External graphics card

[belowgeek]

Hey Guys

Which of these do you think is the best external graphics card enclosure for MacBook pro 2016? And what do you think about them in general, do they really help, anybody has one?
https://www.gamingfactors.com/best-exte ... hics-card/

[Cattus_D]

Well, this is probably not the best place to ask about external graphics cards (techinferno is likely a better bet) but, yes, they work - provided that you plug them into a slot or port that has sufficient bandwidth. Thunderbolt 3 should do the trick, but mini-pcie connectors, for instance, put a brake on what the card can achieve. I recommend you read up on the options, especially since external graphics cards can be very expensive.

[developstopfix]

I actually just started looking into this myself, but for my 2012 Mac Mini. It only has Thunderbolt 1 so choice of enclosure and GPU are somewhat limited, but from what I've seen the AKiTiO enclosures are pretty popular. I was looking at the Thunder2 myself, but if you want to use a full-sized card you'll need something bigger or some modification of the enclosure. Also keep in mind that most higher-end cards will require a decent PSU to power them. The costs add up quickly and it gets to the point where you're almost better off just building a PC and sticking the card in that instead.

[Username.]

I have outfitted my Mac Mini 2012 with a thinder3 and a small size 1070 card. The slow thunderbolt on the mini is taking its toll but the performance shift is great. But a 970 card is as fast due to the slow TB.

The eGPU/eGFX scene will pick up lots of speed this autum and next year as many releases new solutions and far better native support.

You are welcome over at egpu.io

[fruitalgorithm]

Apple announced improved support for external GPUs just now at WWDC. Apple is releasing a development kit with a supported external enclosure with Thunderbolt 3. https://developer.apple.com/development ... -graphics/

Using Thunderbolt instead of PCI directly adds significant overhead. It can be reduced if the applications are smart about it. But external GPUs will never be as fast as internal ones.

Apple's introduction of their external GPU is worth watching starting at 28:00. (might need free registration to watch)
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2017/603/

[wobbled]

Apple announced improved support for external GPUs just now at WWDC. Apple is releasing a development kit with a supported external enclosure with Thunderbolt 3. https://developer.apple.com/development ... -graphics/

Using Thunderbolt instead of PCI directly adds significant overhead. It can be reduced if the applications are smart about it. But external GPUs will never be as fast as internal ones.

Apple's introduction of their external GPU is worth watching starting at 28:00. (might need free registration to watch)
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2017/603/

Problem is with the price of Apples laptops you might as well just buy a desktop PC with any GPU you want

[fruitalgorithm]

External GPU enclosures are always expensive. It doesn't matter if you're using a Mac or Windows laptop. Comparing to a desktop is missing the whole point of this.
You can have a powerful and very portable laptop for on the go usage and connect it to an eGPU when you're at home. No transferring of files or synchronisation necessary. If you want to do gaming then this isn't the right setup for you. Getting a gaming PC makes much more sense. If you're doing professional video work for example an external GPU is extremely useful. And then reliability is more important to you than buying the cheapest hardware. Apple's hardware might be expensive, but for a professional it pays for itself.

[wobbled]

External GPU enclosures are always expensive. It doesn't matter if you're using a Mac or Windows laptop. Comparing to a desktop is missing the whole point of this.
You can have a powerful and very portable laptop for on the go usage and connect it to an eGPU when you're at home. No transferring of files or synchronisation necessary. If you want to do gaming then this isn't the right setup for you. Getting a gaming PC makes much more sense. If you're doing professional video work for example an external GPU is extremely useful. And then reliability is more important to you than buying the cheapest hardware. Apple's hardware might be expensive, but for a professional it pays for itself.

Eh I've always considered external GPU's a bit of a mess, to me it makes more sense to have a powerful desktop PC to handle the more demanding tasks and an ultrabook for doing things on the go. Video editing really isn't as demanding as people like to think it is so any decent spec'd £1000 laptop would do that job perfectly fine.

[Username.]

External GPU enclosures are always expensive. It doesn't matter if you're using a Mac or Windows laptop. Comparing to a desktop is missing the whole point of this.
You can have a powerful and very portable laptop for on the go usage and connect it to an eGPU when you're at home. No transferring of files or synchronisation necessary. If you want to do gaming then this isn't the right setup for you. Getting a gaming PC makes much more sense. If you're doing professional video work for example an external GPU is extremely useful. And then reliability is more important to you than buying the cheapest hardware. Apple's hardware might be expensive, but for a professional it pays for itself.

