24-05-2021

Egpu Mac Mini Gaming

Nov 12, 2018  That precise setup of a Mac Mini with eGPU and where needed some external storage is not cumbersome, at least no more cumbersome that having two systems. The only real reason I have a PC these days is for some casual gaming, all of which is actually available for the most part on macOS without needing Windows.

An eGPU can give your Mac additional graphics performance for professional apps, 3D gaming, VR content creation, and more.

eGPUs are supported by any Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac1 running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later. Learn how to update the software on your Mac.

An eGPU lets you do all this on your Mac:

  • Accelerate apps that use Metal, OpenGL, and OpenCL
  • Connect additional external monitors and displays
  • Use virtual reality headsets plugged into the eGPU
  • Charge your MacBook Pro while using the eGPU
  • Use an eGPU with your MacBook Pro while its built-in display is closed
  • Connect an eGPU while a user is logged in
  • Connect more than one eGPU using the multiple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports on your Mac2
  • Use the menu bar item to safely disconnect the eGPU
  • View the activity levels of built-in and external GPUs (Open Activity Monitor, then choose Window > GPU History.)

eGPU support in apps

Gaming

eGPU support in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later is designed to accelerate Metal, OpenGL, and OpenCL apps that benefit from a powerful eGPU. Not all apps support eGPU acceleration; check with the app's developer to learn more.3

In general, an eGPU can accelerate performance in these types of apps:

  • Pro apps designed to utilize multiple GPUs
  • 3D games, when an external monitor is attached directly to the eGPU
  • VR apps, when the VR headset is attached directly to the eGPU
  • Pro apps and 3D games that accelerate the built-in display of iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro (This capability must be enabled by the app's developer.)

You can configure applications to use an eGPU with one of the following methods.

Use the Prefer External GPU option

Starting with macOS Mojave 10.14, you can turn on Prefer External GPU in a specific app's Get Info panel in the Finder. This option lets the eGPU accelerate apps on any display connected to the Mac—including displays built in to iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro:

  1. Quit the app if it's open.
  2. Select the app in the Finder. Most apps are in your Applications folder. If you open the app from an alias or launcher, Control-click the app's icon and choose Show Original from the pop-up menu. Then select the original app.
  3. Press Command-I to show the app's info window.
  4. Select the checkbox next to Prefer External GPU.
  5. Open the app to use it with the eGPU.

You won't see this option if an eGPU isn't connected, if your Mac isn't running macOS Mojave or later, or if the app self-manages its GPU selection. Some apps, such as Final Cut Pro, directly choose which graphics processors are used and will ignore the Prefer External GPU checkbox.

Mac Mini Gaming Benchmarks Egpu

Set an external eGPU-connected display as the primary display

If you have an external display connected to your eGPU, you can choose it as the primary display for all apps. Since apps default to the GPU associated with the primary display, this option works with a variety of apps:

  1. Quit any open apps that you want the eGPU to accelerate on the primary display.
  2. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences. Select Displays, then select the Arrangement tab.
  3. Drag the white menu bar to the box that represents the display that's attached to the eGPU.
  4. Open the apps that you want to use with the eGPU.

If you disconnect the eGPU, your Mac defaults back to the internal graphics processors that drives the built-in display. When the eGPU is re-attached, it automatically sets the external display as the primary display.

About macOS GPU drivers

Mac hardware and GPU software drivers have always been deeply integrated into the system. This design fuels the visually rich and graphical macOS experience as well as many deeper platform compute and graphics features. These include accelerating the user interface, providing support for advanced display features, rendering 3D graphics for pro software and games, processing photos and videos, driving powerful GPU compute features, and accelerating machine learning tasks. This deep integration also enables optimal battery life while providing for greater system performance and stability.

Apple develops, integrates, and supports macOS GPU drivers to ensure there are consistent GPU capabilities across all Mac products, including rich APIs like Metal, Core Animation, Core Image, and Core ML. In order to deliver the best possible customer experience, GPU drivers need to be engineered, integrated, tested, and delivered with each version of macOS. Aftermarket GPU drivers delivered by third parties are not compatible with macOS.

