Jump to content

US$189 AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box (16Gbps-TB2)


Recommended Posts

A GTX 970 will be much faster! A 760 is in general a rebranded 670. I assume a performane boost of at least 50% over the 760!

This is the riser I bought (in germany): [PCIE] 16x - 16x PCI-Express POWERED Riser Flex

I had it working but some trouble later. Will do further testing when my EVGA GTX 970 arrives. I would recommend you to get a EVGA as well, because most people have the best eGPU results with that brand. My MSI GTX 970 was working in OSX 10.10 but was quite bitchy later.

The AKiTiO cable is just 0.5m which is very short and a Apple TB cable will "guarantee" a more flawless setup. I'm very pleased with the Apple 2.0m black TB cable.

Thank you, much appreciated!

I'll place an order on the same riser from ebay. The problem with the EVGA card is that it is far too long, and I need this to be portable and if everything would fit inside the akitio (except psu obviously) then that'd be awesome. I've heard ZOTAC being mentioned here which was why I'm glancing at it, it is also being sold locally at one of my preferred stores in my country.

Did you have any knowledge about the Molex to DC Barrel Plug Evo* mentions? I found the following http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gridseed-power-adapter-cable-12v-4-pin-molex-to-5-5mm-x-2-1mm-barrel-plug-/141431813410?pt=US_Power_Cables_Connectors&hash=item20edfe3522 but why would I need one of those and how would I go around using it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imho the best portable solution is of course the Sonnet III-D.

But you can go for a Cooler Master Elite 130, Lian Li PC-TU200 or Silverstone SST-FT03B/Silverstone SST-FT03B-Mini.

A DC Barrel Plug should be used to bypass the AKiTiO PSU limitations and to use only one PSU. By using two PSUs there is a risk of electricty "flowing" between these two PSUs, which might damage the hardware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imho the best portable solution is of course the Sonnet III-D.

But you can go for a Cooler Master Elite 130, Lian Li PC-TU200 or Silverstone SST-FT03B/Silverstone SST-FT03B-Mini.

A DC Barrel Plug should be used to bypass the AKiTiO PSU limitations and to use only one PSU. By using two PSUs there is a risk of electricty "flowing" between these two PSUs, which might damage the hardware.

Ah, I should have been clearer. When I say portable I want to be able to carry it with me in a travel bag for when I go out of town unrelated to work (albeit that doesn't happen too often so it would probably be stationed at home for most of the time). Therefor I can live with a slight decrease in performance by choosing the zotac over evga.

Somewhere in my mind I was thinking two corsair psu's there (I got the flu, lets blame the disorientation), but you obviously mean powering the AKiTiO with the PSU. I found this thread and it looks like using a molex -> dc barrel plug would be the optimal solution as I'm going for a 970

Sorry for asking so many questions, but could you shed some light (or post a link) to more detail on this paperclip trick? By the looks of it, it doesn't seem to be a very elegant solution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still… you need to carry around a PSU (ATX or SFX) and connect all the cables all the time.

The paperclip trick is necessary to start the PSU in the first place, but I used the lazy version: Caseking.de » Netzteile » Netzteil-Zubehör » Bitspower 20 PIN ATX - Überbrückungsstecker

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the following gear:

Akitio2

Gigabyte GTX 750 OC (w/ 6-pin) (any reason this card shouldn't work? I haven't seen it mentioned)

Phobya External PSU 230V to 4 pin molex 90w PSU

4-pin molex to 6-pin PCI-E adapter

I just noticed in this thread that it says to power the Akitio2 from your power supply (which I was not planning on doing) to avoid ground loops. I've seen several people talk about using a power brick instead of power supply, but I had never heard ground loops mentioned as a risk before.

How much power does the Akitio draw? Could my power brick supply enough for it as well, using something like this and this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The power the AKiTiO is using itself is neglectable! More interessting is the power needed in total by the GTX 750 OC. As most of that cards use less than the 75W the PCIe slot is providing you might end up well powering both. Maybe you need to limit your powertarget of the card if the OC is too brutal.

I would give it a go!

The origin of the ground loops is mainly from bitcoing, as there are people using (sometimes) up to 4-8 cards on one Mainboard. With high end cards they ended up using mostly more than one PSU and just one of them was powering the mainboard with it's PCIe slots (mostly up to 75W). By using the power of the PCIe slot from PSU 1 and the 6/8-pin power from PSU 2 the ground was not in common. For some people that ended in fried mainboards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The power the AKiTiO is using itself is neglectable! More interessting is the power needed in total by the GTX 750 OC. As most of that cards use less than the 75W the PCIe slot is providing you might end up well powering both. Maybe you need to limit your powertarget of the card if the OC is too brutal.

I would give it a go!

The origin of the ground loops is mainly from bitcoing, as there are people using (sometimes) up to 4-8 cards on one Mainboard. With high end cards they ended up using mostly more than one PSU and just one of them was powering the mainboard with it's PCIe slots (mostly up to 75W). By using the power of the PCIe slot from PSU 1 and the 6/8-pin power from PSU 2 the ground was not in common. For some people that ended in fried mainboards.

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not sure how much power this card draws, but I was under the impression that the Akitio PCI-E slot only supplied 25W (not 75W), which is why additional power is needed? I didn't want to do the powered riser route, because I want all of this to fit within the enclosure, so that's why I chose a card with 6-pin.

