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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Razer to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's new Core X Chroma eGPU enclosures.

Razer makes a few eGPU enclosure options, but the Core X Chroma is both the newest and the coolest thanks to the Chroma lighting embedded inside. Razer's Chroma technology lets you choose from more than 16 million colors for your Core X lighting.

razercorexchroma-800x560.jpg

For those unfamiliar with eGPU enclosures, Razer's options are designed to provide notebook owners a way to play desktop class games and take advantage of a more powerful GPU for GPU-intensive tasks.

eGPU enclosures do not come with a GPU included -- you'll need to add your own -- but Razer's model is compatible a with range of desktop PCIe graphics cards, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX, GeForce GTX, and Quadro cards along with AMD XConnect-enabled Radeon and Radeon Pro cards. Mac users will, of course, want to use AMD graphics cards.

razercorexchroma2-800x417.jpg

The Core X Chroma, priced at $300, is similar to Razer's previous Core X eGPU enclosure, and is compatible with Thunderbolt 3-equipped PCs and Macs, including Apple's Thunderbolt 3 notebooks. It features a black aluminum casing with a side window that shows off the aforementioned Chroma lighting.

Graphics cards can be inserted using a simple drawer-style slide and lock mechanism and a single thumbscrew, so it's simple enough that even a non-technical person can use it. Once your graphics card is installed, all you need to do to use it is plug the Core X Chroma into the Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac. There's a dual-chip feature in the Core X Chroma for handling graphic and peripheral data all with a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.

razercorexchroma3-800x587.jpg

The Core X Chroma features a Gigabit Ethernet port, along with four USB 3.1 Type-A ports. It supports up to 3 slot-wide desktop graphics cards that require up to 500W of power, and for Macs, it supplies up to 100W of power for charging purposes. There are open vents and cooling features to optimize thermal performance.

Because of the Chroma technology inside, the Core X Chroma matches up well with Razer's other Chroma-enabled products, from keyboards to notebooks, but you don't need Razer devices to use the Core X Chroma.

razercorexchroma1-800x560.jpg

We have two of the Core X Chroma eGPU enclosures to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.


The contest will run from today (June 7) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 14. The winners will be chosen randomly on June 14 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Article Link: MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Core X Chroma eGPU Enclosure From Razer
 

Bigsk8r

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2011
342
592
Austin, Texas
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.

I hear you. My Mac Pro is getting long in the tooth, but still does very well. Winning this enclosure might prompt me to find a good used MacBook Pro and use this to setup a nice docked home desk for it as a replacement.

Cannot afford new Mac Pro!
 

iLilana

macrumors 6502a
May 5, 2003
809
301
Alberta, Canada
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.
exactly. A win from one of these would make me sell my 2015 iMac for a Mac mini.
 
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Mike MA

macrumors 68020
Sep 21, 2012
2,090
1,813
Germany
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.

A lot of people around here have zero to none hope as not being located in the U.S. or Canada.

Yet I keep my fingers crossed for you ;)
 
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tubular

macrumors 65816
Oct 19, 2011
1,314
3,143
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.


Got a (new) Mac mini, which is great, and I have been looking hard at this if I go eGPU.
 

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,149
7,612
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.
True but you probably have much higher chance of winning it than a typical lottery.

I won once, a USB hub.
 
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nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,149
7,612
Will next week's contest be a GPU? ;)

I'll probably sit this one out for once, because with my luck this would be the week I'd win and I'd have nothing to put in it (and am not in the market for a GPU).

So you can thank me for increasing your chances some minuscule amount!
Apple Pro Display XDR stand.
 

Pakaku

macrumors 68040
Aug 29, 2009
3,253
4,719
I've said it before, and I'm not sure if other eGPU enclosures have it, but just having a dedicated ethernet port makes this seem very appealing to me for the games I play
 

archer75

macrumors 68040
Jan 26, 2005
3,116
1,746
Oregon
I've said it before, and I'm not sure if other eGPU enclosures have it, but just having a dedicated ethernet port makes this seem very appealing to me for the games I play
Why? I don't understand the need for an Ethernet port on these? The computer that this is connected to has an Ethernet port. Honest question.
 
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sesnir

macrumors 6502
Sep 21, 2008
368
306
For me, these contests are like throwing a bottle into the ocean. I have very little hope of succeeding, but it's an act that takes very little effort. If I did win this, it would give me a reason to seriously consider a Mac Mini as my new desktop replacement.

I'm in the exact same boat... I have the Late-2013 iMac, and the current lineup is too expensive and not powerful enough. But the Mac Mini is intriguing and I'd make the switch if I had this eGPU. Good luck.
 
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displayblock

macrumors regular
Jul 31, 2014
138
446
It has 4 legacy USB 3 ports, but that probably wouldn't give you the bandwidth you need. You'd probably need Apple's Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 dongle.

There is no Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 dongle. There's only a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 dongle for Macs that have a Thunderbolt 3 port.
 

ikir

macrumors 68020
Sep 26, 2007
2,168
2,342
Only US and Canada, good luck to everyone! This is a great product.
I have a Mantiz Venus and eGPU is the bets thing happened in my workflow in recents years. When 2016 MacBook Pro come out with Thunderbolt 3 I was super happy.
 
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jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,624
6,317
The thick of it
There is no Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 dongle. There's only a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 dongle for Macs that have a Thunderbolt 3 port.
Well, that's what I meant. I got a new Mac Mini server for work and needed to go from a Thunderbolt 2 external drive to the Mini. The dongle works great, so I assume it would work in the above case as well.
 

mannyvel

macrumors 65816
Mar 16, 2019
1,417
2,578
Hillsboro, OR
The dongle would allow you to connect it, but the card would be bandwidth constrained. It'd be interesting to see if it worked at all.
 

Xeem

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2005
909
15
Minnesota
I know my chances aren’t great, but winning this would be awesome. I don’t quite game enough on my MacBook Pro to justify actually buying one of these but I could definitely justify buying the GPU if I won one.
 

BaccaBossMC

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2016
206
731
NC, USA
You technically can run a GeForce/Quadro card with a Mac, but its just not officially supported. NVIDIA offers the drivers on their website.
 

mannyvel

macrumors 65816
Mar 16, 2019
1,417
2,578
Hillsboro, OR
You technically can run a GeForce/Quadro card with a Mac, but its just not officially supported. NVIDIA offers the drivers on their website.

Note that the last set of Nvidia drivers only work with 10.13. I bought a low-end Radeon for my 5,1 just so I could move to Mojave and beyond. FYI.
 
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