Best GPU scenario?

Inconclusive details on AMD (OpenCL) getting better in the near future leaving me stumbled for upgrading. I have an iMac 21.5 late 2012 with Geforce 640M and is really annoyingly slow so I want to upgrade in some way either new iMac / Mac Pro or external eGPU with probably Nvidia gfx card.

I only use Blender (2.79) these days so need it to be compatible to get the most out of it. As Apple is purging Thunderbolt 2 with Sierra High and looks like will continue with Mojave this also limits things however there is a way to unlock this.

Any suggestions ?

Also I posted on the Apple forum about maybe getting an eGPU and one response was that 3d rendering won’t speed up with an external GPU … https://discussions.apple.com/message/33653978#message33653978

It will be really hard with 3d and Apple. It seems like this a path of suffering you would be chosing. I wuold like to encourage you to consider buying a desktop PC for 3d work. Once you start to compare the parts and prices you soon realize, you get a whole lot more for a lot less than with Apple. The difference in price and computing power is too ridiculous to ignore. Apple products are even worse than alternatives with design and support these days.

I cam from PC years ago, not really wanting to go back.

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Well it’s up to you. I think external GPU would be best bet for rendering then. It depends on what you are planing to render though. It would be best if you explained your situation in more detail to get a better advice for the choice of GPU - what is it that you usually work on, what’s you budget and so on, do you need more memory to fit the scenes that you are rendering?. As far as work goes it’s very hard to advice because even if we are talking about top of the line macs the specs are so much worse than what you can get for the same money… Anyway rendering is the most computing power hungry part so if you get that sorted with external GPU I suppose it should be a very noticable improvement.

I think I read you wrong, you did say PC not windows. The best alternative does seem to be build a Hackintosh. As I was thinking of buying a Mac Pro at least a couple of thousand to spend on it. I do modelling & rendering mostly and would be nice to do full outdoor scenes. Other software I use is SD and SP which seem to be focused on Nvidia.

Well, yeah, I don’t see much wrong with MacOS. Well, except that OpenGL is now depricated on it and it might not be the safest choice for work with Blender in the future. Building a hackintosh might be a headace from what I hear - that sort of still is a path of suffering I was talking about… I am not a fan of Windows, but there is often not much choice. My honest recommendation would have to be a PC running Windows. I know there are many things not to like about it, but that is still what I would recommend if you can run all your softwere on Windows.

Don’t bet on the future. Nobody can predict it. Buy a machine that will work for your needs right here, right now. If that’s a current iMac, go for it.

In early 2005, someone would have told you to get a maxed out PowerMac G5 - just before the switch to intel. Not too long ago, someone could have recommended a dual D700 Mac Pro, only to have Apple stop investing in OpenCL. Nobody can tell you what Mac you should be buying now to be happy two years from now.

With suggestions for right now, personally I wouldn’t want to mess with TB2 and eGPU, hack or not. I have better things to do with my time on this earth than to fight Apple’s windmills. If you want GPU rendering faster than your current machine, get a new one. If remaining on macOS is worth it, spend the money on a new iMac with TB3 eGPU, if it isn’t get a cheap Linux or Windows box with lots of PCI slots.

I have a hard time deciding and that’s kinda the frame of mind I’m at, however saying that might wait until Mojave is out as it’s not long to wait.

The only things I have in mind to build a PC to fit my needs is 1) small casing 2) as quiet as can be under normal running conditions. Any suggestions ? I’m hoping Mojave in some way hack or not support for GTX 1080, also how does this card do with Blender ?

GTX1080 or GTX1080 TI are amongst the best you can choose now. If you do not need the extra memory, 1080 is a good choice, but you mentioned outdoor scenes, so all the memory you can get is needed if you are going to render trees and grass and stuff like that - 1080TI then or even consider using render farms.

This isn’t the best advice one can get in my opinion. This kind of thinking can cost one a fortune without benefit. ‘New’ does not mean ‘good for you’, One should research what is needed for the specific situation new or not. Even buying two GTX1080TIs may not be good for you if you render many quick rendering frames.

You could wait for the 2019 modular Mac Pro, which will likely allow you to upgrade the GPU. Or, you could get an iMac Pro if you need something sooner.

Both iMac Pro & Mac Pro just seem too expensive in comparison.

I’ve seen different size cases with different size motherboards, some without a GPU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLmk_XsRgOQ). How can I find a good choice ? As mentioned as quiet as possible.

Quite like the look of this one running GTX 1080 … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2W0Lsf7hec&t=511s Not sure about it being a Hackintosh though.

Looking at compatible hardware for a Hackintosh (Nvidia Gfx Cards https://www.tonymacx86.com/buyersguide/july/2018/#NVIDIA_Graphics_Cards) I didn’t realise there are different companies listed. How can I tell which one I want, are they all still Nvidia cards ?