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Passive solution Akitio Thunder2 & Palit GTX 750 TI Kalm X


salut

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Hi people!

I just wanted to share my gGPU setup with you and talk about the benefits and problems.

post-31920-14494999667404_thumb.jpg

I bought the Akitio along with a passive Palit GTX 750 TI because I didn't want my gGPU to make any noise nor to need any extra power supply.

The Maxwell GTX 750 ti does all that since it only draws 60W and like this, I just needed to apply the guide (here) to pass up to 75 W through the PCIe port so that I could make the most compact setup possible (with a passive GPU).

I even got to make it work under OS X and Windows stable, although on Windows I didn't activate optimus with the internal screen of my 13" rMBPr Late 2013.

The setup works very stable in idle and whenever I really push it hard, I just put a little 6cm NB-Fan in Front of the GPU which it cools down to less than 60 degrees on 100 % load without any noise.

My only problem now is, that there shouldn't be any noise, but yesterday the Akitio and its PSU startet to make a buzzing noise at full load which I am not sure if it is coming from the coils of the PSU or the Enclosure itself.

Anyway my main problem is now that I then found that the Akitio makes a subtle but perceivable very high frequent noise as soon as the PSU is plugged (Akitio not activated)

Now my question is, could someone who ownes a Akitio check, if you can hear this noise on any Akitio or if it is just mine that has a problem.

Thank you very much in advance!

Regards,

salut

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Do you have an energy meter to check how much the whole eGPU draws? TDP does not tell the truth and even if it was 60W, TB card + PCIe board takes additional 15W-20W. Furthermore, TechPowerUp says that the maximum power consumption is 71W:

techPowerUp! - The latest in hardware and gaming

So you are exceeding the limits. I experienced the same: high frequency buzzing sound. The source was AKiTiO's power supply. Sound vanished with a ATX PSU + molex-to-barrel.

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Ok thank you for the information. This means now with your ATX PSU you have no more problems?

My concern is that I hear two different sounds. One high frequent is always there as soon as the PSU is plugged and the second buzzing sound is only when making stress test on fur mark. Do you think that both would vanish with a stronger PSU?

Another guess would be that it need to solder the missing capacitors pointed out in the 75W-guide. Did you solder them?

Thank you again for your help!

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This thing is freaking me out! :D

This is what sounds I hear when:

1. I plug in the PSU (MacBook turned off):

I hear a high frequent noise coming from Akitios board.

2. I turn on the MacBook:

The high frequent noise shortly crashes an disappears and then a sound at the same very high frequency begins at a certain pitch and rises as if water was boiling inside. This goes on for half a minute and then it seems to stay at one frequency.

3. I run a demanding application (BF3 or Furmark):

The lower buzzing sound starts an can be heard in the PSU as well as in the Akitio.

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I would advice immediately stop torturing AKiTiO’s 60W power adapter! You may damage your system completely. Please use more powerful power brick, at least 100W, or ATX PSU. My experience was using both AKiTiO’s PSU + ATX PSU with a GTX 780, and I actually distinguished the buzzing sound from both the PCIe board and AKiTiO’s PSU, when using a riser. Fortunately, using only the ATX PSU and barrel adapter helped, and I cut the wire to make another barrel adapter.

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  • 2 months later...

Early 2013 15" rMBP 2.4 i7, 8GB, 256 SSD, with the HD 4000 + Nvidia GT 650M

Hey Salut! Hope you're well. I've been following this forum for a while and joined to comment on your post here. I just bought an Akitio Thunder2 and the small EVGA Nvidia Geforce 750 Ti SC for some light/casual gaming via bootcamp. The issue I'm having is that online, Amazon says the card requires 300W power supply and the card itself has no external power connectors (it's completely powered by the PCIe Slot).

The card uses 60W and the Akitio is also 60W and I'm concerned that there won't be enough power to run the card long-term. I tested it yesterday and everything runs GREAT, but am very new to all this and am concerned about the long-term effects. Do you have any thoughts?

Ideally, I would like to find a way to just power the GPU with a PSU. Is there any way to do this or possibly get more power running to the Akitio? Looking forward to any advice you may have!

Thanks!

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Ideally, I would like to find a way to just power the GPU with a PSU. Is there any way to do this or possibly get more power running to the Akitio? Looking forward to any advice you may have!

