Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Successful Sorcerer

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 23, 2019
175
141
Hi all, I've been reading a bit about eGPUs and am thinking of adding one to my 2017 15" Macbook pro (2,9 ghz i7 + 16gb + radeon 560 4gb). When using the egpu it'll be used with a 4K 32" monitor. I already checked egpu.io and other sites, a lot focus on gaming.

I use Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects, Dimensions.

Why I want an eGPU:
- With the 4K monitor those Adobe programs can lag a bit, they don't lag at all without the monitor. I guess it has to do with the resolution scaling. I'm hoping there won't be any lagging with an egpu.
- Improve render speeds in After Effects, Dimensions and Premiere.

I read on the Adobe site that an egpu will be used but does anybody have actual experience with this? And with what egpu are you using? It won't be used for gaming but it has to be a real improvement over the 560. Hope there's anybody on here with a comparable setup.
 

jaduffy007

macrumors regular
May 23, 2018
146
139
I think you'll find the performance gains quite significant. I would highly recommend enabling "Prefer External GPU" for each "pro" app by right click / get info. The "Prefer External GPU" is **only** available when an egpu is connected.
Barefeats.com has several great comparisons that show the performance gains to be expected by use of an eGPU.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.