Black Magic eGPU and After Effects?

[martin draax]

Hey Guys!

Bought a Black Magic eGPU with the idea After Effects would be quicker, or stronger on my iMac 2019 with 16 GB ram. I was advised by Apple to do this but I don't notice any difference, only in my wallet.

I did everything acoording to the book - but I see in my GPY memory that After FX hardly uses the extermnal Radeon Pro 580 that is in the Black Magic. 
Should I send it back or am i missing something here? Is there a black, magic secret on how to use this thing?

Thank you,

Martin

[Mrtn Ritter · Accepted solution]

Why do you think Apple is in the position to advice you on Adobe products?

You can send it back (since it has no impact in performance for you), unless you are using actual gpu accelerated plugins and tools. AE put some effects and workloads toward GPU, but all in one, it is still a CPU based application.

*Martin

[martin draax]

Thank you Mrtn! Exactly what I needed. I'll send it back. The Appels seller said it was a good idea and it would help me - so I was confused.

[Rick Gerard · Accepted solution]

As Mrtn Ritter says, most of After Effects processing is done by the CPU. As newer versions of AE and 3rd party effects are developed more GPU effects are added. Some of the effects are a lot faster than they used to be so speed improvements depend entirely on your comp's design and your workflow. You can wait an hope or return the external GPU.

[martin draax]

Thank you very much, Rick! I'll make sthe Apples store hayppy with a brand new Black Magic eGPU for them!

[Eko Wardoyo]

As far as i know, AE using CPU. This software will using GPU when you add some visual effect that need GPU rendering.