. Is that correct for the vii?
Any Ideas?
MacBook Pro 13 2018 2.7 GHz Core i7
Hackintosh Intel Core i9 9900K with Vega vii and Vega 64
@mwa3aan well, this is just a hack, proper driver support should come with the next beta or final 10.14.4 release. The 350Mhz is the base clock speed for the HBM2 memory.
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
@juan_c_yunis, thank you for the quick response. It's a great step forward from where we were just 12 hours ago and it looks like a positive sign for a proper driver for the vii in 10.14.4.
MacBook Pro 13 2018 2.7 GHz Core i7
Hackintosh Intel Core i9 9900K with Vega vii and Vega 64
Wonderful write up as ever. Oh boy it looks good. Good to see it working in a Core... how were the noise levels? I read it’s quite loud... also how about some gaming benchmarks?
@itsage great news so far, thanks! I will test your trick this evening. 🙂
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
Thanks Juan! I'm currently using Bootcampdriver for no fuss Vega 64 support in bootcamp, for this you installed the official AMD driver?
You can use the official AMD 19.2.2 driver or the one from bootcampdrivers (V19.2.2). Both are working fine, without issues so far.
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
@eightarmedpet Honestly the card is just amazing compared to the other vegas that i had in the past (I started with the Vega FE Air Cooled, Vega 64 and now the VII), this card on air is able to overclock and maintain good temperatures (I was able to push it to 1950 on the clock with 1065 my and 1200 on the memory, and maintain about 75C (my location is very hot and humid, and no AC in that room), noise, well is AMD reference after all, but it does a way better job than Vega FE and Vega 64. Maybe I will post some benchmarks in Bootcamp (but so far is looking promising, I just finished testing Battlefield V at 3440x1440 DX12 and Ultra settings, running at 60FPS stable).
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
... AMDRadeon5000.kext was the one to inject 0x66AF1002. ...
@itsage I assume you mean "AMDXRadeon5000.kext" ?
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
... AMDRadeon5000.kext was the one to inject 0x66AF1002. ...
I assume you mean "AMDXRadeon5000.kext" ?
Yes, that is the one.
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
@eightarmedpet , @juan_c_yunis as far as I can say, the VII is a little quieter than my Vega64 (same enclosure) under load (not OC) and in idle mode the fans are off!
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
@juan_c_yunis cheers for the info! I wonder if it would be over kill for me with my dual core Macbook (compared to your proper desktop CPU Mac mini)?
I'll go hunt out your build guide now ( as its not linked in your signature 😉 ), my use case is FCP and some PS in macOS but mainly games in Bootcamp, loving my Vega 56 (outperforms my previous 1070 in most games) but it aint half noisy...
Even though the drivers are not finalized, this Radeon VII looks to be a computing beast. Not sure why AMD pushed it as a gaming card.
That's easy to answer: Money. Many more people spent money for gaming than for computing- and it's not a gaming card as the not-more-than-ok Unigine Benchmarks show.
I did the patch on my iMac Pro. Runs GFXBench Metal, LuxMark, Geekbench Compute, Heaven, and Valley. Hangs the system when I try to run DaVinci Resolve and TW:Warhammer II.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
@itsage Good find. The first to get Radeon VII going on macOS. One could use a codeless kext to accomplish the same (slightly neater IMO).
Totally agree. This was a quick and dirty way to see if it works. Hopefully we don’t need this in a few weeks.
This is great! Does the Radeon VII works in bootcamp as an XConnect GPU?
Yes it does. Here’s my other build for Boot Camp using the Radeon VII.
… AMDRadeon5000.kext was the one to inject 0x66AF1002. …
@itsage I assume you mean “AMDXRadeon5000.kext” ?
I was too excited and forgot the X. Made the correction on OP now. Thank you!
Even though the drivers are not finalized, this Radeon VII looks to be a computing beast. Not sure why AMD pushed it as a gaming card.
