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DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


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@Dschijn

my set up finally work but the problem now is the booting process. Cant seem to find the sweet spot for booting.  Only got 1/10 success rate.

if i hot plug it after the windows load the egpu would show up in the device manager but no games would run and other apps are iffy.

 

And if i hot plug it before os selection just like your booting method or before/during the spinning wheel. The result would be computer freezes or infinite spinning wheel. If it boots intel iris graphics is the only one showing up on the device manager. But sometimes it would boot properly( very little chance :( )

Edited by aldwinjimenez
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@aldwinjimenez AFAIK hotplugging in Windows itself isn't a good way in Windows, without the propper BIOS settings (that we can't access).

Try this:

- go in boot selction menu

- select windows

- boot windows

- power on the eGPU during booting into Windows (e.g. during the spinning wheel)

 

Also, have you installed the latest Nvidia driver?

Edited by Dschijn
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13 hours ago, aldwinjimenez said:

Current driver(362.00)

 

tried it @Dschijn still no success. The result is either infinite spinning wheel or no egpu on the device manager. Ill try more booting process to see which one would give me higher chance of making the gpu work. Thanks

@Dschijn earlier today got boot success 1 out of 3
the boot process that usually works based on my experience
-connect the thunderbolt cable to the egpu and SLIGHTLY connect the cable to the mac
-power on the egpu
-wait for few seconds
-power on the mac then hold onto option key
-wait for the wifi search (2-3 seconds usually)(wait for the mini spinning wheel to finish)
-then boot to windows at the same time plugging the thunderbolt cable

-after that usually the spinning wheel last about 4 seconds or more

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On 3/4/2016 at 7:20 PM, kblack21 said:

@valix2fr I saw your issue and it seems similar to mine. I've traded in 2 gpu's and 2 psu's (Though I don't regret getting the evga 500 PSU to replace my Corsair, it is so much better) but I still kept getting no device detected. So I Bit the bullet and got another Akitio, and that solved my problem.

 

Still i'm kind of inquisitive and didn't see what was wrong with my original Akitio, so I by chance tried pulling the board out the enclosure. What I found was that the chip with the thunderbolt ports was a little loose from the chip with the PCI E slot (Posibly from when I altered the box for my Titan), so I disconnected them and reconnected them. Then I tried the old Akitio again for kicks, and it worked perfectly:frantics:.

 

So i'm not sure if you messed with your Akitio, but it's worth giving this a shot.

 

Oh man, this is what I'm going through right now! I've had problems the last few weeks where after I turn on my eGPU it will throttle high then get quiet again. No biggie, but more recently when I have my eGPU connected I will get random kernel panics. It didn't happen frequently enough for me to really be too bothered by it until the other day where it disconnected entirely. I checked all the cables and the fans on the GPU still ran if I hot plugged in the eGPU after startup but it did not register the actual GPU itself. I was considering warrantying my GPU thinking that had to be the problem or getting my Mac checked out.... I'll try this tonight!

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@eleven it sucks when it's the little things, but hope this helps. In my case the corsair I had was also faulty and I didn't realize it. Since I checked the chips and changed the PSU it's been no kernel panics and my egpu functions without hiccups for hours. I Do notice I get a bit of GUI stutter/lag after a while though, so i'm looking into that now.

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@kblack21 which PSU did you have? It seems like that is a common theme amidst malfunctioning eGPUs. I have a 750W but I have been looking for an excuse to switch to a modular PSU so I could put everything is a more compact case
 

I've never had any stuttering problems due to keeping the GPU on longer. The only time I see artifacts is when I'm trying to overclock the card

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I had a Modular PSU - The Corsair 1000RM. Now I have this EVGA 500W:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H33SFJU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

 

Its fantastic, but I thought about a step up (550W Modular Unit) an getting this:

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Modular-Supply-220-G2-0550-Y1/dp/B0106RDI3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1457470138&sr=1-1&keywords=EVGA+550

 

What GPU are you using? I went overkill originally for my Titan X, so i'd recommend considering getting what you really need for your psu (especially if your going compact):

 

http://powersupplycalculator.net/

Edited by kblack21
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@kblack21 I have the EVGA 750W G2 (http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-G2-0750-XR), which is probably overkill. I initially had an old 500W Corsair from my old desktop but I decided I was going to get a GTX 970 (MSI more specifically) and figured I wouldn't risk it even though some people said 500W should be okay. 

I had bought the PSU first locally at a final clearance sale, then realized that many cases that were more compact required a modular PSU. So in the end, I ended up getting a bulky case but every now and try and formulate reasons why I should 'upgrade'.

Also, I just pulled out the akitio board and reconnected it and voila(!) the GPU is recognized once again! I could see how it could have gotten pulled slightly out as the circuitboard in my case is not held down firmly (probably another reason for me to go modular ;) ). 

Anyways thanks! You've saved me the time and stress of replacing 'x' number of GPUs, PSUs and potentially CPUs :D .

 

Edited by eleven
grammar
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, im new to this forum, i have an Macbook Pro mid 2015 with an Radeon R9 370x, I have ordered an Akition Thunder 2 witch R9 390x zu avoid Driver Issues in Windows because of R9 370x and Nvidia eGPU.

 

I testet it now with external Monitor and its running. But after 5-10 minutes the system crash randomly. Anyone here who has the same Setup as mine and can help me to improve stability ?

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On 19.3.2016 at 0:59 PM, cogliostro said:

Hi, im new to this forum, i have an Macbook Pro mid 2015 with an Radeon R9 370x, I have ordered an Akition Thunder 2 witch R9 390x zu avoid Driver Issues in Windows because of R9 370x and Nvidia eGPU.

