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External nVidia GPU on Mac

TheRetiredSailorTheRetiredSailor Posts: 260
in Daz Studio Discussion

There's been occasional posts about using external GPUs on Macs so that Mac users can have iRay renders processed by the GPU instead of the CPU.  I wanted to share this YouTube video.  I have not tried this, nor do I plan on it.  Just throwing this out for those that are interested.

Things to keep in mind (in my manner of thinking):

  • The script is said to be an alpha 
  • It is (IMO) a hack of the OS.  That makes me wonder what happens the next time Apple updates the OS.
  • The person posting the video has experienced kernal panics (never a good thing, again IMO).

Disclaimer:  YouTube throws up advertisements. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GOx9ttdKk 

Comments

  • hyteckithyteckit Posts: 167
    edited May 2018

    I thought about it, but my MacBook pro had only thunderbolt 2 and I don't like the newer MacBook Pro. Also, the eGPU enclosures are $300.

    So I went with a 2009 Mac Pro instead of dealing with a MacBook plus eGPU.

    You can get a 2009 Mac Pro for less than $400. In fact I bought 2. Single CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $200 and the dual CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $400.

    Spent another $50 to $100 adding 3.33GHz Xeons to my Mac Pro and the machine is faster than my MacBook Pro.

    Then you can use add whatever Nvidia graphics card you want without an external enclosure and dealing with the thunderbolt bottleneck and the issues associated with the "hack".

    Post edited by hyteckit on
  • GhostofMacbethGhostofMacbeth Posts: 1,670

    I have heard that the Thunderbolt 2 is the same and can be used on the Thunderbolt 3 but just not at full speed. I have a render machine (Like hytechit did) but I hate shipping things over there. I have been considering an external card, as well.

  • nucclenuccle Posts: 19
    hyteckit said:

    I thought about it, but my MacBook pro had only thunderbolt 2 and I don't like the newer MacBook Pro. Also, the eGPU enclosures are $300.

    So I went with a 2009 Mac Pro instead of dealing with a MacBook plus eGPU.

    You can get a 2009 Mac Pro for less than $400. In fact I bought 2. Single CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $200 and the dual CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $400.

    Spent another $50 to $100 adding 3.33GHz Xeons to my Mac Pro and the machine is faster than my MacBook Pro.

    Then you can use add whatever Nvidia graphics card you want without an external enclosure and dealing with the thunderbolt bottleneck and the issues associated with the "hack".

    Would this work with a 2012 Macbook Pro?

  • oomuoomu Posts: 175
    hyteckit said:

    I thought about it, but my MacBook pro had only thunderbolt 2 and I don't like the newer MacBook Pro. Also, the eGPU enclosures are $300.

    So I went with a 2009 Mac Pro instead of dealing with a MacBook plus eGPU.

    You can get a 2009 Mac Pro for less than $400. In fact I bought 2. Single CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $200 and the dual CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $400.

    Spent another $50 to $100 adding 3.33GHz Xeons to my Mac Pro and the machine is faster than my MacBook Pro.

    Then you can use add whatever Nvidia graphics card you want without an external enclosure and dealing with the thunderbolt bottleneck and the issues associated with the "hack".

    Hello

    did you try a newer NVidia gpu (2080 and so on) ? Do you use an external power supply ?

    thanks

  • oomuoomu Posts: 175
    nuccle said:
    hyteckit said:

    I thought about it, but my MacBook pro had only thunderbolt 2 and I don't like the newer MacBook Pro. Also, the eGPU enclosures are $300.

    So I went with a 2009 Mac Pro instead of dealing with a MacBook plus eGPU.

    You can get a 2009 Mac Pro for less than $400. In fact I bought 2. Single CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $200 and the dual CPU 2009 Mac Pro cost me $400.

    Spent another $50 to $100 adding 3.33GHz Xeons to my Mac Pro and the machine is faster than my MacBook Pro.

    Then you can use add whatever Nvidia graphics card you want without an external enclosure and dealing with the thunderbolt bottleneck and the issues associated with the "hack".

    Would this work with a 2012 Macbook Pro?

    no. A "Mac Pro 2009" is a tower mac, with pcie slots for dedicated gpu cards.

  • DrNewcensteinDrNewcenstein Posts: 816

    There are methods of using eGPUs for gaming with various Mac laptops via PCIExpress/PCMCIA cards. It was those Google search results that led me to exploring eGPU setups on PC, and so far it has gone well, except for breaking a lot of stuff. At any rate, a gaming eGPU setup for Mac laptops should work for iRay rendering using PCIExpress cards and risers and external PSUs.

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