MP All Models Using a Radeon Vega (or suggestions) as mobile eGPU station to process video for 4 macs

[EvilMonk]

Quick observation.
I hooked the power on my GC Titan-ridge while using the eGPU and the connection is a lot more stable for everything on the second display… my RX 560 TB3 on my cMP works a lot better and even my black magic raw speed test 8k GPU got from 102 FPS to 131… a lot less than my RX 580 but still… it’s better… could the card require power?

 

[cdf]

I hooked the power on my GC Titan-ridge while using the eGPU and the connection is a lot more stable for everything on the second display… my RX 560 TB3 on my cMP works a lot better and even my black magic raw speed test 8k GPU got from 102 FPS to 131… a lot less than my RX 580 but still… it’s better… could the card require power?

This is an interesting observation, especially given that the eGPU has it's own power supply and therefore shouldn't require power from the GC-Titan Ridge. Just as the card can function without connecting the TB and USB headers, it can apparently also function without connecting the power headers. In Apple host mode with the jumper for force_pwr, the TB header turns out to be of little use. The USB header is directly connected to the USB 2.0 data lines of the USB-C ports, so no big loss there. On the other hand, I'm not sure the effects of omitting the power connection are that well understood. Perhaps you could disconnect the power now and double check that the loss of stability returns (is it just a lower benchmark score?).

 

[EvilMonk]

This is an interesting observation, especially given that the eGPU has it's own power supply and therefore shouldn't require power from the GC-Titan Ridge. Just as the card can function without connecting the TB and USB headers, it can apparently also function without connecting the power headers. In Apple host mode with the jumper for force_pwr, the TB header turns out to be of little use. The USB header is directly connected to the USB 2.0 data lines of the USB-C ports, so no big loss there. On the other hand, I'm not sure the effects of omitting the power connection are that well understood. Perhaps you could disconnect the power now and double check that the loss of stability returns (is it just a lower benchmark score?).

The 4K screen hooked to the eGPU doesn’t seem that fluid as well with content playing on it without power.
I’m going to double check and confirm in the next hour, I have a zoom meeting to finish first 👍

 

[EvilMonk]

This is an interesting observation, especially given that the eGPU has it's own power supply and therefore shouldn't require power from the GC-Titan Ridge. Just as the card can function without connecting the TB and USB headers, it can apparently also function without connecting the power headers. In Apple host mode with the jumper for force_pwr, the TB header turns out to be of little use. The USB header is directly connected to the USB 2.0 data lines of the USB-C ports, so no big loss there. On the other hand, I'm not sure the effects of omitting the power connection are that well understood. Perhaps you could disconnect the power now and double check that the loss of stability returns (is it just a lower benchmark score?).

first screenshot is with power unplugged and it took a dive... the screen also flickers when I start and stop the benchmark.
Second screenshot is with power back on and the screen doesn't flicker when I start and stop the benchmark.
Look like it's something i'll have to test more with my Razer Core X Chroma and my new GPU when I have it put together!

 

[EvilMonk]

It's really making a difference with power.
I let Mac OS load and a little while after relaunched the benchmark...

 

[EvilMonk]

It gives me almost the same performance as I get on my MBA 2018 through TB3 (it’s a Titan Ridge controller on the 2018 air) when I run Black Magic Raw Speed Test for GPU the GPU benchmarks have just a couple FPS of difference in favour of the Air (the CPU is a joke and does 7 fps 🤣) so I think the cMP with the TB3 AIC the Mac community made is a beautiful and incredible feat of ingenuity and proof that people working together can achieve great things ✊🙌😁

 

[iAssimilated]

Let me know how the card works out bud 🙌😎 I’m really curious since they are still available in my part of Canada and prices aren’t insane yet…

Mixed, to say the least: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/big-sur-and-egpu.2247755/post-31064743

I do not think it is an issue with getting a bad card, but I could be wrong. YMMV depending on usage though, since I haven't heard that many bad things about the RX 6800 XT expect the awful drivers introduced in the .3 release of Monterey.

 

[EvilMonk]

The RX 6600 driver support was introduced even later than the RX 6800 XT if I remember right? 12.1 vs 11.4 if I recall right

 

[EvilMonk]

FML 🤦‍♂️ the RX 6600 is in a shipping depot 40 miles from my house 🙄😆

 

[iAssimilated]

The RX 6600 driver support was introduced even later than the RX 6800 XT if I remember right? 12.1 vs 11.4 if I recall right

Yes, I believe you are correct. Again, you may have a different experience depending on your usage. Everything was mostly working with my 6800 XT, but I do like to game, so that is a show stopper for me at the moment. I wish I trusted the current build of Monterey because if I did, I would upgrade to see if it better supports the card.

