eGFX Breakaway Box for AMD and NVIDIA GPUs

View current eGPU Breakaway Boxes
Product models listed on this page are discontinued

Connect a High-Performance GPU Card
or Other Bandwidth-Hungry PCIe Card
to a Thunderbolt™ 3 Equipped Computer

Thunderbolt 3 Notebooks

Sonnet’s eGFX Breakaway Box Thunderbolt 3 to eGPU PCIe card expansion systems are designed specifically to accommodate large and power-hungry GPU cards. Functioning as a simple plug-in upgrade, a Breakaway Box boosts the graphics performance of an eGFX-compatible computer by connecting a high-performance desktop GPU card via a Thunderbolt 3 port. With two models to choose from, the Breakaway Box line supports all Thunderbolt-compatible cards⁽¹⁾ with popular GPU chipsets—such as AMD Radeon™ RX series, including VEGA GPUs; and NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 10 and RTX 20 series, and TITAN GPUs. Even the latest pro cards—AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, WX 8200, and WX 9100; and NVIDIA Quadro® P4000, P5000, P6000, RTX4000, RTX500, and RTX6000—are supported! Alternatively, if you are need a cost-effective Thunderbolt expansion system for a Thunderbolt-compatible, non-GPU PCIe card, the Breakaway Box offers all the space and power you could possibly need at an affordable price.

AMD RADEON & NVIDIA GEOFORCE GTX Logos

Supports AMD XCONNECT Technology

Graphic Intensive Gaming

Gamer with eGFX Breakaway Box There’s no need for you to carry a heavy and expensive gaming laptop to have a great gaming experience—just plug in a Breakaway Box and add the GPU power you want when you need it! By delivering significantly higher frame rates for smooth game play, the Breakaway Box is ideal for enabling graphic-intensive gaming on Ultrabook™ and other thin/light notebook computers that otherwise would deliver a poor gaming experience. When used with an eGFX-compatible computer, accelerated graphics can either be displayed on your notebook’s own display panel or on multiple external monitors. And, unlike with gaming laptops, when the next generation of GPUs ships and you are ready for another performance boost, simply upgrade the GPU card in the Box—nobody should have to replace their computer just to keep up with the latest in GPU technology.

Compact Integrated eGPU

For a highly-portable eGPU solution, check out Sonnet’s eGFX Breakaway Pucks.

Ready for Work

PCIe Card and Notebook Icons

From editing to rendering to color grading, and from animation to special effects, many applications rely on GPU cards to do the heavy lifting. With a GPU card installed, the Breakaway Box can accelerate your video production workflow. In addition to GPU cards, the Breakaway Box supports every other Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card, up to full-length, full-height, double-width. Its single x16 PCIe 3.0 slot easily accommodates full-length cards such as the Avid® Pro Tools|HDX⁽⁴⁾or RED® ROCKET-X. The Breakaway Box’s single-port 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface ensures the full 2750 MB/s of PCIe bandwidth⁽²⁾ is dedicated to the installed card.

eGFX Breakaway Box Internal Fan

Coolest & Quietest eGFX Graphics Card Box on the Market

The Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box is the coolest and quietest eGFX box on the market—with its large variable-speed, temperature-controlled fan that quietly and effectively cools the installed card, the Breakaway Box can be comfortably used in noise-sensitive working environments.

Key Features

Connects High Performance GPU Cards to Computers with Thunderbolt 3 Ports—Boosts the graphics performance of your eGFX-compatible computer with Thunderbolt 3 ports

Supports the Latest GPU Cards—Includes AMD Radeon RX, RX Vega, and Pro WX models; and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 and RTX 20 series, TITAN, and Quadro models

Supports Other Thunderbolt-Compatible
PCI Express Cards—Supports full-length, full-height, single- or double-width card, perfect for cards such as the Avid Pro Tools|HDX⁽⁴⁾ or RED ROCKET-X

40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 Interface with One Thunderbolt 3 Port—Ensures full 2750 MB/s of PCIe bandwidth⁽²⁾ is dedicated to the installed card

Choice of Four Models—Add-your-own-card eGFX Breakaway Box models with various wattage power supplies and Power Deliveries, plus the Developer Edition with included Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB card, are available

Quietest eGFX System Available—Large built-in, variable-speed, temperature-controlled fan quietly and effectively cools the installed card

Thunderbolt Certified

Gallery

Liquid Coolers Supported

See Graphics Card Compatibility Chart for power requirements.

eGFX Breakaway Box with Mac Pro In Video Editing Studio

For Media Professionals

In today’s pro audio and video production, use of audio I/O and DSP cards (such as the Avid Pro Tools|HDX), and video I/O and transcoding cards (such as the or RED ROCKET-X) is essential to keeping up with recording sessions, as well as on-set and post-production timelines. The eGFX Breakaway Box is ideal for supporting the acceleration of these workflows.

