For PC gaming fans, the big deal with the Razer Core X is its new, lower $299 asking price compared to the Core V2. While this is still the target market, Razer has built in support for the Mac with the Core X.
If you're hunting for a Mac-friendly eGPU, you just found it.
How to use an eGPU with a Mac: The Ultimate Guide
Hardware wise, the Core X is essentially just a black metal box. There's a single large fan on the side, and the unit comes with a standard sized 650W power supply, which is ample for whatever you're going to be throwing at it. 500W of that is reserved for the graphics card, with 100W allocated to charge compatible USB-C laptops. It hooks up to either a Mac or a PC over Thunderbolt 3.
Supported graphics cards aren't nearly as plentiful as for PC folks, but Razer says the Core X on Mac will work with a range of AMD's latest consumer and professional grade cards. You also must be running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 :
- AMD Radeon RX 570
- AMD Radeon RX 580
- AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
- AMD Vega Frontier Edition Air
- AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100
It's not as clear cut using an eGPU with the Mac as it is with PC, but the use cases are similar. In particular, the Razer Core X is touted as a great way to add VR capabilities to a laptop that otherwise wouldn't have it. And at $300 less than the Apple eGPU dev kit (which you can't get now anyway), it's has a strong value proposition.
The Razer Core X is available to buy right now from Razer's own store for $299.
