Jump to content

DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


oripash

Recommended Posts

@Morv, after I found this from the MacRumors forum, I have to think again if he wants progress in scientific way or have fun.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost...postcount=1248

“I have had some fun already, I was being told off over there by someone with connections at Netstor TB enclosure company. They (Netstor) flat out swore that 2014 Mini could only have 2 external Nvidia GPUs. So I wired up 3 and did a screenshot.”

A small revise: He is mixing the quotes from Netstor and what I have found out with the 2014 15" rMBP. 2014 Mac mini allowed only one Nvidia eGPU according to Netstor, which was quoted. They tried two Nvidia GT650 GPUs (GK107; Kepler). Today, I succeeded to run two Nvidia eGPUs with a 2014 Mac mini, but they have to be different architecture cards (GTX 980 + GTX 780). If placing two Maxwells, Mac mini 2014 won’t boot. Netstor noted the same with two Keplers. 2011/2012 models behaved totally different, allowing 3 Nvidia’s easily, and Nvidia eGPU screen output.

I only wanted to compare regular PC cards between Mac mini 2011/2012 and 2014, only by using IOPCITunnelCompatible mod in order to find out the reason why the count with similar architecture Nvidia cards has dropped from 3 to 1. Apples to oranges comparison won't help much.

I am examining the binary data on the Mac side, and MVC on the eEFI side. Every change between the 2011 and 2014 Mac minis is a very valuable information as I am using reverse engineering techniques and disassembler. MVC is doing business, meaning that something of his discoveries is publicly available but business === money, and I guess not all the information or eEFIs will be free. We don’t know. I do this for everyone free and try to fix misunderstandings the best I can, and don’t want to argue. I appreciate a lot of his work, truly.

I am sorry if I got the quotes mixed up. Not sure who said "only 2 Nvidia cards" but whoever it was was wrong.

My screenshot put an end to the discussion.

The Mac side of eGPU has lost almost all momentum. While you weren't looking Apple moved the game from Little League to Semi Pro. If I was doing this as a hobby and firing it up on weekends I wouldn't get much figured out.

Apple has written you out of the drivers for a large extent, especially on Nvidia cards. (The ones people care about)

Have a look at the working guides, on new Apple gear they are 90%+ Windows. The TB2 Macs that do work in OSX (MBP with 750) are hit and miss, usually miss.

Maybe the 2015 machines will suddenly get easier, I doubt it but maybe?

I once made a post where I said that if we wanted progress against this trend then people testing and posting needed to adhere to more scientific testing, change 1 thing at a time, writing down every change and result, etc. I was soundly drubbed down, and clearly told that this is a hobbyist board and nobody was going to change from the "hunt & peck" testing method.

Fine. I realize now that being a science nazi isn't going to work here. I was recently linked to a thread here where people were using refund in an EFI shell to poke values into pre-boot environment. They made progress.

Nobody is doing that here anymore.

Many guides here begin with "first get a powered riser". Nobody applied any critical thought, just kept pushing the riser dogma. Not needed and in most cases creates more problems then it solves. And yet....

Many guides include a complicated and frequently unneeded flat package editor procedure to get Nvidia drivers installed.

Many guides include CUDA when almost nobody knows what it is or why they need it. If you aren't using Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve you probably don't need it. If you don't need it, why install it?

Nando4 has tried very hard to sort and organize. My thread about TB2 Macs is important. It is currently difficult for news coming here to know what is possible . Ideally there would be a chart with each Mac showing Mavericks, Yosemite, Win 7, and Win 8 (10 too I guess). In the boxes where these match up would be what works and what doesn't. Most TB2 Macs are GPGPU only for Nvidia in OSX and Display capable for AMD. In Windows the story is different, most TB2 Macs work rather well as EFI boot has fixed many of the Error 12 issues . (Think about that for a moment)

Many TB2 Macs even have Optimus working in Windows, which would be very appealing to someone wishing to game in Windows on a MBP.

