Hands-On With Apple's New $699 Blackmagic eGPU

[Zdigital2015]

Right, which is why the PC version will always be faster. Those are the base clocks, while the PC versions have boost mode, and even further if you buy from ASUS, Gigabyte, XFX ect, they typically overclock them even further out of the box, with their own custom cooling. BM didn't even mention boost, which is a shame, cause I bet that card can be overclocked a lot, without reaching thermals.

Agreed! I suspect it can be overclocked as well, but I would bet that Apple suggested they prioritize cool and quiet over high performance. While I may end up using the BM eGPUs at work, I will most likely end up purchasing a Sonnet eGFX w/650w PSU and plopping a Sapphire Tech Nitro+ RX580 in it and see if that gets me what I want, although Vega 56 and 64 GPUs are fairly reasonable now at $499 and $599.

At least it will be the same price as the BM eGPU and I will be able to swap out to a Vega Instinct next year assuming a 650w PSU will be enough to handle it. Good times!

 

[SteveW928]

BM didn't even mention boost, which is a shame, cause I bet that card can be overclocked a lot, without reaching thermals.

One would think a design like that would be even more capable of that, unless there are stability/reliability concerns or something.

 

[darksithpro]

One would think a design like that would be even more capable of that, unless there are stability/reliability concerns or something.

BM would have to release a software program that would allow the GPU to boost and to let the user adjust the voltage settings to make it stable with higher clocks. I seriously doubt Apple would allow that.

 

[fermat-au]

Reasons that won't work for me:

1) I enjoy macOS and require it for work
2) I don't want the headache of hackintosh
3) I prefer to have a single computer to reduce the need of data synchronization between machines, and obviously that would be a laptop for mobility

I agree with you. Apple used to maker desktop PCs with upgradeable GPU etc, the Mac Pro pre 2013, but decided to discontinue that kind of high-end computer. While they are advantages of having a single computer, as you said, a laptop is not going to have the power of a high end desktop that is plugged in to the wall. This is a compromise that many people make. If you need very high end GPU power you may need to make different compromises. This maybe a desktop or switching to Windows or Linux for high end work.

On the hackintosh, I have never used one, but have heard they are stable once you get them set up, but in almost all case, this is for desktops not laptops. I understand wanting macOS, I personally use Windows 10 for work and in most cases like it.

 

[Eric5h5]

it is a silent unit. if it had an upgradable card, like other units have, it wouldnt be a silent anymore. Fans on cards are quite loud. the key idea here is that you can use it without being distracted from the noise. if the noise doesnt bother you, you have some alternatives there to buy. i prefer silence, not jet turbines near me.

That's an absurd straw man over-exaggeration. My R9 280x isn't particularly noticeable as far as noise goes, nowhere remotely close to a "jet turbine". Also, you're going to be distracted by the fans in your Mac anyway in most cases when you're stressing it, so it's not actually that important.

Well, and as I said above, eGPU cases cost $300-400+. So, it's more expensive, but also not 'apples to apples'. And, yes, if there were a good one with swappable GPU card, I'd prefer that. But, for my needs, there isn't.

Take a look here:
https://egpu.io/external-gpu-buyers-guide-2018/

Looks like enclosures with better specs have the same card for $500 or so, which is much more in line with what I'd expect. Not sure what you consider "good".

--Eric

 

[shansoft]

Thunderbolt is full-duplex. Not an issue.

eGPU bandwidth are limited to whatever that is left after the display stream occupied.

Go look into eGPU forums, everyone have the same exact issue when doing internal display eGPU solution.

 

[cult hero]

The lack of updating the video card is a dealbreaker for me which is too bad because other solutions have been failure to launch due to the lack of Thunderbolt out.

My Thunderbolt hubs have long outlasted my video cards and they're certainly not cheap—and anything with built in charging seems to bump the price by at least the cost of an Apple-branded charger.

Still waiting on the right device to appear in this space.

Given the nature of the Blackmagic box, it seems like the outputs on the video card don't matter. Whoever makes the eGPU enclosure has to add TB3 out and handle the video routing. Am I wrong about this?

 

[SteveW928]

BM would have to release a software program that would allow the GPU to boost and to let the user adjust the voltage settings to make it stable with higher clocks. I seriously doubt Apple would allow that.