 

[EvilMonk]

I get you brother… I do like to game as well and the M1 max isn’t there yet… So I need windows and drivers made to game… I have a PS5 and an Xbox Series X with Xbox Game Pass. It’s giving me access to a ton of games for PC, I’m a huge flight sims fan, Flight simulator is included with game pass… i bought Xplane on steam since it has the Mac version but the version for Mac is awful on Apple silicon…

 

[EvilMonk]

Yes, I believe you are correct. Again, you may have a different experience depending on your usage. Everything was mostly working with my 6800 XT, but I do like to game, so that is a show stopper for me at the moment. I wish I trusted the current build of Monterey because if I did, I would upgrade to see if it better supports the card.

BTW I’m running the latest beta of Monterey (12.4) on my 12 cores 5,1 and I’m testing encoding on both GPUs at the same time processing Blu-ray rips of my Fear the Walking Dead Seasons 1-2-3. So far the computer has been rock stable since 7 this morning loaded with a queue of 3 seasons to reencode in HEVC.
The GPUs
1. Sonnet RX 560 TB3
2. Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ PCIe
I bought a second hand Rackable SAN and maxed it to 48 Tb (16x3.5’’ 3Tb datacenter grade hitachi SAS HDD) so I can clear the shelves in my home theatre📽 all my hardware runs the latest Apple beta and so far no problem.
The Razer Core X chroma is estimated for delivery Tuesday and the RX 6600 tomorrow.

 

[prefuse07]

Yes, I believe you are correct. Again, you may have a different experience depending on your usage. Everything was mostly working with my 6800 XT, but I do like to game, so that is a show stopper for me at the moment. I wish I trusted the current build of Monterey because if I did, I would upgrade to see if it better supports the card.

Wait, so did you flash your 6800xt with Syncretic's patch? Is that what you're referring to, or are you just talking about how terrible Monterey is with an RX 6600?

Also, are you talking about running it on a 5,1 or a 6,1?

Edit: NVM, I read your post in the "Big Sur eGPU thread".

Yeah, TBH. I've read a TON of negative things about using eGPUs with the 6,1 and newer machines including MBPs, Minis and it seems especially bad when you are running Monterey. Plus with apple silicon, they straight up just dropped eGPU support altogether, so that doesn't help one bit.

I'm curious to see what EvilMonk is going to report when his 6600 arrives though...

 

[EvilMonk]

Wait, so did you flash your 6800xt with Syncretic's patch? Is that what you're referring to, or are you just talking about how terrible Monterey is with an RX 6600?

Also, are you talking about running it on a 5,1 or a 6,1?

Edit: NVM, I read your post in the "Big Sur eGPU thread".

Yeah, TBH. I've read a TON of negative things about using eGPUs with the 6,1 and newer machines including MBPs, Minis and it seems especially bad when you are running Monterey. Plus with apple silicon, they straight up just dropped eGPU support altogether, so that doesn't help one bit.

I'm curious to see what EvilMonk is going to report when his 6600 arrives though...

So am I 🤪 I spent the last 2-3 weeks reading on getting thunderbolt working properly and blew up my first card about 2.5 weeks ago 😬🫢 oops 😅 then I started to get results about a week and a half ago and the guys here @tsialex @mikas @Syncretic helped me with the ideas, OC and figure out how to get it working 😊

 

[iAssimilated]

Yeah, TBH. I've read a TON of negative things about using eGPUs with the 6,1 and newer machines including MBPs, Minis and it seems especially bad when you are running Monterey. Plus with apple silicon, they straight up just dropped eGPU support altogether, so that doesn't help one bit.

My eGPU with the RX Vega 56 has been rock solid in Big Sur on my mini, so that is why I was so disappointed to have the experience I did with the RX 6800 XT. I haven't given up on it, but after a week of work all I wanted to do last night was enjoy my game.

Also, it is sad to hear about the state of the eGPU solution, since I have mostly had great luck with my eGPU and it has made my mini a whole different system then it would be without the eGPU. Oh well.

 

[EvilMonk]

My eGPU with the RX Vega 56 has been rock solid in Big Sur on my mini, so that is why I was so disappointed to have the experience I did with the RX 6800 XT. I haven't given up on it, but after a week of work all I wanted to do last night was enjoy my game.

Also, it is sad to hear about the state of the eGPU solution, since I have mostly had great luck with my eGPU and it has made my mini a whole different system then it would be without the eGPU. Oh well.

I really wish eGPU support hadn’t been dropped on Apple silicon because I have a top of the line MacBook Pro M1 Max 16” 32C 32 Gb and a Mini M1 16 Gb that would kill with a RX 6800 XT and it’s the card I wanted from the start… I wouldn’t even bother with the Mac Pro 2012 at that point, the RX 580 would be fine.