Another piece of the puzzle that hasn't even begun to be addressed is 4K and 5K support. In OSX most Macs won't allow 4K 60 Hz on many displays though booting over to Windows they work just fine. Yet another hurdle that Apple has put up that we haven't even gotten to.

A guy was kind enough to post a script to mod the kexts. This could be a huge breakthrough. I found at least one error, but we should be fixing and building on his code. Somebody could test and revise until it works. Someone else could put a simple GUI on it. Ideally with a "AMD" or "Nvidia" option so appropriate kexts get done. Then it would place correct boot args, update caches and reboot.

Lots more newbs might give this a try if there was an easier way to do the mods. I think many screw up the kext mods which creates noise here.

I am glad that some people work on this stuff for free. I'm going to find that Nvidia fix goalque posted and try it. I just think that you guys haven't realized that Apple has moved the game. They saw what was working here and made it stop. You need to follow the game, it has moved.

Almost every day someone comes here and posts "will thus Mac work?" If they could find that info quickly and easily, along with links to software to do mods, more would get involved.

I have contacts at a software company who has expressed interest in seeing their software run on an eGPU. I would live to convince them that there was a vibrant community out there ready to move ahead, but I don't believe it myself so no demo yet.

I believe that when Mac Pro 7,1 launches with new GPUs that won't go in 6,1 the demand will go up. People sitting on $5-10K computers stuck with 2011 tech AMD cards will be eager to join the modern world rather then EBay their investment. They will have greater motivation then the guy with $500 Mini. Even if they drink the Kool Aid and EBay the 6,1 whoever buys the 6,1 will end up here.

Overall I think there are good people here enjoying a fun hobby. But I also think that some critical thought needs to be applied to clear out a bunch of dead wood that has accumulated. The only way that happens is by examining past "knows". Risers. The "only 1 Nvidia on 2014 Mini" myth. Test & fix that mod software and get a GUI on it.

"Your PC power supply won't do squat without a paperclip or SWEX" needs to be in big red letters someplace. The FAQ are good (and include that warning) but need to be updated, people see a "last post" date from long ago they assume "no longer relevant".

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Morv, after I found this from the MacRumors forum, I have to think again if he wants progress in scientific way or have fun.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost...postcount=1248

“I have had some fun already, I was being told off over there by someone with connections at Netstor TB enclosure company. They (Netstor) flat out swore that 2014 Mini could only have 2 external Nvidia GPUs. So I wired up 3 and did a screenshot.”

A small revise: He is mixing the quotes from Netstor and what I have found out with the 2014 15" rMBP. 2014 Mac mini allowed only one Nvidia eGPU according to Netstor, which was quoted. They tried two Nvidia GT650 GPUs (GK107; Kepler). Today, I succeeded to run two Nvidia eGPUs with a 2014 Mac mini, but they have to be different architecture cards (GTX 980 + GTX 780). If placing two Maxwells, Mac mini 2014 won’t boot. Netstor noted the same with two Keplers. 2011/2012 models behaved totally different, allowing 3 Nvidia’s easily, and Nvidia eGPU screen output.

I only wanted to compare regular PC cards between Mac mini 2011/2012 and 2014, only by using IOPCITunnelCompatible mod in order to find out the reason why the count with similar architecture Nvidia cards has dropped from 3 to 1. Apples to oranges comparison won't help much.

I am examining the binary data on the Mac side, and MVC on the eEFI side. Every change between the 2011 and 2014 Mac minis is a very valuable information as I am using reverse engineering techniques and disassembler. MVC is doing business, meaning that something of his discoveries is publicly available but business === money, and I guess not all the information or eEFIs will be free. We don’t know. I do this for everyone free and try to fix misunderstandings the best I can, and don’t want to argue. I appreciate a lot of his work, truly.

I can't see anything but the help other people do as well that he did on this forum. Apart from his work on eEFI and the search for which devices enable output on external monitors in OS X there's nothing else specific to him. And I won't get ranted on and degraded by someone who is doing these two things for his own money.

