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DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


oripash

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@Misha: Please use this script: http://forum.techinferno.com/mac-os-x-discussion/10289-script-automating-installation-egpu-os-x-inc-display-output.html

- Why do you use a riser?

- How do you power the AKiTiO?

- Connect the external monitors directly to the eGPU to get eGPU performance. Don't connect them to the MacBook or any Thunderbolt ports!

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@Misha: Please use this script: http://forum.techinferno.com/mac-os-x-discussion/10289-script-automating-installation-egpu-os-x-inc-display-output.html

- Why do you use a riser?

- How do you power the AKiTiO?

- Connect the external monitors directly to the eGPU to get eGPU performance. Don't connect them to the MacBook or any Thunderbolt ports!

Thank you very much for your answer! I really missed this step. I downloaded file "automate-eGPU.sh" on desktop, and then step by step introduced the team to the terminal. But I'm not sure that everything is done correctly. I attach photo from the terminal.post-37946-14495000677477_thumb.png

I followed the advice of this article https://odd-one-out.serek.eu/thunderbolt-2-egpu-setup-using-akitio-thunder2/#comment-1120 Do you think the riser is not necessary?

At the moment, the original power cable is not connected to Akitio

Unfortunately, after this operation, my monitor still does not see the signal from eGPU connected directly to it.

P.S. I'm really junior in this topic and I apologize for the maybe stupid questions, and I hope your answers will not be too difficult for me.

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No, you shouldn't use a riser!

- Try to power the AKiTiO with your Corsair CX500M. Did you do that?

http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/8317-%5Bguide%5D-making-molex-barrel-adapter.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/10090-visual-guide-opening-akitio-thunder-2-pcie-box-powering-via-barrel-plug.html

- Seems like you didn't download the "automate-eGPU.sh" correctly (sth that I am totally confused by as well at github....). Please open the file with a text editor and make a screenshot as well

- Any questions regarding the script, please post them here: http://forum.techinferno.com/mac-os-x-discussion/10289-script-automating-installation-egpu-os-x-inc-display-output-16.html

Edit: @Misha: Here is the direct DL link: https://github.com/goalque/automate-eGPU/archive/master.zip

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No, you shouldn't use a riser!

- Try to power the AKiTiO with your Corsair CX500M. Did you do that?

http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/8317-%5Bguide%5D-making-molex-barrel-adapter.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/10090-visual-guide-opening-akitio-thunder-2-pcie-box-powering-via-barrel-plug.html

- Seems like you didn't download the "automate-eGPU.sh" correctly (sth that I am totally confused by as well at github....). Please open the file with a text editor and make a screenshot as well

- Any questions regarding the script, please post them here: http://forum.techinferno.com/mac-os-x-discussion/10289-script-automating-installation-egpu-os-x-inc-display-output-16.html

Edit: @Misha: Here is the direct DL link: https://github.com/goalque/automate-eGPU/archive/master.zip

Thanks for the answer! I will try to do molex-to-barrel adapter. In the future, I plan to use Dell ZVC220HD12S1. It is more compact and, together with the eGPU it will look better. I would be happy if you know the instructions how to connect this adapter to Akitio. As far as I understand it will be enough power for my GTX970.

I downloaded automate-eGPU.sh through direct link to the desktop, and then step by step, repeated the command in the terminal and then restarted the computer. The system parameters have changed and now in the Monitor tab under two monitors the Nvidia GTX970 is displayed. However, a direct connection to the secondary monitor GTX970 works only via HDMI. When I connect a secondary monitor via DisplayPort again appears "No Signal". However, at the moment of connection the main monitor reacts to it. And besides the mouse cursor on the secondary monitor began to move with strobe as if the monitor began to show less fps. It looks very bad. And naturally deteriorated image quality as compared with connecting the monitor directly to a MacBook through a Thunderbolt DisplayPort. This is most likely due to the fact that I have 4k monitor and HDMI does not support this feature. When I connected the monitor directly to macbook back (Thunderbolt-DisplayPort) after the action in the terminal without using eGPU, mouse continued move with strobe. Maybe I made a mistake when typing commands in the terminal. At this time, I had a MacBook attached to external video card and a second monitor via thunderbolt simultaneously. How to remove strobe in the image and haw to make the DisplayPort connectors on the GTX970 work properly? Until I decided to try it with Riser. But in the nearest future the card will be connected correctly via molex-to-barrel for example

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Thanks for the answer! I will try to do molex-to-barrel adapter. In the future, I plan to use Dell ZVC220HD12S1. It is more compact and, together with the eGPU it will look better. I would be happy if you know the instructions how to connect this adapter to Akitio. As far as I understand it will be enough power for my GTX970.

