Mac Mini 2018 + eGPU + Vega 64 + World Warcraft Feedback

[Jenzbullets]

Long time reader, low quantity poster here looking for some feedback on my use case. So please bear with me....

I'm thinking of buying the late 2018 i7 Mac Mini (i7, 512GB SSD, upgrade the ram myself) for my requirements and am wondering if there are other users here who can give me feedback on it's viability and success?

I currently use a late 2012 iMac (i7, 32GB, 512GB SSD External Boot, Nvidia GTX 680MX 2GB) as my main machine. I use it for all the normal computing needs and for playing Blizzard games primarily World Of Warcraft, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I use it for Handbrake video transcoding of TV and movies for my iPads and iPhones. I have no other requirements. I am fully happy with my Mac environment and have no desire to bootcamp (if i can avoid it) or use Windows. My iMac SSD recently failed and I am now booting from a Samsung T5 USB 3 drive. I also have occasional graphic glitches that the Apple Repair Team say points to a failing logic board and GPU!

I also use a Windows 10 Corporate Machine for my actual work.

I have two large 27 inch monitors on my desk, one is my iMac, the other a boring HP VA Panel from work.

I'm thinking that I should make the switch to the 2018 i7 Mac Mini and in order to continue to enjoy WOW etc purchase a Razer Core X eGPU enclosure with a Vega 64 or a Radeon 7 (now that Radeon 7 support is showing up in the latest Mojave Beta as an eGPU).

I would then couple this with a decent Ultrawide 1440p monitor such as an LG 950F, Samsung CH890, or Benq 3501R. I think I could then use Picture By Picture to have my Mac Mini and my Work laptop on the same screen, improving usage and workflow, clearing my desk from all the kit and making life simple and yet also being able to maximise my Blizzard gaming.

I could move to the 2019 iMac but that doesn't solve my issues with simplifying my desk, doesn't match the eGPU performance, nor does it help with Ultrawide for work etc.

Are there any other users out there doing this use case specifically? If so does it work well and with excellent performance?

Kind regards Neil.

 

[F-Train]

My only comments are that I think that the Radeon 7 is poor value and that the Vega 64 only makes sense if about 10% better performance over the Vega 56 makes sense to you.

If you haven’t seen it already, there is a lot of info, including Vega 64 vs Vega 56 benchmark comparisons, in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/external-gpu-egpu-resources.2154653/

 

[Tdubv]

So what you asking is almost the exact setup I’m currently running. I play wow on max settings and run consistently around 100 FPS. The only difference being I went with 2 27” 1080p MSI 144hz screens
[doublepost=1554419667][/doublepost]

[doublepost=1554419753][/doublepost]I was able to snag a Vega 64 on sale for only $399 which at the time was cheaper than the Vega 56 so the 10% thing didn’t really matter to me.

 

[russell_314]

I'm also considering an eGPU to play WOW, D3, HL2, etc. I was thinking about the RX 580 or RX 590 with the Razer Core X eGPU enclosure. I would get the Vega 56 but it's a little out of my budget at the moment.

I thought about NVIDIA cards because it seems you can get them a little cheaper (Yea that seems backwards) but I hear Mac OS doesn't play nice with NVIDIA.

 

[F-Train]

I'm also considering an eGPU to play WOW, D3, HL2, etc. I was thinking about the RX 580 or RX 590 with the Razer Core X eGPU enclosure. I would get the Vega 56 but it's a little out of my budget at the moment.

I thought about NVIDIA cards because it seems you can get them a little cheaper (Yea that seems backwards) but I hear Mac OS doesn't play nice with NVIDIA.

Mojave doesn’t play at all with Nvidia, nice or otherwise. You’d have to run Windows.

 

[venom600]

Just a note, but WOW is so old it might run fine on the internal graphics of the Mini. If you must have external graphics, even an RX580 would be overkill, let alone a Vega. Nothing in that game would come close to taxing the graphics of an RX480 or 580.