Charging people for your work is perfectly fine, everybody is free to decide whether he simply wants to contribute for free or he wants to earn money. So don't get me wrong, it's fine and I mean this.

Still, ranting in a public forum about one thing(risers) and connecting it with the thing you do for money while telling them "If I was using a riser I'd be stuck getting nothing new accomplished, like you." is simply not fine at all. It's not fine to kick all of them in the nuts just because you want people to do their stuff more professional while they just want to use an eGPU and don't want to pay with their spare time because they don't earn money with it.

He didn't even give me one proper answer to anything, only his utter nonsense writing of flat earths and no progress.

So no, sorry, I don't appreciate anything from a guy with this behaviour, truly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@MVC: True, true!

To me the biggest issue is, that making it work in OSX is still a big question mark. That's because I just have a basic understanding about the adjustments that have to be done in OSX.

Like most of the other people we just followed a guide that someone wrote and that made it work for him. Of course there are steps in these guides that aren't requiered to do and jsut done, because of the limited understanding.

But with someone like you, with years of working with GPUs in OSX and the statement that it is hard to make it work… who else could make a big improvement?!

So, why not make a new thread and collect the fundamental basics for everone to read? Especially about OSX.

Maxwell cards still need the latest driver and them adjusted to even install, right?

The changes to the kext are a "must" too, right?

reparing permissions as well…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't see anything but the help other people do as well that he did on this forum. Apart from his work on eEFI and the search for which devices enable output on external monitors in OS X there's nothing else specific to him. And I won't get ranted on and degraded by someone who is doing these two things for his own money.

Charging people for your work is perfectly fine, everybody is free to decide whether he simply wants to contribute for free or he wants to earn money. So don't get me wrong, it's fine and I mean this.

Still, ranting in a public forum about one thing(risers) and connecting it with the thing you do for money while telling them "If I was using a riser I'd be stuck getting nothing new accomplished, like you." is simply not fine at all. It's not fine to kick all of them in the nuts just because you want people to do their stuff more professional while they just want to use an eGPU and don't want to pay with their spare time because they don't earn money with it.

He didn't even give me one proper answer to anything, only his utter nonsense writing of flat earths and no progress.

So no, sorry, I don't appreciate anything from a guy with this behaviour, truly.

What is it that needs to get done? Progress on what? And what part take risers in Macs getting trickier?

Those Akitio eGPUs work, some with risers, some without. Some have problems with risers, some don't. Why should a riser burn your card if it's not faulty(which you may check upon first use)? There was one guy now who may have killed his cards with the riser.

I'm still using a riser + 2 90° angle adapters(oh lord!) in my case because otherwise I wouldn't be able to put my card and the Akitio board in there. Yep, I had problems with a GTX 780 which was awful but switching to a GTX 960 got rid of it. No, that's not perfect at all but I've got what I need and it works.

I'll board the train of GTX 970 in Akitio case soon, though. The only reason I do this is the compactness and because I like trying stuff + GTX 970 has more power + 2 games atm.

I read your old posts and I finally understand where your anger has come from. You have been using a riser. You yourself are a victim of the dogma. You couldn't get a GTX780 to run in a stable fashion and had to retreat to a GTX960.

I'd be willing to bet $20 that had you bent the end of the case away and plugged the GTX780 in directly you would be killing Warlocks in Witcher 3 right now instead of reading this forum. In short, you are one of the people who has proven me right. I can plug a GTX780, ANY GTX780 in and run whatever I like for as long as I like. Stability issues are what defines my disdain of risers. So instead of accepting that your failure to get GTX780 running was DIRECTLY DUE TO RISER USE, you lash out at the messenger.

And still you post:

"What is it that needs to get done? Progress on what? And what part take risers in Macs getting trickier?"