40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 Performance

Thunderbolt 3 Port Icon Thunderbolt 3 is a leap forward in every way. Whether you’re editing high-frame-rate 4k video, or blasting aliens out of the sky, you can now transform your notebook into a true desktop experience. With up to 2750 MB/s available PCIe bandwidth⁽²⁾, the Breakaway Box exploits its 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface to offer the best possible eGPU experience, or handle the most demanding, highest performance PCIe cards.

Two Models From Which to Choose

All Breakaway models are Thunderbolt Certified, and include a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect the system to your computer. Choose the one that best suits the power requirements of the card you intend to use, or you can opt for the model with an included GPU card.

Curious to know how much power your eGPU card really needs? Watch our video to learn more.

eGFX Breakaway with Notebook & Three Monitor Setup

Fire Power to Drive Multiple Displays and Charge Your Notebook

Part No.
GPU-550W-TB3	eGFX Breakaway Box 550 (Discontinued) Equivalent to 600W recommended system power Two 8-pin (6+2pin) power connectors Supports up to 375W card Provides laptop charging up to 87W 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable
GPU-650WOC-TB3	eGFX Breakaway Box 650 (Discontinued) Equivalent to 750W recommended system power Two 8-pin (6+2 pin) power connectors Supports up to 375W card that also requires up to an additional 100W of peak power Provides laptop charging up to 100W 0.7-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable
GPU-350W-TB3Z	eGFX Breakaway Box (Discontinued) Equivalent to 500W (sometimes 600W) recommended system power One 8-pin (6+2 pin) plus one 6-pin power connector Supports up to 300W card Provides laptop charging up to 15W Does not support 2018 13" MacBook Pro and newer Macs
GPU-350W-TB3DEK	eGFX Breakaway Box (Developer Edition) (Discontinued) Includes Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB card Equivalent to 400W (sometimes 500W) recommended system power One 8-pin (6+2 pin) power connector Supports up to 225W card Provides laptop charging up to 60W Does not support 2018 13" MacBook Pro and newer Macs Note: Does not include Belkin USB-C to 4-port USB-A hub
Hardware
Warranty	2-year
Form Factor	Desktop Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion system
External Connectors	One Thunderbolt 3 Power (C14-type)
Expansion Slot	One PCIe 3.0 slot x16 Mechanical x4 Electrical (Thunderbolt 3 Spec)
PCIe Card Supported	One full-length, full-height, double-width PCIe card
Liquid Cooling (Liquid Cooling Support)	Supports 120mm x 1 Water Block Coolers
Input Power	Universal 110-240V AC, 50-60 Hz
Eco-Friendly Power Management	See video for description
Standby Power⁽¹⁰⁾	Breakaway Box 550 8W (sleep) / 10W (idle) Breakaway Box 650WOC 5W (sleep) / 8W (idle)
Operating Temperature	0˚C to 35˚C (32˚F to 95˚F)
Dimensions (WxDxH)	7.25 x 13.38 x 8 in. (18.5 x 34.0 x 20.2 cm)
Weight	7.1 lbs (3.2 kg)
RoHS Compliant	Yes
Package Contents	eGFX Breakaway Box system Power cord Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) 100W cable Documentation Note: PCIe cards sold separately, except for Developer Edition
Specifications subject to change without notice

Technical Questions?
Contact us at 1-949-587-3500 x2 or email to confirm card and computer compatibility.

