Worried about thunderbolt/cpu throttling

[x0160768]

I’m hoping someone can help.

My MBPr (mid-2012) is pretty long in the tooth now, but it suits me for most things so I’m not keen on updating it just yet. However, I do game on it a bit and the GT 650M eGPU just doesn’t cut it with modern games. I’ve been trying to play XCom 2 and it’s basically unplayable without setting all visual config really low. So I’ve been researching ePCI Thunderbolt enclosures to see if I might be able to run a proper external GPU set up. Obviously I’ll be limited by what my CPU (2.6GHz i7-3720QM) can support and also the Thunderbolt 1 interface (10Gbps).

Does anyone have any recent experience of building something like this? How can I tell if a GPU will throttle against the Thunderbolt 1 interface or my CPU? I’ll be looking to drive an external monitor (MBPr in Clamshell mode) @ 1280 x 1024.

Edited May 17, 2016 by x0160768
update

[Dschijn]

The CPU is just fine!

It's only that TB1 will limit you a bit, but not that much to worry.

[x0160768]

Thanks for the reply. Good to know. To drive a 1280 x 1024 display I wouldn't have thought I need a crazy powerful GPU anyway. So hopefully that will mean I won't be saturating the TB1/PCIe interface, right?

 

Any suggestions on video cards that might suit my situation?

[Dschijn]

1280 x 1024? Maybe a GTX960 or 970?

[Charly]

The performance is great!!

 

I´ve been playing XCOM-2 like a charm, with my MBP2 Mid 2012