MP All Models Using a Radeon Vega (or suggestions) as mobile eGPU station to process video for 4 macs

[EvilMonk]

Hey guys.
I got a Mac Pro 2013 I’m upgrading to 12 cores 64 Gb and a Razer Core X eGPU enclosure.
Now I’m looking at either a RX 6800 XT (which would make it impossible to use on my 12 cores Mac Pro 2012 with Thunderbolt) or a second hand Radeon Vega 64. (That way I can use it on my 2013 MBP, my 2018 MacBook Air, my 2012 Mac Pro and my 2013 Mac Pro…)
Do you guy have other ideas of GPUs I may have forgot? Maybe a RX 5700 XT? Thanks ?

 

[tsialex]

Radeon VII, Radeon VEGA FE, FirePros, the various WX models…

Anything newer than NAVI1x will not work with the factory firmware with a MacPro5,1, but will with your newer Macs.

 

[EvilMonk]

Radeon VII, Radeon VEGA FE, FirePros, the various WX models…

Anything newer than NAVI1x will not work with the factory firmware with a MacPro5,1, but will with your newer Macs.

Thanks Alex, you know if it will work faster on the MP 5,1 with thunderbolt if I had a Radeon VII than using my internal RX 580? The thunderbolt 3 isn’t operating at full speed right? Of all my computers only the MacBook Air 2018 has a native Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller at 40Gb?

 

[tsialex]

Thanks Alex, you know if it will work faster on the MP 5,1 with thunderbolt if I had a Radeon VII than using my internal RX 580?

Even on a slower interconnection, you will have significant performance gains with newer GPUs, especially for Compute or VideoToolbox operations.

Btw, it will be an interesting benchmark to see how much the slower interconnection and the TB overhead will affect the GPU performance with a MacPro5,1.

The thunderbolt 3 isn’t operating at full speed right?

On a MacPro5,1 and MacPro6,1? Both have just 4 lanes PCIe v2.0 available for the TB3 controller (exactly half the PCIe bandwidth of PCIe v3.0 that TitanRidge supports). MacPro6,1 have a little less bandwidth than MacPro5,1.

Of all my computers only the MacBook Air 2018 has a native Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller at 40Gb?

I don't recall exactly what is the Air TB configuration from memory, but seems right. You should confirm it.

 

[EvilMonk]

Even on a slower interconnection, you will have significant performance gains with newer GPUs, especially for Compute or VideoToolbox operations.

Btw, it will be an interesting benchmark to see how much the slower interconnection and the TB overhead will affect the GPU performance with a MacPro5,1.


On a MacPro5,1 and MacPro6,1? Both have just 4 lanes PCIe v2.0 available for the TB3 controller. MacPro6,1 have a little less bandwidth than MacPro5,1.


I don't recall exactly what is the Air TB configuration from memory, but seems right. You should confirm it.

I really can’t wait to benchmark the difference in performance thunderbolt has compared to an internal PCIe 2.0 x16 in the Mac Pro 2012.

I was wondering about that point…
So the Mac Pro 2013 has a slower thunderbolt (2.0 full speed) than the Mac Pro 5,1 limited by a PCIe 2.0 bus connection?

About the MacBook Air 2018, I did a lot of work and troubleshooting on mine with OpenCore to get my Sonnet eGFX RX 560 puck TB3 to work as primary GPU while disabling the intel UHD iGPU and with Hackintool and OCC it reported a Titan Ridge controller…

Honestly I kinda regret getting a MacBook Pro M1 Max 32C/32G/1Tb and a Mac Mini M1 16/1Tb…

I am having so much fun lately modding my Intel Macs I would have bought a Mac Pro 7,1 instead to mod it…

 

[tsialex]

So the Mac Pro 2013 has a slower thunderbolt (2.0 full speed) than the Mac Pro 5,1 limited by a PCIe 2.0 bus connection?

