MLX Unified Memory vs eGPU GDDR7 Hardware Architecture
Parent: Local Model Performance Evaluation: Ollama, MLX, and Hardware Architectures · Published reference · snapshot 2026-09-30
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Source-anchored research for MLX Unified Memory vs eGPU GDDR7 Hardware Architecture. Run status: COMPLETED.
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Structure and components
- Attempting to run models larger than 16GB across a Thunderbolt eGPU requires layer-by-layer weight streaming that collapses token generation throughput to sub-1 token per second. (high confidence) [source]
Problems, failure modes and limitations
- Discrete eGPU GDDR7 achieves ~1000 GB/s memory bandwidth, delivering over 2x the memory-bound token generation throughput of Apple Silicon unified memory for models that fit within its 16GB VRAM limit. (high confidence) [source]
Comparisons and alternatives
- Thunderbolt 5 eGPU links provide approximately 7.0 GB/s practical unidirectional bandwidth, creating a severe bottleneck if model weights are streamed from host RAM rather than fully resident in GDDR7 VRAM. (high confidence) [source]
Facts and statements
- Apple Silicon Unified Memory provides a shared address space allowing CPU and Metal GPU to operate on identical memory pointers without PCIe serialization or host-device DMA copies. (high confidence) [source]
Children
- No children recorded.