Just read an article on Macrumors about a new macOS 11 compatible virtualisation software that supports eGPUs.
Link: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/20/vmware-fusion-12/
While it is currently intel only I cant imagine it not being compiled for ARM, x86 can not be virtualised on ARM from what I have read so would need extra work but thought I'd share as eGPU support is an interesting and decent step forward (and may be an easier option set up wise depending on performance loss).
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
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LG 5K Ultrafine flickering issue fix
2018 Mac Mini [8th,6C,B] + RX 580 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (AKiTiO Node Lite) + Win10 20H2 [build link]
@eightarmedpet, VMWare released a Tech Preview back in March with better eGPU support. I haven't gotten around to it but there's settings for GPU in Preferences > Display.
• external graphics card builds
• best laptops for external GPU
• eGPU enclosure buyer's guide
2021 15" ASUS TUF Dash F15 [11th,4C,H] + RTX 3080 @ 32Gbps-TB4 (AORUS Gaming Box) + Win10 2004 // my 3rd RTX 3080 build [build link]
With VMWare Fusion 12 including eGPU compatibility, I was wondering what the pro's and con's might be versus Bootcamp for gaming on Windows? Are there any scenarios where Fusion may be preferred?
I would imagine that Fusion could allow an up-to-date Windows 10, but I'm not sure what the resources cost would be of a virtual machine. I've personally never used this kind of software. Thanks.
Mac Mini (2018) 3.2 Ghz 6-core i7, 32GB Ram, 500gb SSD
Enclosure: Razer Core X - GPU: Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ 5700 XT Monitor: Dell AW3420DW
• external graphics card builds
• best laptops for external GPU
• eGPU enclosure buyer's guide
2021 15" ASUS TUF Dash F15 [11th,4C,H] + RTX 3080 @ 32Gbps-TB4 (AORUS Gaming Box) + Win10 2004 // my 3rd RTX 3080 build [build link]
This is very similar to what parallels provides, and their latest update does improve directx 11 performance:
https://www.3dmark.com/fs/23293784 with Parallels 16
vs
https://www.3dmark.com/fs/22892121 with Parallels 15
vs
https://www.3dmark.com/fs/23222991 in Boot Camp
all with i9 16 inch macbook pro + Radeon VII
Edit: Updated links, probably not showing up because I had Systeminfo turned off (I've had issues with it causing BSOD's). I uploaded screenshots in case the links aren't viable.
2019 16 Macbook Pro + Core v2 + Radeon VII MacOS 10.15.1
Core X Chroma + RTX 2080 Windows 10 1909
Asrock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3, Ryzen 5 3400G + Core v2 + Radeon VII Win10 1909
2020 13" Razer Blade Stealth (GTX1650Ti) [11th,4C,G] + RTX 2080 @ 32Gbps-TB4 (Razer Core X Chroma) + Win10 20H2 [build link]
These Mac virtualization solutions do not use native Windows AMD driver to control a GPU directly. They translate between their virtual GPU (shown as unknown in your screenshot) and your GPU so it's not as good as what you can do in Linux. Not sure if virtualization in Linux can take over a GPU connected via Thunderbolt - it might have to take over the entire Thunderbolt bus if that's possible?
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
Trying to replace bootcamp with a virtualized solution is futile as long as there is no PCI/GPU passthrough on macOS.
purge-wrangler ✧ tbt-flash ✧ purge-nvda ✧ set-eGPU
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2014 15-inch MacBook Pro 750M
2018 15-inch MacBook Pro
2019 13" MacBook Pro [8th,4C,U] + RX Vega 64 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Mantiz Venus) + macOS 10.14.6 & Win10 [build link]
So I am really confused about this 🤷♂️
vt-d, which is _required_ for thunderbolt to even work at all, is absolutely supported by Mac OS X, and has been for some time. Since 10.8, I believe?
So why do none of these virtualization solutions like VMWare Fusion or Parallels take advantage of it to allow for PCIe / thunderbolt passthrough to VMs?
2018 i7 Mac Mini | Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550 | XFX 5700 XT 8GB
So I am really confused about this 🤷♂️
vt-d, which is _required_ for thunderbolt to even work at all, is absolutely supported by Mac OS X, and has been for some time. Since 10.8, I believe?
So why do none of these virtualization solutions like VMWare Fusion or Parallels take advantage of it to allow for PCIe / thunderbolt passthrough to VMs?
Just because vt-d is enabled in the UEFI and the OS uses it for DMA protection doesn't mean that the driver model for the OS supports handing off devices to virtualization programs. I am pretty sure this is the functionality missing, and given Apple's recent initiatives to further lock 3rd party drivers out of the kernel I wouldn't expect this to change anytime soon. (Not to mention that adding this feature when it probably won't be useable on Apple Silicon macs is probably a low low priority right now).
2019 16 Macbook Pro + Core v2 + Radeon VII MacOS 10.15.1
Core X Chroma + RTX 2080 Windows 10 1909
Asrock X570 Phantom Gaming ITX/TB3, Ryzen 5 3400G + Core v2 + Radeon VII Win10 1909
2020 13" Razer Blade Stealth (GTX1650Ti) [11th,4C,G] + RTX 2080 @ 32Gbps-TB4 (Razer Core X Chroma) + Win10 20H2 [build link]
I'm not certain about this, but I think both VMWare and Parallels build on the hypervisor framework built into macOS. I don't think this framework supports PCIe passthrough and that's why no software based on it does either. So it would be up to apple to add the functionality.
PCIe passthrough of an egpu seems like a really good way to drive yourself mad though, since most thunderbolt controllers are connected to the pch it would be hard to isolate just the thunderbolt connection or egpu to passthrough. I tried doing this on a linux host and it was bad enough, I'm not sure the tools to even unbind the egpu's pcie addresses from the host exist as a user in macOS.
Mid-2012 13" Macbook Pro (MacBookPro9,2) TB1 -> RX 460/560 (AKiTiO Node/Thunder2)
+ macOS 10.15+Win10 + Linux Mint 19.1
2012 13" MacBook Pro [3rd,2C,M] + RX 460 @ 10Gbps-TB1 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + macOS 10.14.4 [build link]