Mac Compatibility

Breakaway Box 550, Breakaway Box 650

macOS Catalina compatible (with 2018 Mac mini see note 9)

Mac with Thunderbolt 3 ports and macOS 10.13.6+

	Automatically accelerates AMD RX eGPU connected monitors, and games and select apps run on those monitors⁽⁶⁾
	macOS drivers for NVIDIA GPU cards are not compatible with Thunderbolt Technology
	One eGFX Breakaway Box eGPU (WX9100, for example) supports up to six external 4k monitors @60Hz

Mac with Thunderbolt 3 ports and macOS 10.14.6+ Additional Features

	Support added for AMD RX 560 and RX 590 AMD GPUs
	Accelerate games and applications run on the internal display (or Thunderbolt Display) by selecting the App, selecting “Get Info”, and checking “Prefer External GPU”⁽⁷⁾
	Windows 10 support under Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac⁽⁸⁾
	Support for two eGFX Breakaway Box eGPUs and up to twelve external 4k monitors @60Hz

Supports VIVE and VIVE Pro with AMD Radeon RX 480 or better.⁽⁵⁾

External GPUs not supported by Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt equipped Macs

Certified with all generation Thunderbolt Macs to support Thunderbolt-compatible non-GPU cards, such as AVID HDX⁽⁴⁾ and RED ROCKET-X.

Windows Compatibility

All Models

Windows PC with a Thunderbolt 3 port

GPU card use requires an eGFX-enabled Windows PC

Windows 10 (64-bit Edition, Version 1809 or greater)

Supports VIVE and VIVE Pro with NVIDIA GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 480 or better.⁽⁵⁾

Monitors

Compatible

4k monitors using DP or HDMI ports

49” 5120x1440 Dual QHD monitors using a DP port:

	Dell Ultrasharp 49 Curved Monitor U4919DW
	LG 49 inch 32:9 UltraWide Dual QHD IPS Curved LED Monitor 49WL95C-W
	Philips Brilliance 32:9 Superwide Curved LCD Display 499P9H/27
	Samsung 49” CRG9 Dual QHD Curved QLED Gaming Monitor LC49RG90SSNXZA

Incompatible

Thunderbolt 3 only (without DP or HDMI inputs) monitors:

LG UltraFine 4k and 5k Displays

Technical Notes

eGFX Breakaway Box models support up to a standard full-height, full-length, double-width card. Cards with three power connectors are not supported.
While the eGFX Breakaway box features a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface, some computers equipped with Thunderbolt 3 use an x2 PCIe lane implementation of Thunderbolt 3 technology that limits PCIe performance to 20Gbps. Find more computer information here. Full performance also requires the use of the included Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) cable, or other Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) cables; look for the Thunderbolt icon AND the number 3 on the connector housings to identify these cables.
Choose eGFX Breakaway Box model that supports the power requirement of the chosen card.
Power adapter cable for Avid Pro Tools|HDX card sold separately.
Not compatible with VIVE Wireless Adapter
A few professional applications (such as DaVinci Resolve or Cinema 4D) have menu options to use the external GPU even if the app is run on the internal monitor. Final Cut Pro requires 10.14.1+ for external GPU acceleration.
Ultimate gaming performance is attained by using a display attached to eGPU.
See Using eGPU with Parallels Desktop for Mac.
Under macOS 10.15.1, a 2018 Mac mini is compatible with a Breakaway Box with an Vega 56, Vega 64, WX 8200, WX 9100, Radeon 5700, or Radeon 5700 XT. A 2018 Mac mini with a Breakaway Box with an RX 560/570/580/590 must be booted with a monitor connected to the Mac mini’s HDMI port. The monitor may be moved to the GPU after booting.
Plus power delivery to laptop, if activated.

GPU Card Family Support⁽³⁾

AMD Pro GPU Cards

AMD Radeon Pro WX9100
AMD Radeon Pro WX7100
AMD Radeon Pro WX5100
AMD Radeon Pro SSG

AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

AMD Consumer GPU Cards
AMD Radeon RX 580 AMD Radeon RX 570 AMD Radeon RX 560 AMD Radeon RX 480 AMD Radeon RX 470 AMD Radeon RX 460	AMD Radeon R9 Fury AMD Radeon R9 Nano AMD Radeon R9 285 AMD Radeon R9 290x AMD Radeon R9 290

NVIDIA Pro GPU Cards
NVIDIA Quadro P6000 NVIDIA Quadro P5000	NVIDIA Quadro P4000 NVIDIA Quadro GP100

NVIDIA Consumer GPU Cards

NVIDIA TITAN V
NVIDIA TITAN Xp
NVIDIA TITAN X

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950

See eGPU/OS Info tab for details. Future cards listed as they become available.

