Bizon Box For Mac

BizonBox is a Thunderbolt enclosure for PCIe videocards, assembled by Russian company Bizon specialising in selling Hackintoshes and hardware upgrades for Macs. I had a chance to get my hands on one of these devices.

First things first, Bizon did not create neither the enclosure nor the drivers (more on that later). The enclosure is AKiTiO Thunder2, slightly modded to fit long videocards and packaged with a massive Dell power brick and a manual. Bizon certainly do not deny that, but they mention AKiTiO only in their YouTube video descriptions.
The fact that they charge a premium over the retail prices of the components makes some people angry, but isn’t that how businesses work? That said, I can understand the irritation over cashing in on using someone else’s work without giving a proper credit.

Setup

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. Bizon Scam Alert: BEWARE THE Bizon Box 2S!!! If you have 2013 Mac Pro STAY AWAY! Bought a BizonBox 2S from Bizon tech, with the intention to, like pretty much everyone else, have a stronger GPU to run games on in Bootcamp since both Apple and AMD have washed their hands off supporting the D700. So basically, after I bootcamped my Mac to windows 10 and plugged in my bizon box, I downloaded the correct drivers from nvidia for my egpu. Afterwards, I was able to play and then to CORRECTLY turn the computer off, shut down the computer then unplug the bizon box.

The videocard I chose (GTX 980) doesn’t work in macOS without the special drivers from Nvidia (aka Nvidia Web Driver). I’ve heard some of the modern AMD cards can be flashed to work with the drivers that come bundled with macOS, but I chose Nvidia for CUDA.
Each time you install a macOS update (including small security updates) you have to re-install the driver or it won’t work. This is not very convenient to say the least.
The driver has to be installed in a special way to work with an externally connected videocard. You can do this by running a script called automate-eGPU.sh, made by Goalque (so not Bizon either).
automate-eGPU.sh requires you to disable System Integrity Protection. Creepy, huh?
Unplugging or turning off the device while the computer is running would make the computer freeze with a kernel panic. This is true for both macOS and Windows. Plugging the device into a running system works fine though.

Acceleration

Bizon Box For Machinery

When BizonBox works, it really does speed up professional applications and games pretty much as advertised.
You need an external monitor to take advantage of GPU acceleration in games, at least in macOS. It won’t accelerate games running on the built-in screen of your Mac. Some professional applications (such as DaVinci Resolve) can take advantage of GPU acceleration without an external monitor.
I was able to get amazing results in DaVinci Resolve on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013): thanks to the videocard, raw 4K footage playback went up from 8 frames per second to 24.
At the same time I haven’t noticed any substantial difference in Adobe Premiere CC. I haven’t found any GPU acceleration settings (besides ones in the project settings) or diagnostic information to confirm that Premiere could actually use the new videocard.

Compatibility & caveats

Bizon Box For Mac Computers

BizonBoxes do not work with all of the Thunderbolt-equipped Macs. Some Macs are more ‘problematic’ than others. Bizon’s English FAQ doesn’t reflect that, but its Russian version does. E.g. the device doesn’t support external monitors when connected to iMac 2015. It doesn’t work in macOS on MacMini 2011. If you’re considering buying BizonBox, it might be a good idea to contact Bizon sales beforehand to verify that your particular Mac model is compatible with the device.
It worked well with my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) except for one thing: the built-in display would show a distorted picture after a reboot. I had to shutdown the computer, turn it back on using the power button and things would get back to normal.
I’ve ran into all kinds of problems with our iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) at work. After the installation, the iMac’s display resolution turned into a square. I contacted Bizon tech support and they sent me a different version of the script, which solved the problem. (Another workaround by Netkas). Then I found that BizonBox 2 with GTX 980 didn’t accelerate anything on that iMac. In fact, it performed slower than the iMac’s own built-in GPU (AMD Radeon R9 M290X). DaVinci Resolve raw 4K footage playback went from 24 frames per second on the built-in GPU down to 17 frames per second on BizonBox 2 + GTX 980. This is weird, because the same box performed very well with MacBook Pro. Bizon tech support was clueless.
BizonBox is said to support Bootcamp/Windows too, but it varies per Mac model.
You can’t use the second Thunderbolt port on BizonBox for anything.

Conclusions

Bizon Box For Macbook

External GPUs are a real thing.
BizonBox 2 strikes me as a “beta” product that is functional for the most part, but kludgy and fiddly, i.e. certainly not something you can “plug in and forget”.
Neither Bizon nor AKiTiO are to blame for that. Only Apple can pave the way for an external GPU that would be easy to use with a Mac and have a mass-market appeal.
If your work is being held back by the GPU power of your Mac (e.g. you’re working a lot in DaVinci Resolve on a MacBook Pro), you can’t or don’t want to upgrade (or save up for an upgrade), perhaps you can justify the purchase of this device.
If you’re a gamer just buy a fucking PC.

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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.
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copyright 2017 Rob Art Morgan
'BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS'
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