eGPU and Sierra 10.12.5 - how goes it?

[Daniel Reed]

Besides the Nvidia web driver issue, how are AMD Radeon 480/580 cards holding up?

I'm running a vanilla install of 10.12.3 atm, looking to combo update to 10.12.5, and re-do a RX480 egpu on a nMP/d700/12c for extra resources to handle noise reduction passes in neatvideo for 6K video work.

What's the best process now for AMD?
theITSage has a great writeup, does it still apply for 10.12.5?
https://www.theitsage.com/beginners-egpu-setup-guide-mac/

Thanks all & Cheers

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Good question, it's not a foregone conclusion that the Titan would crush it. How does FCPX work - are you able to choose which GPUs to use? And if so, are you looking at aggregate performance (D700s + eGPU) or strictly eGPU?

 

[Daniel Reed]

Good question, it's not a foregone conclusion that the Titan would crush it. How does FCPX work - are you able to choose which GPUs to use? And if so, are you looking at aggregate performance (D700s + eGPU) or strictly eGPU?

dual D700 completely crushes eGPU RX480 and is substantially better then maxwell titan-X for what i do

Yes, I'm able to choose what GPUs I want for neatvideo. my intent is to leave the D700s on for everything else, and just use the RX480 for neatvideo...

I have several GPU boards laying around here, my real concern is about the best current eGPU setup process (have done it several times before)

My main pointed question is:
how(if at all) has the eGPU process changed since 10.12.3 for AMD and nVidia as eGPUs?

 

[Yahooligan]

No complaints here with nMP + Sierra 10.12.5 + AKiTiO Node + GTX 1080 Ti.

Disable SIP, run the automate-egpu.sh script which grabs the latest web driver (Nvidia driver for 10.12.5 was released yesterday), reboot, done. It was amazingly simple.

My main issue is with bootcamped Win10, I can't get the eGPU to show up there at all. No input on an AMD eGPU, sorry.

 

[Mr Dobey]

No complaints here with nMP + Sierra 10.12.5 + AKiTiO Node + GTX 1080 Ti.View attachment 700174
Disable SIP, run the automate-egpu.sh script which grabs the latest web driver (Nvidia driver for 10.12.5 was released yesterday), reboot, done. It was amazingly simple.

My main issue is with bootcamped Win10, I can't get the eGPU to show up there at all. No input on an AMD eGPU, sorry.

any change you are running DaVinci Resolve 14 Beta?

 

[Yahooligan]

any change you are running DaVinci Resolve 14 Beta?

I do have it installed, but I haven't done much with it yet. I've been using FCPX for years and downloaded the Beta some weeks back. Is there anything you'd like me to do/check? Keep in mind I'm a complete Resolve noob, so provide as much detail as possible.

 

[turbineseaplane]

My main issue is with bootcamped Win10, I can't get the eGPU to show up there at all. No input on an AMD eGPU, sorry.

Really?
You're kidding?

I thought the Windows side was basically fully plug and play, at least from what I seem to gather reading stuff at the forum on http://egpu.io

 

[Yahooligan]

Really?
You're kidding?

I thought the Windows side was basically fully plug and play, at least from what I seem to gather reading stuff at the forum on http://egpu.io

No kidding. There are workarounds for the MacBook Pro to use the eGPU via Windows boot camp but no such thing exists for the Mac Pro. I was hoping it would be easy, but nope. The only people that have been able to get it working won't say how they did it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@Yahooligan Wow - That totally blows man - Sorry to hear that.

 

[Yahooligan]

@Yahooligan Wow - That totally blows man - Sorry to hear that.

It's a bummer but not what I was really getting it for. Works in macOS and I have a Win10 laptop with a TB2 port that it works with if I really want or need to use it with Windows. Or I build a Hackintosh. I'll make do.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Or I build a Hackintosh

I'm actually getting close to nuking my Hack in favor of a laptop + eGPU I think.

One thing I miss about laptop Mac life is the resale value that allows staying with the trends and newer stuff. I don't really have a use case that requires power in line with Mac Pro/Xeon levels

 

[Yahooligan]

I'm actually getting close to nuking my Hack in favor of a laptop + eGPU I think.

One thing I miss about laptop Mac life is the resale value that allows staying with the trends and newer stuff. I don't really have a use case that requires power in line with Mac Pro/Xeon levels

I'm moving the opposite direction, I went to laptops as desktop replacements for the past 6 years or so but ended up not caring about or needing the portability and have been left with laptops that couldn't be upgraded, except for the last ASUS one I bought 3 years ago which has a TB2 port. I've also been getting tired of the cooling issues, loud fans, etc associated with laptops under load.