Other PCIe Cards

PCIe cards listed on our supporting PCIe Card Thunderbolt Compatibility Chart and as specified by card manufacturers.

eGPU Card and OS Info

Latest video card and operating system (OS) information for eGFX Breakaway Box models.


Graphics Card Compatibility List of AMD and NVIDIA GPU cards arranged by card manufacturer, compatibility determined by the card’s power requirements and Breakaway Box model’s power capabilities (PDF).

macOS eGPU Info Official Thunderbolt-connected external graphics card support is limited to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (and greater) and Thunderbolt 3 equipped Macs. See the PDF for compatibility details.

Windows eGPU Info Thunderbolt 3 PC and eGPU installation info.

Documentation & Support Resources: Step-by-step card installation instructions, FAQs, and other support resources • Card Installation Quick Start Guide (English/French/German/Spanish/Japanese, PDF) • FAQs

Share your experience with the community! Please share whether you were successful and which computer and graphics card you were using by joining our Facebook eGFX Breakaway Box community: https://www.facebook.com/SonnetTech/

Accessories		Part No.	Description
	Avid Pro Tools\|HDX PCIe Card Power Adapter Cable	TCB-HDXB	Avid Pro Tools\|HDX PCIe Card Power Adapter Cable
	Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) Cable	TCB-TB3-2M	2-meter Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) 100W cable

Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box Videos

<br> Jump to 4K Editing With the eGFX Breakaway Box 550 (1:06 mins)

<br> How to Test If an eGPU Would Accelerate Your Workflow (2:42 mins)

<br> External GPU Use - How Much Power Does My eGPU Card Really Need? (3:57 mins)

<br> Eco Friendly Power Features (1:24 mins)

View More Sonnet Videos

Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Reviews

	First Look at Apple's External GPU Developer's Kit for the macOS High Sierra beta The Sonnet kit is very quiet. Previous enclosures have demanded enormous tidal volumes of air, with one we tested able to push a box of tissue across the desk when under load. In the interest of performance, up to now we've borne that burden—but no longer… Read Full Review

	What Did We Learn? The eGFX Breakaway Box with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and connected to a Mac can speed up multi-GPU rendering in apps like Blender and Resolve (Noise Reduction render on the fly during playback); add CUDA support to your AMD equipped Macs thereby enabling 'CUDA only' apps like Octane Render to function and 'CUDA capable' apps like Blender to function faster than the "OpenCL only" AMD GPUs provided by Apple; provide a surge in the OpenCL render rate as well as combine with factory AMD GPUs to double the render rate; and triple and quadruple the frame rates of OpenGL apps like Valley and Tomb Raider. Sonnet Technologies came up with their own unique eGPU design. It includes all the best eGPU features such as quiet exhaust fan and the ability to send power to your 2016 MacBook Pro laptop. An nice touch was the PCIe Card Bracket Locking Plate. Unlike other eGPUs, the eGFX Breakaway Box does not require you to run the tb3-enabler in order to be detected as a supported Thunderbolt device. Read Full Review

	Sonnet Breakaway Box 350 Review – It's Cool to Be Quiet Priced at $299, the Sonnet Breakaway Box is an eGPU enclosure whose single purpose is to provide graphics performance boost through its sole Thunderbolt 3 port. For first impressions and additional photos, check out the unboxing post. The two components of this enclosure worth paying close attention to are the PSU and the main cooling fan. Both are built by Akasa, a supplier of thermal solutions to the electronics industry. The power supply is a 350W SFX unit. It’s custom-made to have one 24-pin main power cable, one 6-pin PCIe cable, and one 6-pin + 2 PCIe cable. The 120mm fan is rated for 6.9 -16.05 dB(A), with 10 dB being the noise of a pin dropping. Airflow is routed out of the enclosure space behind the GPU and in front of the PSU. This main cooling fan is inaudible to my ears when a powerful graphics card is in use. Another cool aspect of the thermal control system is the fan bracket. It’s very sturdy which helps prevent vibration. I’ve been using this Sonnet Breakaway + RX 580 eGPU setup for the past week. It has been a reliable, capable and quiet workhorse with the Late 2013 Mac Pro trashcan… Read Full Review

Award

Sonnet’s All-New eGFX Breakaway™ Box 650 Wins Post Pick Award at 2018 NAB Show

Sonnet Technologies today announced that its eGFX Breakaway™ Box 650 received a Post Picks Award for “standout” new products from Post Magazine following the 2018 NAB Show...

Read Full Article