Yeah, and most pros wouldn't want to flirt with potential instability (or trying to find a stability point). That's more a tweaker thing, not a pro thing. I guess that adds a bit more realism behind it being called a 'Pro' version of the GPU.

That's an absurd straw man over-exaggeration. My R9 280x isn't particularly noticeable as far as noise goes, nowhere remotely close to a "jet turbine". Also, you're going to be distracted by the fans in your Mac anyway in most cases when you're stressing it, so it's not actually that important.

Is it louder than the Mac laptop fans? If so, it's too loud as one of the reasons I've been avoiding getting another laptop is that the fans are way too darn loud. (And, supposedly, that's about 36db.)

Looks like enclosures with better specs have the same card for $500 or so, which is much more in line with what I'd expect. Not sure what you consider "good".

Well, check how much charging power they output, how much GPU power they supply, what ports the come with, etc. that will probably narrow it down to a couple that cost $600+. This thing seems to be overpriced a bit, but only like $100ish. And, for many, having a stable, out-of-the-box, well-designed solution is worth $100ish.

 

[dannynjoni]

btw every tb3 egpu solution is plug and play, charges 87w to the laptop. the black magic does not have that exclusive advantage.

The only downside to my new Node is that it actually does not charge my 2017 MBP. Sadly I do need to pug in the power supply. I think i can always upgrade the PS tho, as well as the GPU. Although the limitation may be to a limit place on the logic board of this particular eGPU.

 

[ulyssesric]

Anyone know if the eGPU accelerates the built-in display?

Yes you can, but it will be throttled by the data throughput of Thunderbolt 3, since you need to send data back and forth. I've read a test report says that the overall performance is about 70% comparing to the desktop models with graphic card using the same spec socketed on the motherboard. It's still a lot faster then laptop built-in GPUs though.

 

[SteveW928]

Also, I wonder how many of the other eGPU cases (if any) have the new Titan Ridge chipset?

 

[cult hero]

Hmmm. Looks like the Akitio Nodes will feed the 5K just fine. Maybe it’s time to get one.

The lack of updating the video card is a dealbreaker for me which is too bad because other solutions have been failure to launch due to the lack of Thunderbolt out.

My Thunderbolt hubs have long outlasted my video cards and they're certainly not cheap—and anything with built in charging seems to bump the price by at least the cost of an Apple-branded charger.

Still waiting on the right device to appear in this space.

Given the nature of the Blackmagic box, it seems like the outputs on the video card don't matter. Whoever makes the eGPU enclosure has to add TB3 out and handle the video routing. Am I wrong about this?

 

[Val-kyrie]

There isn’t many cheaper alternatives which also act as a dock. The Razer score X is cheaper but it doesn’t provide you with ports as a dock.

It is true that this isn’t customisable nor upgradable - but it is a smaller all-in-one solution which at least for MacBooks, will still be powerful 3-5 years down the line.

But yes, I wish you had the option of a Vega GPU, not just the 580.

This has been debunked. 40Gb/s is plenty of bandwidth to not bottleneck even high-end GPUs.

I will wait for performance tests with this on Macs before I say too much about its potential, but based on other eGPUs, I will quote a previous post I made:

I am also curious how this will perform when using the eGPU alongside the USB ports. Tests on extant eGPUs show that the use of ports on an eGPU lowers the performance of the dGPU in the enclosure because the bandwidth for the graphics card in the enclosure gets siphoned off for the other ports being used. Currently, eGPUs tested with an NVidia GeForce 1080ti only attain performance on par with an NVidia GeForce 1050 due to current TB3 bandwidth limitations (which only reaches ~32 Gb/s due to PCI-e 3.0 limitations, not 40Gb/s).

IMO, the best performance and price on an eGPU is achieved with the Razor Core X, which is strictly an eGPU with no additional ports.

Edit: if you need ports buy a (TB3 or USB-C) hub and attach it to a separate port.

 

[macguru212]

Isn't one of selling points of an eGPU supposed to be upgradable GPU?
Really.

 

[cmaier]

Isn't one of selling points of an eGPU supposed to be upgradable GPU?
Really.

No. It’s the selling point of egpu enclosures.

The selling point of an egpu is that due to form factor and thermal solution it provides desktop class graphics computing to a mobile form factor device.

 

[ilikewhey]

this 600 dollar price tag will only make sense until the next gen of graphic cards comes out. so for now its priced accordingly, but in 6 months time it won't.