 

[EvilMonk]

I have a small HP DL360 G6 I use as my SAN server for my 16 bay SAS Storage array and installed a little Radeon Pro WX 3200 4 Gb in it… it does hardware transcoding of videos with Plex when I play certain content that can be improved when played in 4K… it’s really sad we can’t use the lower end WX cards like that one because it’s awesome for video processing in a 1U server without a PCIe power connector… it unloads the CPU for the tasks I have it doing… I swapped my W3690 in it and a ton of ram now it works like a dream even if it’s 12 years old.
I still have my 2006 Mac Pro flashed to 2007 with a pair of X5365 3 GHz if I remember… that would be perfect for it

 

[tsialex]

I have a small HP DL360 G6 I use as my SAN server for my 16 bay SAS Storage array and installed a little Radeon Pro WX 3200 4 Gb in it… it does hardware transcoding of videos with Plex when I play certain content that can be improved when played in 4K… it’s really sad we can’t use the lower end WX cards like that one because it’s awesome for video processing in a 1U server without a PCIe power connector… it unloads the CPU for the tasks I have it doing… I swapped my W3690 in it and a ton of ram now it works like a dream even if it’s 12 years old.

Lexa GPUs don't have any driver support with macOS, but you can use any Radeon Pro card that is supported.

I still have my 2006 Mac Pro flashed to 2007 with a pair of X5365 3 GHz if I remember… that would be perfect for it

Failed idea from the start since Polaris cards are supported only with 10.12.6 and later macOS releases. You can't run anything later than El Capitan with a MacPro1,1/2,1.

Also the missing SSE support is another problem for transcoding, even if you can install Linux to run Plex with your MacPro1,1/2,1.

 

[EvilMonk]

Lexa GPUs don't have any driver support with macOS, but you can use any Radeon Pro card that is supported.

Failed idea from the start since Polaris cards are supported only with 10.12.6 and later macOS releases. You can't run anything later than El Capitan with a MacPro1,1/2,1.

Also the missing SSE support is another problem for transcoding, even if you can install Linux to run Plex with your MacPro1,1/2,1.

What about Linux, open or FreeBSD or even an OpenSolaris based distro with a gui? I love openindiana

OpenIndiana - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It could run on it… the missing instructions would still be a problem though?

 

[tsialex]

What about Linux, open or FreeBSD or even an OpenSolaris based distro with a gui? I love openindiana

OpenIndiana - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It could run on it… the missing instructions would still be a problem though?

Like I wrote, with Plex the baseline for hardware transcoding is Intel QuickSync, so a 2nd gen Intel Core is the minimum requirement.

What kind of CPU do I need for my Server?

This article is primarily aimed toward Windows, Mac, or Linux users who plan to run Plex Media Server on a...

support.plex.tv

Even if you use GPU assisted hardware transcoding to bypass the QuickSync basic requirement, a CPU with SSE 4.2 is also a requirement.

 

[EvilMonk]

Received this morning, I have to leave for my parents 50th wedding anniversary in 15 minutes, now I kinda feel like playing with my toys and add TB3 to my 2009 Mac Pro 🤣 still waiting for my Razer Core X Chroma though 😞

 

[iAssimilated]

Pretty sure it is the driver that crashed on my RX 6800 XT:

Thread 45 Crashed:: IdxD3D11_0
0 com.apple.AMDRadeonX6000MTLDriver 0x0000000114c303ef amdMtl_GFX10_WriteStartSample(unsigned int*, GFX10_HwZPassInfo*) + 180
1 com.apple.AMDRadeonX6000MTLDriver 0x0000000114d6c4db amdMtl_GFX10_PostSplitSegmentCallback(AMD_HwCmdBufInfoRec*, void*) + 172
2 com.apple.AMDRadeonX6000MTLDriver 0x0000000114d6111c void amdMtl_HWL_TextureBarrier<(AMDMtl_SqttMode)0>(GFX10_RenderCmdEncoderMembersRec*, unsigned char, RgpSqttMarkerEventType, RgpBarrierReason) + 218
3 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x0000000105f2187d 0x105382000 + 12187773
4 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x0000000105f1872b 0x105382000 + 12150571
5 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x0000000105f1978e 0x105382000 + 12154766
6 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x00000001062eacdd 0x105382000 + 16157917
7 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x00000001062784aa 0x105382000 + 15688874
8 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x000000010623ba03 0x105382000 + 15440387
9 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x000000010623cf7c 0x105382000 + 15445884
10 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x00000001055b48de 0x105382000 + 2304222
11 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x00000001055b4818 0x105382000 + 2304024
12 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x0000000105635be9 0x105382000 + 2833385
13 com.feralinteractive.troytw 0x00000001055cef64 0x105382000 + 2412388
14 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff2088a8fc _pthread_start + 224
15 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff20886443 thread_start + 15