 

[adamk77]

 

 

[tonyunreal]

My i7 + Core X + Vega 64 setup runs at stable 4K 60fps at graphics quality 7, even in Boralus. If I crank it up to quality 10 the frame rate drops to a little above 30 in Boralus. This is under Boot Camp, with the latest Windows 10 and the December 2018 driver from AMD.

I do play under macOS occasionally, at quality 7 the game can keep up with 60fps most of the time, I used to have problems with the frame rate last year, but the game got much stabler in performance during the last months.

Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 runs perfectly at maximum settings.

 

[Jenzbullets]

So what you asking is almost the exact setup I’m currently running. I play wow on max settings and run consistently around 100 FPS. The only difference being I went with 2 27” 1080p MSI 144hz screens
I was able to snag a Vega 64 on sale for only $399 which at the time was cheaper than the Vega 56 so the 10% thing didn’t really matter to me.

Perfect many thanks that is exactly what I was looking for. Have you got your graphics settings pushed right up? If so how high? I was thinking of using a Radeon 7 (yes understanding the cost and the fan volume).
[doublepost=1554463752][/doublepost]

My i7 + Core X + Vega 64 setup runs at stable 4K 60fps at graphics quality 7, even in Boralus. If I crank it up to quality 10 the frame rate drops to a little above 30 in Boralus. This is under Boot Camp, with the latest Windows 10 and the December 2018 driver from AMD.

I do play under macOS occasionally, at quality 7 the game can keep up with 60fps most of the time, I used to have problems with the frame rate last year, but the game got much stabler in performance during the last months.

Thanks for the feedback, that is sounding superb. Is this on i7 Mac Mini? What screen are you using and at what resolution as I am trying to go Ultrawide 3440x1440. The post from @Tdubv is sounding very encouraging as is yours.

 

[tonyunreal]

Is this on i7 Mac Mini? What screen are you using and at what resolution as I am trying to go Ultrawide 3440x1440.

Yes it is the i7 / 32GB / 512GB model, the display I use is called Aoc LV273HUPX, which is a 4K 10bit (8bit frc) 60hz display. I play WoW at the native 4K resolution (3840x2160) of the display.

A 3440x1440 ultrawide and WoW should also be fine with the setup, I have one with me and it was hooked up with the mini for a few days, gaming was spectacular. I had to switch back to the 4K display because I need to work under macOS, and texts were too jaggy and small with the 1440p resolution comparing to 4K aka 1080p HiDPI.

 

[IngerMan]

I just checked out of curiosity.

Newegg has Ausus Vega 56 $379 with $30 rebate card $349, plus 3 free games.

They have a Sapphire Nitro Vega 64 for $419

I paid $409 for my Vega 56 Ausus a month ago. Prices are definitely down. Looks like a good time to buy. Not sure if it plans to drop more?

 

[Tdubv]

I have all the setting maxed out and haven’t noticed it dip below 70+ FPS ever. Another piece of info I get around 60 FPS on ultra setting in the new division 2 under windows. The i7 definitely helps with that as I read it’s a cpu intensive game.

 

[vagos1103gr]

I finally make it to work my setup Mac mini 2018 i5 16gb razor x with nitro Vega 64 under windows 10. The problem is when I am trying to undervolt or Overclocking with different settings from the internet the card is crash on 3D mark. In turbo gives me score on time spy. 6250 when my previous pc setup with 4th generation Overclocking i5 and Nvidia 1070 Overclock 5550. Anybody has a good settings for overclock using wattman?

 

[Tdubv]

I just checked out of curiosity.

Newegg has Ausus Vega 56 $379 with $30 rebate card $349, plus 3 free games.

They have a Sapphire Nitro Vega 64 for $419

I paid $409 for my Vega 56 Ausus a month ago. Prices are definitely down. Looks like a good time to buy. Not sure if it plans to drop more?

Yeah I seen the sapphire Vega 64 drop to 399 with those 3 free games and I jumped all over it. Was tired of trying to make my gtx 1070 play nice with my Mac.