So, I'm heading back to desktop/workstation form factor and upgrading parts as-needed.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm moving the opposite direction, I went to laptops as desktop replacements for the past 6 years or so but ended up not caring about or needing the portability and have been left with laptops that couldn't be upgraded, except for the last ASUS one I bought 3 years ago which has a TB2 port. I've also been getting tired of the cooling issues, loud fans, etc associated with laptops under load.

So, I'm heading back to desktop/workstation form factor and upgrading parts as-needed.

Ha - Funny how it works over time isn't it?

One thing that does suck about Hack world is the cost of even trying to compete on the speed of storage that Apple now offers. Their SSD's are simply world class leading and it's just not feasible on Hacks.

If no portability is needed or desired, I can totally see why you're heading the way you're heading though.

For me I've just becomed bummed about lack of resale value - I'm also not convinced that doing Hacks will be something that's possible in a couple years depending upon what Apple does.

The more they do their own Silicon across products, the more I think they may end up doing something like that one desktop eventually.
[doublepost=1495213519][/doublepost]@Yahooligan

So are you building a Hack now?
I'm sort of curious what your build looks like if so.

I've done about 5-6 of them over the years.

 

[Yahooligan]

Hmmm, the popular Z170 boards have 1 or 2 M.2 SSD slots, one decent M.2 SSD can do 1.5GB-2GB/s. The 2016 MBP does 2-3GB/s, which is a huge difference on paper but in reality do you think it will make a difference to anyone other than folks that only care about benchmark results? I don't think so. My nMP is an older one with the "slow" SSD, which is still plenty fast at 700-800MB/s or so. Folks have done timed tests with common tasks, like booting, importing video, transcoding, loading apps, etc. There are only specific instances where the faster SSD actually makes a noticeable difference.

Lately I've been flip-flopping with Macs and where I want to go. On the one hand, if eGPUs on my nMP weren't disabled in bootcamp then I'd be super happy. This problem with the eGPU w/ bootcamped Win10 is annoying me, not because it's my only Win10 option but because it's more stupid crippling by Apple. If the mMP end up being great then I'll probably stick with Macs, if Apple screws it up then I won't be buying any new Mac hardware and will build my own. If macOS ends up being locked down to Apple-only hardware then my next transition will be to a Linux + Win setup. My job is working with Linux, but it still makes a pretty awful desktop for certain things. macOS + iTerm2 + tmux is the best way to manage Linux boxes.

Comes down to me using what works best for my needs, if Apple keeps not meeting my needs then I'll go somewhere else.

Aaaand now we're really off-topic. My bad, OP.

 

[turbineseaplane]

My job is working with Linux

That sort of sums it up.
I basically will leave macOS only when they absolutely force me too.

Good points about storage except the old problem with all desktops/hacks is when you want to update to something totally revolutionary across the board, you are left with needing to grab a whole new MoBo and redo the build and all the compatibility problems that brings (iMessage activation, Rom & Serial matching, etc).

My current hack is mostly flawless - But getting old at this point. That's my main bummer. Hack's aren't actually as upgradeable in all areas as we'd all hope. Some changes like I/O really end up requiring new builds mostly and the old parts have nowhere near the resale value of Macs you can sell "whole".

Anyways - sorry for topic version - my fault

 

[PowerMike G5]

dual D700 completely crushes eGPU RX480 and is substantially better then maxwell titan-X for what i do

Yes, I'm able to choose what GPUs I want for neatvideo. my intent is to leave the D700s on for everything else, and just use the RX480 for neatvideo...

I have several GPU boards laying around here, my real concern is about the best current eGPU setup process (have done it several times before)

My main pointed question is:
how(if at all) has the eGPU process changed since 10.12.3 for AMD and nVidia as eGPUs?

Interesting. I use a lot of NeatVideo on 4K footage with my 12-core 3.46 cMP/Titan X Maxwell combo.

What is your max fps you are getting with NeatVideo with your current CPU/dual D700 setup? I know they optimized the plugin for AMD lately, so I'd love to know if there have been great performance increases.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Interesting. I use a lot of NeatVideo on 4K footage with my 12-core 3.46 cMP/Titan X Maxwell combo.

What is your max fps you are getting with NeatVideo with your current CPU/dual D700 setup? I know they optimized the plugin for AMD lately, so I'd love to know if there have been great performance increases.

This right here is the question. You guys please post benchmarks.

 

[PowerMike G5]

Here's my benchmarks on my system. I used Neatvideo's built-in 'Optimize performance setting' feature to see what combination of CPU cores/GPU would run fastest.

Note that I use Adobe Premiere Pro and not FCPX. This is the latest Adobe CC version.