I am sad when I read of all these people with stability issues. I can plug any of 12 Akitios into any of the TB Macs here and completely forget that I am using an eGPU, which is as it should be. No crashes, no blue screens, no white screens, no smoke, no fire, nothing but what I want to do.

And as I much as I would like to claim that this is due to my wonderful eEFIs the fact is that they have nothing to do with this. I don't use a crippling riser and I provide enough power to the Akitio and the card. Done.

The longer people like yourself keep your head buried in the sand, the longer there will be sad posts like #248 on this page:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7910-diy-egpu-macbook-experiences-25.html#post118984

"I just want to be able to play games but my system hangs COMPLETELY RANDOMLY as everyone else still. I will be starting a new thread to answer specific stability questions which in my opinion seem completely overlooked in every guides I have read... Please look for my thread on stability that I will post shortly"

There is no reason for people to end up feeling that way, and no reason for the curious who come here to read things like that which basically say "run screaming and buy a PS4".

I will state again, once I applied proper power and chucked risers into the "recycle" bin, I have never had any stability issues whatsoever. None. Zero, Zip, Nada.

I have now completed 43% of Far Cry 4, entirely on 4K MST display via a 2014 Mini and an Akitio. In the weeks of gameplay I think it has crashed once, literally 1 time. And this is not on any specific card. Every night that I play I take a different card from inventory (all Nvidia) to play on. I have used GTX680, 780, Titan, Titan Black, GTX970 and GTX980. They were all stable. Multiple versions of each card. I don't know if the uninitiated can believe this after all the tales of woe, once you get one of these set up properly, YOU QUICKLY FORGET IT IS THERE.

I don't want to argue with people, but I think that the eGPU community needs some dead wood cleared out. #1 on my list is the riser.

Look at the quantity of pins. Some are connecting large amounts of current. Some are simple signals. Some are complex signals at high speed. There is no situation where adding extra wire and places for signal degradation is a good thing.

I understand that nobody wants to bend their case, or cut it or solder any wires or whatever. But those roadblocks are there for you from your friends at Apple and Intel. You can either do your best to be done with them (bend the case) or you can partially clear the roadblock and thus create another one. (connect a $5 riser to your $500 GPU)

And I still find it hard to believe that you don't see the irony in "What is it that needs to get done? Progress on what?"

You have complained about the inability to use your TB2 Mac in OS X. You tried and couldn't make it work. You specifically mentioned that it was a drag to disconnect and reconnect various cables every time you wanted to switch OS's.

Don't you see that if people weren't jacking around trying to figure out why their riser-equipped system kept crapping out on them there would be more people figuring out what Apple did to nix screen output in OS X? It is a fact that anything I can do with eEFI you all can do in other ways. It can be fixed, but not if half the people here are jacking around with some cheapie riser and wondering why their eGPU is so unstable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read your old posts and I finally understand where your anger has come from. You have been using a riser. You yourself are a victim of the dogma. You couldn't get a GTX780 to run in a stable fashion and had to retreat to a GTX960.

I'd be willing to bet $20 that had you bent the end of the case away and plugged the GTX780 in directly you would be killing Warlocks in Witcher 3 right now instead of reading this forum. In short, you are one of the people who has proven me right. I can plug a GTX780, ANY GTX780 in and run whatever I like for as long as I like. Stability issues are what defines my disdain of risers. So instead of accepting that your failure to get GTX780 running was DIRECTLY DUE TO RISER USE, you lash out at the messenger.

And still you post:

"What is it that needs to get done? Progress on what? And what part take risers in Macs getting trickier?"

I am sad when I read of all these people with stability issues. I can plug any of 12 Akitios into any of the TB Macs here and completely forget that I am using an eGPU, which is as it should be. No crashes, no blue screens, no white screens, no smoke, no fire, nothing but what I want to do.

And as I much as I would like to claim that this is due to my wonderful eEFIs the fact is that they have nothing to do with this. I don't use a crippling riser and I provide enough power to the Akitio and the card. Done.

