2018Mac Mini & eGPU

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2018Mac Mini & eGPU

Happy New Year, Apple Community!

I have a 2018 Mac Mini; 6-core i5, 256GB SSD, 16GB RAM with an external drive for project & document storage, a 43" Philips 4K UHD TV is my main display–the TV was on sale for a lot cheaper than even a 27" FHD monitor & I'm really liking having such a large screen, I also use a 19" 720p HDTV as a 2nd display (for project assets, online reference search, etc..). I'm considering an eGPU and this is my question, "Is it possible/a good and reasonable idea to continue to use the Mini's internal GPU to run my displays and connect/use an eGPU just for running renders (video, 3-D models, etc...)?"

Anyone with thoughts, suggestions or actual experience, please feel as free as you may, to tell me what you think. The eGPU would just be for these sorts of things, otherwise the Mini as it currently is, handles what I do and works quite wonderfully! Thanks for any assist/info.

Posted on Jan 14, 2020 10:15 AM

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Answer 1

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QuickPost

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Jan 14, 2020 2:44 PM in response to Donna Jones1

Hello,

For example:

You have a Mac mini with a display connected to it directly (display 1) and have an eGPU with a display connected to the eGPU (display 2):

If you move a window from display 1 to display 2 then the application will use the eGPU for graphics processing. Developers also now have the option to allow their application to use the eGPU without a display being connected to it. This feature is now becoming more popular however not all applications take advantage of it.

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Answer 2

QuickPost

Level 10

103,335 points

Jan 14, 2020 2:55 PM in response to Donna Jones1

You are very welcome! Here is also an Apple Support document on how to inform an application that you wish to use it exclusively with an eGPU.

Use an external graphics processor with your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Donna Jones1 Author

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Jan 14, 2020 1:18 PM in response to QuickPost

I get that, but do I need to use the DP or HDMI outputs on the eGPU to run renders? Btw, my main display is connected via USB-C to HDMI cable & the 2nd display is connected via a USB-C hub to HDMI, could these connections cause an issue? As I understand, USB-C/T-Bolt 3 is a 2-way communication protocol (send & receive), so I'm of the thought that I should be able to use the T-Bolt 3 connection just for rendering (project data goes in, comes back out & on completion is stored in a location I've chosen or a default location per the app used). I really have no need to "see" a project render–I could fix/check on dinner, work on a different project, whatever while the render is taking place. Just interested in accelerating the rendering process. The eGPU I'm considering is the Sonnet 570 Puck (4GB) and it's presented as a device for Mac notebooks (on Sonnet 'site), not the Mini, but 4GB RAM should be sufficient, especially if I'm not using the video outputs, or powering anything. I'll use the outputs if necessary, but don't see why I should have to.

Thanks for your input.

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