
Thunderbolting your video card - plg
https://blog.codinghorror.com/thunderbolting-your-video-card/
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archagon
If anyone is interested in eGPU for TB2, I recently wrote an article on my
hassle- and hack-free Macbook build. Not nearly as powerful as this one, but
still 4x as fast as my integrated 750M!

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303912](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13303912)

~~~
morganvachon
I thought I had read about a TB2 build here in the past. Thanks for the link!
I've been considering a mid-level Mac mini to get back into the macOS game,
and something like this would allow me to do away with my gaming rig (I don't
do AAA games, but the ones I do play tend to require more than Intel
graphics).

~~~
archagon
Caveat: the 1050 Ti is still an entry level card, but at least I can play
modern games now. :)

When I upgrade again, I might opt for a molex-powered SFF card and hack up a
Dell DA-2 adaptor like some people do.

~~~
nottorp
Caution for the OP considering using it with a Mac Mini: there are no nvidia
OS X drivers for the 1050Ti. You're stuck with 9xx or earlier cards.

And TBH, if you want this solution to boost a desktop computer, you're better
off just building a Hackintosh. It may make some sense for a laptop, but i
think it's still cheaper to build a separate gaming computer.

~~~
morganvachon
> _Caution for the OP considering using it with a Mac Mini: there are no
> nvidia OS X drivers for the 1050Ti. You 're stuck with 9xx or earlier
> cards._

Yep I'm aware, and most of my games don't have native macOS ports. The ones
that do would run fine on the Mac's Iris graphics. I would be dual-booting via
BootCamp for heavy lifting.

> _And TBH, if you want this solution to boost a desktop computer, you 're
> better off just building a Hackintosh. It may make some sense for a laptop,
> but i think it's still cheaper to build a separate gaming computer._

I already have A Windows 10 gaming desktop, my goal would be to consolidate
into macOS for workstation duties and Windows 10 for gaming, and free up space
on my desk. I'm not keen on building a Hackintosh or turning my current gaming
rig into one; I've been there done that and it's just not worth the hassle. I
also would prefer to run macOS on a real Mac just for the support side of
things.

I would then be able to give my 16 year old niece the "old" gaming rig (it's a
Skylake based system I just built a few months ago) as a massive upgrade from
her Core 2 Quad. She's getting into computer animation and 3D modeling and
needs something better.

~~~
nottorp
I don't know about you, but I used to dual boot and i still have the Windows
installation on my Hackintosh (which is beefy enough to handle gaming. Hint:
don't buy the gaming hardware and try to make OS X run on it, buy hardware
that works well in a hackintosh and is good enough for games instead.). In
time though, I simply stopped playing the games that required me to reboot and
now I only get stuff that runs on OS X.

Of course, it's easier if you have a very strong dislike for the current AAA
games. I stopped touching anything from EA/Ubisoft long before i stopped
rebooting for gaming.

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nkurz
What keeps the price high on these enclosures? In the past the assumption had
been that it's because Intel is charging a lot for the TB3 controllers, but
unless I'm reading it wrong, the prices on those look to be very reasonable
(sub $10) at this point:
[https://ark.intel.com/products/codename/56890/Alpine-
Ridge](https://ark.intel.com/products/codename/56890/Alpine-Ridge).

Does anyone have a BOM estimate of this (or any of the competing) Thunderbolt
3 enclosures?

~~~
whazor
There are GPU enclosures with a lower price, for example the AKiTio Node for
270 dollar[1]. Since the new Macbook Pro, new GPU enclosures have been popping
up everywhere.

[1]
[https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1303819-REG/Akitio_AK...](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1303819-REG/Akitio_AK_NODE_T3IA_AKTU_Thunderbolt3_External_Pcie_Box.html)

~~~
Dylan16807
Good to know but doesn't really answer the question. The BoM of just the
signal adapter is what I really want to know. Is it $5 or $80? The price of a
power supply is a known factor, and boxes are cheap.

~~~
rubber_duck
Add the PSU, box and other parts + assembly all at low volume and factor in
fixed cost such as design - I can see them staying above 200$ if they suddenly
don't start selling a lot more.

~~~
Dylan16807
But that's the question. How much is fixed costs? I'm not surprised at a high
cost for a low volume part, but I want to know if it's going to eventually
drop to $40 or $140.

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tedunangst
Expensive is putting it mildly. $500 is pretty much the budget for an entire
desktop system minus GPU. So I could buy a laptop with TB3, then drop another
$1000 on eGPU, or take that $1000 and by a whole nother gaming system.

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Animats
Maybe the next step is putting the graphics processor in the display, and
extending the processor's I/O bus out to the display with Thunderbolt/PCIe.

~~~
predakanga
I don't see many usecases for that - besides the cable length problem
mentioned in the article, it would have the effect of reducing choice for the
consumer.