 

I testet it now with external Monitor and its running. But after 5-10 minutes the system crash randomly. Anyone here who has the same Setup as mine and can help me to improve stability ?

R9 390x and Akitio Thunder 2. There's your problem. Akitio Thunder2 doesn't work too well with AMD cards and the crashing is a common issue. Stick with Nvidia cards if you want to stick with the Akitio Thunder2.

 

But just to be sure it's not you who is the issue: How are you powering the whole thing? ATX PSU with enough wattage? Barrel mod for the Akitio? Is it crashing in idle on desktop or under load (only)?

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finally finished my setup to the point where i can close akitio box:

 

Spoiler

j1ocnwV.jpg

 

though i still need to make holes for air flow in the enclosure because it got so heated, the labels fell off of the fans!

 

has anybody had problems where fps would rarely go above 60 even in non-demanding games and sporadically drop to 40 without much correlation to the load? i'll try to investigate this more closely this weekend, seems weird.

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Hello to everybody,

 

I decide to sell my eGPU due to some personal problems. I purchased the Akitio Thunderbolt 2 with the Zotac GTX 970 and the Dell DA2 and it's on sale right now. The eGPU works perfectly on both OS X and Windows systems.

Sorry if this is not the topic to post this but I think it could be a great opportunity for someone who is thinking in make his own eGPU.

If someone is interested in, please send me a private message.

 

Thanks.

Edited by DannyFK
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On 25.3.2016 at 10:14 PM, Morv said:

R9 390x and Akitio Thunder 2. There's your problem. Akitio Thunder2 doesn't work too well with AMD cards and the crashing is a common issue. Stick with Nvidia cards if you want to stick with the Akitio Thunder2.

 

But just to be sure it's not you who is the issue: How are you powering the whole thing? ATX PSU with enough wattage? Barrel mod for the Akitio? Is it crashing in idle on desktop or under load (only)?

I have an old 1350W PSU and the Barrel is soldered to an Molex Pin that is connected to the PSU.

 

Akitio is crashing also in idle as under load but there is no specific time. Sometimes i can play 2 Hours. Sometimes it crashes after 30 sek. The Display went black and i have to shutdown the mac manuelly by hittin the Power Key

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22 hours ago, cogliostro said:

I have an old 1350W PSU and the Barrel is soldered to an Molex Pin that is connected to the PSU.

 

Akitio is crashing also in idle as under load but there is no specific time. Sometimes i can play 2 Hours. Sometimes it crashes after 30 sek. The Display went black and i have to shutdown the mac manuelly by hittin the Power Key

 

Ye, sounds like the issues I, and many others, had when using a powered riser with the Akitio. Getting rid of the riser solved that issue for Nvidia users. AMD cards though simply don't work reliable with the Akitio Thunder2, not even when put directly in the Akitio. If you want to have a stable system, get a Nvidia card or another Thunderbolt Adapter. @goalque might tell you more about the AMD issues, he tested them.

Edited by Morv
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20 hours ago, Morv said:

 

Ye, sounds like the issues I, and many others, had when using a powered riser with the Akitio. Getting rid of the riser solved that issue for Nvidia users. AMD cards though simply don't work reliable with the Akitio Thunder2, not even when put directly in the Akitio. If you want to have a stable system, get a Nvidia card or another Thunderbolt Adapter. @goalque might tell you more about the AMD issues, he tested them.

 

This means i should go back to the original Aktitio PSU instead of Soldering it directly to the 1350W PSU?

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@Dschijn What I wrote was not supposed to imply that @cogliostro is using a powered riser but the issues are the same, driver's crashing due to PCIe link instability.

 

@cogliostro Like I wrote get a Nvidia card, at least for testing purposes. If you're still having the same issues you're having different problems and you can send it back, you're from Germany, so you've got 14 days to do so. AMD cards are simply known to not work with the Akitio Thunder2. How you'd come to thinking I was advising you to use the Akitio PSU is a mystery to me though, I'm not even mentioning PSUs...

Edited by Morv
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Device:

Macbook Pro 2015 with AMD M370X

 

eGPU: GIGABYTE GTX970 MINI

PCIE BOX:AKITIO TB2

PSU:EVGA 500W

MonitorDell P2415Q

 

Q1: It seems like I am not able to let Macbook go to Clamshell Mode when I use my GTX970 connect my external display. So when I close display the lip, the system will still show that internal retina display is still working.

Q2: When I left my desk for a while, the OSX will automatically go to sleep mode. And the eGPU will go to sleep mode, too. However, when I tried to wake it up, neither the internal keyboard nor my external keyboard is working to wake up the system. So I have to  restart by forcing mac to shutdown.

 

Are those problems happen to your setup? How can I fix them?

Thank you so much!

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Macbook Pro 2015 M370x

 

eGPU: MSI Radeon R9 390x https://de.msi.com/Graphics-card/R9-390X-GAMING-8G.html#hero-overview

Box: Aktiito 2 TB2

PSU: Enermax MaxRevo 1350W http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=1&lv1=43&no=158

Monitor: Asus vg236h

I Soldered the original Barrel Plug from the Akitio Case to the Molex directly to the Enermax PSU.

 

Sorry but what you mean with the "Power Riser" ? you mean the Barrel Plug to the Enermax PSU? The Akitio will not Power On withouth the Barrel/Molex.

 

Also i have an GTX 970 in my Mac Pro. I can use this to test if the problem still exist with the Aktitiobox. @Morv can you tell my how i have to handle this because you have installed the Radeon Driver by default from Apple. I dont think it is nice to have 2 GPU Drivers on one System? 

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