Eh I've always considered external GPU's a bit of a mess, to me it makes more sense to have a powerful desktop PC to handle the more demanding tasks and an ultrabook for doing things on the go. Video editing really isn't as demanding as people like to think it is so any decent spec'd £1000 laptop would do that job perfectly fine.

Many users is searching for a mobile solution where they can move between a laptop like MacBook Pro or Air when traveling or when you work on location. And then connect a compact box to enable better hardware video compression or photo export. Some even outfit external cubic boxes with 4 graphics cards for use for wpa/wpa2 computer forensics.

With the newly released Mantiz Venus you get a fully powered box to place on the floor or hide away, connected to a MacBook Pro or Windows laptop with a single cable. The cable provide charging, USB 3 connectivity, gigabit Ethernet, sata internal storage as well as eGPU power.

It brings graphics and processing power life into both older and current computers which lack these options otherwise.

[wobbled]

External GPU enclosures are always expensive. It doesn't matter if you're using a Mac or Windows laptop. Comparing to a desktop is missing the whole point of this.
You can have a powerful and very portable laptop for on the go usage and connect it to an eGPU when you're at home. No transferring of files or synchronisation necessary. If you want to do gaming then this isn't the right setup for you. Getting a gaming PC makes much more sense. If you're doing professional video work for example an external GPU is extremely useful. And then reliability is more important to you than buying the cheapest hardware. Apple's hardware might be expensive, but for a professional it pays for itself.

Eh I've always considered external GPU's a bit of a mess, to me it makes more sense to have a powerful desktop PC to handle the more demanding tasks and an ultrabook for doing things on the go. Video editing really isn't as demanding as people like to think it is so any decent spec'd £1000 laptop would do that job perfectly fine.

Many users is searching for a mobile solution where they can move between a laptop like MacBook Pro or Air when traveling or when you work on location. And then connect a compact box to enable better hardware video compression or photo export. Some even outfit external cubic boxes with 4 graphics cards for use for wpa/wpa2 computer forensics.

With the newly released Mantiz Venus you get a fully powered box to place on the floor or hide away, connected to a MacBook Pro or Windows laptop with a single cable. The cable provide charging, USB 3 connectivity, gigabit Ethernet, sata internal storage as well as eGPU power.

It brings graphics and processing power life into both older and current computers which lack these options otherwise.

I get that there's a market for these, but I've found it to be far more cost effective to run separate systems. One as an every day laptop and a desktop that you can build yourself. Once GPU's become less power consuming and more compact, then I think we'll truly see E-GPU's take off but until then for most people two seperate systems is far more straight forward.

[fruitalgorithm]

If you only count initial acquisition costs, then separate systems are cheaper. They do cost you more in time very quickly. You have to maintain, administrate, update two systems. Data has to be synchronised back and forth between two systems. This additional cost in time will cost more very quickly than the couple of hundred you pay for an external GPU box. It's only cheaper if you have an unlimited amount of time or work for free.

For an employer of highly skilled workers the cost of computer hardware is minute compared to wage and other costs for an employee.

[wobbled]

If you rely on a laptop for everything then you'll probably find that will require more money in terms of upgrading and maintaining due to the fact they have no update path. If you bought say an i5 desktop for example with a quadro or high end gtx series cards you've got the upgrade path to move over to a core i7 or Xeon if you need it and you've got the option to upgrade the graphics card without worrying about whether your external connection will be able to handle the bandwidth to make the gpu upgrade worthwhile. The upgrade of individual components (which is not possible on most laptops) is far more cost effective than buying a brand new laptop every 3-5 years. Because you've gone the route of having a high end desktop and regular laptop they'll both do what they were intended to do for a much longer length of time. Laptops are extremely limited in so many ways, I'd personally never use one as my main machine. Not unless they become as modular as a deskto but if it works for you that's all that matters.

[Ace]

Laptops are extremely limited in so many ways, I'd personally never use one as my main machine. Not unless they become as modular as a deskto but if it works for you that's all that matters.

That's what I love about Thunderbolt 3. It's getting us so much closer to the dream of a modular laptop. Of course, no modular Thunderbolt accessories are internal, so it's not great for someone who needs a ton of power and usability on the road. And then again, we are taking steps in the opposite direction too, with additions like soldered on RAM and SSDs...