 

[Jenzbullets]

@Tdubv and @tonyunreal could you tell me what brand your Vega 64's are in your Razer Core X? I was thinking of the Sapphire Nitro+ Vega 64 as here in the UK it is "very good" value at £399.

 

[F-Train]

@Tdubv and @tonyunreal could you tell me what brand your Vega 64's are in your Razer Core X? I was thinking of the Sapphire Nitro+ Vega 64 as here in the UK it is "very good" value at £399.

Note that Sapphire’s Nitro+ Vega 64 uses three, rather than two, 8-pin power connectors.

 

[Jenzbullets]

Note that Sapphire’s Nitro+ Vega 64 uses three, rather than two, 8-pin power connectors.

Yep F-Train that's why I am asking

 

[obiit]

Very interesting this I have a Mac Pro 5,1 and i have put a RX 580 4G just to play WoW on it (the only game my arthritic fingers can handle and that i enjoy). I get on average 40 to 50 fps on Max settings in the capital cities but i am looking to get a Mini and an eGPU (to put the 580 in). I would say that from my limited experiance on the mac platform that the faster the cpu (as WoW is single core bound) you get in the Mini the better the performance. The gpu really doesn't matter all that much to be honest as long as you get a natively supported one (Radeon for Mojave) and don't use the cpu one. Diablo 3 runs well by the way on the same setup.

 

[Jenzbullets]

Raz

Yep F-Train that's why I am asking

Razer Core X only has two so therefore wont allow this card as far as I can tell.
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VI would say that from my limited experiance on the mac platform that the faster the cpu (as WoW is single core bound) you get in the Mini the better the performance.

I was under the impression as of WoW BfA v8.15 Metal was now using upto 4 cores and given about a 10% improvement.

 

[F-Train]

Razer Core X only has two so therefore wont allow this card as far as I can tell.

That’s why I pointed it out.

Sapphire’s Nitro+ card is the only Vega card that uses three, rather than two, 8-pin connectors. I don’t use the Razor Core X, but unless you have a way to plug in three connectors it won’t work. Maybe there’s an external enclosure that takes three 8-pins, but if there is I’m not aware of it. Perhaps someone, maybe on egpu.io, knows how to fit some kind of adapter.

 

[Tdubv]

I just have the regular sapphire card

 

[tonyunreal]

Note that Sapphire’s Nitro+ Vega 64 uses three, rather than two, 8-pin power connectors.

That is the "Sapphire’s Nitro+ Limited Edition" you see in the online reviews, which has three 8-pins. The normal Nitro+ only has two 8-pins, which can been seen on the specs page on newegg and in this video (2:45).

@Tdubv and @tonyunreal could you tell me what brand your Vega 64's are in your Razer Core X? I was thinking of the Sapphire Nitro+ Vega 64 as here in the UK it is "very good" value at £399.

I have the Sapphire’s Nitro+ Vega 64, bought last year for the price of approximately 376 GBP with current exchange rate.

 

[F-Train]

That is the "Sapphire’s Nitro+ Limited Edition" you see in the online reviews, which has three 8-pins. The normal Nitro+ only has two 8-pins, which can been seen on the specs page on newegg and in this video (2:45).

Good point. I’d forgotten that there’s also a “standard” Nitro+ Vega 64; only the Limited Edition is shown in Sapphire’s Nitro+ Gaming Series lineup: http://sapphirenitro.sapphiretech.com/en/vega64le.html#gaming

 

[tonyunreal]

Good point. I’d forgotten that there’s also a “standard” Nitro+ Vega 64, although only the Limited Edition is shown in Sapphire’s Nitro+ Gaming Series lineup: http://sapphirenitro.sapphiretech.com/en/vega64le.html#gaming

Their corporate website lists the non-LE version and the Limited Edition, I guess the branding subsite has been abandoned for a while...

 

[obiit]

@Jenzbullets I *thought* it was single core as all the improvements for 8.1.5 where for DX12 and Windows (from what i read). Just checked now it does seem to be using more than one core so bonus for Metal users