State of eGPU for Macs – Mojave 10.14 Update  

Posted by: mac_editor

@oliverb I'll send you a kext to try once I have some time. I have to scour into my old backups for a High Sierra install to examine some things. If you're up for some testing and have a High Sierra installation handy, that is.

Of course, I have both High Sierra (on my 15" MPB 2018) and Mojave (on my wife's 13" MPB 2015) and happy to try some things. I don't have the R9 290 (Hawaii) anymore, but all other vintage AMD chips and will get some more.

Hi all, I'm posting a reply here instead of starting a new thread because I think the answers would vary depending on the current State of eGPU for Macs.

I'm in the research and planning phase of buying a GPU and eGPU enclosure for my 2017 13" MacBook Pro w/ TouchBar. I've read most of the main resources and tutorials along with several well-written build guides (shoutout to @itsage and @eightarmedpet). My question is what would be the ideal GPU and eGPU enclosure for my needs?

Current system specs:

• 2017 13" MacBook Pro w/ Touchbar
• 3.5 GHz i7-7567U
• Intel Iris Plus 650
• macOS Mojave (10.14.2)
• currently no bootcamp/Windows

What I'd like:

• One cable to rule them all: an enclosure that can Power Delivery for a 13" MBP (60W) at the very least. Ideally, the enclosure also has a couple USB ports and an ethernet port, maybe audio out and even SATA.
• Can boot up in Bootcamp and macOS while eGPU is plugged in
• Can unplug the eGPU while OS is running
• Can use both the MBP internal display with a 1080 external monitor
• Plays well with sleep mode on both OSes
• Initial setting up can be complicated, but it shouldn't be necessary to keep fiddling around with the setup during normal use. Just simple plug-unplug and any necessary ejecting operations.

I'm currently leaning towards the Vega 56 paired with a Mantiz Venus. I currently have a Mantiz Titan and it works pretty well. I appreciate all feedback, advice, and suggestions. I know what I'd like might not be 100% possible, so I'd also like to hear about where you would compromise if you were in my shoes. Once I've decided and bought everything, I'll be sure to write my own build guide and provide benchmarks. Thanks for reading!

Glad my waffling pseudo guides are of some help!

There are maybe a couple of considerations you've missed off - size and noise. Do either matter to you?

I love the looks and size of my Razer Core but it makes an awful din, same with my Ref Vega card.

Enclosure wise the ASUS could be a good solution as it is quiet, smallish in size, plus has an extra USB C port you could plug a dock into (I believe that would work - haven't done so myself so can't be certain).

I've only ever been able to keep my eGPU plugged in at all times with an Nvidia card, but then it never worked in macOS due to no drivers (but I am very tired of hit plugging which I have to currently do which takes about 15mins to get right).

My problems are compounded by my TB3 display.

@eightarmedpet, when I first started looking into eGPUs, size and noise did matter to me. I initially wanted to try cobbling something together to fit in a Mac Mini case, but have since shelved that idea. I'm surrendered to the fact that I'll need to work with larger enclosures for worthwhile performance gains. The Razer Core V2 does look like a good choice. Significantly smaller than the Mantiz Venus but without a SATA port and having a noisier fATX PSU. But a Vega 56 + Razer Core V2 would run me about $1000 USD here. I may end up getting the Mantiz Venus anyway to save some money at the expense of a larger footprint. Thanks for the advice!

To clarify, you've only been able to get Nvidia cards to work plugged in all the time regarding Bootcamp, but for macOS, you need to hot plug it? Hot plugging meaning to plug it in at the right time when booting up the OS?

I know AMD cards should be perfectly plug-n-play with macOS. And @leoben made it sound like he's able to leave his Vega 64 eGPU plugged in while booting into Bootcamp (Step 7 in this post). Can leoben or anybody else confirm that? eightarmedpet, why do you think you kept getting Error 12 with your Vega 56 while leoben doesn't with his Vega 64? Do you think it's because of your Ultrafine? I'm assuming you have the Windows 10 Fall Creator Update?

@taikuh just did some testing after I had a thought.... and yes, it may be due to my TB3 display.
I tried the EFI boot loader (which I usually use, but built a new USB using @maceditors automated terminal command) and with the TB 3 display UNPLUGGED I could keep the eGPU plugged in while switching OS and no error 12 or need to disable right side thunderbolt ports.
Will try and stress test it and update you.

Edit: Nope... screen didn't make a difference after all, tried subsequent boots from restart and shutdown and the eGPU wasn't recognised once windows loaded if plugged in from boot. God knows why.

Sorry for the absence. I couldn't log into the forums for some reason but everything is magically working again now. After some thought, I decided to just buy the Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming Box. Hopefully the little PSU fan won't bother me too much. I'll post a separate Build thread when I have everything up and running. I also got a AOC 24P1 monitor to go along with it.

I have a question related to this, I am thinking of buying an egpu tb 3 for my mac air 13 inch, 2017, i5 (1.8Ghz, turbo 2.9) and 8 ram but has tb2, I can still install widows and it is compatible with the adapter tb3-tb2?

Update: What does not work: Radeon HD 6950/6970 (Cayman)

is this true and actual?  https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-should-i-buy/what-is-the-best-graphics-card-and-enclosure-for-macbook-15-2016-macos-bootcamp/#post-53641

Posted by: Balogh Ákos

is this true and actual?  https://egpu.io/forums/which-gear-should-i-buy/what-is-the-best-graphics-card-and-enclosure-for-macbook-15-2016-macos-bootcamp/#post-53641

Your "actual" is a false friend of yours.

The last macOS 10.14.3 update seems to have caused big problems for me.

Running a 2018 Mini with a Mantiz Venus and Vega 64. Everything worked fine until a few days ago - I installed the update, restarted, and during boot the eGPU started loudly clicking on and off, the mac would restart a few times, then turn off. Sometimes I can get to a login screen, but it immediately crashes. Kernel panics.
When this happens, it also screws up the USB hard drives I have connected - Disk Utility shows them connected but unmountable. I have to use Disk Drill to get them working again. 
I was able to get it to boot after resetting PRAM and SMC, but the problem came back after the next boot.

I do not think it's the eGPU - in Boot Camp it works fine, even in VR.

Posted by: OliverB

Posted by: mac_editor

@wondermike The Radeon 5870 does not support Metal. It won't work on Mojave. Originally, the driver responsible for this GPU was the AMD5000Controller, which is absent in Mojave. You might be able get it going on High Sierra. I recommend testing on a separate installation first. You will require purge-wrangler or automate-eGPU EFI.

I wouldn't have too much expectation. I have tried several Vintage AMD chips on High Sierra and everything older than Tahiti (HD 7870, which works perfectly thanks to purge-wrangler on Mojave and HighSierra, using it right now) just doesn't work, e.g. HD 7770 (Cape Verde) doesn't work, nor does 5850, 5670 or 4850. I haven't tried the 5870 yet, so this maybe be interesting.

Edit: If 5870 chip is Cypress like 5850 or 5830, it won't work.

Okay, so what's my options with my 6 screens and a late 2014 Mac mini, which Graphics Adapter Card with which OS version would work? Those screens (DELL U2417H)  have HDMI (MHL), DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort connectors.

sadly, my computer is the mbp 2016,and the box is the gamingbox 1080....

Posted by: heng

sadly, my computer is the mbp 2016,and the box is the gamingbox 1080....

Works well, but not with Mojave. If you want to use it with Mojave you have to change your eGPU. I wouldn't expect an nVidia Webdriver soon.