A box (like an Akitio Node) connects to your Macintosh via Thunderbolt 3. What is an eGPU?Īn eGPU is an external Graphics Processing Unit. This post is the first in a set of materials to help you extend the life and performance of your Intel Mac, primarily focused on content creators. OR, you can grab a cheap~ish Akitio node for $225, grab a used Apple TB3>TB2 adapter for ~35-40 and get a large housing that’s future upgrade ready and has a 6 pin PSU.Do you work in Video? Or work with 3D? Do you create content regularly?Īn eGPU can make a practical difference in some of the most painful “waiting around for my computer” moments.

Even more if you want a 6pin modification. You’ll need to spend at least an additional ~20 on a 120W power supply bc the one it comes with isn’t strong enough for mid end cards. At best you’ll fine Thunder2’s for ~$190 on Amazon New and around the same used on eBay. You’ll need to modify the housing to accommodate the 6 pin connector and beef up the power traces in case the GPU overdraws on the PCIe slot.Īll of this work and I haven’t even mentioned prices yet. If you want something beefier than that, you’ll need a 6 pin power plug and more powerful power supply. This is the solution I went with along with an RX 460/ GTX 1050. For any GPU 75W and under, you can just use a 12V 10A power adapter and it works great. Last I checked though, they’re still expensive and need slight modifications in order to actually use a GPU. Longer Answer: the Akitio Thunder 2 is pretty much the cheapest thunderbolt 1/2 housing for PCIe devices that I’m aware of and the one I’ve used personally. Short answer: you’re pretty much better off getting a TB3 eGPU. Is there a good option for just a 10 GPS eGPU that would also be compatible with my Mini? I realize I might have to get an adapter from thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 1 anyway, but I'd rather not pay for a beefed up eGPU that my thunderbolt 1 can't handle. I'd like to find out if maybe there's a cheaper, less powerful eGPU that will be better for the thunderbolt 1? Here's my dilemma - I have a Thunderbolt 1 port, but 1 only goes up to 10GBPS and most eGPUs are thunderbolt 3. I'm not a pro editor, and my projects are usually 20 minutes at the very most. I'm considering my options and thinking rather than shelling out big bucks for a new computer, I'd rather just give my Mini an EGPU to help with the editing. Very fast considering its age and it has done really well until I just recently got into video editing. I have a mid 2011 Mac Mini 8gb of RAM and it works great. Hi, first time posting on this sub and I'm new to reddit in general.

Egpu for mac mini 2012