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AKiTiO Node Thunderbolt 3 eGPU connected to 'late 2013' Mac Pro

Posted February 7, 2017 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

On February 2nd, we posted a report on the AKiTiO Node eGFX Box connected to the 'late 2016' MacBook Pro 15-inch. We began to wonder if it would work on the 'late 2013' Mac Pro cylinder. And if so, what effect would it have on performance for GPU intensive applications even if limited by the Thunderbolt 2 bandwidth?

GRAPH LEGEND
nMP > D700s - 'late 2013' Mac Pro 8-core using only internal AMD FirePro D700 GPUs.
nMP > Node > TITAN X - GeForce GTX TITAN X (12GB) GPU installed in the AKiTiO Node Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Box connected to 'late 2013' Mac Pro's Thunderbolt 2 port
nMP > Node > 980 Ti - GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6GB) GPU installed in the AKiTiO Node Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Box connected to 'late 2013' Mac Pro's Thunderbolt 2 port
rMBP > Node > 980 Ti - GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6GB) GPU installed in the AKiTiO Node Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Box connected to the 'late 2016' MacBook Pro's Thunderbolt 3 port

When the Node was active, the DisplayPort of the GPU was connected to the Dell 5K 27' display's DisplayPort to insure that the CUDA capable GPU was always available and 'preferred' by each application.

Blender - Lets you choose either OpenCL, CUDA, or CPU to render a 3D Scene. The dual FirePro D700s in the Mac Pro were both actively rendering the BMW GPU Demo scene using OpenCL. The NVIDIA GPU in the Node eGPU rendered using CUDA.
(LOWER time in seconds = FASTER)

OctaneRender
This is a 'GPU only' standalone renderer that can process scenes created in Maya, ArchiCAD, Cinema 4D, etc. -- and does so in a fraction of the time it takes with a CPU based renderer. However, it only runs only on CUDA capable NVIDIA graphics cards. We used the DEMO version with a test scene called octane_benchmark.ocs. For our test we selected RenderTarget PT (Path Tracing).
(LOWER time in seconds = FASTER)

DaVinci Resolve - Candle project playback renders Noise Reduction Node (1NR) on-the-fly. The dual FirePro D700s in the Mac Pro rendered using OpenCL. The NVIDIA GPU in the Node eGPU rendered using CUDA.
(HIGHER frames per second = FASTER

Final Cut Pro X- Render Gaussian Blur on 1080p project. We verified that the correct GPU was in use. GPU core utilization reported 75%.
(LOWER time in seconds = FASTER)

Geekbench 4 GPU Compute Benchmark - The single FirePro D700 in the Mac Pro rendered using OpenCL. The NVIDIA GPU in the Node eGPU rendered using CUDA.
(HIGHER score = FASTER)

LuxMark 3 OpenCL - Both FirePro D700s in the Mac Pro were actively rendering using OpenCL. The single NVIDIA GPU in the Node eGPU rendered using OpenCL as well.
(HIGHER KSamples per Second = FASTER)

Valley Benchmark using Extreme HD Preset. All GPUs rendered using OpenGL. Since Valley does not support multiple GPUs, only one FirePro 700 was active.
(HIGHER frames per second = FASTER)

Tomb Raider Built-in Benchmark using High Preset. All GPUs rendered using OpenGL. Since Tomb Raider does not support multiple GPUs, only one FirePro 700 was active.
(HIGHER frames per second = FASTER)

WHAT DID WE LEARN?
The AKiTiO Node eGFX Box is a useful accessory for 'late 2013' Mac Pro users even though it is 'dumbed' down to Thunderbolt 2.

Of course, not everything ran faster when the NVIDIA GPU in the Node was selected. The factory built-in dual D700s rendered the FCPX blur effects faster than the single 980 Ti and TITAN X. And because both D700s are active, LuxMark OpenCL benchmark ran faster than the Node's single NVIDIA GPUs -- but not by much.

The main value of adding an eGPU to your 'late 2013' Mac Pro cylinder is to run CUDA capable apps like Blender and Octane Render. Also apps like Tomb Raider that do NOT utilize both FirePro D700s will run faster on a single high-end NVIDIA GPU installed in the Node -- even if it is only using a Thunderbolt 2 port.

You can see that in 7 out of 8 cases, the 'late 2016' MacBook Pro connected to the Node was very close to the performance of the 'late 2013' Mac Pro connected to the Node. In other words, CPU muscle and larger memory capacity doesn't always translate to superior performance -- especially if the app you are running is leaning hard on the GPU.