I could perhaps see displays including a very basic GPU and advertising it as
a plug & play display, no need to check if your video card has enough ports,
but I believe (citation needed) multiple display outputs have been standard
for years now.

If that's the usecase you're after, I'd also suggest that you're better served
by USB - there have been basic USB external GPUs available for years now that
would do the trick.

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timmfin
I am fully on this thunderbolt 3 GPU bandwagon as well. I pre-ordered an
Akitio node, and I'm quite bummed out that it hasn't been delivered yet. I'm
very much looking forward to playing some games on my MacBook Pro with it!

Though if the Mantiz Venus starts arriving before my order is shipped, I may
need to switch.

Ps: If anyone else is interested in doing an e-GPU with their mac,
[https://egpu.io/setup-guide-external-graphics-card-
mac/](https://egpu.io/setup-guide-external-graphics-card-mac/) is a great
place to start.

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danielhooper
There is a missing product in the market right now. These high-end GPUs are
all designed to fit into decade old computer cases. The pcb and chips are tiny
and thin, you should be able to throw the actual guts of a GPU like a frisbee.
GPU manufacturers should be designing external GPUs, instead of consumers
having to purchase enclosures and power supplies for GPUs still designed to go
into pc cases.

~~~
striking
The current modularity is important, because the market thrives on it. TB3
enclosures are expensive; to duplicate that cost across every graphics card
sold would be expensive.

Yes, it'd be smaller. But the increase in cost would not be worth it for the
current niche market. Until TB3 penetration across regular consumers (as
compared to the techie niche) goes up, there's no point in making slick
consumer-market pre-builts.

~~~
danielhooper
Modularity is a fast horse. The current state of external GPUs is like phone
blocks, and I'm waiting for the iPhone. A gpu enclosure with power costs about
$300 USD. An Nvidia 1060 6gb gpu also costs about $300 USD. From my
perspective I don't understand why I wouldn't just cough up a bit more money
and build an entire pc. An Ncase M1 pc case is practically just as portable as
any of these gpu enclosures.

~~~
striking
It's a product people don't know they want. Currently, the fast horses are
fast enough. When enough people are using "fast horses" where cars would be
more appropriate and where volume pricing would favor cars, we'll see cars on
the market.

The market just isn't ready for the car. And you mention wanting an iPhone.
The problem is that you'll more than likely get a Newton MessagePad.

edit: also, I've come to the same conclusion wrt PC cases. I'm considering
building a "portable desktop" that I can take with me, that mirrors video over
a network connection. Then I can use a laptop to interface with it.

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freshyill
I'm not in the market for a Mac Pro, but I keep thinking that something like
this is the future for high-end computers—a capable base system with the
ability expand virtually infinitely by attaching another Thunderbolt 3
component.

~~~
kakarot
What's wrong with eSATA/SATA/PCIe/USB/other existing technologies? I don't
fault Intel for wanting to try their chops in the data transfer tech market
but it's saturated enough as it is and real high end computers will make use
of eSATA/SATA.

~~~
DuskStar
Thunderbolt - all of the versions - can be summarized as "External PCIe". It's
just that ePCIe isn't nearly as marketable a name as Thunderbolt.

~~~
Sanddancer
It's not. Thunderbolt is a very very closed standard by Intel. With
standardized protocols, like regular PCIe, to start building a device, getting
started is pretty much a case of ordering a few chips, reading the datasheets,
and starting up in a design program. Thunderbolt, on the other hand, in order
to even start looking at the datasheets, you have to apply to the developer
program, and wait an unknown amount of time for intel to decide if you can
even start to develop. Once your device is ready, you have to wait again for
intel to approve it, and there is a chance they won't -- the first Thunderbolt
GPUs were promised 5+ years ago, but Intel wouldn't approve for them being
sold.

~~~
coldtea
> _Thunderbolt, on the other hand, in order to even start looking at the
> datasheets, you have to apply to the developer program, and wait an unknown
> amount of time for intel to decide if you can even start to develop._

That sounds excellent. Fewer amateur hour broken, incomplete and potentially
computer damaging implementations!

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jpalomaki
I would like to "thunderbolt" my CPU, memory and GPU. I don't like to be stuck
with the low power laptop CPU when sitting at my desk. Nor do I want to pay
for and carry the workstation class laptop with lousy battery life.

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FullyFunctional
My interest in this is adding a 10 GbE SPF NIC to my 2016 MBP running macOS
(you can find drivers for 10 GbE, but tradically not yet for 25 GbE cards). I
don't know if has been tried yet.

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BuckRogers
This stuff is the future, most people are going to be happy with a T470 or
MBP13 hooked up to an Atikio Node + AMD RX480 8GB.