 

[avkills]

eGPU bandwidth are limited to whatever that is left after the display stream occupied.

Go look into eGPU forums, everyone have the same exact issue when doing internal display eGPU solution.

Not only that, but I just looked at all the specs of these external boxes and electrically they are all only PCIe 4-lane devices, because that is all the TB3 can handle; and that is in a perfect world scenario. Once you start adding displays and USB devices who knows how that is going to affect things.

So in a perfect world you will only be getting PCIe 4x performance from devices that have the potential to saturate 16x PCIe slots.

No thanks. Not yet.
[doublepost=1532097189][/doublepost]

Yes you can, but it will be throttled by the data throughput of Thunderbolt 3, since you need to send data back and forth. I've read a test report says that the overall performance is about 70% comparing to the desktop models with graphic card using the same spec socketed on the motherboard. It's still a lot faster then laptop built-in GPUs though.

And that would be putting the GPU in a PCIe 4x slot.

 

[john123]

Things like this make me wonder what would happen if Apple took a desiccated pile of dog poop, packaged it, and stuck an Apple logo on it. How many people would buy it?

 

[mrex]

Things like this make me wonder what would happen if Apple took a desiccated pile of dog poop, packaged it, and stuck an Apple logo on it. How many people would buy it?

i just ordered the egpu (for my 13” macbook pro), but im not going to buy dog poop from apple or any other places. im bagging plenty of it everyday when walking with my dog - for free!

but seriously, im not sure why people need to make comments like above. there is always something better or worst. this product isnt bad, but surely it isnt the most powerful egpu combo on the market you can get. those who would like to get more power, they probably also stick with nvidia, bootcamp etc. or just build their own pc and are willing to pay much more than this costs.

this 600 dollar price tag will only make sense until the next gen of graphic cards comes out. so for now its priced accordingly, but in 6 months time it won't.

with tech, you can add any product, and the sentence is always true. some components, e.g. ram prices, may rise... but usually it is opposite way.

 

[Marconelly]

Please read the updated instruction below - the one I posted here earlier are now obsolete.

 

[skinned66]

Unfortunately, the Blackmagic eGPU is not upgradeable

That's what I'd characterize as a deal breaker. Sure it looks nicer than the boxes everybody else is giving us, but I'd prefer the flexibility of those. I mean for a few hundred dollars more I could get a chassis with multiple slots.

For those that "couldn't be bothered" I can see this being a good solution.

 

[SteveW928]

The selling point of an egpu is that due to form factor and thermal solution it provides desktop class graphics computing to a mobile form factor device.

... and/or to add more GPU power to existing internal/external GPUs for apps that support that.

The argument that an eGPU has to be upgradable is kind of like saying an iMac isn't a computer because you can't swap out the GPU/CPU/RAM etc. That might not be what 'system builders' or 'upgraders' want, but it doesn't make it any less a computer.

And, the point people making those comments seem to keep missing, is the difference in noise level. Yes, ease of use might also be desired... but there is no other eGPU solution this quiet (yet).

 

[john123]

i just ordered the egpu (for my 13” macbook pro), but im not going to buy dog poop from apple or any other places. im bagging plenty of it everyday when walking with my dog - for free!

but seriously, im not sure why people need to make comments like above. there is always something better or worst. this product isnt bad, but surely it isnt the most powerful egpu combo on the market you can get. those who would like to get more power, they probably also stick with nvidia, bootcamp etc. or just build their own pc and are willing to pay much more than this costs.

with tech, you can add any product, and the sentence is always true. some components, e.g. ram prices, may rise... but usually it is opposite way.

I make the comment because I can’t for the life of me figure out why you or anyone else would buy this—which isn’t upgradable and isn’t a “cheaper”’option—over any of the various other excellent options, with the only explanation I can think of being that it has an Apple on it.

 

[Macs4u]

Now Davinci Resolve is getting really good, I wonder if Apple working with Blackmagic to do this, is the beginning of the end for FCPX. Aperture was killed without a thought (worst decision in my opinion) and wouldn’t put it past Apple to do the same with FCPX

 

[SteveW928]

I make the comment because I can’t for the life of me figure out why you or anyone else would buy this—which isn’t upgradable and isn’t a “cheaper”’option—over any of the various other excellent options, with the only explanation I can think of being that it has an Apple on it.

First, it doesn't have an Apple on it.
Second, maybe we appreciate a quiet environment, or do things like recording?