eGPU for 2011 13" MacBook Pro 8,1 with Thunderbolt 1st gen?

[CregoryNootinger]

Hello everyone! I have a 2011 13 inch MacBook Pro with original Thunderbolt. I was curious as to if Thunderbolt 2 enclosures would work, and if they do, could I use these parts?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071DZBDGN/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1OB26G8TSLEZQ&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LTAUTHE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A3JMVXSR9U5GE6&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0711GBCKS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I know it's not the most high end setup in the world, but what I will be using it for, it should work great. I need something so I can use 3D effects in Final Cut Pro X (without it being super laggy/insanely slow) and possibly boot into Windows and play a few games. Will a GT 1030 work with MacOS High Sierra with the 10xx series Nvidia drivers? I'd think it would. If not, please recommend a GPU (new OR used) that will perform...decently with my MacBook.

 

[casperes1996]

I've never heard of anybody using a first gen Thunderbolt connection with an eGPU. Seeing that eGPUs are bandwidth limited even on TB3, and the original Thunderbolt is half speed and not full duplex, the duplexity being the bigger concern, I can understand why. However, with a lot end GPU the bandwidth may not be that big a problem. I can't confirm or deny whether the setup will work, but for macOS, I recommend an AMD GPU, as you'll not have to hunt down web drivers for each release of macOS, and AMD GPUs are generally more supported by Apple (FCP X runs better on AMD too)

 

[Samuelsan2001]

In my opinion using a 200 dollar pcie box to add a crappy $80 gpu to your set up is just not worth the effort . Especially through the 10gb/s bandwidth thunderbolt 1, egpu’s really weren’t a great option until tb 2 and even then they were constrained.

To be honest your money wound better spent towards a second hand gaming pc with good graphics card.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Budget-Qua...065727?hash=item41d804c5ff:g:c7MAAOSwN2VZXqzV

 

[CregoryNootinger]

So what I'm thinking now is try to get a better GPU (if possible with insane AMD and even Nvidia prices for mid-high-end cards) and try to make it AMD, since FCPX runs better on AMD. Yes, I do know I won't see the graphics card's full potential, because 1st Gen. Thunderbolt is running at x1 speeds, right? I would use my gaming PC with an Intel Core i7 2600K and Nvidia 1050 Ti, but I like the MacOS-specific features and don't want to deal with a Hackintosh for FCPX that also boots to Windows for games...at least not just yet. Plus, This setup would be more portable. A 13 inch MBP and an eGPU box is smaller than my gaming PC.

 

[theitsage]

My recommendation is a Sonnet Breakaway Puck RX 560. It's the most portable eGFX on the market. If you run macOS 10.13.4 Beta 1, everything should be plug-and-play without any system file hacks.

Thunderbolt 1 is not as bad as it seems. I put together a 2011 Mac mini with an RX 570 + AKiTiO Node and the performance improvement over the iGPU was remarkable. You can take a look here.

 

[casperes1996]

In my opinion using a 200 dollar pcie box to add a crappy $80 gpu to your set up is just not worth the effort . Especially through the 10gb/s bandwidth thunderbolt 1, egpu’s really weren’t a great option until tb 2 and even then they were constrained.

Thunderbolt 1 actually runs at 20GB/s just like Thunderbolt 2. It's just only one direction at a time, so it's 20GB/s either to or from the GPU, but not both. You may say that makes it 10GB/s equivalent since the GPU needs both up and down streams, but it's not quite as straightforward as that.

because 1st Gen. Thunderbolt is running at x1 speeds, right

No, in fact. It runs at PCIe 2.0 x4 speeds in half duplex mode. TB 2 runs in full duplex with the same PCIe 2.0 x4 speed, and TB3 runs full duplex PCIe 3.0 x4

 

[CregoryNootinger]

Does anybody know of a different graphics card that is not over $200 that is from AMD? I understand this is not the best time due to everyone mining.

 

[Gen0]

Thunderbolt 1 actually runs at 20GB/s just like Thunderbolt 2. It's just only one direction at a time, so it's 20GB/s either to or from the GPU, but not both. You may say that makes it 10GB/s equivalent since the GPU needs both up and down streams, but it's not quite as straightforward as that.



No, in fact. It runs at PCIe 2.0 x4 speeds in half duplex mode. TB 2 runs in full duplex with the same PCIe 2.0 x4 speed, and TB3 runs full duplex PCIe 3.0 x4

This is pretty French for the uninitiated.

1. Remember one device can only use half it's speed, and there is a 20% protocol overhead for the language that TB uses to communicate, so TB1 runs at 4Gb/s and sends then receives one after the other. This last point is key, because it effectively means that it's 2Gb/s. This is in comparison to a normal half speed PCI-e slot giving 8Gb/s.

