Thunderbolt 3 is X4 a lane connection across PCIE 3.0. macOS is misreporting the the number. It's telling you the physical size of the slot (x16 lane slot) rather than the how many lanes of PCIE bandwidth has been negotiated.
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Catalina & eGPU...
- Thread starter SpitUK
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Thunderbolt 3 is X4 a lane connection across PCIE 3.0. macOS is misreporting the the number. It's telling you the physical size of the slot (x16 lane slot) rather than the how many lanes of PCIE bandwidth has been negotiated.
I ordered an RX 5700, owners of Vega and Navi that make good use before they decide to kill the support just as with the RX 570/580. And no, the Apple world is not Wonderland, we all had to spend more unnecessarily, it wasn't Apple that solved our problem (which she created)
I look at eGPU as a mixed blessing. I does allow us to change and update the GPU, But haven't Windows boxes allowed this for years?. I wish they would put proper GPU's in the machine to start. Even the most dedicated accountant would like to play a game or two on his laptop. (Or even more likely, Let the Kid play). The eGPU should extend the useable life of my Mac mini .. But I'm not sure if it is the most cost effective solution.
Well to be fair the Mini is their cheapest option, and the integrated graphics are more than adequate for most people...of course, the people on this thread aren't most people. I do software development for a living, and have to run a lot of virtual machines (using VMWare Fusion). The Mini doesn't have dedicated video ram, so honestly the only reason I have external graphics is so that my VMs don't chew up the Mini's main memory. Like you, I built a Windows PC that's strictly for games and VR stuff, and I think that honestly is the easiest route to go if you have a need for that stuff (if not necessarily the cheapest). All of my money-making work takes place on my Mac, and I don't think I'll have a need to upgrade it hopefully for at least as long as new Mac OS releases support it.
Before I had the Mini I had a Mac Pro 5,1. I purchased that machine way back in 2012, and only moved on because Catalina isn't supported on it without a hack. I'd love to get the new Mac Pro, but the price of that joker is more than a down payment on a new car.
This thread has been awesome. I'm glad we were able to narrow this down on our own. You guys take care.
I have to agree. The Mini, with max RAM and a beefy GPU really chews through the work, In my Spare Time, I edit vids for a few friends YouTube channels. Currently I am transcoding all of the James Bond Movies so when My Son and I go on Vacation, We will have them to watch on the iPad Pro. I am also torrenting some raw video files, chatting on Discord, and playing a bit of World Of Warcraft. All tasks simultaneously. I use Virtual Box for my VM's ( Just goof off stuff) And the eGPU really helps. Since Catalina went gold, and I switched to the Vega, This thing feels as snappy as an iMac Pro.. Granted Im using a 4k Monitor. I am sure the Pro is knock your socks off power, But I am Semi-Retired.. an extra 9.431% in transcoding time won't kill me LOL. And Yea This tread, Plus This forum has been great. I feel we could all meat up for a beer, and hit out off. Happy Sunday all, I'm half done with James Bond conversion 
With a mid-2017 Macbook Pro running Catalina, a Core X Chroma, and a Vega 56, I've been able to comfortably run low- to mid-demand games in macOS at 4K with settings maxed out (Imperator: Rome, WoW, etc). I have encountered a few crashes but they seem to be specific to Aspyr-wrapped games, so I'm guessing they've got some bugs to work out either with 64-bit support or AMD GPUs or both.
For Window sI do have to run rEFInd and keep the PCIE controller with the built-in Radeon disabled to avoid the dreaded Code 12, but I can get a reliable 40+ FPS runnng medium or higher settings at 1440p for the newest durned pretty games (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Control, etc). The fans are definitely going strong throughout, but I haven't run into any major problems beyond that.
One issue I have run into is that even though the Core X Chroma supposedly has a separate controller to pass through USB connections, I've definitely noticed intermittent input hitching during heavy gameplay for anything connected through it, while input devices hooked directly to the laptop work fine.
The other thing that I find particularly annoying is that Thunderbolt hubs apparently don't exist anywhere, so it's impossible to hook up Thunderbolt-based external storage without an additional cable running to the laptop. It also feels like a wasted opportunity that none of these enclosures have USB-C monitor output, but I don't know if that's a lack of design effort or if it's a technical limitation.