MacPro6,1 have contention issues, too much things connected, too little PCIe lanes:

 

[EvilMonk]

MacPro6,1 have contention issues, too much things connected, too little PCIe lanes:

Thank you so much for showing me this, I had no idea ? it’s so sad that a professional workstation of that level has such a performance issue…
(well I can’t say Apple surprises me anymore… I had a PowerMac G5, a PowerBook G4 1.67 DL-Superdrive DDR2, an iPhone 4S and an iPad 2 replaced for hidden manufacturing defects under Canadian Consumers Protections Office)
It’s really sad though, it’s my uncle old Mac, he paid almost $10 000 CDN for the machine back in 2013 when he got it new (8 cores 3Ghz, 32 Gb, 1 Tb Apple SSD, Dual AMD D700 6Gb and Apple TB display 27”) and the machine has an issue like that… well I’m not going to throw it away but I just wish Apple would stop making computers partially for a premium price if you get my point?

 

[tsialex]

Thank you so much for showing me this, I had no idea ? it’s so sad that a professional workstation of that level has such a performance issue…
(well I can’t say Apple surprises me anymore… I had a PowerMac G5, a PowerBook G4 1.67 DL-Superdrive DDR2, an iPhone 4S and an iPad 2 replaced for hidden manufacturing defects under Canadian Consumers Protections Office)
It’s really sad though, it’s my uncle old Mac, he paid almost $10 000 CDN for the machine back in 2013 when he got it new (8 cores 3Ghz, 32 Gb, 1 Tb Apple SSD, Dual AMD D700 6Gb and Apple TB display 27”) and the machine has an issue like that… well I’m not going to throw it away but I just wish Apple would stop making computers partially for a premium price if you get my point?

I don't think that the contention issues really affected too much people back in the day. Looking back with today hindsight, the design is really crammed, but performance wise is well rounded for the majority of users.

Anyway, a 2019 Mac Pro is a lot better hot rod.

 

[EvilMonk]

Yeah I regret my choice, the M1 Max 16” MacBook Pro isn’t what I expected, don’t get me wrong it’s powerful but incapacity to use eGPUs is limiting it (and my Mini M1 as well) while my MacBook Air is performing better now under opencl and metal with my Sonnet RX 560 TB Than my M1 mini ?‍♂️?

 

[EvilMonk]

@tsialex I hooked my Sonnet RX 560 to my Mac Pro 2012 last evening and got the boot screen on the eGPU but it disconnected (power off the screen) when OSX logged in. I went back to OC 0.79 today because my aWatch couldn’t unlock preferences and prompts anymore, I’m hoping it fix the issue. I’d love it for once if I can have 4 working configs when I finally get my new GPU… the Razer Core X I got on eBay shipped last evening and it’s from the same country I live in… I looked on eBay and I’m seeing some Radeon VII, RX 5700 XT and Radeon Pro W5500 in Canada I’d receive in the next 5 business days if I order before the weekend.

 

[tsialex]

You should first check if you have the 650W PSU on your Razer Core X.

The GPU model is very subjective, you really need to see the price performance ratio for your intended workflow. VII and Wxx00 cards are really expensive while RX 5700 XT is a well rounded card and the price is not absurd as a VII.

With unlimited funds available, I'd buy a VII.

 

[exoticSpice]

It’s really sad though, it’s my uncle old Mac, he paid almost $10 000 CDN for the machine back in 2013 when he got it new (8 cores 3Ghz, 32 Gb, 1 Tb Apple SSD, Dual AMD D700 6Gb and Apple TB display 27”)

Wow, $10000! Why do people pay that much?? It was not even powerful back then. You can get faster computers for $3000 on the PC side. The 2013 Mac Pro was stupid, looked good but that is where the positives end for a workstation computer.

Apple does rip you off huh.

 

[exoticSpice]

While that said, the 2019 Mac Pro is a great workstation and a great replacement to the 2010 Mac Pro.

2013 MP should have never been created, same for the 2016-19 MBP. 2013-2018 was a time when Apple gave up on pro Mac users.

 

[EvilMonk]

You should first check if you have the 650W PSU on your Razer Core X.

The GPU model is very subjective, you really need to see the price performance ratio for your intended workflow. VII and Wxx00 cards are really expensive while RX 5700 XT is a well rounded card and the price is not absurd as a VII.

With unlimited funds available, I'd buy a VII.

Ahahah I don’t have unlimited funds unfortunately ??
The M1 Max 16” MBP I just bought myself set me off $5000 and my uncle sold me the Mac Pro when he replaced it and since I migrated his accounting database he sold it to me for peanuts ($300 CDN) so now in total I’ll put about $1000 total for a 12 cores 64 Gb Mac Pro with a good eGPU I’ll be able to use on my 4 thunderbolt Mac and hopefully be done for some time… ? don’t we all wish we all had unlimited money?

