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eGPU succes

Redneck1089 said:
So I could literally buy a Node, plug it in, and use it on Windows now?
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Well, it works just fine on a dedicated Windows PC. I've tried the Asus ROG and it's been pretty much plug and play on an Intel Nuc (which has TB3) and using the Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter on a HPZ840. Don't think it will be any different with the Akitio Node. One caveat though, getting it to work on a Mac running Windows might prove more difficult.
 
jclmavg said:
Well, it works just fine on a dedicated Windows PC. I've tried the Asus ROG and it's been pretty much plug and play on an Intel Nuc (which has TB3) and using the Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter on a HPZ840. Don't think it will be any different with the Akitio Node. One caveat though, getting it to work on a Mac running Windows might prove more difficult.
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Anyone considering this should give this a read (as well as spend some time over on that site in general).

https://egpu.io/setup-guide-external-graphics-card-mac/

Granted, the Windows example is using a TB3 MBP, but it works. The main concerns with eGPUs seem to be around what controller/firmware the enclosure has so as long as you use on of the enclosures that has been shown to work then you shouldn't have much to worry about. I went with the Node because of the price, the controller, and the fact that it comes with a PSU capable of powering pretty much anything.
 
Yahooligan said:
Anyone considering this should give this a read (as well as spend some time over on that site in general).

https://egpu.io/setup-guide-external-graphics-card-mac/

Granted, the Windows example is using a TB3 MBP, but it works. The main concerns with eGPUs seem to be around what controller/firmware the enclosure has so as long as you use on of the enclosures that has been shown to work then you shouldn't have much to worry about. I went with the Node because of the price, the controller, and the fact that it comes with a PSU capable of powering pretty much anything.
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Anyone planning to get a eGPU should read that site. Some Apple computers, including the nMP I think, have problems getting the eGPU to work under bootcamp. So if someone is planning to do just that they better check first to see if it is working for others.
 
jclmavg said:
Anyone planning to get a eGPU should read that site. Some Apple computers, including the nMP I think, have problems getting the eGPU to work under bootcamp. So if someone is planning to do just that they better check first to see if it is working for others.
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Looking through the implementations table I see mostly MBPs with a peppering of Minis and iMacs, no nMP listed. However, in the forums there are some posting up...but I haven't come across any regarding Bootcamp yet.

Some things to keep in mind...

- The Node will probably need a firmware update and this requires a proper TB3 computer or shipping the TB3 board to California for a free firmware update. :(
- The eGPU will likely need to be plugged into TB port 5 or 6 to work right.

Just what I've read in preparation, so I can't say if either or both of these are absolutely necessary.
 
Yahooligan said:
- The Node will probably need a firmware update and this requires a proper TB3 computer or shipping the TB3 board to California for a free firmware update. :(
- The eGPU will likely need to be plugged into TB port 5 or 6 to work right.

Just what I've read in preparation, so I can't say if either or both of these are absolutely necessary.
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I can confirm both. The eGPU does indeed only work in the 5th and 6th TB ports of the nMP. Why the others won't work, I dunno.

If you don't have access to (someone with) a TB3 computer that might be a problem if you need to update firmware. No away around that I'm afraid.
 
There are a lot of confusions about what works and what doesn't. Simply because eGPU implementation for Mac is very much a trial and error process. I've tried pairing a lot of Macs (except for iMacs) with eGPU enclosures.

The easiest ones to get going are integrated-GPU-only Macs. iGPU + dGPU Macs are not bad in Mac OS but in Windows the Apple firmwares disable the iGPU by default. Therefore you'll likely encounter error 12 due to resource allocation conflict between dGPU and eGPU.

In the case of the nMP, it has no iGPU. The dual FirePro setup makes it more challenging. I'm able to connect the eGPU to Thunderbolt ports other than 5 and 6. The trick is a boot delay in which you wait for the boot chime to finish, count to 3 then plug the cable in/power the enclosure on.

sonnet-breakaway-rx-580-egpu-mac-pro.jpg
 
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theitsage said:
There are a lot of confusions about what works and what doesn't. Simply because eGPU implementation for Mac is very much a trial and error process. I've tried pairing a lot of Macs (except for iMacs) with eGPU enclosures.

The easiest ones to get going are integrated-GPU-only Macs. iGPU + dGPU Macs are not bad in Mac OS but in Windows the Apple firmwares disable the iGPU by default. Therefore you'll likely encounter error 12 due to resource allocation conflict between dGPU and eGPU.

In the case of the nMP, it has no iGPU. The dual FirePro setup makes it more challenging. I'm able to connect the eGPU to Thunderbolt ports other than 5 and 6. The trick is a boot delay in which you wait for the boot chime to finish, count to 3 then plug the cable in/power the enclosure on.

sonnet-breakaway-rx-580-egpu-mac-pro.jpg
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Thanks for the response. So ports other than 5 and 6 with a three second delay should work for Windows?
 