The longer people like yourself keep your head buried in the sand, the longer there will be sad posts like #248 on this page:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7910-diy-egpu-macbook-experiences-25.html#post118984

"I just want to be able to play games but my system hangs COMPLETELY RANDOMLY as everyone else still. I will be starting a new thread to answer specific stability questions which in my opinion seem completely overlooked in every guides I have read... Please look for my thread on stability that I will post shortly"

There is no reason for people to end up feeling that way, and no reason for the curious who come here to read things like that which basically say "run screaming and buy a PS4".

I will state again, once I applied proper power and chucked risers into the "recycle" bin, I have never had any stability issues whatsoever. None. Zero, Zip, Nada.

I have now completed 43% of Far Cry 4, entirely on 4K MST display via a 2014 Mini and an Akitio. In the weeks of gameplay I think it has crashed once, literally 1 time. And this is not on any specific card. Every night that I play I take a different card from inventory (all Nvidia) to play on. I have used GTX680, 780, Titan, Titan Black, GTX970 and GTX980. They were all stable. Multiple versions of each card. I don't know if the uninitiated can believe this after all the tales of woe, once you get one of these set up properly, YOU QUICKLY FORGET IT IS THERE.

I don't want to argue with people, but I think that the eGPU community needs some dead wood cleared out. #1 on my list is the riser.

Look at the quantity of pins. Some are connecting large amounts of current. Some are simple signals. Some are complex signals at high speed. There is no situation where adding extra wire and places for signal degradation is a good thing.

I understand that nobody wants to bend their case, or cut it or solder any wires or whatever. But those roadblocks are there for you from your friends at Apple and Intel. You can either do your best to be done with them (bend the case) or you can partially clear the roadblock and thus create another one. (connect a $5 riser to your $500 GPU)

And I still find it hard to believe that you don't see the irony in "What is it that needs to get done? Progress on what?"

First off: A normal proper answer, nice! Thanks.

If you'd written your first post about the risers like you did now everything would have been fine. But the way you did just wasn't. At least it wasn't for me.

About the GTX 780:

At the time I was setting up my GTX 780 there was the still the information that there are only 25W put on the Akitio's PCIe slot. That is what people who created setups, before I did, had been telling. That's why they told to use powered risers.

I didn't have much knowledge and trusted them. That's why I got all this stuff following the guides present to this date(roughly around the start of Nov 14).

At first I had a GTX 480 running which I then changed to the GTX 780(Mid December 14) when the problems began. To this point I already had sold my desktop computer because everything had been running so fine with the GTX 480. It was just it's power that wasn't enough anymore.

So then the problems began and I was asking here on the forum but there wasn't much help, I guess mostly because of people not knowing what to do or what might be the reason. As I still hadn't any knowledge I was trying to switch out parts other than the GTX 780 which have been the PSU and the riser at first and finally another graphics card, a AMD R9 280.

The issues where always present, also with the AMD card.

What was simply missing was the information that the PCIe slot of the Akitio isn't limited to 25W. That just came up shortly after I had bought the GTX 960 and had a running system again because Tech Inferno Fan asked the guys over at Akitio and they promptly answered that there's no limitation. If I had known that a really simple mod like the molex to barrel plug(or any other x to barrel plug) would have been a huge help then I might have tried this.

But, and that's the point, I did not have much knowledge about electronics and that's why I wouldn't have tried anything by myself because I didn't want to blow stuff up. So I followed guides.

I can understand your hate against risers and that they are a faulty link in the eGPU chain which create unnecessary trouble. I can understand it now. But you have to understand all the people that have got these setups because there was no other information. And telling them that they should avoid this way to create their eGPU can be done in a proper way.

You have complained about the inability to use your TB2 Mac in OS X. You tried and couldn't make it work. You specifically mentioned that it was a drag to disconnect and reconnect various cables every time you wanted to switch OS's.

