Mac eGPU Devices

[HarrisonC]

Hello everyone,

 

First I would like to ask for no hate towards my current computer, it's a Macbook Pro. Yes, a Mac, and I am asking for help on this forum. My question is whether anyone has any recommendations on any eGPUs or external GPUs that I could use with a Mac via Thunderbolt. I only have a crappy AMD HD 256MB chip in my laptop at the moment so I would love to be able to get some more power. If anyone could suggest a brand or product they have seen it would be great.

 

Thanks

[AMD_Nemesis]

Not recommended at all it will end up being pretty expensive get a low end pc and upgrade it.

[killerx525]

http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

 

Reasonably priced if your interested.

[Glenwing]

EDIT: I looked up your specs and a 256MB AMD card would make it a 2011 MacBook Pro.  For that you'd need a Thunderbolt enclosure as they don't have an ExpressCard slot (which the vidock requires).  These enclosures are very expensive right now and I'm not sure what the software support situation is like.

[Art Vandelay]

EDIT: I looked up your specs and a 256MB AMD card would make it a 2011 MacBook Pro.  For that you'd need a Thunderbolt enclosure as they don't have an ExpressCard slot (which the vidock requires).  These enclosures are very expensive right now and I'm not sure what the software support situation is like.

I don't think Nvidia or AMD have released drivers for them.

[XiaoPigs]

I straight up wouldn't recommend buying an eGPU. Driver support is not there at all tbh. Don't worry I'm not hating on the MacBook Pro, I'm sure it has its uses. Just get a proper PC :)

 

Oh and welcome to the forums~ !

[codytappen]

While eGPU devices are out there, their support is beyond minimal. I would not recommend anyone (OSX, Windows, or Linux users) use an eGPU in the current state of functionallity. The support is utterly abysmal, and what little support there is is disfunctional. I'm not against eGPUs at all (in fact I like the prospect of them a good deal) but at this point in time and the near future they're not a good solution. So what options do you have left? Here are a few:

1. Sell your Macbook and buy a newer model with a better GPU (Macs have extremely high resale value)
2. Sell your Macbook and buy a new PC laptop that features compatiblity with OSX (and thunderbolt just incase eGPUs become a better solution)
3. Keep your Macbook and live with the outdated GPU

I hope this helped. Be sure to enjoy your stay on the forums ;)