'DO I NEED AN EXTERNAL DISPLAY?'
It depends on the apps you run. DaVinci Resolve, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Blender, Octane Render, and PhotoZoom all detected and allowed us to choose the CUDA capable NVIDIA GPU without an external display connected directly to it. When the NVIDIA GPU in the Node (or any eGPU) is not connected directly to an external display, apps like FCPX, Photoshop, Lightroom, Tomb Raider (and other games) ignore it.

THUNDERBOLT 3 ENABLER
To insure that all external Thunderbolt 3 devices we test are deemed 'supported' by System Profiler, we downloaded and ran the tb3-enabler. In the case of the 'late 2013' Mac Pro, running the eGPU.io automate-eGPU script seemed to help, too.

Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me,
Follow me on Twitter @barefeats

WHERE TO BUY MACS and OTHER APPLE products:
USA readers can help us earn a commission by using this Apple Store USA link or by clicking on any Apple display ad.

Live outside the USA? No problem. We are affiliated with these Apple Stores:

OTHER SOURCES FOR MACS

  • PowerMax not only sells new and used Macs, but will give you a generous trade-in offer on your old Mac.
  • Other World Computing has a Used Mac Store.

WHERE TO BUY FACTORY REFURBISHED MACS
Apple Store USA has refurbished Macs with 12 month warranty.

WHERE TO BUY A THUNDERBOLT GPU EXPANDER FOR THE MAC

The AKiTiO Node eGFX Box will be shipping in March 2017.

Bizon Tech sells the BizonBOX 2S (works with all Thunderbolt 2 Macs). The BizonBOX 3 (designed for Thunderbolt 3 Macs) is shipping bundled with a GPU. If have your own NVIDIA GPU and want to order the empty box, those are back ordered currently.

Big Mahalo to MacVidCards who loaned us the TITAN and 780 GPUs.

Has Bare Feats helped you? How about helping Bare Feats?

copyright 2017 Rob Art Morgan
'BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS'
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Posted July 19th, 2016 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

One of the frustrations of 'late 2013' Mac Pro cylinder owners is the inability to run CUDA capable applications -- since the dual AMD FirePro GPUs do not support CUDA. Bizon is offering a solution: the BizonBOX 2. Using an ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti STRIX, we gave it a test flight connected to the our 8-core Mac Pro 'turbo tube.'

GPU GRAPH LEGEND
cMP 980 Ti OC = 'mid 2010' Mac Pro with ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX in x16 slot 2
nMP 980 Ti OC BB = 'late 2013' Mac Pro connected via Thunderbolt 2 cable to BizonBOX 2 with ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX
nMP D700s = 'late 2013' Mac Pro with dual FirePro D700s

Octane Render (Benchmark Scene)
This is a 'GPU only' standalone renderer that can process scenes created in and exported from Maya, ArchiCAD, Cinema 4D, etc. -- and does so in a fraction of the time it takes with a CPU based renderer. However, it only works with CUDA capable NVIDIA graphics cards. The DEMO comes with a scene called octane_benchmark.ocs. For our test we selected RenderTarget PT (Path Tracing). The render time is tracked and displayed in total seconds. (LOWEST time in seconds = FASTEST)

OctaneBench
The makers of Octane Render now offer a standardized benchmark to make it easier to compare your CUDA GPU to others. (HIGHEST score = FASTEST)

DaVinci Resolve Noise Reduction Playback
Using the full version, when you playback a project while applying Noise Reduction on the fly, the GPU(s) are stressed. We used the popular Candle project. Though the target speed is 25 FPS, we set the maximum playback framerate to 500 fps to force fastest possible playback speed. (HIGHEST number in average Frames per Second = FASTEST)

Blender Blenchmark
This is an open source 3D renderer. With Compute Device set either OpenCL or CUDA, Blender is forced to use one or more GPU for rendering the test scene. We used the single BMW scene provided by Blenchmark. (LOWEST time in seconds = FASTEST)

CUDA PRO APP ANALYSIS
Certain pro apps (like Octane Render) require a GPU that supports CUDA. Before we connected the BizonBOX 2 with an NVIDIA GPU, the 'late 2013' Mac Pro was not able to run Octane Render or any other 'CUDA only' app.

On the other hand, apps like DaVinci Resolve and Blender support both CUDA and OpenCL which makes room for AMD GPUs (like the FirePro D700) that only support OpenCL. However, as in the case of DaVinci Resolve it took dual D700s to equal the performance of one GeForce GTX 980 Ti. And in the case of Blender, even with both D700s rendering, they took longer than one GeForce GTX 980 Ti.