I downloaded automate-eGPU.sh through direct link to the desktop, and then step by step, repeated the command in the terminal and then restarted the computer. The system parameters have changed and now in the Monitor tab under two monitors the Nvidia GTX970 is displayed. However, a direct connection to the secondary monitor GTX970 works only via HDMI. When I connect a secondary monitor via DisplayPort again appears "No Signal". However, at the moment of connection the main monitor reacts to it. And besides the mouse cursor on the secondary monitor began to move with strobe as if the monitor began to show less fps. It looks very bad. And naturally deteriorated image quality as compared with connecting the monitor directly to a MacBook through a Thunderbolt DisplayPort. This is most likely due to the fact that I have 4k monitor and HDMI does not support this feature. When I connected the monitor directly to macbook back (Thunderbolt-DisplayPort) after the action in the terminal without using eGPU, mouse continued move with strobe. Maybe I made a mistake when typing commands in the terminal. At this time, I had a MacBook attached to external video card and a second monitor via thunderbolt simultaneously. How to remove strobe in the image and haw to make the DisplayPort connectors on the GTX970 work properly? Until I decided to try it with Riser. But in the nearest future the card will be connected correctly via molex-to-barrel for example

You didn't mention whether it's DP 1.1 or DP 1.2.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202856

SST 4K monitors are more trouble free with eGPUs.

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Thanks for the answer! I will try to do molex-to-barrel adapter. In the future, I plan to use Dell ZVC220HD12S1. It is more compact and, together with the eGPU it will look better. I would be happy if you know the instructions how to connect this adapter to Akitio. As far as I understand it will be enough power for my GTX970.

See http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/9426-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion.html.

The PSU you mentioned is the Dell DA-2 and that's already in use by some of us. It's really easy if you use 2 6 pin PCIe splitters but you can also order an already complete cable set from eBay.

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Noob here,

My eGPU set up works pretty well (usually takes a few boot ups to get past a startup BSOD on Windows 8.1), but when I am on windows 10 I always get this error on startup, "ACPI BIOS ERROR". This happens before a full rotation on the initial windows loading. I have tried installing Nvidia's latest beta driver/regular driver, reinstalling bootcamp drivers, etc. I only was able to get past this screen once with unplugging and replugging the thunderbolt cable in during startup, but have never been able to do it again. There isnt much information about the latest 15" with a dGPU. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! This website has been amazing for my dream build.

Akitio Thunder2 PCIe Box

Macbook 15" with m370X

Zotac ZT-90101-10P GeForce GTX 970 Video Card (fits perfectly in the Akitio)

Dell DA-2 Adapter

Akitio eGPU 8 PIN TO 2 x PCI-E 6 PIN super low profile no latch & 1 x BARREL

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500 Watt PSU is way overkill for a 750Ti. I run a GTX 960 with a 220W Dell DA-2 power brick. You can find it for less than 20$ on ebay (for example). Along with the Dell I bought an 8 pin to 2x6pin and barrel plug which should give you everything you need to put it together. All you have to do is plug everything together and then install the drivers in windows.

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500 Watt PSU is way overkill for a 750Ti. I run a GTX 960 with a 220W Dell DA-2 power brick. You can find it for less than 20$ on ebay (for example). Along with the Dell I bought an 8 pin to 2x6pin and barrel plug which should give you everything you need to put it together. All you have to do is plug everything together and then install the drivers in windows.

thank you for reply, in another thread this guy had Bridge Tool and PCIE extender cable , should I have them too? and how about my macbook pro 13' 2015 i5 would that be ok? i was reading in another thread that macbook i5 is not good

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Not sure what a bridge tool is but you only need the PCIE extender cable if your GPU won't fit into the akitio box. If you buy the single fan version it should fit quite easily otherwise you can get the extender cable. If you pick up the Akitio box plus the two items I mentioned you should be good to go.

I've also seen some people having issues with the 2015 MBPr. I don't know much about it since I have a 2014 i5 and it works fine. You can search through the current guides and discussions to see if you can find anything.

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Not sure what a bridge tool is but you only need the PCIE extender cable if your GPU won't fit into the akitio box. If you buy the single fan version it should fit quite easily otherwise you can get the extender cable. If you pick up the Akitio box plus the two items I mentioned you should be good to go.

I've also seen some people having issues with the 2015 MBPr. I don't know much about it since I have a 2014 i5 and it works fine. You can search through the current guides and discussions to see if you can find anything.

Can you please send me an amazon link for 8 pin to 2x6pin and barrel plug I looked for it but nothing comes up, and is could 2GB single fan would work fine on some games? like battlefield at list on mid settings

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Can you please send me an amazon link for 8 pin to 2x6pin and barrel plug I looked for it but nothing comes up, and is could 2GB single fan would work fine on some games? like battlefield at list on mid settings

I got the cable from ebay:

Akitio Egpu 8 Pin to 2 x PCI E 6 Pin Super Low Profile No Latch 1 x Barrel | eBay

As for the 750 Ti, it's fairly low power and low heat so I would think they all have roughly the same performance single or dual fan assuming similar clock speeds. BF4 should be able to run on medium settings but not entirely sure. The only thing I can tell you is that I've run Hardline on Med-High settings smoothly on my 960

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2013+ 15" Macbook Pro Iris/GT750M + Win7 bootcamp working well

In case anybody with one of these notebooks is still wanting to run Win7 in preference over 8.1/10. I have two users who have Win7 running on their Macbooks using Bootcamp/MBR mode. One user with a Iris Pro only and the other with the GT750M model.