Funny thing is this is showing in the log as well:

System Profile:
Network Service: Ethernet, Ethernet, en0
Thunderbolt Device: Core X, Razer, 3, 33.1
Boot Volume File System Type: apfs
PCI Card: Radeon RX Vega 56, sppci_displaycontroller, Thunderbolt@198,0,0
PCI Card: pci1002,aaf8, sppci_audiodevice, Thunderbolt@198,0,1
Memory Module: BANK 0/ChannelA-DIMM0, 16 GB, DDR4, 2667 MHz, SK Hynix, HMA82GS6CJR8N-VK
Memory Module: BANK 2/ChannelB-DIMM0, 16 GB, DDR4, 2667 MHz, SK Hynix, HMA82GS6CJR8N-VK
USB Device: PSSD T7
USB Device: Portable SSD T5
USB Device: USB 3.1 Bus
USB Device: Hub
USB Device: Hub
USB Device: USB Receiver
USB Device: Apple T2 Bus
USB Device: Headset
USB Device: Apple T2 Controller
Thunderbolt Bus: Mac mini, Apple Inc., 47.5
Thunderbolt Bus: Mac mini, Apple Inc., 47.5
Model: Macmini8,1, BootROM 1731.100.130.0.0 (iBridge: 19.16.14242.0.0,0), 6 processors, 6-Core Intel Core i7, 3.2 GHz, 32 GB, SMC
Graphics: kHW_IntelUHDGraphics630Item, Intel UHD Graphics 630, spdisplays_builtin
Graphics: kHW_AMDRadeonRXVega56Item, Radeon RX Vega 56, spdisplays_pcie_device, 8 GB
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x7BF), wl0: Aug 10 2021 19:55:28 version 9.30.444.18.32.5.71 FWID 01-93db3422
Bluetooth: Version 8.0.5d7, 3 services, 27 devices, 1 incoming serial ports

 

[EvilMonk]

Seen on eBay Canada a few minutes ago…
Should have waited the weekend to buy GPU… 😭😭 If I had waited to order my RX 6600… the Vega Frontier is not taxable so basically it’s just 140$ more than the RX 6600 and has almost twice the power 🤦‍♂️ Someone go buy it… my bank rates converted it to $548 USD 🤣 or 515 € I sorted and added up my bills and I’m just a little over $2500 CDN of hardware with the used Mac Pro 6,1 the 12 cores E5-2697 v2, 64Gb DDR3 1866R memory kit, the Razer Core X Chroma, 2 GC-Titan Ridge V2 for my 2 MP 5,1, a second hand Sonnet RX 560 eGPU Puck to figure out eGPUs with opencore and Macs, 2 0.5m TB3 cables, 2 Apple TB3 <-> TB2 converters, the RX 580 I got 2 months ago and the RX 6600. I need to take a break before the next GPU 😆 take it away guys 🥴🤕🤣 I got into this too deep 🤪

 

[prefuse07]

Seen on eBay Canada a few minutes ago…
Should have waited the weekend to buy GPU… 😭😭 If I had waited to order my RX 6600… the Vega Frontier is not taxable so basically it’s just 140$ more than the RX 6600 and has almost twice the power 🤦‍♂️ Someone go buy it… my bank rates converted it to $548 USD 🤣 or 515 € I sorted and added up my bills and I’m just a little over $2500 CDN of hardware with the used Mac Pro 6,1 the 12 cores E5-2697 v2, 64Gb DDR3 1866R memory kit, the Razer Core X Chroma, 2 GC-Titan Ridge V2 for my 2 MP 5,1, a second hand Sonnet RX 560 eGPU Puck to figure out eGPUs with opencore and Macs, 2 0.5m TB3 cables, 2 Apple TB3 <-> TB2 converters, the RX 580 I got 2 months ago and the RX 6600. I need to take a break before the next GPU 😆 take it away guys 🥴🤕🤣 I got into this too deep 🤪

I wouldn't get too bent outta shape over it. I've heard some very bad things about the Vega Frontier, hell, even Linus did a video on it.

You should be happy with your 6600XT.

BTW, have you seen this thread?

 

[EvilMonk]

I wouldn't get too bent outta shape over it. I've heard some very bad things about the Vega Frontier, hell, even Linus did a video on it.

You should be happy with your 6600XT.

BTW, have you seen this thread?

I did see it but I’m still waiting for my Razer core X Chroma to be delivered (the estimated delivery moved to tomorrow) I’ll report on each machines (MP 4,1->5,1 6C / MP 5,1 12C / MP 6,1 12C / MBP 10,1 i7 2.7 / MBA 8,1 i5 1.6 / iMac 17,1 i7 27) when I tested 😊