Your GPU MUST have onboard GDDR or it will be slower than your built in Intel iGPU or it must send image data down and up that cable a minimum of 3 times a frame. Raw uncompressed 1080p video at 60 frames per second is about 3Gbps by itself so this is COSTLY.

TB2 runs at 4Gb/s full duplex. Duplex means it sends and receives at the same time and equates to twice the performance as a result. This still causes major slowdowns on most cards as it's half PCI-E x8 which is minimum expected performance that these cards were made for.

TB3 runs at PCIE3 x8 which is twice TB2. It has the bandwidth but is still much slower because of issue two.

2. Your GPU will always lose about 30% of it's performance to the cable, after you apply these numbers. GPU's are not designed to be run from down a cable, and they are fast enough that the extra time it takes light to travel up and down the cable makes them have to sit waiting for data for considerably longer. With an $80 GPU I am almost certain you will be entirely wasting your money, even if you had a TB3 capable Mac. You need a used Mac Pro... or a Hackintosh.
[doublepost=1517509964][/doublepost]Finally, the 1030 is not confirmed to work. I believe OSX will only work with 1050 or above. See tonymac for that kind of stuff. Oh and your enclosure isn't even full PCIe x4, which is why it says in the title "Not for Graphics Cards". Your card will be slower than your built in iGPU even if it did work.

 

[Acronyc]

I have a Sonnet Breakaway with a Radeon RX 580 8GB eGPU. I also have three Macs - one with TB1 (2012 mini), one with TB2 (2014 mini), and one with TB3 (2016 MBP). The eGPU significantly improves performance for all Macs, even the 2012 mini with TB1.

As an example, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ran at a solid 30fps throughout in custom medium-high settings in macOS on the 2012 mini with TB1. In every metric the eGPU yields huge performance gains on this machine and I’ve been really surprised just how well it fares in TB1. It’s even better in TB2 and with TB3 performance really improves.

Granted, this is not a cheap card (or at least wasn’t when I got it last summer), so I assume performance would degrade with a less powerful card. But with the right card even TB1 works very well with an eGP, and certainly a lot better than integrated graphics.

 

[CregoryNootinger]

Okay so if gaming was not a factor, even though it does do way better with dedicated graphics, would an AMD R7 250 be better? Will it work out-of-the-box? I just want an improvement in at least FCPX. I already did the kext hack to get 1gb of VRAM for the iGPU for my Mac, and it helped with 3D titles and such in FCPX, but it's still pretty choppy.

 

[casperes1996]

TB3 runs at PCIE3 x8 which is twice TB2. It has the bandwidth but is still much slower because of issue two.

Uhmmm. TB3 is PCIe 3.0 x4. Not x8. 40GB/s. (Just looked it up to be sure before posting)

1. Remember one device can only use half it's speed, and there is a 20% protocol overhead for the language that TB uses to communicate, so TB1 runs at 4Gb/s and sends then receives one after the other. This last point is key, because it effectively means that it's 2Gb/s. This is in comparison to a normal half speed PCI-e slot giving 8Gb/s.

One device can use the full speed, if it only needs to either receive or send data - That's obviously not the case for a GPU (or in fact most devices), but just thought it worth pointing out for the sake of completeness

 

[reelchef]

I have a Sonnet Breakaway with a Radeon RX 580 8GB eGPU. I also have three Macs - one with TB1 (2012 mini), one with TB2 (2014 mini), and one with TB3 (2016 MBP). The eGPU significantly improves performance for all Macs, even the 2012 mini with TB1.

As an example, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ran at a solid 30fps throughout in custom medium-high settings in macOS on the 2012 mini with TB1. In every metric the eGPU yields huge performance gains on this machine and I’ve been really surprised just how well it fares in TB1. It’s even better in TB2 and with TB3 performance really improves.

Granted, this is not a cheap card (or at least wasn’t when I got it last summer), so I assume performance would degrade with a less powerful card. But with the right card even TB1 works very well with an eGP, and certainly a lot better than integrated graphics.

Hi I'm wondering if you help me a bit
I am looking to do this with my my mac mini and TB1 how do you connect the sonnet egpu box to to TB1 , website says it has TB3 input only.

ps i'm a noob

my mac mini specs
osx 10.12.6
mid2011 server edition
quad Core i7 hd3000 graphics
16gb ram
2x5oogb drives

cheers

 

[Acronyc]

Hi I'm wondering if you help me a bit
I am looking to do this with my my mac mini and TB1 how do you connect the sonnet egpu box to to TB1 , website says it has TB3 input only.

ps i'm a noob

my mac mini specs
osx 10.12.6
mid2011 server edition
quad Core i7 hd3000 graphics
16gb ram
2x5oogb drives

cheers

Just use Apple’s Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. It works fine and is what I use on my Mac mini.

