eGPU not detected + digital noise [Razer Core X + Sapphire Radeon RX 580]

Hi All,

I have the captioned issue with the a MBP 2019 and Monterey 12.5.

I purchased the Razer Core X and Radeon after checking the compatible devices lists. In addition to the obvious performance improvement, my target is to use this setup with two external monitors + the opened MPB (three monitors in total), shifting all the possible load on the eGPU. As I recently found, MBP uses the discrete GPU only (Radeon Pro 560X) when using external monitors, causing high heat which in the mid term leads to swollen batteries. I already had my motherboard changed twice for the same issue.

I had kept Mojave until a couple of days ago since I didn't want to have issues with software such as Logic Pro X and Adobe suite, having found that on Monterey (but already on Catalina and Big Sur) multiple issues were known.

Since there was no way to make the eGPU work on Mojave, I tried the same eGPU on a MacMini with Monterey and that worked fine. Therefore I decided to take the risk and upgrade to Monterey also on the MBP.

After upgrading to Monterey 12.4 few days ago, I still had issues and started trying to launch the system with different power up sequences, including:

• MBP on and Razer turned off;
• MBP off, turning on the Razer first, which caused the MBP to turn on and load MacOs;
• Unplugging and plugging the cables in different orders.

I eventually had a successful launch by unplugging and plugging the Razer to a different UPS power connector. Everything worked fine until the evening. At next boot, no way to have the eGPU detected.

Removing the GPU from the Razer Core X and putting in back in place did not help. Cable is 40Gb/s and I tried three of them.

In addition, trying to unplug and plug the TB3 cable, while no additional graphic card appeared in System Resources, I get the "incorrect device removal alert" (something like this, I read it in Italian). Soon after, MacOS crashes with black screen and critical error "Your computer restarted because of a problem press a key or wait a few seconds".

In addition, keeping the Razer Core X plugged in, causes a digital buzz on my active speakers (YAMAHA HS 50M) connected through a Scarlett Focusrite 18i8. Only after having moved all of the cables, trying different power connections, keeping USB, audio and power cables separated, with no positive results, I spent additional 60 euro to add a USB noise filter which gave me no benefit. The buzz is purely digital and I noticed it seems related to any on-screen movement. Most of users discussing this issue relate it to the mouse movement but I found that, while it is true that moving the mouse causes the noise, watching a video on Youtube without moving the mouse makes the noise more stable and more consistent, therefore it is apparently more related to screen refresh.

As last step, today I updated to Monterey 12.5 with no improvement.

To recap:

• I spent 700 euro on devices suggested by Apple;
• I upgraded to a newer OS without being able to use all of the software I had before;
• Now I also have a bonus digital buzz every time the monitor refreshes an individual pixel.

Luckily, Time Machine backup is still safe and untouched since before upgrading to Monterey.

This is very frustrating being such products advertised by as Plug and Play and tested. Can anyone help?

Thanks for any idea,

G