Force TD to run with a certain graphics card (eGPU)

Hi,

I have a Macbook pro 15ich 2018(AMD GPU) running windows 10

and an eGPU with Nvidia rtx2070.

If I run TD without plugging in an external monitor, It always uses the internal AMD one.

I want to use the Nvidia. Is there a way force TD to run with the Nvidia even when I am not using an external display?

Some other programs (Primiere, etc…) doesn’t have this problem and they automatically run with the Nvidia one.

Have you tried all the settings in Windows? There are Graphics Settings dialog and the Nvidia Control Panel that let you assign the High-Performance GPU to TouchDesigner.

But the eGPU case is unique, there could be many variables as many GPUs don’t get ‘switched on’ without a monitor (or at least EDID faker) plugged into the GPU. We have not tested any Macbooks bootcamped with an eGPU, so we can not give a definitive answer here. When using a Macbook with an eGPU in macOS, you must close or turn off the laptop monitor and only use the external monitor output from the eGPU (tested and confirmed).

Comparing Premiere is apples and oranges, Premiere is not a real-time application and is primarily using the GPU for calculation duties, this is not like TouchDesigner.

Hi Ben-can you confirm if this is still the case? Is it the case even with the Blackmagic Mac supported eGPUs? I need to be able to use my Macbook Pro scree for other programs that are running along side TD but hoping to use eGPU for TD. Thank you!

Sorry can’t confirm that now. We had a eGPU for only a couple of weeks last year and do not have any in house now. The other customer I talked to who had the same result was also trying it back in 2018, those were early days for eGPU support on macOS so we can’t say if its better now or not.

@Joel_Laviolette,
a workaround for me (macbook 16" 2019),
I start TD with macbook closed and using an external display, after making sure that only the egPU (nvidia rtx 3070) is working i open the laptop the laptop again.

1 Like