The GPU drivers delivered with macOS are also designed to enable a high quality, high performance experience when using an eGPU, as described in the list of recommended eGPU chassis and graphics card configurations below. Because of this deep system integration, only graphics cards that use the same GPU architecture as those built into Mac products are supported in macOS.

Supported eGPU configurations

It's important to use an eGPU with a recommended graphics card and Thunderbolt 3 chassis. If you use an eGPU to also charge your MacBook Pro, the eGPU's chassis needs to provide enough power to run the graphics card and charge the computer. Check with the manufacturer of the chassis to find out if it provides enough power for your MacBook Pro.

Recommended graphics cards, along with chassis that can power them sufficiently, are listed below.

Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPU products

These products contain a powerful built-in GPU and supply sufficient power to charge your MacBook Pro.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPUs:

  • Blackmagic eGPU and Blackmagic eGPU Pro4
  • Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming Box4
  • Sonnet Radeon RX 570 eGFX Breakaway Puck
  • Sonnet Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway Puck5

AMD Radeon RX 470, RX 480, RX 570, RX 580, and Radeon Pro WX 7100

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Polaris architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Pulse series and the AMD WX series.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

  • OWC Mercury Helios FX4
  • PowerColor Devil Box
  • Sapphire Gear Box
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 350W
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550W4
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W4
  • Razer Core X4
  • PowerColor Game Station4
  • HP Omen4
  • Akitio Node6

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Vega 56 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Vega 56.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

  • OWC Mercury Helios FX4
  • PowerColor Devil Box
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550W4
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W4
  • Razer Core X4
  • PowerColor Game Station4

AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, Vega Frontier Edition Air, and Radeon Pro WX 9100

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Vega 64 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Vega 64, AMD Frontier Edition air-cooled, and AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W4
  • Razer Core X4
Mac

AMD Radeon RX 5700, 5700 XT, and 5700 XT 50th Anniversary

If you've installed macOS Catalina 10.15.1 or later, you can use these graphics cards that are based on the AMD Navi RDNA architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the AMD Radeon RX 5700, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W4
  • Razer Core X4

Learn more

  • Learn how to choose your GPU in Final Cut Pro X 10.4.7 or later.
  • To ensure the best eGPU performance, use the Thunderbolt 3 cable that came with your eGPU or an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable. Also make sure that the cable is connected directly to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, not daisy-chained through another Thunderbolt device or hub.
  • If you have questions about Thunderbolt 3 chassis or graphics cards, or about third-party app support and compatibility, contact the hardware or software provider.
  • Software developers can learn more about programming their apps to take advantage of macOS eGPU support.

1. If you have a Mac mini (2018) with FileVault turned on, make sure to connect your primary display directly to Mac mini during startup. After you log in and see the macOS Desktop, you can unplug the display from Mac mini and connect it to your eGPU.

2. If you're using a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2016 or 2017, always plug eGPUs and other high-performance devices into the left-hand ports for maximum data throughput.

3. macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later don't support eGPUs in Windows using Boot Camp or when your Mac is in macOS Recovery or installing system updates.

4. These chassis provide at least 85 watts of charging power, making them ideal for use with 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

5. Playback of HDCP-protected content from iTunes and some streaming services is not supported on displays attached to Radeon 560-based eGPUs. You can play this content on the built-in display on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac.

6. If you use Akitio Node with a Mac notebook, you might need to connect your Mac to its power adapter to ensure proper charging.

There are many criticisms of Apple's Mac products, but one of the most commonly cited is that they often don't have graphics power that's comparable to what you'd see in similarly priced Windows machines. Unfortunately, the company currently offers no desktop tower in which you could, say, slot two super-powerful gaming graphics cards, either.

Some of that could change soon when Apple moves to its own silicon on Macs or when it introduces a new Mac Pro. But for now, the company's official answer to this line of criticism is doubling down on external GPU support in macOS. Support for this began during the High Sierra cycle and was expanded upon in some helpful ways in last year's Mojave OS release.