 

[EvilMonk]

You should first check if you have the 650W PSU on your Razer Core X.

The GPU model is very subjective, you really need to see the price performance ratio for your intended workflow. VII and Wxx00 cards are really expensive while RX 5700 XT is a well rounded card and the price is not absurd as a VII.

With unlimited funds available, I'd buy a VII.

I looked on eBay last night and can get a Radeon Pro W5500 for 420$ CDN (about 350$ USD) the ones above are bloody expensive though… I’m mostly doing photo / video with my canon T5 and my GoPro… but I encode in HEVC and want the hardware acceleration. I have a good hundred+ hours I’d love to reencode and process properly to get the best video quality before I put them on my SAN and on LTO-5 tape ? (I got the old tape drive at work when it got replaced and I love it ?)

 

[EvilMonk]

Wow, $10000! Why do people pay that much?? It was not even powerful back then. You can get faster computers for $3000 on the PC side. The 2013 Mac Pro was stupid, looked good but that is where the positives end for a workstation computer.

Apple does rip you off huh.

It’s $10k Canadian so more or less 20-22% over the US price… but you’re totally right it’s crazy to pay this for a computer… ?

 

[EvilMonk]

@tsialex that’s a 650 watt right?

 

[mikas]

Razer Core V2 is/was 500W, but I haven't come by a Razer Core X anything else but a 650W PS yet. But maybe tsialex has better info on this. Core V2 is a little bit different design externally too, with lookalike handles like cMP.

Then there is a Razer Core X Chroma too, with 700W PS and 4xUSB + 1GB ethernet (this box is a dual controller design).

edit. opened up mine, for your peace of mind, please see pic.
And yours appears to be a Chroma version, with 700W power supply. At 200 canadian it is dirt cheap.

 

[iAssimilated]

@tsialex that’s a 650 watt right?

Yes. I could be wrong, but I believe all Razor Core X's came with a 650W PS.

 

[EvilMonk]

Razer Core V2 is/was 500W, but I haven't come by a Razer Core X anything else but a 650W PS yet. But maybe tsialex has better info on this. Core V2 is a little bit different design externally too, with lookalike handles like cMP.

Then there is a Razer Core X Chroma too, with 700W PS and 4xUSB + 1GB ethernet (this box is a dual controller design).

edit. opened up mine, for your peace of mind, please see pic.
And yours appears to be a Chroma version, with 700W power supply. At 200 canadian it is dirt cheap.
View attachment 1997926

OMG that’s awesome I looked at the tracking and it’s supposed to be delivered Tuesday ? I had no idea it was the high end one I picked one from Canada to get it faster and skip the waiting on customs since it’s hell with COVID measures.

 

[EvilMonk]

Just looked at the pictures of the one I got and I got a chroma without knowing it ?????‍♂️

 

[EvilMonk]

So since it’s a Razer Core X Chroma does that means I can put any GPU in it without power restriction?

 

[iAssimilated]

So since it’s a Razer Core X Chroma does that means I can put any GPU in it without power restriction?

All the cards you listed above, yes, the Razor X Chroma will be able to power them.

My RX 6800 XT should be arriving today and I am putting it on my standard Razor Core X. Can't wait! ?

 

[EvilMonk]

All the cards you listed above, yes, the Razor X Chroma will be able to power them.

My RX 6800 XT should be arriving today and I am putting it on my standard Razor Core X. Can't wait! ?

I am just waiting on a reply to my question if one of the new RX 6800 XT rom modded for the cMP would still work in eGPU with the 2013 Mac Pro, 2013 MBP and 2018 MBA an if I have confirmation it’s what I’ll get ??? latest chip available with all the recent technologies make it a futureproof investment ?

 

[EvilMonk]

All the cards you listed above, yes, the Razor X Chroma will be able to power them.

My RX 6800 XT should be arriving today and I am putting it on my standard Razor Core X. Can't wait! ?

Let me know how the card works out bud ?? I’m really curious since they are still available in my part of Canada and prices aren’t insane yet…