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DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


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9 hours ago, mrchrister said:

 

Thanks Dschijn! I feel pretty confident I can get this cable done myself, after a bit more reading..

Do I understand your previous post correctly? You would get the 8pin extension and solder the remote pin to ground so you don't have to do the paperclip trick or is there another reason for it?

 

Right now I would order:

 

Dell DA2 brick (already on its way)

1x Y-splitter 6pin 

1x 6pin to low profile 6pin

 

Then I simply force the female 6pin onto the 8pin Dell DA2 (making sure I leave the correct two male pins untouched), one 6 pin male to the 1060 mini and the other one I cut and solder to a barrel plug. Then, I would use a paperclip to connect remote to ground.

 

Does that make sense to you?

 

 

 

Yes remote to ground!

make sure the 6pin gets 3x ground an 3x 12v. I would also recommend to bundle all 12v to one join point and split them to the required 3 pins. Same for ground. So you can spread the load evenly.

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Stumbled on what a egpu is today, and came across this forum which seems to be an excellent resource in learning more about them.

 

I have an early 2013 retina MacBook pro running Mac OS Sierra. I have the version with both Iris Pro Graphics and GT 650M and have been waiting for the new 2016 models to come out with Thunderbolt 3 and new graphics cards. My MacBook model was the last iteration to not be able to drive an external monitor at 4k 60hz, which I would also really like to be able to do. Would I be limited in doing an egpu setup with my current machine? It has Thunderbolt 1, I was wondering if that would be a significant bottleneck as it seems like most people are using Thunderbolt 2 with their egpu setups. I would also like to know if thunderbolt 3 is a major advantage with an egpu setup and if I should wait for the new MacBooks to come out. Will I be able to drive an external 4k monitor with a new powerful enough graphics card? And lastly, my ideal setup would be to use my Iris Pro/GT 650M on my built in display and then use something like a GTX980ti to run an external 4k monitor at the same time. I don't care about using the egpu to power my built in display, which I have read causes problems when you already have a discrete graphics card, but I would still like to be able to use it in a dual monitor setup for things like music production. Thanks for reading, look forward to any replies!

 

Edited by maxjstep
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@maxjstep I have the same Macbook and just got my egpu setup built yesterday so if you're looking for long term feedback, I'm the wrong guy to ask. All I can say is that I'm very happy with the performance so far. All modern games I threw at it worked perfectly.

By trade I'm doing a lot of video editing so I work a lot with Adobe Premiere. Unfortunately the new Pascal architecture, GTX1060 mini 6GB in my case is not supported yet under osx but a lot of people suspect support coming for these cards in the next month or so, likely when Apple presents the new Macbook. So it is a bit of a gamble to buy this card right now but to be honest, I just didn't want to wait any longer. Eventually I hope this card will help with Adobe Premiere and Davinci rendering.

If you decide to build your own system I can highly recommend the 1060 mini from Zotac because it has the right size to fit in the case without any bending, is good on power consumption so it works well with the Dell DA2 adapter and is as powerful as a GTX980 but if I were you I would wait for OSX support. This thread is good to follow: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-1070.192399/page-70

 

BTW if you mainly want more displays, connect one to HDMI and two over the Thunderbolt/Displayport ports. This will give you 4 screens in total!

Edited by mrchrister
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Hi, I have a question.

 

I read from somewhere that using any power supply could cause voltage drop, and eventually burn up the GPU and the akitio board, so it is important to use Powersupply that has voltage drop protection imbedded like corsair rm650 or 550. 

 

Is that true? is it safe to use Dell DA-2 or other cheap power supply to power up both AKitio and GPU?

 

if it is, what's the downside for using cheap power supply?

 

Edited by SnJAe
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On 10/16/2016 at 9:43 AM, mrchrister said:

@mrchrister Thanks for the reply! I actually just purchased a new 32" 1440p monitor. The pixel density is noticeably less than my MacBook Pro's screen, but the screen real estate balance along with text readability is perfect, so I kind of gave up on a 4k monitor. Now, I just need the egpu to power it. It's nice to read feedback from someone with the same laptop as me, because it seems like most people own the late 2013 MacBook pro out of the 2013 models. If the egpu works fine for the early 2013 models, I will definitely go with a egpu setup. This will be mainly used to play games at 1440p native resolution with hopefully ultra settings at 60fps. I've been experimenting with low demanding games like CS Source and Im actually getting good results at native 1440p with my native 650M. Cant wait to see what the egpu setup with a 980 ti will get me with games like fallout 4 and gta v! 

 

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Hi, I have a question.

...

if it is, what's the downside for using cheap power supply?

...



Mine, first is a terribile coil whine under heavy load. I use a chineese mATX psu because the DA2 is almost under wattage for my JetStream 970 (I've read it can peak 207w, even if I've never pass 120-130 in game)


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk
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Hi all,

 

I'm new to the forum and new to eGPU setups. I have mid-2012 MBP (non-retina) and I ordered used Akitio Thunder2 + EVGA GTX 750 TI SC + 120W PSU with barrel plug (still waiting for delivery).