In addition to providing software support for eGPUs, Apple has developed what is more or less its official-ish eGPU solution, in much the same way that a couple of LG's monitors have been Apple's recommended external displays for a while now. The company did so by partnering with hardware-maker Blackmagic Design, an Australia-based company that specializes in products for video professionals. The first eGPU from Blackmagic included an AMD Radeon Pro 580 and was priced at $699. We reviewed it late last summer and found that—while it was quiet and easy to use, and the GPU was a big upgrade over the integrated graphics in many Macs—we wished a higher-end GPU option was offered for creative professionals and hardcore gamers who needed more.

Enter the Blackmagic eGPU Pro. At $1,199, it includes a Radeon RX Vega 56. And in theory, that's a big upgrade. So we recently ran some basic benchmarks to see if this new offering justifies the gigantic leap in price and satisfies wishes for a higher-end version of the previous model.

Specifications

As noted already, the most important spec to consider here is the GPU itself: a Radeon RX Vega 56 with 8GB of HBM2 memory. That's a high-end workstation GPU designed for tasks like video editing and 3D modeling, and it's faster than even the top Vega GPUs available in the MacBook Pro or iMac (the mid-range Radeon Pro Vega 20 and 48, respectively).

Blackmagic eGPU Pro

Mac Mini Windows Egpu

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It's the same GPU (memory included) as you'll find in the base iMac Pro, which starts at a wallet-busting $5,000. The only way you're getting a faster GPU than this in today's Macs without an eGPU is by buying that iMac Pro and adding on another $550 or $700 for the Radeon Pro Vega 64 or 64X with 16GB of HMB2.

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro will work with any Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac, and it has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, four USB 3 ports (Type A), an HDMI 2.0 port, and a DisplayPort 1.4 port. It's capable of 85W of power delivery to the attached Mac, which is good enough to keep any Mac laptop running. For a hot minute, some macOS releases supported eGPUs over Thunderbolt 2. But that brief moment has long passed.

The box includes the eGPU itself, a half-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable, and a power cable—there's no external power brick. As for dimensions, the enclosure itself comes in at 11.59 x 6.96 x 6.96 inches (29.44 x 17.68 x 17.68 cm) and weighs 9.92 pounds (4.5kg).

Design

There's not much new to add here on top of what we said about the Blackmagic eGPU last August. As far as we can tell, the chassis is the same. It's just the GPU inside that's different.

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro attempts to minimize its footprint on your desk by being tall. Its obelisk-like design is unusual; folks passing by your desk might have to venture a few guesses before figuring out precisely what it is. The Pro's design can definitely be described as minimalist, but it's at the same time just a touch too flashy for my tastes. That's subjective, though. Despite these efforts to lower its footprint, the overall volume is a little bulkier than we'd like. There are actually smaller eGPU enclosures on the market. But Blackmagic prioritized quietness above all else.

Best Egpu For Mac Mini

And as was the case with the slower model last year, Blackmagic has succeeded on that front, and that's really what you're paying for. If there's an eGPU enclosure that runs quieter than either of Blackmagic's eGPUs, I've never seen it myself. The eGPU Pro is only audible in an otherwise silent room, and even then, it's subtle. In fact, it's appreciably quieter than a MacBook Pro with fans fully revved up. Chances are, if you've got a desk covered in computers and peripherals, this is going to be one of the quieter devices sitting there.

Mac Mini Egpu Build

There's another positive to consider here. This thing has a ton of ports, and the Thunderbolt ports can be daisy-chained to a point. So odds are you'll end up having only one wire connected to your Mac: the Thunderbolt 3 port from this eGPU. That makes this not just an eGPU enclosure but a decent port hub.

Egpu Mac Mini Gaming Computer

Given that the best powered Thunderbolt 3 and USB hubs can run more than $300, that value proposition softens the blow of this eGPU's price just a bit. That's obviously no consolation if you've already invested in a setup that works for you.

Egpu Mac Mini Gaming Laptop

Listing image by Samuel Axon