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Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU vs Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550: Comparison

Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU and Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550 separate most on psu wattage: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU at 580, Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550 at 550, 5% in favour of Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU. Host Power Delivery splits them by another 2%, this time favouring Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550.

Blackmagic eGPU (Pre-Installed Radeon Pro 580 8GB / Thunderbolt 3 / Apple-Designed Aluminum Chassis / Mac-Focused, Discontinued)

BlackmagicBlackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU

Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550 (Thunderbolt 3 / 550W PSU / 87W Laptop Charging / Single-Wide to Double-Wide GPU)

SonnetSonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550

Specs

Show Only Differences

Specification	Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU	Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550
Connection Standard	Thunderbolt 3 (dual ports for daisy-chaining)	Thunderbolt 3
Brand	Blackmagic Design	Sonnet
Extra Ports	HDMI, DisplayPort, 2x USB-A 3.1, additional Thunderbolt 3	None onboard beyond the GPU's own outputs
PSU Wattage	580	550-5%
Host Power Delivery	85-2%	87
Cooling Type	Active fan, designed by Apple for quiet operation	Active Fan
Model	Blackmagic eGPU	eGFX Breakaway Box 550
Price	Launched at $699 (2018), discontinued	Launched around $399 (2017)

Price comparison

Retailer	Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU	Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550
Amazon		View on Amazon

Disclaimer: The price and specification of the given product may differ from the actual product. Please confirm on the retailer's website before buying.

Verdict

Blackmagic Design Blackmagic eGPU

6.5 / 10 Expert Rating

A clean, quiet, Mac-tailored eGPU that was easy to buy and use, but has been discontinued for years and can't be upgraded.

Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550

6 / 10 Expert Rating

A solid early Sonnet box, but the 650 offers more headroom for little extra cost.

Specs

Price comparison

Verdict

More comparisons in External GPU Enclosures