For Window sI do have to run rEFInd and keep the PCIE controller with the built-in Radeon disabled to avoid the dreaded Code 12, but I can get a reliable 40+ FPS runnng medium or higher settings at 1440p for the newest durned pretty games (Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Control, etc). The fans are definitely going strong throughout, but I haven't run into any major problems beyond that.
One issue I have run into is that even though the Core X Chroma supposedly has a separate controller to pass through USB connections, I've definitely noticed intermittent input hitching during heavy gameplay for anything connected through it, while input devices hooked directly to the laptop work fine.
The other thing that I find particularly annoying is that Thunderbolt hubs apparently don't exist anywhere, so it's impossible to hook up Thunderbolt-based external storage without an additional cable running to the laptop. It also feels like a wasted opportunity that none of these enclosures have USB-C monitor output, but I don't know if that's a lack of design effort or if it's a technical limitation.
This thread has been helpful...
I plan on purchasing a 6-core i7 Mac mini in a month or so and will need to add a lower-end eGPU — will be running two 4K monitors on it, likely both at scaled resolutions, which will likely choke the Intel graphics on it.
A 27” iMac would be more cost-effective, but I need something without built-in monitors as I’ll be connecting more than one computer to them (the Mac and a specialized PC for work).
I plan on purchasing a 6-core i7 Mac mini in a month or so and will need to add a lower-end eGPU — will be running two 4K monitors on it, likely both at scaled resolutions, which will likely choke the Intel graphics on it.
A 27” iMac would be more cost-effective, but I need something without built-in monitors as I’ll be connecting more than one computer to them (the Mac and a specialized PC for work).
I would Recommend an AMD Vega 56 as your lowest card that you would use. It absolutely flies at warp speed on the Mac mini. The prices are going down. I would stay away from 580'S And the like. I hope this helps.
Why is that? I don’t play any games, use Photoshop or do any video editing beyond maybe iMovie once or twice per year. None of my apps beyond the OS itself are really GPU-optimized. It’s just multitasking desktop apps — Office, Safari/Chrome, file management, maybe Pixelmator to resize & enhance a .jpg for PowerPoint, etc. Plus some screen and audio recording for making pre-recorded PowerPoint lectures with synced audio. I really just need something that won’t choke on two 4K monitors at various odd-multiple scaled high-DPI resolutions (like 2560x1440 high-DPI mode)... smooth window resizing, transitions, etc. Even the Core i7 might be overkill (still debating about just sticking with the six-core i5).
I was looking at the $399 Radeon 560 box offered on Apple’s website as a cheap upgrade from the mini’s Intel integrated graphics. Don’t think it’s up to the task?
Get your Mini and see if you need one or not. I do not believe you can upgrade a breakaway puck, so I would stay away from those. With a normal breakaway box, you can upgrade the graphics card. I have a 5700 in mine and it is great.
Easy, a 560 can push pixels to dual 4K monitors without any trouble. However I'd only get the Puck if you value compactness, purchasing through Apple, or are 100% certain you will never do gaming or video editing. Otherwise you can get twice the performance for the same price by slotting an RX 570-4GB card into a normal Sonnet Breakaway Box.
I've noticed a few posts like that. I'll have to spend some time pricing out a Vega 56 and a breakout box.
Sorry, I only had a short time to reply yesterday, I should have been clearer. I have a 580 and wow it was so bad with Catalina I had to stop using macOS for weeks. It made this Beta quite an adventure. The Vega56 worked first shot. I repurposed the 580 into a windows box, where it is humming happily.
I have to add a positive note for the Sonnet Boxes. They are well built, and pretty quiet. macOS has no problem recognizing it. They do allow you to upgrade your cards as time goes by. They keep a list of cards on the website. I hope that helps.
I have to add a positive note for the Sonnet Boxes. They are well built, and pretty quiet. macOS has no problem recognizing it. They do allow you to upgrade your cards as time goes by. They keep a list of cards on the website. I hope that helps.
Ok fellas, I'm just reporting back with my follow-up on my little experiment.
My wife's Mini was using an Akitio Node, Corsair SF600 PSU and an Asus Strix Vega 56.
I was curious about flashing the bios of the 56 with a Vega64 bios. I had read their were improvemeent on performance. Not giant, but performance improvements none the less for a few minutes of time.
Flashing GPU bios isn't something new for me as I've done it since back in the ATi Radeon X800 Pro / XT days.
Given that almost all Vegas come with dual BIOS there is not much risk outside of time if the flash didn't take properly.
