Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck questions

[EmmEff]

Hypothetically speaking, if I was to purchase the Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck for use with a 2018 MackBook Air, could I put the MBA in clamshell mode and connect two 4K displays to the puck? Would this give me satisfactory performance for everyday desktop tasks (no games or video editing; perhaps some light photo editing/viewing).

I am unclear about the need for applications to be eGPU enabled. In my hypothetical scenario, would the eGPU be used for displaying the desktops or would it use the built-in video?

TIA.

 

[spaceballl]

Hypothetically speaking, if I was to purchase the Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck for use with a 2018 MackBook Air, could I put the MBA in clamshell mode and connect two 4K displays to the puck? Would this give me satisfactory performance for everyday desktop tasks (no games or video editing; perhaps some light photo editing/viewing).

I am unclear about the need for applications to be eGPU enabled. In my hypothetical scenario, would the eGPU be used for displaying the desktops or would it use the built-in video?

TIA.

It would use the puck!

 

[mmomega]

Hypothetically speaking, if I was to purchase the Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck for use with a 2018 MackBook Air, could I put the MBA in clamshell mode and connect two 4K displays to the puck? Would this give me satisfactory performance for everyday desktop tasks (no games or video editing; perhaps some light photo editing/viewing).

I am unclear about the need for applications to be eGPU enabled. In my hypothetical scenario, would the eGPU be used for displaying the desktops or would it use the built-in video?

TIA.

My current home setup , slightly different than yours yet a tiny bit similar.
2018 MBP with a Sonnet Breakaway Box and 2 - 32" 4K monitors. In clamshell mode.
I also have the MacBook connected to a USB-C dock that gives me ethernet, and several USB ports and headphone jack for other devices, so I can unplug easily and walk away.

In that Breakaway Box though I have a Strix Vega 56 and at work the same monitors with the same eGPU but with a water-cooled Vega64.

My performance has been fairly solid, at work this is on a new Mac mini and not the MacBook.

 

[Painter2002]

My current home setup , slightly different than yours yet a tiny bit similar.
2018 MBP with a Sonnet Breakaway Box and 2 - 32" 4K monitors. In clamshell mode.
I also have the MacBook connected to a USB-C dock that gives me ethernet, and several USB ports and headphone jack for other devices, so I can unplug easily and walk away.

In that Breakaway Box though I have a Strix Vega 56 and at work the same monitors with the same eGPU but with a water-cooled Vega64.

My performance has been fairly solid, at work this is on a new Mac mini and not the MacBook.

Just curious, on your dock, is it a power supplied dock (like a Caldigit TS3)? I am getting a Razer Core X + RX580 for my 2017 13" MBP, and wondering if it will cause any issues if I have two power sources plugged in at the same time, since both the Core eGPU box and my Caldigit TS3 both can supply power to the MBP.

 

[mmomega]

Just curious, on your dock, is it a power supplied dock (like a Caldigit TS3)? I am getting a Razer Core X + RX580 for my 2017 13" MBP, and wondering if it will cause any issues if I have two power sources plugged in at the same time, since both the Core eGPU box and my Caldigit TS3 both can supply power to the MBP.

My dock is powered and my eGPU puts out power as well.
Just connect the first cable that outputs the most power first, your MacBook should make the charging sound, and then connect the other cable.

For me I connect my dock first as it outputs 87watts and then I connect my eGPU second, it only does 15w.
So if i do the eGPU first, the MacBook will die as it is using more power than the eGPU can output.

But no, two different power sources won't matter, the MacBook will only accept one of them.

 

[Painter2002]

My dock is powered and my eGPU puts out power as well.
Just connect the first cable that outputs the most power first, your MacBook should make the charging sound, and then connect the other cable.

For me I connect my dock first as it outputs 87watts and then I connect my eGPU second, it only does 15w.
So if i do the eGPU first, the MacBook will die as it is using more power than the eGPU can output.

But no, two different power sources won't matter, the MacBook will only accept one of them.

Thank you for sharing, that is good information to know! I will have to wait until next week when I get everything, and see exactly how much power the eGPU provides with the card installed to figure out if the dock or the eGPU provides more power.

 

[satinsilverem2]

I’m considering getting the breakaway puck. My current setup is a 2016 tbmbp connected to a caldigit ts3 with a dell 1440p monitor attached to it. I would like to place the puck in between the dock and monitor. I’m wondering if this will have an effect on the dock and e gpus performance. My other option is to place the dock on the right side TB ports and the egpu on the left as to keep them on separate busses and i know that the right side ports are only half speed. I would like to keep my single cable setup but am not opposed to using both sides if needed for optimum performance. Would this setup work for me?