I wonder, is there a massive difference in what eGPU Enclosure you use for Mac?
Is it just enough that Apple supports it and has Thunderbolt 2 or 3. If yes, what is the difference, and why it makes so big a difference?
With a video card, it makes sense.
My plan.
I have Macbook Air 13", mid 2013 (macOS Catalina 10.15.16), and I want to connect with my Dell 49" monitor (U4919DW) and use the monitor native resolution 5120 x 1440 at 60Hz.
I don't play games and don't care about games.
I have ASUS Dual-RX580-08G video card, and I am looking for a cheap eGPU Enclosure that I can buy quickly. my MBA has Thunderbolt 1.
So, the connection chain will look like this
MBA TH 1 -> TH-2 cable -> TH-2 adapter to TH-3 -> eGPU enclosure -> Display port cable -> Monitor Displayport input.
I have seen this works on youtube videos. I want to buy enclosure what supports Thunderbolt 3 that i can use later on with newer mac.
right now, my picks are
Razer Core X
Sonnet Egfx Breakaway Box 550 W (Gpu-550 W-tb3) (i don't like the price)
macOS Big Sur, MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) CPU i7, RAM 8GB, Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 + ASUS Dual-RX580-08G, U4919DW
I went for Sonnet Gpu-550 W-tb3. Works well, but I want now GPU what don't need purge-wrangler
Is there any list what GPUs would work out of box with older Mac? I don't need to install purge-wrangler or any additional software. GPU will be recognized by mac.
I have MBA 13" mid 2013. Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box GPU-550W-TB3 + Asus RX 580 8GB. Works fine, but I have install purge-wrangler and disable Vault.
macOS Big Sur, MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) CPU i7, RAM 8GB, Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 + ASUS Dual-RX580-08G, U4919DW
@andu, i have the sonnet and love it, either of those should work fine though.
LG Gram 17 | Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 | Asus Strix RTX 2070 OC Edition | Win 10 Pro 20H2 + Fedora 32 Dual Boot
Build Link
2018 17" LG Gram 17 [8th,4C,U] + RTX 2070 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + Win10 [build link]
@odin, You are running it on Windows? I am running it on Mac OS.
Macbook Air 13", mid 2013 (macOS Catalina 10.15.16)
macOS Big Sur, MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) CPU i7, RAM 8GB, Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 + ASUS Dual-RX580-08G, U4919DW
@andu, I don't see why that would matter.
LG Gram 17 | Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 | Asus Strix RTX 2070 OC Edition | Win 10 Pro 20H2 + Fedora 32 Dual Boot
Build Link
2018 17" LG Gram 17 [8th,4C,U] + RTX 2070 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + Win10 [build link]
@odin, Yours runs without purge-wrangle? what GPU you are using?
I mean out of box. just connects and works.
macOS Big Sur, MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) CPU i7, RAM 8GB, Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 + ASUS Dual-RX580-08G, U4919DW
@andu, I don't use my eGPU on my MacBook, only my Gram 17. But you said you have an RX580 in the OP, why do you need purge wrangler for that doesn't a 580 have native support in macos?
LG Gram 17 | Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 | Asus Strix RTX 2070 OC Edition | Win 10 Pro 20H2 + Fedora 32 Dual Boot
Build Link
2018 17" LG Gram 17 [8th,4C,U] + RTX 2070 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (Sonnet Breakaway 550) + Win10 [build link]
@odin, Maybe because I have ASUS RX580, not some other company GPU like Sapphire or because I use old mac with over TB 1. But it did not recognized a eGPU without purge wrangler.
I think only few company RX are working out of box with mac.
macOS Big Sur, MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) CPU i7, RAM 8GB, Sonnet Breakaway Box 550 + ASUS Dual-RX580-08G, U4919DW
Is there any list what GPUs would work out of box with older Mac?
Not unless you use MVC’s flashed GPUs but I don’t know if they work on Catalina. PurgeWrangler doesn’t distinguish between GPU AIBs - only the chip matters. This should be clear/obvious from the documentation for it.
purge-wrangler ✧ tbt-flash ✧ purge-nvda ✧ set-eGPU
Insights Into macOS Video Editing Performance
Master Threads:
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]