Don't you see that if people weren't jacking around trying to figure out why their riser-equipped system kept crapping out on them there would be more people figuring out what Apple did to nix screen output in OS X? It is a fact that anything I can do with eEFI you all can do in other ways. It can be fixed, but not if half the people here are jacking around with some cheapie riser and wondering why their eGPU is so unstable.

I have to disagree on this part. I don't disagree because it's wrong what you've written but you don't seem to see that most people that build an eGPU simply want to have a functioning device with graphics power and once they've got it they're done and don't ever see these forums again or only do it when they've got problems.

If people were only a whole bunch of developers and electricians then it would be true that dealing with an avoidable troublemaker does keep progress back on other things. That's what you may have got in your company.

But that's not what you've got here on this forum.

People willing to contribute to such things in their spare time are rare to find. Give them money to do this and you'll find more ;)

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi W4vz - Is there a chance you could give me a hint why my setup boots to black screen in win 8.1 bootcamp?

I've made the dc barrel to molex mod, powered the GPU via the same psu. However still I get a black screen after booting to to windows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi W4vz - Is there a chance you could give me a hint why my setup boots to black screen in win 8.1 bootcamp?

I've made the dc barrel to molex mod, powered the GPU via the same psu. However still I get a black screen after booting to to windows.

Im afraid Im useless at windows. My setup is in mac OS X.

Pleach check those threads instead:

If you have a macbook

If you have a PC

For EGPU Setup software

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to disagree on this part. I don't disagree because it's wrong what you've written but you don't seem to see that most people that build an eGPU simply want to have a functioning device with graphics power and once they've got it they're done and don't ever see these forums again or only do it when they've got problems.

If people were only a whole bunch of developers and electricians then it would be true that dealing with an avoidable troublemaker does keep progress back on other things. That's what you may have got in your company.

But that's not what you've got here on this forum.

People willing to contribute to such things in their spare time are rare to find. Give them money to do this and you'll find more ;)

Ahh, I wasn't clear enough. I don't expect that every person using an eGPU will bust out a lab coat and a notebook and start making observations. I meant that just having someone come and say "Oh, I got the new 15" rMBP with R9 370X and it does/doesn't output via a GTX980". If that person never gets it running because they used a riser, they will never have a report, positive or negative, on screen output in OS X or Windows, since the riser will stop them from getting that far.

So, the more people who skip the riser and post ANYTHING are contributing, whatever they type. I can't and won't buy one of every TB Mac, so hearing from as many people as possible is what we need. So the more people who avoid the issues caused by risers, the more feedback we get on the other issues. And less noise in general. I went back and read your posts, you seem like a nice guy and I am sorry I argued with you. I am worried that eGPU as a concept isn't catching on and would like th=o clear the easily cleared obstacles. The ONLY time I have had instability after boot was when I briefly toyed with a couple risers. And I mean that quite literally, risers brought instability, getting rid of risers got rid of instability.

Among other thoughts, I think it quite likely that the risers aren't meant for high current/high data devices. In my opinion they are better suited for less intensive devices like a USB card or the like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK Time for a buch of help needed..

I have my eGPU up and running from a power and connection point of view but now I have no Idea what I need to do to get it to run.

It is an Akitio w/Galax GTX970 powered by a DA2

I am just looking to get it to run an external monitor set-up not needed to run the internal graphics.

Currently OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 is recognizes the Akitio (not sure if it should recognize the card at this point).

In Windows 7 64bit (it appeared to install all of the drivers for the PCIe bridge but notifies the Code 12 error on the MacBook.

I have a Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2015 with TB1 and the internal 650M Nvidia Chipset along with the IBM 4000

Any help would be greatly appreciated at this point, step by steps or otherwise to get the computer to recognize the eGPU in both OS X but Primarily In Windows 7 64bit

Thank you

Brion Sohn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK Time for a buch of help needed..

I have my eGPU up and running from a power and connection point of view but now I have no Idea what I need to do to get it to run.

