Why the 2018 Mac mini really needs an eGPU
November 26th, 2018, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
The weakest subsystem in the newest Mac mini is the GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630. See what adding various models of eGPU and GPU will do for its graphics performance.
GRAPH LEGEND
Mac mini i7 = 2018 Mac mini 3.2 GHz 6-Core i7, 16G RAM
eGPU Break VegaF = Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box + Radeon Vega Frontier GPU
eGPU Node Pro Vega 56 = AKiTiO Node Pro + Radeon RX Vega 56 GPU
eGPU Node RX 580 = AKiTiO Node + Radeon RX 580 GPU
eGPU Puck 570 = Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck + Radeon RX 570 GPU
UHD 630 = Mac mini's integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU
GFXBENCH METAL
The Aztec Ruins High Tier animation was run off-screen at 1440p. (HIGHER frames per second = FASTER)
The GFXBench Metal Car Chase animation was run off-screen at 1080p. (HIGHER score = FASTER)
DIRT Rally
Feral's Mac version includes a built-in benchmarking mode that we ran with VSYNC off. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
Rise of Tomb Raider
Feral's Mac version includes a built-in benchmarking mode that we ran with VSYNC off. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
LUXMARK OPENCL
LuxMark is a OpenCL cross-platform benchmark tool that offers three increasingly complex scenes that you can use to measure the render speed of your CPU or GPU in Samples per Second . (HIGHER KSamples per Second = FASTER)
VALLEY OPENGL
Unigine's Valley benchmark flies over 64 million square meters of extremely detailed seamless terrain. It makes 18 passes over different areas. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
CONCLUSIONS
The UHD 630 is a puzzling choice for the Mac mini. Apple offers a serious 6-core i7 CPU option with Hyper-threading, but the only GPU option is the 'unserious' integrated UHD 630. Surely they could have added an AMD Pro Vega 20 option -- which would have brought it up at least to the performance level of an eGPU with RX 570 or 580.
WHAT WILL ADDING GRAPHICS SPEED COST YOU?
Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W + Radeon Vega Frontier GPU = $873
AKiTiO Node Pro + Radeon RX Vega 56 GPU = $661
AKiTiO Node + Radeon RX 580 GPU = $455
Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Puck + Radeon RX 570 GPU = $499
CHECK OUT PART TWO: Do Pro Apps Run Faster on the Mac mini with an eGPU?
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WHERE TO BUY the 2018 Mac mini and other APPLE products:
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WHERE TO BUY THUNDERBOLT 3 EGPU BOXES
The Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Boxes are available at B&H Photo Video.
The AKiTiO Node and Node Pro are available from B&H Photo Video.