That's easy to answer: Money. Many more people spent money for gaming than for computing- and it's not a gaming card as the not-more-than-ok Unigine Benchmarks show.
Actually, that's because VII was originally built as Radeon Instinct MI60 Accelerator (very expensive) and then downscale it to sell it as a gaming card.
That's why this isn't a new generation card, it's just a 7nm die-shrink and optimized version.
If you're impressed with this card (even tho it is still very power-hungry), wait for Navi later this year.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts
That's easy to answer: Money. Many more people spent money for gaming than for computing- and it's not a gaming card as the not-more-than-ok Unigine Benchmarks show.
Unigine benchmarks are not necessarily representative of overall gaming performance, but you're right - overall the RVII is turning out to be great for productivity workloads. It's also good to see the power spikes have been dealt with.
@mac_editor I agree, at first i wasn't so sure to buy it but then i found someone was interested in my vega 64 for about the same price i paid for it so i went ahead and bought it, and honestly i couldn't be happier with it, i definitely see the 30-40% improvements in some games when gaming in my mac mini 2018.
2018 Mac Mini Core i7 8700B 32GB RAM 512GB SSD + Razer Core X + AMD Radeon VII
Can someone share the AMDxRadeon5000.kext file here? Not updated to dev beta and want to see if it works with stock 10.14.3. Thanks!
X1 Yoga Gen3, X1 Tablet Gen 3, MacBook Pro 15" 2018
Razer Core X / Mantiz Venus
Asrock Radeon VII, Zotac Nvidia 1080Ti Amp Core Extreme, Powercolor Vega 56 reference (flashed to V64 bios)
@kelvin_tan That's not allowed unfortunately - but the mod is easy to do. Also IIRC @itsage tested previous betas of 10.14.4 as well, and those didn't work, so it's unlikely 10.14.3 would.
Hey there,
I did the hack, too - and it (almost) work. I have [email protected] in macOS via Radeon VII and can run Heaven / Valley / ... without problems, but the screen freezes in the first 5-10 minutes when playing games / doing in-game benchmarks. I tested with Dirt Rally, Mad Max, Superhot.
Hope that the final drivers will work much better.
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
@roedi78 What sort of FPS do you get in mad max? I get terrible FPS in it in MacOS compared to windows.
@roedi78 What sort of FPS do you get in mad max? I get terrible FPS in it in MacOS compared to windows.
Can't test it, because game freezes as I wrote before. I will report back with the final drivers.
Edit: But as far as I can tell you from my Vega64 experiences, it is running with significant lower FPS compared to Win10. MM is an OpenGL (not Metal) port, so what do we expect in macOS from that...?! 😉
MacBook Pro 15" Late-2016 w/TB 16GB with RP460 4GB
automate-eGPU EFI 1.0.5 USB w/DSDT override
macOS Catalina 10.15.1 w/Win10 (1903) BootCamp
Sonnet Breakaway Box 650 TB3 /wAMD Sapphire Radeon VII 16GB
Alphacool Eiswolf 240 GPX-Pro AiO Radeon VII M02 Water Cooling
@roedi78 What sort of FPS do you get in mad max? I get terrible FPS in it in MacOS compared to windows.
Can't test it, because game freezes as I wrote before. I will report back with the final drivers.
Edit: But as far as I can tell you from my Vega64 experiences, it is running with significant lower FPS compared to Win10. MM is an OpenGL (not Metal) port, so what do we expect in macOS from that...?! 😉
That's where the confusing from the comparison with the GTX1080Ti came alive. Yes, OpenGL in MacOSX is quite slow, even Wine ports Benchmarks perform better than the OpenGL ports!
@kelvin_tan That's not allowed unfortunately - but the mod is easy to do. Also IIRC @itsage tested previous betas of 10.14.4 as well, and those didn't work, so it's unlikely 10.14.3 would.
So sharing the file is not allowed, but explaining how to inject is allowed? That is idiotic laws.