Indigo Renderer Forum

Hi

Important news, soon even a laptop can be updated with an external video card via Thunderbolt 3.

"Capable of supporting a bandwidth up to 40 Gbit per second, the connection Thunderbolt 3 seems perfect for connecting external video cards upscale. The feasibility of such solutions has been shown over the last Intel Developer Forum with a Thunderbolt dock 3 which provided various types of connection (USB Type-A and Type-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, input / output audio, Ethernet) and connecting to a Radeon R9 M385, high-end GPU from AMD. It was also shown a dedicated box that housed the video card Radeon R9 200. Intel demonstrated the ability to manage up to two 4K display (in addition to the laptop screen), all with a single cable simultaneously.

Similar solutions will transform the portable machines that can compete side chart with desktop computers and of course allow the update of the video card at any time. They remain to understand what will be anyway the costs. A local monitor and external GPU could eventually cost more than a desktop machine, making unnecessary the use of such solutions.

Thunderbolt has not achieved the success it deserved. The new Thunderbolt version 3 of the standard not only offers improved specifications in terms of bandwidth and power, but physically adopt USB Type-C reversible. Probably it will be the operating system to detect and "understand" how to manage and take advantage of the device depending on whether you have connected a USB or Thunderbolt."

http://gizmodo.com/heres-the-box-that-c ... 1724958260
http://www.macitynet.it/intel-mostrato- ... via-usb-c/

What is your opinion?

I really like the Idea that something like this would allow me to travel with my laptop and still have a reasonable amount of render power that I can take with me.

This development is very interesting especially regarding the full GPU support that Indigo 4 will have.
I really see potential there (and as I am not a gamer) it would be a really nice addition to rendering on the road!

Cheers,
Raphael

The idea is good because it solves some problems.

1) One or more computing units to be added to the video card already resident on the computer.
2) Update with a new video card that obsolete.

During the year the standard Thunderbolt 3 will be implemented in the new computer will be followed by new OM video card.

An object like that will cost less than € 300 but it is a cost which should be spent.

This is not really new. I'm currently running a HD 7970 via Thunderbolt 1 on my 2011 MBP. Though up until now it hasn't been officially supported by Intel, so if that's about to change with Thunderbolt 3, there will probably be a lot more people using eGPU solutions.

Technically contegufo, you should be able to run an external graphics card via Thunderbolt on you Mac Mini without issues. All it takes is a small amount of experience with computers and electronics.

Check this forum for more information: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementa ... des-apple/

Also me using eGPU setup with HD 7950 Boost trough EC on mine X220, following Techinferno instructions.
Waiting with USB Type-C laptop for true eGPU support.

Not sure I have the right technical knowledge for such work on MacMini.
I await the official support also to avoid spending money on empty!

Intel has indeed confirmed that the platform Skylake, which will debut its 2015, will be the first to use this new standard (PCI-E 4.0), which, as is now common practice, doubles the bandwidth of the PCI-E 3.0, thus moving from 32 to 64 GB / s.

Razer presented for the first time in the world a commercial (not prototype) version of external GPU enclosure with standard TB3 + USB Type-C connector, potentially usable with any laptop (with the BIOS supporting such a thing and with an TB3 port of course).

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems ... de-stealth

Unfortunately the associated laptop come with only 8GB non upgradable ram and i7 dual core.

Hi

The price of the laptop between 999 and 1500 € (top version) + enclosure kit + GPU card.
We must carefully assess whether it is appropriate rather a desktop computer with PCI-E 3.0 + GPU card.
AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box costs 269$.

contegufo wrote:Hi

The price of the laptop between 999 and 1500 € (top version) + enclosure kit + GPU card.
We must carefully assess whether it is appropriate rather a desktop computer with PCI-E 3.0 + GPU card.
AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box costs 269$.

good luck lugging your desktop around

contegufo wrote: AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box costs 269$.

Akitio is well known in the eGPU community being unable to power anything above 25w and so requiring extensive DIY modification to be used as eGPU enclosure.

http://www.akitio.com/expansion/thunder2-pcie-box

^ Yes. I use the Akitio with my external Radeon HD 7970. Was a fun project, but it's not really plug and play.

There are rumors Akitio will push out some new thing this February, so hoping for another TB3 eGPU enclosure.

With the arrival of Thunderbolt 3 and PCI-E 3.0, there will be more solutions and increase the supply of enclusure kit.
Prices will stabilize in 2017.

This is the first time I'm looking at a laptop with interest, ever.