On the macOS side I'll use @goalque's script and on Windows 10 side @Tech Inferno Fan's eGPU Setup 1.20, both on external monitor ASUS VX24AH.

If everything goes well, I'll upgrade my setup to Corsair SF450 and Gigabyte GTX 1070 mini (not sure if this is a good choice for GPU?).

My question is, if I change GPU do I have to do,  @goalque's script and @Tech Inferno Fan's eGPU Setup 1.20, again or not?

Thanks

Edited by NeNo
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Hello,

I seem to be getting the impression that the acceleration only helps when running in Windows on the Mac hardware?  Is that correct?

I would like to invest in something like this but only if it helps me run my 3D software that I have installed on OSX faster.

True / False??

Tudor

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Hi guys. I have acquired all of the parts for my eGPU project.

I am using an Akitio Thunder2 pci-e box with my Mid 2012 - MacbookPro 9,1 • i7 2.7ghz (3820qm Ivy Bridge) • 8gb Ram • Windows 10 (Bootcamp / BIOS) • Dell DA2 PSU with @Dschijn's cable mod to power both the Akitio box and Zotac GTX1060 Mini 6gb, and all powers up fine. 

I removed the previously installed Nvidia drivers from Windows using DDU and then installed the most up to date drivers (Version: 375.63), with the eGPU attached and turned on. Now in the Device Manager the GTX1060 driver is showing with the 'error 12' code. 

After researching this topic on this forum, I found several threads, and I see that many people are using

@Tech Inferno Fan's eGPU 1.2/1.3 Setup script. I read some helpful posts by @LukeHero and @w4vz, which lead me to believe that Nando's eGPU Setup 1.2 would be best for my 2012 Macbook Pro - is that correct? 

 

Perhaps I should have waited but I bought and installed eGPU Setup 1.2 and I got as far as the 'compaction' step but Nando's boot/bios script can't see the devcon.txt file and shows a message saying "WARNING! No C:\config\devcon.txt. Compaction may freeze. Run V:\devcon\mkdevcon in Windows to create devcon.txt.". But when I ran the setup-disk-image (as admin user) it did create the devcon.txt file within a V:\ directory.

 

C:\devcon.txt file contains:

ACPI\PNP0C01\2
    Name: System board
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        MEM : 20000000-201fffff
        MEM : 40000000-401fffff
ACPI\PNP0C02\1
    Name: Motherboard resources
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        MEM : fed1c000-fed1ffff
        MEM : fed10000-fed17fff
        MEM : fed18000-fed18fff
        MEM : fed19000-fed19fff
        MEM : e0000000-efffffff
        MEM : fed20000-fed3ffff
        MEM : fed90000-fed93fff
        MEM : fed45000-fed8ffff
        MEM : ff000000-ffffffff
        MEM : fee00000-feefffff
ACPI\PNP0C02\2
    Name: Motherboard resources
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        IO  : 002e-002f
        IO  : 004e-004f
        IO  : 0061-0061
        IO  : 0063-0063
        IO  : 0065-0065
        IO  : 0067-0067
        IO  : 0080-0080
        IO  : 0092-0092
        IO  : 00b2-00b3
        IO  : 1000-100f
        IO  : 0400-047f
        IO  : 0500-057f
ACPI\PNP0200\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: Direct memory access controller
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        IO  : 0000-001f
        IO  : 0081-0091
        IO  : 0093-009f
        IO  : 00c0-00df
        DMA : 4
ACPI\PNP0C09\0
    Name: Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Embedded Controller
    Device is currently using the following resources:
        IO  : 0062-0062
        IO  : 0066-0066
ACPI\PNP0C0A\0
    Name: Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
    Device is not using any resources.
ACPI\PNP0B00\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: System CMOS/real time clock
    Device is currently using the following resources:
        IO  : 0070-0077
ACPI\PNP0103\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: High precision event timer
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        MEM : fed00000-fed003ff
        IRQ : 0
        IRQ : 8
ACPI\PNP0C0E\2&DABA3FF&2
    Name: ACPI Sleep Button
    Device is not using any resources.
ACPI\PNP0C0D\2&DABA3FF&2
    Name: ACPI Lid
    Device is not using any resources.
ACPI\PNP0000\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: Programmable interrupt controller
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        IO  : 0020-0021
        IO  : 0024-0025
        IO  : 0028-0029
        IO  : 002c-002d
        IO  : 0030-0031
        IO  : 0034-0035
        IO  : 0038-0039
        IO  : 003c-003d
        IO  : 00a0-00a1
        IO  : 00a4-00a5
        IO  : 00a8-00a9
        IO  : 00ac-00ad
        IO  : 00b0-00b1
        IO  : 00b4-00b5
        IO  : 00b8-00b9
        IO  : 00bc-00bd
        IO  : 04d0-04d1
ACPI\PNP0A08\0
    Name: PCI Express Root Complex
    Device is currently using the following resources:
        MEM : 000a0000-000bffff
        MEM : 8fa00000-feafffff
        MEM : fed40000-fed44fff
        IO  : 0000-0cf7
        IO  : 0d00-ffff
ACPI\PNP0C0C\2&DABA3FF&2
    Name: ACPI Power Button
    Device is not using any resources.
ACPI\PNP0C04\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: Numeric data processor
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        IO  : 00f0-00f0
        IRQ : 13
ACPI\PNP0100\4&41DBD23&0
    Name: System timer
    Device has the following resources reserved:
        IO  : 0040-0043
        IO  : 0050-0053
15 matching device(s) found.