As long as my power brick can supply enough power for both the Akitio and the GPU, *should* everything work okay? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything here. If it doesn't supply enough power, would it be a bad idea for me to use the Akitio power (to power the enclosure) plus the power brick (to power the 6-pin on GPU)?

- - - Updated - - -

Also - is there any way to introduce an on/off switch into the equation for my power brick? Or do I need to physically plug/unplug it each time I want to use the GPU?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, no problem.

I edited my post and had one more question:

If the power brick didn't supply enough power for both the GPU and the Akitio, would it be a bad idea to use the Akitio AC (to power the Akitio enclosure) and the Power Brick (to power the GPU 6-pin) at the same time? Should I be concerned with ground loops, or is that not something I need to worry about?

- - - Updated - - -

Also, will this molex to barrel adapter work? I don't see where it mentions the size: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4pin-Male-Molex-connector-To-DC-male-connector-4-Pin-Peripheral-12v-to-DC-plug-/231181401394?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had my AKiTiO working with it's original PSU to do some measurements. But imho it's better to play safe. 90W should be enough… in the end you can try limiting the powe target by software (in Windows) or by a BIOS Mod (don't know if the new chips already can be flashed).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, I power my AKiTiO with a powered riser. No more need to power it by the barrel plug.

An answer to your question regarding the barrel adapter… I think it is written somewhere in this thread.

Sorry, I don't think I understand... How can you power the Akitio enclosure with a powered riser???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hehe, I was confused like you as well in the beginning. The molex powered riser can provide power to the PCIe in both directions: to the GPU and to the AKiTiO itself. I don't need to power the AKiTiO in another way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hehe, I was confused like you as well in the beginning. The molex powered riser can provide power to the PCIe in both directions: to the GPU and to the AKiTiO itself. I don't need to power the AKiTiO in another way.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! It all makes sense finally.

Dschijn, thanks for all of your help man.

I'm now wondering if it would have been a better idea to get the Dell DA/2 power brick, since it's 220W. The only issue I see there is that it uses "Mickey Mouse" connection, so I don't know how I would adapt it to molex... have any idea there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mzinz

Yep, that's the Mickey mouse / DA-2 that has been replaced by a regular PCIe 6pin. The blue and ground must be shorted to have the DA-2 running, I suggest some kind of switch so that you don't need to pull the cord to power off.

Sent from my iPhone

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mzinz

Yep, that's the Mickey mouse / DA-2 that has been replaced by a regular PCIe 6pin. The blue and ground must be shorted to have the DA-2 running, I suggest some kind of switch so that you don't need to pull the cord to power off.

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks jacobsson. I'm going to try out the PS I have on the way and I'll order a DA/2 if I don't have enough power :)

Can you link me to the correct molex-to-barrel plug adapter? I ordered one off eBay but I'm not sure it's the right one.

- - - Updated - - -

Thinking about this more - if I do the solution above, then I'd only be powering the card, right... what about powering the Akitio?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mzinz

Are you planning to use a riser too?

If you solder and split to a molex (for powered riser) or barrel plug (for the Akitio female) you should be good. Which card are you planning to use?

Sent from my iPhone

I'm planning on not using a riser since I want to keep my enclosure closed. I ordered a Gigabyte GTX 750 OC, which I think can be powered via 6-pin.

I am receiving a 90W molex power supply which I'm planning on splitting to 6-pin (for the GPU) and barrel (for the Akitio). I'm worried that the molex to barrel adapter I got is the wrong barrel size though. Do you have a link to the correct one by chance? Also, does this setup seem like it should work?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stuck on whether to get a macbook pro 15" and build an akitio egpu, or wait for thunderbolt 3 which will be late 2015...

But if I were to build an akitio egpu, I would try to fit a gtx 970 and the power supply all within the akitio chassis. I am not sure if this has been discussed before. This company called HDplex sells a miniature 250 watt modular power supply module. It requires the use of a 240 watt dell/alienware ac adapter brick. The HDplex module has 2 connectors for 6/8 pin for pci-e. There is an additional 4 pin that can be used for sata or molex, so a molex to barrel plug can be used to power the akitio box. If using the mini-itx gigabyte gtx 970, it looks like this power supply could be made to fit inside the akitio chassis as well. There would be some drilling involved for the screw mounts. Has anyone tried this?

post-7940-14494998683216_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am stuck on whether to get a macbook pro 15" and build an akitio egpu, or wait for thunderbolt 3 which will be late 2015...

But if I were to build an akitio egpu, I would try to fit a gtx 970 and the power supply all within the akitio chassis. I am not sure if this has been discussed before. This company called HDplex sells a miniature 250 watt modular power supply module. It requires the use of a 240 watt dell/alienware ac adapter brick. The HDplex module has 2 connectors for 6/8 pin for pci-e. There is an additional 4 pin that can be used for sata or molex, so a molex to barrel plug can be used to power the akitio box. If using the mini-itx gigabyte gtx 970, it looks like this power supply could be made to fit inside the akitio chassis as well. There would be some drilling involved for the screw mounts. Has anyone tried this?

The Akitio chassis is small and can't fit anything more than a GFX card (a mini one at that).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.