It is an Akitio w/Galax GTX970 powered by a DA2

I am just looking to get it to run an external monitor set-up not needed to run the internal graphics.

Currently OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 is recognizes the Akitio (not sure if it should recognize the card at this point).

In Windows 7 64bit (it appeared to install all of the drivers for the PCIe bridge but notifies the Code 12 error on the MacBook.

I have a Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2015 with TB1 and the internal 650M Nvidia Chipset along with the IBM 4000

Any help would be greatly appreciated at this point, step by steps or otherwise to get the computer to recognize the eGPU in both OS X but Primarily In Windows 7 64bit

Thank you

Brion Sohn

Update: OK the eGPU is recognized through the Akitio in Windows 7 64bit with Code 12 as a Standard VGA Adaptor at the moment. So I am guessing that all I need to be able to do to get it to be recognized in Windows is to figure out how to reallocate the PCI resources to eliminate the Code 12 and then clean Install the NVIDIA Drivers so that it can run the GTX970 and also the GT650M as well.. Please correct me if I am wrong and there is a lot more to it.. Though that being said I am not sure how to go about Reallocation of the PCI Resourced with a Bootcamp load. As I mentioned earlier Getting it working in Windows is Primary..

As for OS X I have been reading that the NVIDIA drivers for the GTX970 don't currently support Yosemite 10.10.3 so getting it to work right now in OS X Might be Futile even if I can get OS X to recognize it.. Though if anyone has any pointers or methods with this it would be greatly appreciated as well.

BTW I do plan on posting the build as soon as I am totally finished and get it running. I think I have the first fully contained GTX970 on here meaning that all all I have as far as seen parts are The Dell DA2 and the Akitio (which will be modified for airflow but will be closed and dimensionally standard. It a bit beautiful BUT Honestly it was a PITA to wire and did take all custom wiring and a special made board to hold the DA2 plug-in port and power switch Which are both on the rear of the Akitio.

Thank you

Brion Sohn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: OK the eGPU is recognized through the Akitio in Windows 7 64bit with Code 12 as a Standard VGA Adaptor at the moment. So I am guessing that all I need to be able to do to get it to be recognized in Windows is to figure out how to reallocate the PCI resources to eliminate the Code 12 and then clean Install the NVIDIA Drivers so that it can run the GTX970 and also the GT650M as well.. Please correct me if I am wrong and there is a lot more to it.. Though that being said I am not sure how to go about Reallocation of the PCI Resourced with a Bootcamp load. As I mentioned earlier Getting it working in Windows is Primary..

As for OS X I have been reading that the NVIDIA drivers for the GTX970 don't currently support Yosemite 10.10.3 so getting it to work right now in OS X Might be Futile even if I can get OS X to recognize it.. Though if anyone has any pointers or methods with this it would be greatly appreciated as well.

BTW I do plan on posting the build as soon as I am totally finished and get it running. I think I have the first fully contained GTX970 on here meaning that all all I have as far as seen parts are The Dell DA2 and the Akitio (which will be modified for airflow but will be closed and dimensionally standard. It a bit beautiful BUT Honestly it was a PITA to wire and did take all custom wiring and a special made board to hold the DA2 plug-in port and power switch Which are both on the rear of the Akitio.

Thank you

Brion Sohn.

Actually, I think that you have a 2012 rMBP with Nvidia GT650M and an Intel 4000. If so, if you follow the standard Nvidia Kext Mods it should work in OS X. I have the same machine and eGPU on it in OS X is a piece of cake. It is the TB2 Macs that seem to have the issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, I think that you have a 2012 rMBP with Nvidia GT650M and an Intel 4000. If so, if you follow the standard Nvidia Kext Mods it should work in OS X. I have the same machine and eGPU on it in OS X is a piece of cake. It is the TB2 Macs that seem to have the issues.

