13' with eGPU or 15' with 560x?

[toku90]

I'm trying to decide between:

1. MBP 15', 2018 with Radeon Pro 560x, 16GB of ram, 2.6 ghz
and
2. MBP 13', 2018 with Intel Iris 655, 16GB of ram, 2.3 ghz + eGPU for about 600-700 euro

I'll be mainly using it for graphic design (Photoshop, Sketch, Figma etc), but I would also like to do some gaming (I don't care about playing at 60fps on ultra settings, high with 30fps is enough for me, but of course the more, the better).

So my questions are: Is the 13' model enough to do the graphic design on it's own, without the eGPU? Are there eGPUs that work with both, MacOS and bootcamp? I've also heard of 15' models having problems with throttling, is it also the case with the 13' models? And last, is 15' model with 560x enough for gaming on medium/high settings?

 

[Ploki]

560X is not that great.
Any decent eGPU will outperform, but it doesn't work with bootcamp (yet) without some terminal mumbojumbo.

1) hard to say since we cannot guess the scope of your work. People have been designing on far inferior machines, but i presumes, since you're asking, you don't need the greatest (else you'd already know you need it).
I'll assume yet, it will be fine.
2) no, no eGPU works with bootcamp without some tinkering (but most do with some tinkering)
3) 560X is 3y old crap chip. get vega20 to game (will also be easier to make it work in Bootcamp)

Still, an eGPU will outperform the Vega.

 

[StellarVixen]

There is some noticeable performance loss when you use GPU to drive internal monitor, from Mac to eGPU and from eGPU back to Mac. eGPU works much better with monitor attached directly to it. For the price of eGPU, get the Vega 20.

 

[Ploki]

There is some noticeable performance loss when you use GPU to drive internal monitor, from Mac to eGPU and from eGPU back to Mac. eGPU works much better with monitor attached directly to it. For the price of eGPU, get the Vega 20.

still... 15" 2,6 + Vega20 is 3719€.
13" i5 is 2489€.
(Both configured 16+512)

That leaves 1230€ for:
- Razer Core V2 (300€)
- Vega Pro 64 with 8GB RAM (~400ish €)
- A neat 4K monitor of your choice

that will absolutely wreck the Vega 20 in every possible way.

 

[StellarVixen]

still... 15" 2,6 + Vega20 is 3719€.
13" i5 is 2489€.
(Both configured 16+512)

That leaves 1230€ for:
- Razer Core V2 (300€)
- Vega Pro 64 with 8GB RAM (~400ish €)
- A neat 4K monitor of your choice

that will absolutely wreck the Vega 20 in every possible way.

True, if you are going to use your laptop as desktop. If you need graphics power anytime and anywhere, you need Vega 20.

 

[toku90]

Thank you for all the answers. My budget is max 3000, so vega is out of question unfortunately.

I know that egpu would be the best option, im just not sure how much hussle is it to set it up etc. i like things to just work and i wonder if mbp without egpu will be enough for graphic design (I wouldnt say i use it VERY heavily, but im more than hobbyists)


Also, do you need a display with thunderbolt 3 for egpu, or is hdmi or displayport also good?

 

[Ploki]

eGPU is a box into which you put a standard GPU card. It can drive whatever the port card has on it.
(Actually, thunderbolt3 display (the LG 5k) is the most problematic, since only Black Magic eGPU can run that)

 

[toku90]

Ahh, of course. For some reason i kept thinking that you connect the display directly to mbp, which is not the case. Thanks!

 

[Ploki]

Ahh, of course. For some reason i kept thinking that you connect the display directly to mbp, which is not the case. Thanks!

You can actually, just not very efficient.

fwiw, I had 15" i9/32gb/560x/2tb, but it had so many issues I got a refund for it, after two months of turmoil. Could've gotten a Vega 20 at that point, but instead bought a 13" i5/16/512 + Mac Mini i7/512, and will get an eGPU somewhere down the line.
Haven't received either yet tho.