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I did my 5k iMac + 980Ti +Akitio Thunder2 last year around Feb and it ended up ok.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/late-2015-imac-5k-r9-395x-gtx980ti-egpu.1957652/#post-22599822

I tried that same setup on my Mac Pro and it half-worked but I depend on that machine being fairly rock solid at my office and I just didn't invest the same amount of time into figuring out why, which now after reading where you said to use the last Thunderbolt ports so this was probably the culprit.
Had it running on a 2014 Mac Mini as well which was super easy to setup.
I was 'ok' with the performance but not as happy as knowing I had one of the most powerful GPU's on the market and it was performing decently.
This was when I looked into a hackintosh just for home use.

So at the time I had the 5k iMac, 6700K, r395x so I gifted that to my wife and built a hackintosh, ended up gifting that one to my son and now have the hackintosh I am currently using.
 
Well, I'll be stoked if this all works and is stable. $1,100 all-in isn't bad for what can be gained, the bulk of that cost being the 1080Ti which I can and will find a use for even if this project fails. I may even consider going from my nMP back to an MBP if Apple finally decides to offer one with 32GB memory. My uses are largely GPU-bound, CPU only becomes an issue when transcoding and the impact is just waiting longer for a job to finish.

Building a Hackintosh is at the bottom of my list simply because I don't want to have to tinker or do anything specific to just get macOS running properly and stable, nothing is more frustrating than a computer that randomly crashes.
 
I'll definitely be watching this thread with interest. If I could get an eGPU working with my nMP in both Windows and in MacOS I would be able to sell my cMP. It would safe a lot of space and be more convenient!
 
You like Mac OS work and also boot camp into windows 10, and enjoying best graphics cards recently provided, I'd suggest you keep the cMP and upgrade it, especially now Nvidia supports Mac driver. You have both OS with currently best GPU available. No matter what game at 4K, it delivers in windows. If you like, cMP can put in 3 double wide GPUs. At least 2 cards you can put in cMP if you don't want to touch the extra power needed for the 3rd. With nMP + eGPU box, it won't save you much space.

3 GPUs:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ultimate-mac-pro-5-1-mod-for-triple-titan-x.2043646/
 
Yahooligan said:
- The eGPU will likely need to be plugged into TB port 5 or 6 to work right.
Click to expand...

According to this advice: the nMP is booting now without any problem and the eGPU works fine. I read some articles before buying the Akitio Node and the GTX 980 (Thanks to theitsage!). But TB 5 or 6 was new for me... Thanks for this info too.

theitsage said:
In the case of the nMP, it has no iGPU. The dual FirePro setup makes it more challenging. I'm able to connect the eGPU to Thunderbolt ports other than 5 and 6. The trick is a boot delay in which you wait for the boot chime to finish, count to 3 then plug the cable in/power the enclosure on.
Click to expand...

This is the explanation for the random problems booting nMP with eGPU turned on. If I was to fast, nMP hangs at boot, if I was to slow it seems the driver did not load...

The results of the GTX 980 Ti Hybrid attached to nMP (average is approx. 125) in OctaneBench:
GTX.png
 
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This is killing me. The 1080Ti arrived yesterday and the Node is sitting at UPS 30 minutes away. Will be here Monday instead of Wednesday, though, so that's good.
 
And here it is! It really was very simple, the only head-scratching part was the DP port I plugged my cable into didn't become active, so I plugged the cable into a different port on the card and boom, works.

Time to run some benchmarks, methinks.
Screen Shot 2017-05-15 at 11.39.50 PM.png

[doublepost=1494910657][/doublepost]

EDIT!!!: I messed up and had v-sync enabled in Valley. See my post later in this thread for the better results.

Pretty awesome so far. :) I don't have the paid version of Geekbench so I can't test Metal with that and OpenCL chokes with the web driver (Known issue).

Screen Shot 2017-05-15 at 11.52.13 PM.png
 
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Yahooligan said:
And here it is! It really was very simple, the only head-scratching part was the DP port I plugged my cable into didn't become active, so I plugged the cable into a different port on the card and boom, works.

Time to run some benchmarks, methinks.
View attachment 699861
[doublepost=1494910657][/doublepost]Pretty awesome so far. :) I don't have the paid version of Geekbench so I can't test Metal with that and OpenCL chokes with the web driver (Known issue).

View attachment 699863
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Awesome!

Can you test to see if it works with Windows when you get a chance?
 
Boot delay will do the trick. Wait for the boot chime to end, count to 3 then introduce the eGPUs to your nMP.
 
I've been using an RX 580 eGPU connected to Thunderbolt bus 1, Port 1. The boot delay I described works great.
 
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