Both users were seeing error 12 against their eGPU. A customized http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-30-previously-setup-1-x.html was required to overcome the error 12 and gain a fully functional eGPU.

Posting here as those two users have chosen to not as yet post an implementation guide of how they got it working.

I'll add that anybody wanting to do this will firstly need to ensure their eGPU is consistently detected within the Windows environment. This may require applying this solution: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8558-%5Bguide%5D-macbook-enabling-optimus-internal-lcd-mode.html

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Hi!

Recently got my setup to work! (See setup at the end). But now when i boot into windows 8.1 and trying to use my external sound card ( Amazon.com: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2 In/2 Out USB Recording Audio Interface: Musical Instruments ) with my studio monitors ( http://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP5G3-NA-Generation-Powered-Monitor/dp/B00EO7UNXO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440796217&sr=8-1&keywords=krk+rokit+5 ). But the problem is as soon as I gaming the monitors starts to buzz. Im playing Guild wars 2 and Diablo 3 and same problem in both games , even tried borderlands. When I press TAB (mac command key) the buzz stops and everything is normal. As soon I start the game again the buzz go on and when Im trying to move ingame the buzz sounds worse. The monitors is connected to the sound card via XLR unbalanced cables (have tried balanced cables too) and the soundcard is connected directly to the mac via USB.

Here comes the tricky part. I've tried to lower volume ingame and in windows default settings and nothing seem to work. The buzz is still there when the game is playing. Here's the tricky part. Even when I UNPLUG the USB cable from the mac THE FCKING MONITORS STILL BUZZ. I'm tabbing in and out from the game without any USB cable connected to the mac and the monitors still act as before. Ingame they buzz and when I press TAB the buzz disappears. This problem does not occurs when Im booting into OSX (without the e-gpu setup).

Can this problem be some kind of ''groundloop'' issue or could it be that the e-gpu does not support a external soundcard?

I've tried to deactivate all sound programs (Nvidia, windows etc..) and the problem is still there.

Anyone got any idea or something I should try to make the buzz go away?

I still got sound when playing games put I have to turn the volume up so the buzzing is being overwhelmed. That really sucks. I can watch videos on youtube netflix etc without any buzz issue (but I still think I can hear a reeeeeally small buzzing noise there too).

SETUP:

ASUS GTX 960 2GB STRIX

COOLERMASTER 650W psu

COOLERMASTER Elite 130 case

Akitio Thunder 2

2m Thunderbolt cable

Powered Riser with molex connection.

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So when there is no physical connection between the Monitors and the MacBook during gaming and is just occurs under 3D load I would assume that is related to electromagnetic interference.

Seems like your sound hardware is sensitive to such waves and the eGPU is emitting these under load.

Are you only using the ATX PSU to power the GPU and the AKiTiO? Guess via the powered riser?

Is the riser "shielded"? Maybe you can carefully apply some aluminum foil around the flat riser cable?

Is the CM Elite 130 closed?

Does the ATX PSU have a connection to ground of you power connector in your house?

Can you seperate (create a distance) between your sound hardware and the eGPU?

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@Dschijn I'm only using the ATX PSU to power up both GPU and Akitio with powered riser.

Tried the aluminium, not so good but it removed the connection completly from the Egpu to the mac. I sholud try wrap ONLY the cable, this time I only stuffed some aluminuim around the riser.

Yes the case is closed. Problem occurs both when it's opened and closed. But I've attatched the akitio motherboard DIRECTLY to the bottom of the Collermaster case (there's no space between the case and the motherboard. Could this be the problem?

Not sure about the ground connection but I can't think of that it isn't grounded.

I've tried to seperate the sound hardware and the egpu and nothing helped. Thanks for your support!

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post-38150-14495000688648_thumb.png

Works like a beauty on 10.10.5 2013 MBA + 780Ti. However, I have two questions -- one of which its more likely you'll be able to actually answer.

1. As you can see, I have an LG 29" ultrawide which should be 2560x1080p, but OSX refuses to see it as anything but 1920x1080p and it looks super stretched. Any ideas? I'm using HDMI.

2. On a similar but much less important note, OSX doesn't detect the display (although it does have a speaker) as a viable option for audio output, any idea how this could be remedied? Not a big deal as I can just connect the 3.5mm jack, but the fewer the cords the better!

Thanks! This script is FANTASTIC and makes the whole process a lot less stressful and way more accessible.

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[ATTACH]15854[/ATTACH]

1. As you can see, I have an LG 29" ultrawide which should be 2560x1080p, but OSX refuses to see it as anything but 1920x1080p and it looks super stretched. Any ideas? I'm using HDMI.

Is it possible that the HDMI out on the card only does 1080p? Have you tested another port from the GPU to see if DVI or DP provide the full resolution? Which card do you have?

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