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eGPU and Apple Pro Display XDR?
- Thread starter oneafour
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Did you get your cable yet?
For that Belkin Huawei VR cable, would the USB-A connectors plug into my eGPU (Razer Core X Chroma) or my Windows machine? My goal is to have have XDR support from the eGPU (w/5700 XT Anniversary Edition), which is fed from my MacBook Pro and a Lenovo ThinkStation w/TB3. This ”manual” KVM situation works well right now unplugging/plugging the TB3 connector from Mac to Lenovo, with the eGPU feeding my LG 4K monitor via DisplayPort. But obviously I’d prefer an XDR - but only if I can get it to work with the Lenovo as well.
I can’t find any other XDR users that are switching between dedicated Windows machines and a Mac. Considering I already have the 5700 XT and Razer Core X Chroma, I think I’m kinda close??
The Belkin Charge and Sync Cable for Huawei VR Glass arrived today. Works perfect with the Pro Display in 6k@60Hz using a Razer Core X with an AMD rx5700xt including the brightness controls. I've hooked up the USBs on the cable to the eGPU, so my MBP 16" only has one TB3 cable connected (to the eGPU). The display now also identifies correctly, with all profiles displaying. I also got that Wacom adapter someone recommended, but haven't tried it.
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Will get back with results after trying on my other computers. I also have a 13", an old trashcan Mac Pro (using TB2 adapter) and a Razer Blade Stealth running Windows.
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Will get back with results after trying on my other computers. I also have a 13", an old trashcan Mac Pro (using TB2 adapter) and a Razer Blade Stealth running Windows.
Awesome! Really eager to see if you get that Razer Blade Stealth working as well.
13" MBP works flawlessly, don't remember the exact spec, but it's an i7 from last year or the year before. It's really snappy too, faster impression than my maxed out MBP16" when connected straight into the onboard GPU.
Will try to Razer Blade Stealth later today.
Which site did you purchase this cable from? I assume you’re in the US. Seems like some of these ship directly from China, which I’d prefer to avoid.
I was able to use the Apple XDR with my Mac Pro 5,1 by using an AMD 5700 XT card and the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable for Huawei VR Glass. With that setup I was able to get 6K HDR using MacOS Catalina and open core. As fellow MacRumors user @joevt pointed out, you will need a 5700XT to drive the monitor at the full resolution since those are the only cards that support DSC. Thanks to Joevt's help I can now keep my system for a while longer until the next generation Apple Silicon Macs are available.
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I got my Razer Core X + Radeon Pro W5700 work with dual Pro Display XDR.
Both of the displays work with 6K HDR 10bit and all control features.
- W5700 has one USB Type-C output, and connect it to the display directly through the thunderbolt 3 cable with the display.
- The other display is connected through Belkin - Huawei VR cable.
They work fine with my MacBook Pro 16-inch on macOS, but are not fine on Windows. Connecting to my MacBook Pro 13-inch four thunderbolt 3 2018, they work fine on both systems.
Both of the displays work with 6K HDR 10bit and all control features.
- W5700 has one USB Type-C output, and connect it to the display directly through the thunderbolt 3 cable with the display.
- The other display is connected through Belkin - Huawei VR cable.
They work fine with my MacBook Pro 16-inch on macOS, but are not fine on Windows. Connecting to my MacBook Pro 13-inch four thunderbolt 3 2018, they work fine on both systems.
MacBook Pro 16 inch has Intel iGPU and AMD dGPU while MacBook Pro 13 inch has Intel iGPU. Maybe the MacBook Pro 16 inch doesn't work in Windows with eGPU because of the extra complication.
Did you check eGPU.io for other builds that include the MacBook Pro 16 inch?
Search for
MacBook Pro 16-inch win10Try the builds from itsage first.
Can you enable HDR? I'm using it with 2014-mid 15' Retina MacBook Pro with no HDR enabled. And perhaps with thunderbolt 2 bandwidth limit the framebuffer depth is 24-Bit Color（ARGB8888）.
Thunderbolt 2 bandwidth should be able to support 4K60 10bpc. Thunderbolt 2 can't get 5K or 6K.
But that doesn't matter since you're using a Black Magic eGPU where the display is connected to the Black Magic eGPU's GPU instead of the MacBook Pro's GPU. Also, the connection between XDR and BlackMagic eGPU is Thunderbolt 3 which should allow 6K60 10bpc.
Try AllRez to get all the info for the GPU and display and display modes. It mode show if any modes support HDR.
Do you see the XDR presets in System Preferences panel?
Can you show the list of Thunderbolt devices, USB device, and PCI devices in System Information.app?
For Thunderbolt, it should show the BlackMagic eGPU connection to the MacBook Pro as 20 Gbps x1 (link width x2), and it should show the XDR connection to the BlackMagic eGPU as 40 Gbps x1 (link width x2).
For USB, it should show a USB bus for the BlackMagic eGPU and a USB hub, and it should show a USB bus and a USB hub for the XDR.
For PCI, it should show a USB controller for the BlackMagic eGPU and a USB controller for the XDR.
I am curious about the USB speed from the XDR. Can it read or write more than 480 Mb/s from/to the USB ports of the XDR? Using a Radeon Pro 580 over Thunderbolt 3 for 6K60 should allow 1 Gbps for transmit and 5 Gbps for receive but Apple says the display is limited to USB 2.0 with this kind of connection so I would like tests to confirm.
Nice to see this thread still has life 
For the record, I have the following things here... I could use to test/help if needed?
For the record, I have the following things here... I could use to test/help if needed?
- Pro Display XDR
- Studio Display
- AMD W5700
- AMD 5700XT Anniversary Edition
- Razer Core X Chroma eGPU
- 2018 13" MacBook Pro (Four TB3 ports) - this is my wife's daily driver now, but I can test with it
- Huawei Belkin VR cable
Hello,
Catching up on this thread, what's the best external eGPU at this point for the XDR display? I'd like to use it with an apple MacBook Pro 16inch. I don't need the 6k per-se, all I want is just a decent performance without the fans just going on at all times.
Thanks.
Catching up on this thread, what's the best external eGPU at this point for the XDR display? I'd like to use it with an apple MacBook Pro 16inch. I don't need the 6k per-se, all I want is just a decent performance without the fans just going on at all times.
Thanks.