BizonBOX 2 eGPU for Mac

T

Timo Flink

Active member
Hi.

Does anybody have any experience of using BizonBOX 2 Nvidia GTX eGPU system for Mac? I could get one, and use it with Macbook Pro Retine on the field as I shoot.
(bizon-tech.com)

Does it work, or is it a scam?

Thx.
 
It isn't going to get you the same performance as an Nvidia card tied directly to the motherboard, so I am somewhat dubious to those speed claims.
 
mcgeedigital said:
It isn't going to get you the same performance as an Nvidia card tied directly to the motherboard, so I am somewhat dubious to those speed claims.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that's true, but I'm not looking for a workstation performance for this one. I'm looking something better than below 1 TFlops. That would help before the proper editing with a workstation. The question is does it actually work?
 
Bison is a russian guy selling his eGPUs in a lot of countries.
His products are 100% based on what we achieved in the forum techinferno and he is even using open software for the OSX drivers.
Since you can get all the informations for free and build an eGPU by yourself easily, his eGPUs are very expensive!

I got my eGPU running in Windows 8.1 and am able to run games on my internal and/or external display.
In OSX I can run games only on an external display, but CUDA performance is available in every program (if they support it).
Installing a eGPU in OSX is super easy due to a open source script from one of our users.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! :D
 
Dschijn said:
Bison is a russian guy selling his eGPUs in a lot of countries.
His products are 100% based on what we achieved in the forum techinferno and he is even using open software for the OSX drivers.
Since you can get all the informations for free and build an eGPU by yourself easily, his eGPUs are very expensive!

I got my eGPU running in Windows 8.1 and am able to run games on my internal and/or external display.
In OSX I can run games only on an external display, but CUDA performance is available in every program (if they support it).
Installing a eGPU in OSX is super easy due to a open source script from one of our users.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! :D
Click to expand...

Thank you. I take it works then. Can you perhaps then give a quick tour on what I need to get in order to achieve that. A website link perhaps?-)
 
WOW - This has peaked my interest... honestly didn't know this was possible.

Looking forward to that forum coming back online to check out the tutorials

Speeding up NeatVideo (only thing I can think of that uses CUDA) would be pretty nice!

Thanks.
 
If the apps can select the available CUDA devices, like DaVinci Resolve or Octane Render, that should work!
In the 3rd video I daisy chained two eGPUs: a GTX970 and a GTX980Ti of a friend. Could use both in Octane and trippled my results (980Ti has double the performance a GTX970 has).

Dumb question: You are using Macs and run them in OSX?
 
Making the eGPU run in OSX is super easy for OSX Yosemite or El Capitan since the release of an open source install script from the user "goalque".
Gaming with the eGPU in OSX is only possible on an external display connected to the eGPU. CUDA apps can run on any screen.
 
eGPU chassis have been around for a long time and are popular among DaVinci power users among others. I can see how they'd be great for Octane and similar renderers that rely heavily on GPU.

The sad thing is that the chassis were often to be had for $2500-3000 (not including GPU).

This is looking much more interesting. I'd say up to about $500 (or the price of Bison here) is a fair price if it's a plug-n-play solution that is at least somewhat polished.
 
You should be able to get your hands on a AKiTiO Thunder2 for 200$ US. To make it an eGPU you will need the GPU, PSU and some cables and adapters.
A GTX970 eGPU should cost around 600$ in total.

For 1000$ you can get cases like the Sonnet III-D which are almost ready to go to run any GPU up to an Titan X.
 
I think as this becomes more popular prices will come down. I haven't looked into this for a long time, and it sounds by your examples that there are already more affordable solutions available.

I wouldn't bother with a single card solution myself, but a 3-4 cards chassis (at LEAST dual) for a competitive price would be cool.

If people want to complain about this guy's price, they should point to a similar solution that is significantly cheaper. DIY doesn't count, obviously.
 
To me only DIY counts, because eGPU are not officially supported or even allowed by Intel/Thunderbolt.
With TB3 we will see official and cerficiated eGPU solutions.

So Bizon is in a grey zone, relabeling the AKiTiO Thunder2 and can't really give you support.
The Netstor NA211TB is the best you can currently buy (1000$ US), since they give you green light to use it for eGPUs. Also it has all the plugs already inside to power the GPU.

Running multiple cards also works with daisy chained eGPUs ;)
 
Dschijn said:
To me only DIY counts, because eGPU are not officially supported or even allowed by Intel/Thunderbolt.
With TB3 we will see official and cerficiated eGPU solutions.

So Bizon is in a grey zone, relabeling the AKiTiO Thunder2 and can't really give you support.
The Netstor NA211TB is the best you can currently buy (1000$ US), since they give you green light to use it for eGPUs. Also it has all the plugs already inside to power the GPU.

Running multiple cards also works with daisy chained eGPUs ;)
Click to expand...

How much bandwidth is needed to run more than one? I thought TB2 can handle only one CUDA core. Can TB2 feed enough data to several eGPUs? I'm asking 'coz I don't know.
 
Well... with TB2 one eGPU is running with 16Gbps which is 2.0 PCIe x4.
I guess that two eGPUs would run with 1.1 PCIe x4 = 8Gbps each.

I am not a Pro with CUDA, but to me it appears that CUDA isn't that much bandwidth hungry.
Running a GTX980Ti daisy chained onto a GTX 970 trippled my single GTX970 Octane Bench results...
 
Dschijn said:
Well... with TB2 one eGPU is running with 16Gbps which is 2.0 PCIe x4.
I guess that two eGPUs would run with 1.1 PCIe x4 = 8Gbps each.

I am not a Pro with CUDA, but to me it appears that CUDA isn't that much bandwidth hungry.
Running a GTX980Ti daisy chained onto a GTX 970 trippled my single GTX970 Octane Bench results...
Click to expand...

Dschijn I have a question for you.

I have a early 2011 mbp 17inch it only has thunderbolt 1 would I see any speed benefit from adding an eGPU to this machine? Ifs so what kind of gains can be expected?

Thanks

Surinder.
 
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