Octane X on iMac / which eGPU?

[macjon]

Hi there! I want to set up a workstation for C4D and Octane X, i thought to buy an iMac Pro with this specs:
– 2,3 GHz 18-Core Intel Xeon W
– 64 GB DDR4 ECC RAM
– Radeon Pro Vega 64X 16 GB HBM2

Which eGPU / which card would you recommend to speed this setup up and decrease render times for short videos / make this possible?

[bepeg4d]

My suggestion is to have a look at 27‑inch iMac with Retina 5K display, with Nano-texture glass, 3.6GHz 10-core 10th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, and Radeon Pro 5700 XT with 16GB of GDDR6 memory:
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac ... 0ghz-512gb#
Very good for OctaneX.

About AMD GPUs for eGPU, at the moment I think that you can find only Radeon Pro 5700XT, and Radeon VII 16GB, but AMD has just presented new Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT/6900 XT that should be faster.

ciao Beppe

[macjon]

Hey Beppe

Thanks for your answer! Oh wow, you're right. I compared those two quickly: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/A ... 3933vs4045

About the eGPU: I saw those Radeon RX 68x and 69x releases and will wait for them. Is there an eGPU case you'd recommend? Probably this one? https://www.sonnetstore.com/collections ... ay-box-550

Greets from Switzerland,
Jonas

[bepeg4d]

Hi Jonas,
yes, personally I have this one:
https://www.sonnetstore.com/collections ... 9888055330

But here are a couple of eGPU solutions used by other Mac Octane users:
https://www.razer.com/gaming-egpus/raze ... 10200-R3U1
https://www.akitio.com/expansion/thunder3-pcie-box
*the last solution needs an external PSU to work, as explained here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43439&start=170#p276341

Happy Mac eGPU Rendering,
ciao Beppe

[davidpreta]

I recommed the akitio node pro with dual thunderbolt c.

I'm planning to get two AMD RX 6800 XT, I don't think will make that much difference vs the RX 6900 XT.

Please can anyone confirm or otherwise let me know your thoughts?
Will it make a big difference in performance between the 6800 XT vs 6900 XT?

[sourcegatekeeper]

Hi Jonas,
yes, personally I have this one:
https://www.sonnetstore.com/collections ... 9888055330

But here are a couple of eGPU solutions used by other Mac Octane users:
https://www.razer.com/gaming-egpus/raze ... 10200-R3U1
https://www.akitio.com/expansion/thunder3-pcie-box
*the last solution needs an external PSU to work, as explained here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43439&start=170#p276341

Happy Mac eGPU Rendering,
ciao Beppe

Thanks Beppe, I'm about to order a eGPU and card and was wondering if you have a recent update on your suggestion.

I'm running Macbook Pro 2.4 GHZ 8-core Intel i9 with an internal AMD Radeon Pro 5600M 8GB looking for the best eGPU + external GPU that you think will help improve performant renders.

[Raduchits]

My specs:
iMac 27 5k 2017
with i5 and Radeon Pro 580 8GB
plus eGPU Akitio Node with RX 6800XT

Can i use it for Octane X ?
Thanks

[bepeg4d]

@ sourcegatekeeper: AMD 5700XT still has the best ratio between performance and power, at the moment

@ Raduchits : About Big Navi 6800/6900, the support depends exclusively from Apple Metal driver, but sincerely I don’t know if it is already supported in Big Sur 11.1.
Have you tried with Standalone PR7 for Big Sur 11.1?
The AMD 580 is a Polaris GPU, so it is supported by Apple Metal driver in Big Sur 11.1.

ciao Beppe

[Raduchits]

@bepeg4d I tried only amd 580 result - 15-20% slower than my 1080ti eGPU its fantastic
Looking for 6900xt but don’t have it right now

[kinedix]

Oh would love to hear the result of testing it with 6800xt and 6900xt!