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Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

blackmagicdesign.com

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Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#111

Post by blattimwind »

themagician wrote: post #29
djsumdog wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. They're targeting ... people who don't know any better? I want to see rendering benchmarks (both 1080p/2160p) of this vs external Thunderbolt GTX/1060,1070,1080 enclosures (and AMDGPU equivalents). I mean if it works better and you do a lot of video, then yea, go for it. If it's only marginally better, buy something with a real PCIe slot that's upgradable. Even business customers should not buy this if the bench…

The value in the ability to upgrade is often misperceived as being worth more than it really is. If you buy something mid-to-top range you are really only going to be able to get a single upgrade cycle out of it out (where there is some substantial marginal benefit for the cost) before the rest of the system starts to obsolete itself. If you watch things closely and the tick-tock cycles are aligned then maybe you get…

> The value in the ability to upgrade is often misperceived as being worth more than it really is. If you buy something mid-to-top range you are really only going to be able to get a single upgrade cycle out of it out (where there is some substantial marginal benefit for the cost) before the rest of the system starts to obsolete itself. If you watch things closely and the tick-tock cycles are aligned then maybe you get two.

I don't think that's true in this case.

The upgradeable part would just be an PCIe enclosure. PCIe 2.0 is over ten years old and would still be sufficient for many GPU applications with little performance loss. PCIe 3.0 is eight years old and fast enough that we will likely not see 4.0 for many years in desktops (or mobiles) [also 4.0 needs more expensive materials for all involved planars, so... yeah... not doing that for +-0 %].

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#112

Post by Angostura »

Angostura wrote: post #89

I'm understand why the page is so obsessed with DaVinci Resolve, but does anyone have any insight on how this would work with After Effects or Premier Pro?

Why is hellomrjack's reply below marked dead - anyone know? seems a useful reply and an innocuous account.

Although, in reply to him, this late 2013 iMac with NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1024 MB certainly struggles to playback edits in real time.

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#113

Post by Guillaume86 »

sevanteri wrote: post #92
penagwin wrote: post #91

Just thought I'd mention. The game in the "gaming" picture looks like The Last of Us - a PS3/PS4 exclusive. Not sure how they're playing that on a mac lol.

Looks like Tomb Raider to me

It is, The Rise of the Tomb Raider and screenshot comes from here I guess: https://tombraiders.net/stella/images/TR10/large/preview/pre...

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#114

Post by nottorp »

saagarjha wrote: post #102
rvanmil wrote: post #93

Pardon my ignorance, but do I need an external monitor to use this, or can I just plug this into my MacBook Pro and have improved graphics performance on the built-in display?

It works without an external display as well.

Does it? Because i remember it worked during the betas but then Apple disabled support for the internal display... which made the GPU somewhat useless. Did they fix that lately?

Note: it works if you install Windows is also useless to me. Does it work with the internal display with OS X?

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#115

Post by blattimwind »

sitharus wrote: post #43
djsumdog wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. They're targeting ... people who don't know any better? I want to see rendering benchmarks (both 1080p/2160p) of this vs external Thunderbolt GTX/1060,1070,1080 enclosures (and AMDGPU equivalents). I mean if it works better and you do a lot of video, then yea, go for it. If it's only marginally better, buy something with a real PCIe slot that's upgradable. Even business customers should not buy this if the bench…

Four years ago I bought a desktop gaming PC (I'm normally a Mac user) with the idea that I could upgrade it over the years to keep it current but avoid replacing the whole thing. Turns out in practice technology changes enough over that time to only leave the case, and perhaps the PSU. The motherboard, CPU, RAM and graphics card are all obsolete now. The SSD can be reused but newer technology is much faster. I don't…

> all obsolete now

What is it used for?

If you buy Intel, you know beforehand you won't be able to upgrade the CPU, since the socket is changed (intentionally, of course) every generation. But the CPU isn't the issue for e.g. gaming, and upgrading every generation or every other generation largely doesn't make any sense at all with Intel parts for the last eight years or so.

Since you're saying obsolete, you probably bought into 1150/Haswell. It was known this was the last pure DDR3 platform, but you can still get DDR3 memory new, if you need more. So that's not a problem, really. (And it's actually cheaper than DDR4 memory)

Graphics cards can keep up for years nowadays. I've used a midrange-highend card for five years before upgrading; I could still play new games at mid-to-high settings. Graphics cards can always be upgraded in any computer (if the PSU has enough power, which is rarely an issue).

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#117

Post by gambiting »

jasonjs wrote: post #68
neya wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's not the best deal, but it's so much better than other jokers in this space, because, the alternative I've found is Razor Core series ( https://www.razer.com/sg-en/gaming-laptops/razer-core-v2 ) which is a joke - $500+ ($750 where I live) and it doesn't even include a GPU in it! I'm seriously interested if there's some sort of DIY out there wherein you could just buy a bunch of chips from eBay, put togeth…

Even before the more polished products existed, people have hacked together external GPU enclosures, often interfaced to the host's PCIe bus via ExpressCard slots or ribbon cables hanging off of Mini PCIe slots. And more recently, with the interest in cramming many dual-slot GPUs onto a single motherboard for cryptomining rigs, you can find cheap, "barebones stand-alone PCIe slots" (for lack of a better term) for han…

The problem with all of those has always been that they only worked with an external display - there never was any way to send the image back to the laptop's own display.

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#118

Post by ekianjo »

whichdan wrote: post #8

From the FAQ: > Can I upgrade the GPU chip in the Blackmagic eGPU? > No, the design has been optimized for quiet operation so it’s better suited for creative customers. This means the design is not a simple chassis with a PCIe card plugged in, but an integrated electronics, mechanical and cooling design that cannot have the GPU chip upgraded or changed. $699 and no ability to upgrade makes it pretty clear that they'r…

No ability to upgrade? Sounds very familiar for every Apple user out there.

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#119

Post by jonhendry18 »

Tehnix wrote: post #81
firecall wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed - exactly. And it's wasteful - once the GPU is out of date you have to dispose of a perfectly good TB3 enclosure. Another anti-consumer decision made under the auspices of design and practicality that consumers want. I cant imagine a single customer has ever asked for a non-upgradable eGPU.

No, they asked for a quiet one.

Wire up a fan speed control.

Re: Blackmagic eGPU – Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor

#120

Post by iagooar »

angott wrote: post #39
dmix wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd bet 99.9% of people buying PC Laptops never upgrade a single chip... Apple's non-pro lines are likely not much different. Apple largely sacrificed that ability (in a few product lines) in favour of creating some of the thinnest laptops available. I don't remember them ever doing that before Macbook Air, for now reason. That said, in this case, I don't see what is being gained by not making the GPU swappable or at…

I miss so much my 2009 MacBook Pro, where you could take out the DVD drive and replace it with an additional SSD for a performance boost.

Oh yeah, let's make the MBP double thick so there is space just in case you need an upgrade...
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