eGPU for 2018 MBP: Need something for After Effects/Video Editing.

[Blur702]

Hello and thank you for putting up with another "what is a good..." eGPU post.

I've surfed around the 'net, read some threads on this forums, and have done general research on eGPUs that are compatible and friendly with my 2018 MBP. I am hoping to get some faster performance in After Effects/Premiere/Cinema 4d. I am hoping to find something that I can 'Set it, and forget it.' I'll take a hit on performance for reliability. I don't like fiddling with hardware (although I understand it).

Below are the stats on my machine. I also have two 31.5-inch Samsung monitors that I attach to the machine running 1920 x 1080. In After Effects, I use some 3D stuff but nothing intense. I would like to use the E3D Metropolitan pack, but it just doesn't seem the GPU can keep up. Maybe it's my CPU. Either way, one of my PUs need help and I'd like to start with GPU. Hopefully farming some of the processing out to it will speed things up.

I did look at the eGPU from Apple (Blackmagic) but I read on here that it has been discontinued. I also think I could get a breakout box and throw a decent video card in the thing for less cash.

Anyhoo - I'm looking for guidance from those who have more experience in this area than I do. I understand that Apple only supports the Radeon cards and to stay away from MSI. BTW - why is it that a breakout box costs $300?

Thanks for reading this.

 

[saturnotaku]

The enclosures are expensive because of Thunderbolt licensing fees, dedicated power supplies and the fact that they are highly specialized, niche pieces of hardware.

And you are correct in that you need an AMD GPU for use in macOS. The Radeon RX 5700XT is the best price to performance option with the 5600XT not far behind if you’re looking to spend less on the card itself.

 

[ilikewhey]

you can often find egpu enclosure on ebay for alot cheaper, i got my mantiz venus for 100 bucks cheaper and it was mint condition.

 

[Grohowiak]

Razer Core + Vega 56 - probably the cheapest combo you can get now and it will work great for what you need.
Razer Core + 5700 will work great too.
**Basic razer core is $100 less than chroma version FYI. Works great if you don't need the extras.

 

[ArPe]

You’ll be disappointed. I spent around $800 on the eGPU and GPU and it has been a waste of money. The eGPU barely improves viewport performance in Adobe apps and snappiness and Media Encoder is hit and miss. The more layers and comps you have the more disappointed you’ll be to discover how CPU bound these apps are.

 

[Grohowiak]

You’ll be disappointed. I spent around $800 on the eGPU and GPU and it has been a waste of money. The eGPU barely improves viewport performance in Adobe apps and snappiness and Media Encoder is hit and miss. The more layers and comps you have the more disappointed you’ll be to discover how CPU bound these apps are.

what gpu did you get?
Not my experience.

 

[ArPe]

what gpu did you get?
Not my experience.

5700 XT. My standards are high as I also build PCs so obviously I have different expectations. I push computers to breaking point. I also push the professionals who use them to breaking point 😂

 

[ArPe]

I just wanted to add more detail to the situation.

Even though eGPUs offer some performance to laptops there are two issues which get in the way.

1. People using Adobe etc apps are most likely using Wacom tablets. The macOS drivers suck big time and their performance when connected to 4/6K displays features frequent jerks and jumps by the cursor if your workload is heavy and the CPU in your laptop throttles.

Many Mac users haven’t experienced using the same tablet on Windows so they are oblivious to how bad the drivers are.

A simple test. Tap on the macOS desktop randomly with your Wacom. Randomly the cursor will get stuck for a fraction of a second. It doesn’t seem like much but if you are working fast in a pro app it’s extremely annoying. It doesn’t happen in Windows or Linux.

2. If you’re doing heavy workloads with this set up for many hours a day, your laptop is going to get hot even with the eGPU taking some of the pressure. You risk heating and warping the batteries and ending up with a broken laptop.

Use a Mac mini if you are on a budget and want to be safe from the points above. Or move up to an iMac. I have had a MacBook Pro warp and buckle just using a 2K display for too many hours plugged in.

edit:

I just tried the Wacom tablet in the latest Big Sur with the latest Photoshop. The Wacom driver isn’t officially for Big Sur but I don’t expect it to get any better. Performance of the tablet still has the same issues and Photoshop is still terrible with an eGPU.

I tried to Liquify a very basic medium resolution image and it made the 5700 XT very noisy and performance was dog slow. On Windows with even a basic Intel iGPU this would be child’s play.

We are in 2020 and we have the latest hardware but we are getting 2005 level performance in some places. It makes no sense.