Check out egpu.io for more info. There is a lot there that might be able to help you further.

Good luck!

 

[waigx]

I am using 2012 MacBook Pro with TB gen1 / eGPU. I connected it via Akitio ThunderBolt 2 enclosure and GTX 1060.

After some dirty hacks and settings, it worked GREAT, especially in Boot Camp. I was able to play most of those big titles on my 2012 MacBook.

Cheers.

--

Instead of asking here you probably want to go egpu.io

 

[pubmsu]

Is it possible to drive a 4K monitor with such eGPU setup with rMBP 13-inch late 2012 with Intel HD 4000? If yes, what lowest cost eGPU setup do you recommend?

 

[waigx]

Is it possible to drive a 4K monitor with such eGPU setup with rMBP 13-inch late 2012 with Intel HD 4000? If yes, what lowest cost eGPU setup do you recommend?

Yes, it is possible. I believe a Thunderbolt 2 enclosure (~200USD) + GTX 1050/RX 560 (~150USD) could do the job. In addition you probably will need a PSU (~40USD). And it should also enables you play most of games.

There are lots of threads out there for help but be prepared to troubleshooting yourself.

 

[pdafan]

For those who are interested to know the performance difference for graphics cards across TB1/2/3/PCIE, this is a good article. https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/pcie-slot-dgpu-vs-thunderbolt-3-egpu-internal-display-test/

 

[giffut]

It is absolutely doable and recommended. I would just advise you to get an AMD based GPU, the SapphioreRX580 with 8GB recommended, if your workflow concentrates on Apples Final Cut Pro X. If you use Davinci Resolve or game, then get an NVIDA card, best would be the 1080Ti, I guess.

Beware: Final Cut Pro X 10.4.3 at the moment seems to not use external GPU acceleration at all. For whatever reason Apple has blocked this funtionality. The versions 10.2/10.3 prior do so without any problems, though. I use 10.3.4 myself.

For running macOS or OpenGL/Metal based workflows, use AMD; for CUDA or Windows, use NVIDA.

I own a Macbook Pro 15 (2011) with a broken, but hardware deactivated internal GPU, upgraded to 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD with an external eGPU via Thunderbolt 1 port.

I have a Sonnet eGFX 550 and an Sapphire RX560 4GB RAM GPU. The increase in performance for iMovie and Final Cut Pro, also DxO Optics, is huge beyond comparison.

I use macOS 10.12.6 "Sierra", therefore I have to activate the AMD GPU via the script here from egpu.io. Apple blocks most GPus, but this script "frees" them:
https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/automate-egpu-sh-is-reborn-with-amd-polaris-fiji-support-for-macos

Reboot and done.

My Sonnet eGFX thunderbolt case is connected last via Apple Thunderbolt 3/2/1 adapter to a Caldigit Thunderstation 2 (all ports used) and 2x Lacie eSATA thunderbolt adapters - four thunderbolt devices chained. It works reliable and stable.

Keep in mind that, yes, you loose some bandwith with Thunderbolt 1 compared to 2/3, but - and this is important - for using an old 2011 Macbook like you have here this is basically completely neglectable. And even for any other thunderbold 1/2/3 based Mac the bandwith argument doesn´t count anything, in my opinion.

The gain in detachble GPU processing power is worth it anytime.

By the way: If you run an eGPU with Windows 10, you get a solid increase in bandwith solely for Microsoft better managing the thunderbolt interface and eGPU functions. Gaming is a breeze for old Macs this way via bootcamp.

With an eGPU your vintage Macbook basically on the same level as the fastest internal GPUs Apple sells right now in it´s computers, including the iMac Pro. And you even could up your game with your "wreck from 2011" and put an AMD VEGA 64 in there or any monster NVIDIA card and be competitive in your workflow for years to come with anything available from Apple at the moment.

And go figure: That´s solely because of dedicated DIY community, not because of Apple. They depreceated this capability for Thunderbolt 2/3 Macs on purpose for economic reasons, NOT for compatibility or reliability - blocking it. They are inconsistent with their own apps. Starting with macOS 10.13.4 "High Sierra" only Macs with Thunderbolt 3 interfaces can do so.

I saved a lot of money this way and I am glad because I can no longer afford new Apple hardware and my seven year Macbook Pro runs more or less the same speed and functionality as the current generation.

I don´t have to throw away perfectly capable hardware.

For any help check the forums here:
https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/