Looking to build an external graphics card for your Mac? Read our comprehensive setup guide with step-by-step how-tos, recommended enclosures and GPUs. Consider browsing eGPU.io Mac users’ successful builds or visit the eGPU.io forum to ask questions and share your own success stories. Rate this Post. 4.6 / 5 190 ratings.

What Is an eGPU? An external GPU (or eGPU for short) is a dedicated box that combines an open PCIe slot, a desktop-style power supply, and a full-sized graphics card that plugs into your laptop. When you do, you have gaming desktop power and connectivity without sacrificing those svelte modern laptop designs. This sort of thing has been attempted before, but recently there has been a rise in these products. The high data and video bandwidth in single-cable connections like USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3 has finally enabled the kind of lightning-quick connections needed to offload GPU processing to external hardware, while still relying on a laptop’s internal motherboard for standard computing. An extra bonus: a lot of external GPUs come with extra USB ports, Ethernet, and more, which means it’s easy to plug and play with a ton of extra hardware, like multiple monitors or gaming keyboards and mice. At the moment, the de facto standard for this high-bandwidth operation is Thunderbolt 3.

With a 40 Gbps connection that can handle simultaneous video, audio, data, and an Internet connection, plus up to 100 watts of power on supported hardware, it’s a single cable that really can do it all. And since it uses the standardized USB-C port (the one found on the new Macbook, later revisions of the XPS 13, and more and more laptops every day), it’s becoming more adaptable from a pure hardware perspective.

That said, software is another issue. Right now most external GPU systems rely on fairly complex and specific drivers, enabling laptops to hand over the load from their integrated graphics chip to the dedicated NVIDIA or AMD graphics card. This is some complex stuff, so universal solutions are rare, and companies like Dell and Razer only support external graphics on specific laptop models. Some more general options, as well as older standards like USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 2, offer more options but poorer graphics performance.

Flash drive for mac install. The Best eGPU Options On the Market Right Now Unfortunately, external GPUs are still an emerging segment, and several years after the first models were introduced they remain thin on the ground. Mac driver for black magic design ultra mini recorder download. Here are the current options from the major PC manufacturers. Razer Core Price: $500 Connection: Thunderbolt 3 Compatibility: and This is probably the best-known external graphics setup, if only by dint of Razer’s sheer presence in the desktop gaming accessory space. The is a little black box that manages to still be attractive, thanks to a beefy 500-watt power supply for the biggest and baddest graphics cards, built-in USB 3.0 connections for external drives and accessories, and dedicated Ethernet for fast online connections. It has room for the largest AMD and NVIDIA GPUs on the market, compatible with double slot cards up to 12.2 inches (310mm) long.