DSC_0108.JPG

 

Can anybody shed some light on this for me please? I will gladly provide more details if necessary. =)

 

Thanks  for reading.

Granty

 

*edit: I just checked and bootcamp is installed on an MBR (master boot record) partition. 

Edited by Granty
added 'mbr partition' to the details
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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, mrchrister said:

Hey @Granty

did you get it fixed?

Here is my devcon.txt for 1060 6GB under Windows 10 Bootcamp. Just put it in c:/config

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

 

 

 

devcon.txt.zip

 

Hey @mrchrister, Yes I now have a fully armed and operational battlestation, sorry I mean eGPU! :w00t:

 

It took me a few days trying to figure things out, because when I got to the compaction stage, it kept freezing up at the end, that was because the eGPU Setup software couldn't find the correct files, so I ended up creating a bootable USB which did the trick.

 

Thanks! It was good of you to attach your devcon.txt file but all is good now! (apart from the Nvidia driver problems, so stuck with 372.70 which won't allow me to play BF1 :frantics:).

 

Great little GPU the Zotac GTX1060 Mini, very impressed with it so far. My laptop runs so much cooler than before, which should help to extend its life a bit! I only have the fans running at about 4000rpm and the cpu hovers between 55-60 degrees which is awesome.

 

 

Granty

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@mrchrister,  Weird thing, I left my laptop for about 15mins after having done a bit of gaming last night and tried watching some Youtube videos but they would only run in slow motion and with no sound!? What is that about? The eGPU played games fine.

 

The next day I tried booting up but it kept on getting stuck at the final stage of the Windows boot, right at the point where the external screen lights up! So I booted up the eGPU Setup software and saw the two pci compaction YES's had changed to NO's (NOOOOOOO). I guess the slow motion thing has something to do with the USB/compaction settings changing? Anyone experienced this before?

 

Gonna try and do the compaction process now - took me ages the last time and I just got lucky, so don't remember exactly what I chose in the menus, or what order.

 

Hope it doesn't take too long this time around...:ohmy:

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that's very strange. all i can say is that i haven;t run into any issues so far. the only problems i had so far was that some apps would still launch on the gtx650m dgpu. so i disabled the dgpu in device manager to force all apps to use the egpu.

 

good luck with getting this fixed! have you tried my devcon?

Edited by mrchrister
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No my devcon.txt file seems to work ok

It only took me an hour to get the egpu back up and running, so it's getting easier with practice.

 

I tried that nvidia bypass trick using that Rename.BAT file but it didn't work for me. Will have to wait till Nvidia fix the issue.

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Hi to this great community!

 

Willing to get into the world of eGPU.

 

I have MBPr 15" mid 2014 with 750m..

 

I'd like to run egpu ( 970 or 980) in OS X environment with video apps (Premiere Pro,Davinci)..

 

Thinking to buy the famous Akitio tb2 egpu box..

 

Is my macbook model "compatible"?

What's the latest OS X software i can use for the above configuration?

 

thanks!

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@gio7 that was my first idea as well. i wanted an egpu mainly for editing and coloring. i bought the 1060 6gb mini because this card felt perfect for an egpu setup: it fits into the akitio thunder case without bending, it can be powered by the dell power adapter (so i don't have a big computer psu on my desk) and its fast enought to play all current games on highest settings.  i'm still waiting for the mac drivers though and hopefully this will happen one day. the card works really well in windows and I'm glad i don't experience any crashes like so many others who have a 970. But even if Mac Drivers get released for this card one day I might still run into issues with CUDA using my internal GPU instead of the eGPU. There is a post about this problem from @LukeHero and I don't know if there is a fix yet or if the new Premiere 2017 is managing things differently... Ironically in Windows I got everything working by just disabling my internal GT650m so that Premiere only uses the fast external eGPU.

Edited by mrchrister
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@mrchrister

Thanks for the info...really didn't know that we can't take advantage of cuda with egpu in macos...so it seems there is no point for the egpu route for my case...

Do you have @LukeHero's post available to share?

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