I took the "r" in rMBP to mean retina display.. Which I don't have but I do have the internal card setup that you mentioned.. Is there a Link to a thread with the standard Kext Mods and how to do them.. Haven't ever gotten into doing anything like that before.

Brion Sohn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't 10.10.3 currently unable to run eGPUs?

I have never had problems running 10.10.3 with Maxwell cards (GTX 980 or GTX750Ti) on my 3 TB2 Macs , only the Nvidia eGPU screen output is the issue with some TB2 models. AMDs give the screen output always. It's easier to get eGPU detected in OS X than in Windows if you do it correctly.

Setup procedure for Nvidia cards:

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8199-2013-13-macbook-pro-gtx980%4016gbps-tb2-netstor-na211tb-win8-1-osx10-10-%5Bgoalque.html

The OS X build number and downloaded web driver build number has to match. If they don't because of Apple's security updates (rare situation), you can change the build number in kext.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the cards work in all Macs that I am aware of for OS X GPGPU.

The issue that has slowed Mac usage is that TB2 Macs don't (usually) have screen output in OS X.

On my TB1 Mac, it isn't an issue at all. I have done limited testing with AMD but as goalque states, they are easier to deal with as far as getting screen output in Yosemite.

But on 2012 rMBP it is a cakewalk. (Windows is a different story, requires eEFI or some other tweaking)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still struggling to give it a try again, since I couldn't manage to keeo it working on my old 13" for more than a reboot.

But I think I will give it a try again in June :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is more coil buzzing, not really coil whine. Did you apply a overclock on the card? Is it still buzzing without the OC?

My GTX 970 sounds similar… and that is a common GTX 970 problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is more coil buzzing, not really coil whine. Did you apply a overclock on the card? Is it still buzzing without the OC?

My GTX 970 sounds similar… and that is a common GTX 970 problem.

I'm running the card stock - Will the coil whine somehow decrease my hardware survival time ? Or is it just an annoying side effect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Almost all cards have it, you just hear it more clearly now, as the card so close to you.

Could also be a problem of a "weak" power supply…?!

I don't know how to test it, however it is a Corsair CX430M with a single rail. Should be juice enough for a single gtx 660ti

Fuck it - KFA2 gtx 970 bought!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update: OK the eGPU is recognized through the Akitio in Windows 7 64bit with Code 12 as a Standard VGA Adaptor at the moment. So I am guessing that all I need to be able to do to get it to be recognized in Windows is to figure out how to reallocate the PCI resources to eliminate the Code 12 and then clean Install the NVIDIA Drivers so that it can run the GTX970 and also the GT650M as well.. Please correct me if I am wrong and there is a lot more to it.. Though that being said I am not sure how to go about Reallocation of the PCI Resourced with a Bootcamp load. As I mentioned earlier Getting it working in Windows is Primary..

As for OS X I have been reading that the NVIDIA drivers for the GTX970 don't currently support Yosemite 10.10.3 so getting it to work right now in OS X Might be Futile even if I can get OS X to recognize it.. Though if anyone has any pointers or methods with this it would be greatly appreciated as well.

BTW I do plan on posting the build as soon as I am totally finished and get it running. I think I have the first fully contained GTX970 on here meaning that all all I have as far as seen parts are The Dell DA2 and the Akitio (which will be modified for airflow but will be closed and dimensionally standard. It a bit beautiful BUT Honestly it was a PITA to wire and did take all custom wiring and a special made board to hold the DA2 plug-in port and power switch Which are both on the rear of the Akitio.

More Update.. In Win 7 the Card is now fully recognized when attached and ON when Windows is opened through the BootCamp Launcher.. Drivers are good for the GTX970. Still getting the Code 12 but I really haven't attempted anything to get rid of it yet as I am not sure what the Best method is DTST Override, Setup, ???.. I am guessing that once the Code 12 is gone that things should work well as everything is up and running..

Still havent attempted the OS X Kext Mods to allow it to be recognized but part of that is I am having a hard time locating what exactly needs to be done.

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.