Thanks!

Yes, 60W is not enough since there's an approx 10W overhead for the TB circuitry leaving only 50W for your card.

There is an inexpensive 120W AC adapter linked at http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2-120.html#post129670 which will be able to power your GTX750Ti.

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Hey Nando,

I was doing some research into disabling my MacBook's dGPU to allow my eGPU to be the primary card. Is there an easy way of achieving this or even keep them both, but assign priority to the eGPU? Currently, the Mac is performing heavily with the fans pretty much always running. I saw your eGPU Setup 1.3 is the most common option, but am so new to all this and feel I would be overwhelmed. I don't even know the difference between MBR/BIOS mode and GPT/UEFI mode :dispirited:

Any tips for an eGPU noobie?

My specs again: Early 2013 15" rMBP 2.4 i7, 8GB, 256 SSD, with the HD 4000 + Nvidia GT 650M

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Hey Nando,

I was doing some research into disabling my MacBook's dGPU to allow my eGPU to be the primary card. Is there an easy way of achieving this or even keep them both, but assign priority to the eGPU? Currently, the Mac is performing heavily with the fans pretty much always running. I saw your eGPU Setup 1.3 is the most common option, but am so new to all this and feel I would be overwhelmed. I don't even know the difference between MBR/BIOS mode and GPT/UEFI mode :dispirited:

Any tips for an eGPU noobie?

My specs again: Early 2013 15" rMBP 2.4 i7, 8GB, 256 SSD, with the HD 4000 + Nvidia GT 650M

The default configuration of your system in Windows is to use the GT650M as the primary and the eGPU as the secondary. You can of course set your desktop to run off the eGPU attached LCD and when you run any apps on there they'll use the eGPU. Doing so means no load on your dGPU and so the primary load on your cooling system will be your eGPU. There are no examples of the iGPU being activated in Windows with the internal LCD being run off it on your system. Lack of that iGPU functionality means you can't get a transparent eGPU accelerated internal LCD mode using NVidia Optimus.

If installing Win8.1, you have the option of installing in UEFI mode which gives a plug'n'play solution or in BIOS/MBR mode which requires Setup 1.30 to eradicate error 12. Win7 is pretty much a BIOS/MBR install requiring Setup 1.30.

Please review implementation examples using both UEFI and MBR modes for your system at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-hub-tb-ec-mpcie.html#Thunderbolt

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You can of course set your desktop to run off the eGPU attached LCD and when you run any apps on there they'll use the eGPU. Doing so means no load on your dGPU and so the primary load on your cooling system will be your eGPU.

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it! I still seem to be having some issues though. There also seems to be an issue with the Implementation Hub cript..can't load any pages on any browser!

My setup right now has the Macbook miniDP port --> Akitio TB, with the second Akitio TB --> 4K Monitor DP. I decided to start fresh with a new install of Windows and the latest Bootcamp and Nvidia drivers. First boot Device Manager shows the dGPU (Nvidia 650M) and Basic Display Driver connected. Then I install the Nvidia drivers and the second boot shows dGPU and eGPU (Nvidia 650M and the Nvidia 750 Ti), but the 750 Ti has a problem marker with Code 12 error.

As you know with this error, after I disable the dGPU, the problem marker for the 750 Ti goes away, but it's still not being used...the computer is only showing 256MB of Total Available Graphics Memory. So I go to the Nvidia experience and see that the card needs an update, and after installing the system requires a reboot. When it powers back on, the dGPU is re-enabled and I see the same error code 12 on the eGPU :disturbed:. Even if I uninstall the dGPU, it reappears upon reboot.

Would you suggest Setup 1.30 for this case or your DSDT override (seems complicated for me, but I would give it a shot)? Or is there a way to install Windows 8.1 in UEFI Mode via Bootcamp? From my Bootcamp USB there is an EFI Boot option, but even after formatting the partition, the setup says it can't install to that disk. Any advice?

As a second note: I read the thread on using a 120W adapter with the Akitio. I'm worried because I'm using the EVGA Nvidia 750 Ti which is talked about in the thread and so I'm not using a PSU and have ordered the 120W adapter already. The response you received from the Aktitio engineer says

The only option for extra power to the card is with that 4-pin connector
but my 750 Ti has no external power connectors. Will simply using a 120W adapter with the Akitio do anything to increase power to the card or be beneficial at all?
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Quote

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it! I still seem to be having some issues though. There also seems to be an issue with the Implementation Hub cript..can't load any pages on any browser!



