So I have late 2020 Imac with Radeon Pro 5300 4GB which is barely sufficent for my 4k video editing needs. It runs well my 4k 10 bit footage, no issues but as soon I add color gradings performance degrades. Color grading is a tough operation for any machine and ideally you need a hi end cpu and video card, and I have a spare Radeon RX 580 8GB video card from my older PC. So I am thinking to build a Thunderbolt3 video card enclosure for RX580 but I am not sure if it worth the hassle as RX580 is not a great card nowadays and I cant find proper specs of Radeon Pro 5300 to compare.
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Imac27 2020 Radeon pro 5300 to RX580 swap for videoediting
- Thread starter Gettingintoit
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There really is not much to build. Look at an eGPU like the Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box.
Will say, you're likely better off adding more RAM to your machine if it is not max'd out vs. an eGPU, but that might be another topic.
Sell your iMac and buy a CTO model with RX5700 XT, or build a Hackintosh with an RX6800XT or 6900XT. Pricey but may serve your need.
Golden decade old rule for purchasing Apple Computers, - Always go for the highest end GPU possible and save as much as possible on the CPU. This way you always get a good balanced system. For your situation, go and sell the RX580 and some other stuff and put it towards a newer GPU that is actually faster than your 5300. There are tons of used eGPU boxes out there (with and without AMD cards), see if you can find at least a 5700XT or faster for it. Since GPU prices are sky high these days, you might look into a Vega56 BlackMagic All in one if you need a low noise solution. I have seen one a while ago for 600 which would be the price for the bare gpu card. It really depends on your local eBay market, your patience and your search capabilities on the web. Even a Sonnet Puck would work if you can get it cheap, which is possible because its not on the radar of the average Gamer crowd.