That's really borderline inescapable. To handle oversized coolers and the airflow for both blower and open air coolers you need a decent amount of space around the card on all sides except the back. From there, if you put the PSU behind the GPU you then end up with a large amount of dead space since a normal PSU is much shorter than a full size GPU. As it is, this PSU appears to only have a 40mm fan. That size is common in 1U servers; and because they need to have very high RPMs to move any significant amount of air they tend to be really loud. I'm hoping the PSU can passively cool itself at typical GPU loads and never need to spin the fan past idle.
The non-space wasting layout would be to put the PSU in line with the GPU for a really long enclosure; something that AFAIK no one has done.
Theoretically the dead space could be used to hold a few HDDs for a combination eGPU/DAS box; but roasting with the GPU wouldn't be good for the HDDs. And with eGPU's already showing a significant slowdown vs an internal 4x PCIe3 connection, burning a chunk of bandwidth for the HDD enclosure isn't that hot of an option either.
I see your point. If you want enough space for every high end GPU out there, it does require the internal volume. What I was getting at before my hand slipped and I poked the Submit Comment button before I was finished typing was that maybe it'd be nice for companies to offer compact versions that were designed for lower end GPUs. I remember seen a product in the AT news section a number of months ago that was basically a TB box stuffed with a mobile GPU. That was an interesting alternative.
Yes, Spinning rust has a physical impact on any box that it is installed in. The heat is bad for the hard drives. Spinning rust is always best put into it's own enclosure -- though for cost efficiency we have typically included them in the 'consumer' grade tower. A powerful GPU based graphics can have a higher TDP (thermal generation) than the motherboard/cpu it is married with. It is a computer in it's own right.
I'm not sure about that light bar, but otherwise this looks almost perfect and the price is reasonable. Now I just need Microsoft to offer TB3 on the SP7 and I'll be all set with my next generation of hardware.
According to what I can see - it is a tight fit for a card that is 2.5 slots. It will not support Vega 64 (maybe another version later with slightly more power). Firmware restricts H2D speed to half-bandwidth - many other enclosures had this issue and firmware was patched so maybe it just needs a firmware patch.
Why is it so huge? It's larger in every dimension than the Dan Cases A4-SFX, which can hold an entire PC, then you wouldn't need to be bottlenecked up a goddamn thunderbolt connector. I don't understand.
One thing I'd wish more of these eGPU case manufactures would do is adopt the thunderbolt 3 video out feature which only the Blackmagic eGPU appears to do. As such the Blackmagic eGPU is the only thunderbolt monitor compatible eGPU (Apple Cinema and LG thunderbolt displays).
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PeachNCream - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
Nice hardware, but physically large. I'd like to seePeachNCream - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
...grrr... Gonna change what I was going to say to "I'd like to see an edit function in the comments system!"DanNeely - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
That's really borderline inescapable. To handle oversized coolers and the airflow for both blower and open air coolers you need a decent amount of space around the card on all sides except the back. From there, if you put the PSU behind the GPU you then end up with a large amount of dead space since a normal PSU is much shorter than a full size GPU. As it is, this PSU appears to only have a 40mm fan. That size is common in 1U servers; and because they need to have very high RPMs to move any significant amount of air they tend to be really loud. I'm hoping the PSU can passively cool itself at typical GPU loads and never need to spin the fan past idle.The non-space wasting layout would be to put the PSU in line with the GPU for a really long enclosure; something that AFAIK no one has done.
Theoretically the dead space could be used to hold a few HDDs for a combination eGPU/DAS box; but roasting with the GPU wouldn't be good for the HDDs. And with eGPU's already showing a significant slowdown vs an internal 4x PCIe3 connection, burning a chunk of bandwidth for the HDD enclosure isn't that hot of an option either.
PeachNCream - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
I see your point. If you want enough space for every high end GPU out there, it does require the internal volume. What I was getting at before my hand slipped and I poked the Submit Comment button before I was finished typing was that maybe it'd be nice for companies to offer compact versions that were designed for lower end GPUs. I remember seen a product in the AT news section a number of months ago that was basically a TB box stuffed with a mobile GPU. That was an interesting alternative.bkkcanuck - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
Yes, Spinning rust has a physical impact on any box that it is installed in. The heat is bad for the hard drives. Spinning rust is always best put into it's own enclosure -- though for cost efficiency we have typically included them in the 'consumer' grade tower. A powerful GPU based graphics can have a higher TDP (thermal generation) than the motherboard/cpu it is married with. It is a computer in it's own right.Anchor777 - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Look close. There are a couple 120's at the top.sorten - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
I'm not sure about that light bar, but otherwise this looks almost perfect and the price is reasonable. Now I just need Microsoft to offer TB3 on the SP7 and I'll be all set with my next generation of hardware.PaoDeTech - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
Would be possible to just buy a TB->PCIe MOBO and reuse an existing case / PSU? Maybe one with a mini ITX FF. Is there such a thing?Samus - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
surprisingly inexpensiveGreenReaper - Thursday, December 6, 2018 - link
> However by no means is Sapphire cutting corners here.What are you talking about? The corners are very clearly cut - just look at the picture. Fake news!
bkkcanuck - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
According to what I can see - it is a tight fit for a card that is 2.5 slots. It will not support Vega 64 (maybe another version later with slightly more power). Firmware restricts H2D speed to half-bandwidth - many other enclosures had this issue and firmware was patched so maybe it just needs a firmware patch.piroroadkill - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
Why is it so huge? It's larger in every dimension than the Dan Cases A4-SFX, which can hold an entire PC, then you wouldn't need to be bottlenecked up a goddamn thunderbolt connector. I don't understand.Ankou - Friday, December 7, 2018 - link
One thing I'd wish more of these eGPU case manufactures would do is adopt the thunderbolt 3 video out feature which only the Blackmagic eGPU appears to do. As such the Blackmagic eGPU is the only thunderbolt monitor compatible eGPU (Apple Cinema and LG thunderbolt displays).integracija - Monday, December 31, 2018 - link
https://integracija.tumblr.com/