M1 Pro / Max EGPU???

[ginstergti97]

so bummed they didn't mention anything about this. its 2x the AMD 5600 not that impressive at max GPU cores. Cant believe they have AMD 6900 support for Mac Pro and dont have a thunderbolt EGPU option for this card to make the laptop docked even more "pro". Anyone heard anything different?

 

[rawweb]

I was slightly hopeful, but I think eGPU is a dead solution. Apple silicone is clearly at pace with the competition. I had a 16" 5600m intel I sold a few weeks ago. I also had a Blackmagic eGPU Pro Vega 56. The 5600m was so good I stopped bothering with the eGPU when I bought that intel 16. I think these new notebooks will put eGPU's/TB3 throughput to shame. If apple's benchmarks are to be believed, it sounds like my new 32-c GPU will do circles around last years dGPU 5600m.

I need to sell my BlackMagic Pro! If I still have it when the new 16" arrives, I'll try it, but I'm sure it still universal AMD kexts will still be missing.

 

[ShinySteelRobot]

That's disappointing. I have a Vega 64 eGPU that performs well with my i9 MBP 2018. Was hoping to continue using it when I upgraded to the latest MBP. ?

Of course if it turns out that the M1 Max graphics are competitive with a Vega 64 I'll change my tune (even in the same ballpark would be nice). Will have to wait for real world benchmarks I guess...

 

[ekwipt]

Has anyone searched the beta RC for any eGPU support?

 

[arobert3434]

I was slightly hopeful, but I think eGPU is a dead solution. Apple silicone is clearly at pace with the competition. I had a 16" 5600m intel I sold a few weeks ago. I also had a Blackmagic eGPU Pro Vega 56. The 5600m was so good I stopped bothering with the eGPU when I bought that intel 16. I think these new notebooks will put eGPU's/TB3 throughput to shame. If apple's benchmarks are to be believed, it sounds like my new 32-c GPU will do circles around last years dGPU 5600m.

I need to sell my BlackMagic Pro! If I still have it when the new 16" arrives, I'll try it, but I'm sure it still universal AMD kexts will still be missing.

Well, the Vega 56 is not anything special. If you'd had a 6800 XT in that baby you'd have had a different experience. And that's part of the point – you can actually upgrade an eGPU as time goes on and technology continues to leap forward, without needing to invest in a new laptop. The 6800 is almost 2x faster than the top-of-the-line M1 Max today, likely 3x will be available in a couple of years before the next-generation M machines are even out.

That said, if your workflows don't benefit from that kind of grunt the low power/heat and convenience of the M1 GPUs with excellent performance is a winner!

 

[stevemiller]

That's disappointing. I have a Vega 64 eGPU that performs well with my i9 MBP 2018. Was hoping to continue using it when I upgraded to the latest MBP. ?

Of course if it turns out that the M1 Max graphics are competitive with a Vega 64 I'll change my tune (even in the same ballpark would be nice). Will have to wait for real world benchmarks I guess...

i've got at 2018 i7 and a vega64. in my own experience its been a lot of frustration thats only gotten worse over time.

between crashes, boot issues and spotty software software support, i think id just prefer a proper built in solution. and at this point, i'm hoping the m1 max will still represent a decent performance boost over my current setup.

that said, i'm waiting till some people get a hold of the m1 max hardware and start posting post real world results with the type of 3d work i do before i pull the trigger.

 

[rawweb]

Well, the Vega 56 is not anything special. If you'd had a 6800 XT in that baby you'd have had a different experience. And that's part of the point – you can actually upgrade an eGPU as time goes on and technology continues to leap forward, without needing to invest in a new laptop. The 6800 is almost 2x faster than the top-of-the-line M1 Max today, likely 3x will be available in a couple of years before the next-generation M machines are even out.

That said, if your workflows don't benefit from that kind of grunt the low power/heat and convenience of the M1 GPUs with excellent performance is a winner!

I don't disagree. Unfortunately my experience with eGPU was all over the place. I invested heavily on the workflow back in 2016/17, before official support was even out there. Back then I was seeing decent gains. Eventually I picked up the BMPro for my 5k Ultrafine and eventual XDR (for driving a TB display). The Vega56 wasn't a bad card at all, especially when I bought it new. So it WAS special . I particularly liked the fast 8GB of HBM2 vram. I had it working fine in bootcamp for games, but when I upgraded to the 16" 5600m, eGPU just wasn't worth the trouble, for me.

The main problem I had was my workflow. Adobe Premiere Pro has a bug that makes video playback lag and skip frames if you're using a eGPU equipped with a hiDPI screen (tried with LG 5k and latter a XDR). After a year or so in the Adobe forums it was clear they don't care to fix the problem. I could get it to go away if I shrink the window in half or if the app was forced to open in 'low resolution'. The problem also existed with my Mantis Venus eGPU and various cards. If my job would let me work in Resolve, I think I'd still be lovin' my old eGPU setup. We'll see if my gamble on M1 Max pays off...

 

[dikey]

I like eGPU and my graphics cards.

I can upgrade my eGPU closure、graphics card or monitor individually.

An anti-glare 27 inch monitor @4K 120/144hz worth more than the M1 Mac's.

It's just so pity that there's no eGPU support anymore, and it's hard for me to make a decision what to upgrade.

I just want a AMD 5800H/Intel 12th liked performance Intel CPU mac and pair it with eGPU.