Note that we included results for the GTX 980 Ti running in the 2010 Mac Pro tower. Even with the slower bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2 compared to the x16 PCIe slot, the BizonBOX 2 provided comparable performance in 3 out of 4 cases.

Professional Mac Pro users want OPTIONS. BizonBOX 2 provides an important GPU option -- especially if your Mac Pro cylinder only has the lower end D300 and D500 GPUs.

Next we tried some OpenGL, GPU intensive games with the BizonBOX 2 connected to the LG UltraWide display using a DisplayPort on the GeForce GTX 980 Ti.

Tomb Raider
We ran the built-in benchmark set to 'HIGH' preset. (
HIGHEST average frames per second = FASTEST)

Diablo III
Our character in the Shattered Crown campaign searches for the Chancelor's Alther beneath the Cemetery of the Forsaken. Settings were 3440x1440, Quality: HIGH, V-Sync: OFF, Anti-Aliasing: OFF. (
HIGHEST average frames per second = FASTEST)

Left 4 Dead 2 (Steam)
Settings were 3440x1440, Fullscreen, no AA, Anisotropic 8X, Vsync Disabled, Shader Detail Very High, Effect Detail and Model/Texture Detail both High, Multicore Rendering Enabled. TimeDemo console command was used to playback a game session. (
HIGHEST average frames per second = FASTEST)

Valley OpenGL Extensions Demo
Using the built-in benchmark, we fly through forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains rendering 64 million meters of extremely detailed terrain down to every leaf and flower petal. Valley features advanced visual technologies: dynamic sky, volumetric clouds, sun shafts, DOF, ambient occlusion. We selected Extreme preset but turned off Anti-Aliasing and set resolution to 3440x1440. (
HIGHEST average frames per second = FASTEST)

GAME ANALYSIS
Though the reason for BizonBOX 2 is to connect an NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support to the Mac Pro cylinder, you can also see the advantage of using a high-end NVIDIA GPU to run OpenGL based games and game simulators. Considering our Mac Pro had the high end FirePro D700s, the difference will be even more dramatic if your Mac Pro has the D300s or D500s.

The factory AMD FirePro D700 running on a PCIe bus suffered by comparison even though the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti was handicapped by the limited bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2. Yet another justification for the BizonBOX 2 GPU Expander.

NOTE: The BizonBOX 2 does not support Windows on the 'late 2013' Mac Pro cylinder but DOES support Windows on the MacBook Pro 'late 2013' and newer.

The BizonBOX 2 does work with the iMac 5K with the following restrictions:

iMac 5K Late–2014, Mid–2015
OS X: With DaVinci app there is no FPS increase (GTX 970). No external display output. Able to work as a CUDA accelerator (Adobe Premiere: up to 6X performance boost).
Windows: full support with external monitor, up to 5X performance acceleration in games, tested with NVIDIA GTX 970

iMac 5K Late–2015 (AMD Radeon R9 configurations only)
OS X: No external display output. Able to work as a CUDA accelerator (Adobe Premiere: up to 6X performance boost).
Windows: graphics card detection issues (error 12).

Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me,
Follow me on Twitter @barefeats

WHERE TO BUY THE BIZON BOX 2
Order direct from Bizon Tech.

WHERE TO BUY MACS and OTHER APPLE products:
USA readers can help us earn a commission by using this Apple Store USA link or by clicking on any Apple display ad.

Live outside the USA? No problem. We are affiliated with these Apple Stores:

OTHER SOURCES FOR MACS

  • PowerMax not only sells new and used Macs, but will give you a generous trade-in offer on your old Mac.
  • Other World Computing has a Used Mac Store.

WHERE TO BUY FACTORY REFURBISHED MACS
Apple Store USA has refurbished Macs with 12 month warranty.

Has Bare Feats helped you? How about helping Bare Feats?

copyright 2016 Rob Art Morgan
'BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS'
FEEDBACK or QUESTIONS?


INDEX of
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or...
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Bizon Box For MacBizon box for macbook

Bizon Box For Macbook

PLACE ORDER AND MORE INFO HERE: Fast U.S. And worldwide shipping. Today we have 8-core Mac Pro tested. GPU dimensions Supports full-length, full-height and double-width cards Maximum GPU height (PCB board). 5.51 inch / 14 cm. Enclosure may house extra height GPUs with 6.1 inches / 15.5 cm if PCI–E power connectors are located a little bit lower than the top side of GPU.