So I downloaded the Asus Strix Vega 64 bios, the closest 64 bios to my 56. And literally in under 10 minutes, the 56 was flashed and running as a 64.
I put my Razer X / Radeon 7 50th Anniversary eGPU on my wife's computer to use and I put the "new" Vega64 on my iMac to play around with for the next week or two.
I had spinal surgery at the beginning of the week so my time at the desktop and testing has been quite limited and at the moment I can say the flash was a success. Zero issues.
I placed the card back in to the Akitio Node, connected my 4K monitor via DisplayPort, connected the Thunderbolt3 cable. Rebooted the iMac and the external screen came to life. A quick look in system report shows the card as a Vega64, benchmarks show the same info and benchmark results are showing just slightly higher results than the 56 Bios but slightly lower than my other real Vega64 card but I expected this as that 64 is a stock watercooled / stock overclocked card.
I have not been able to get in to many day to day or workflow performance numbers but it is doing what others have also discovered. Which is a slight bump in performance for about 10 minutes of work.
So would it be worth it for someone else to try ?
If "messing" with hardware causes you stress, probably not.
If you enjoy dabbling around with tech and feel comfortable with the process, I think you will enjoy the payoff.
If you just want as much performance from your current piece of hardware. It's beneficial.
I know some folks are uncomfortable with some of the processes and are completely content with what they have.
I am just one that enjoys doing things like this for my own personal reasons and pass on any knowledge and experience I pick up along the way for anyone else that may enjoy reading about it.
I enjoy reading about experiences others have as well with their own machines.
My wife's Mini was using an Akitio Node, Corsair SF600 PSU and an Asus Strix Vega 56.
I was curious about flashing the bios of the 56 with a Vega64 bios. I had read their were improvemeent on performance. Not giant, but performance improvements none the less for a few minutes of time.
Flashing GPU bios isn't something new for me as I've done it since back in the ATi Radeon X800 Pro / XT days.
Given that almost all Vegas come with dual BIOS there is not much risk outside of time if the flash didn't take properly.
So I downloaded the Asus Strix Vega 64 bios, the closest 64 bios to my 56. And literally in under 10 minutes, the 56 was flashed and running as a 64.
I put my Razer X / Radeon 7 50th Anniversary eGPU on my wife's computer to use and I put the "new" Vega64 on my iMac to play around with for the next week or two.
I had spinal surgery at the beginning of the week so my time at the desktop and testing has been quite limited and at the moment I can say the flash was a success. Zero issues.
I placed the card back in to the Akitio Node, connected my 4K monitor via DisplayPort, connected the Thunderbolt3 cable. Rebooted the iMac and the external screen came to life. A quick look in system report shows the card as a Vega64, benchmarks show the same info and benchmark results are showing just slightly higher results than the 56 Bios but slightly lower than my other real Vega64 card but I expected this as that 64 is a stock watercooled / stock overclocked card.
I have not been able to get in to many day to day or workflow performance numbers but it is doing what others have also discovered. Which is a slight bump in performance for about 10 minutes of work.
So would it be worth it for someone else to try ?
If "messing" with hardware causes you stress, probably not.
If you enjoy dabbling around with tech and feel comfortable with the process, I think you will enjoy the payoff.
If you just want as much performance from your current piece of hardware. It's beneficial.
I know some folks are uncomfortable with some of the processes and are completely content with what they have.
I am just one that enjoys doing things like this for my own personal reasons and pass on any knowledge and experience I pick up along the way for anyone else that may enjoy reading about it.
I enjoy reading about experiences others have as well with their own machines.
RX 5700
Although it works, you may notice momentary video loss if UHD HDMI Color is enabled on SmartTV's HDMI output.
And I noticed that the progress bar below the Apple logo remains static until we are presented with the login screen, so I'm using Thunderbolt ports that don't show the progress bar until they correct this further
Vega 56/64 users have the advantage of being able to return to Mojave when they wish
Although it works, you may notice momentary video loss if UHD HDMI Color is enabled on SmartTV's HDMI output.
And I noticed that the progress bar below the Apple logo remains static until we are presented with the login screen, so I'm using Thunderbolt ports that don't show the progress bar until they correct this further
Vega 56/64 users have the advantage of being able to return to Mojave when they wish
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Do you have any Geekbench 5 scores? Just curious as to what you are getting.