My setup right now has the Macbook miniDP port --> Akitio TB, with the second Akitio TB --> 4K Monitor DP. I decided to start fresh with a new install of Windows and the latest Bootcamp and Nvidia drivers. First boot Device Manager shows the dGPU (Nvidia 650M) and Basic Display Driver connected. Then I install the Nvidia drivers and the second boot shows dGPU and eGPU (Nvidia 650M and the Nvidia 750 Ti), but the 750 Ti has a problem marker with Code 12 error.

As you know with this error, after I disable the dGPU, the problem marker for the 750 Ti goes away, but it's still not being used...the computer is only showing 256MB of Total Available Graphics Memory. So I go to the Nvidia experience and see that the card needs an update, and after installing the system requires a reboot. When it powers back on, the dGPU is re-enabled and I see the same error code 12 on the eGPU :disturbed:. Even if I uninstall the dGPU, it reappears upon reboot.



Would you suggest Setup 1.30 for this case or your DSDT override (seems complicated for me, but I would give it a shot)? Or is there a way to install Windows 8.1 in UEFI Mode via Bootcamp? From my Bootcamp USB there is an EFI Boot option, but even after formatting the partition, the setup says it can't install to that disk. Any advice?



As a second note: I read the thread on using a 120W adapter with the Akitio. I'm worried because I'm using the EVGA Nvidia 750 Ti which is talked about in the thread and so I'm not using a PSU and have ordered the 120W adapter already. The response you received from the Aktitio engineer says but my 750 Ti has no external power connectors. Will simply using a 120W adapter with the Akitio do anything to increase power to the card or be beneficial at all?





Here's the listing of implementations of just Macbook systems like yours. Please review the Details of each to get a clearer idea of what's involved.















































System
Enclosure
riser
+PSU
eGPU
mode
Details
OS
Special features
15" Macbook Pro GT650MAKiTiO Thunder2YATXTITAN_Z10Gbps-TB1UEFInesoneOSX 10.10youtube video
AKiTiO Thunder2-opened-DA-2GTX97010Gbps-TB1UEFIw4vzOSX 10.10
AKiTiO Thunder2-DA-2GTX970-ITX10Gbps-TB1MBRbsohnWin7/OSX10.10.3AIO, DA-2 input + cooling mods
AKiTiO Thunder2-ATXGTX970-ITX10Gbps-TB1MBRgiordyWin8.1/OSX10.10
PE4L 2.1b + EE-ATXHD79704Gbps-TBEC2MBRRhodesieWin10TP
AKiTiO Thunder2-opened-ATXGTX96010Gbps-TB1MBRcomputersaysnoWin8.1Black painted AKiTiO
AKiTiO Thunder2YSFXGTX96010Gbps-TB1MBRerrinWin8.1
AKiTiO Thunder2Y ATXGTX750Ti-ITX10Gbps-TB1MBRkarthikrajanvWin8.1
BPlus TH05-ATXGTX560Ti8Gbps-TB1UEFIshelltoeWin8.1
PE4L 2.1b + EE-ATXGTX7604Gbps-TBEC2MBRScantyChunkWin7




The 120W AC adapter will provide sufficient power to drive your GTX750Ti + TB circuitry. A 60W is insufficient.
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  • 1 month later...

Hello Salut, and/or Nando,

I read a few posts about building your own eGPU setup. And yours seems to be the one I am most interest in, due to the inexpensive and small Set-Up.

Would it be possible for you to make a Step by Step tutorial, how you got your Set-Up working. With Boot Camp, MacOS, the internal Screen, all the hardware required and stuff like that. That would be truely awesome. Thank you very much.

I hope you can give me a few tips.

Edit: Is there any special meaning for "passive solutions?" Or is it just the same as a external GPU?

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@MickMer15

Passive solution here refers to the passive cooling of the card. There is no fan on the cooling block, which makes the card silent. Instead, it relies on the external airflow and large cooling block to dissipate heat instead of active fans constantly making noise and cooling the card. So its just a regular eGPU setup. Only the type of cooling differs, which should not have any impact on the building process or setup of the eGPU.

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