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Macbook Builtin display powered by eGPU without external monitor connected?


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I have set up my gtx970 for 2013 MBA under OSX 10.10.3. However I dont have an external display in hand. I want to run optimus for OSX but I only find related posts for windows 8.

So is it because optimus only works under windows?

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I just borrowed a Dell monitor and tried my eGPU and it works! Sadly that seems my 970 suffers a lot from coil whine and even the external monitor glitches/flickers following the whine.

Still wanna say thanks to all the contributors in this forum. Your posts helps so much!

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Yup it was recognized and I do played a while with a bought external monitor with it. Except for the coil whine and flick/glitch on the monitor, settings work well...

Please feel free to share your knowledge within setting up eGPU in OS X :) Our information is very sparse!

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I'd appreciate some additional help with running the eGPU in OS X. I'm currently working from a late 2012 27" iMac with the 680MX (have a base 2014 13" MBA as well) with the Akitio/Dell DA-2 and a Zotac GTX 970. I followed these guides and have been able to get my eGPU working under OS X, but when I try to run any games from Steam (on either the 680MX or 970) the games crash instantly. Likewise, I'm getting kernel panics too out of no where (though, it seems like if I disconnect the eGPU while the iMac is running it causes it to freeze up and crash, so it could be TB dropouts, but I only got this working a few hours ago and haven't put any time into more troubleshooting). But its the same cable/port I'm using through Boot Camp and have not had any issues under Windows.

Any suggestions or thoughts on my issues? I know the iMac is not the typical hardware folks are working from, but any additional guidance will be greatly appreciated.

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@martinm0: Can you give us more informations about your setup? Also details about your eGPU setup.

Hi Dschlijn - I'm using the Akitio Thunder2 box, Dell DA-2 and Zotac GTX970 (shroud removed) with a 2012 27" iMac i7 and 680MX. Currently have the latest Nvidia web drivers installed and also updated the needed kexts per the video and links above. OS X recognizes the eGPU and I can drive a second monitor through the DP. The computer will crash at times for random KPs I believe, but any time I try to launch a game (on either the 970 or 680MX monitor) Steam crashes pretty much instantly.

Not sure what other details would be helpful at this point. I'm happy to test anything so please chime in if you have any thoughts! Thanks!

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I read a lot of threads but seems ur situation is unique... I can not even think of any possible reason for that. I would suggest you to borrow a mba or mbp for testing first. At least then you will know it is ur imac's problem or the eGpu's.

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@Dschijn - I have the DA-2 setup using the 6pin splitter cables, with the first spilt powering the barrel plug and the other side connected to the second splitter cable into the Zotac (2x 6pin for power) and the paperclip trick to get it powered. And yes, I could see my monitor connected to the eGPU, but anytime I tried to load Tomb Raider it would crash.

UPDATE - seems like Tomb Raider might have been corrupted for some reason as I had it crash even after I put in all the original kexts. Verified the game would run on the stock iMac (it did) and then reloaded the kexts and everything is working! I also set up my 2014 MBA with the eGPU and no issues there either. I'll have to do more testing, but oddly my base 2014 13" MBA's Tomb Raider benchmarks (everything maxed @ 1080p) bested my 2012 27" iMac with the same settings and eGPU. MBA did 27.7, 91.1, 70fps (min, max, avg) and the iMac reported 19.8, 63.5, 51.7fps. Strange.

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So you are plaing in OSX?

Yes, I am (well, more benchmarking than playing), but that is correct. I'm not too hung up on the differing FPS scores from above at the moment, but I found it interesting and figured I'd put the info out there. I'm just really excited to have this working in both OS X and Windows 7.

The one issue I think will linger is my iMac crashing due to the Thunderbolt connection either severing when it sleeps or something else. I don't think this is related to the eGPU as I went through a lot of issues with a Thunderbolt external HDD enclosure that if I powered it off while connected to the iMac it will crash the machine, but if I ejected it and removed the cable, then powered down all is fine (seems to be a known issue Apple introduced in Yosemite). Likewise, if I just unplug the the TB cable while in OS X, it crashes both the iMac and MBA. But, I guess that's to be expected when ripping out a life line...lol.

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Thunderbolt + sleep isn't a good idea. That is why the bootcamp driver don't allow you set you Mac to sleep, because Windows can't reconenct a Thunderbolt device.

I can imagine that sleep with an eGPU isn't a good in OSX as well.

Since you only have problems with the iMac... is it only Tomb Raider? Is a Uningine benchmark working fine?

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Interesting regarding the Bootcamp driver and sleep in Windows. I swear it actually has been sleeping and working just fine in Windows. I'll have to do some testing now that we're talking about it.

Also, just to confirm I am using an external monitor connected to the eGPU. Sort of thread jacked here and just didn't want to confuse anyone.

I haven't had a chance to run any Unigine benchmarks, so I can't comment there. I'll try to get that done so we can add to the leaderboard.

Lastly, I'm not sure the iMac is really having any issues other than the known Thunderbolt power down issues I described above (see HERE for some other details about that). I work from my iMac all day so that's why I've done most of my testing and setup on this machine and not the MBA. I'll work on doing more stress testing under OS X and see if I can confirm if there are any other issues I'm experiencing.

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Ran Unigine Heaven and Valley benchmarks on the iMac with the Zotac 970 in OS X. Both at 1080p, ultra settings (no window).

Valley: 1881 (score), 45 (26/82) FPS

Heaven: 1011 (score), 40.2 (8/79.6) FPS

On a side note, OS X seems to report that the card is running at 129 celsius, so that seems to be off just a little bit. :peaceful:

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  • 11 months later...

If I using the internal display (no external display) in Windows 10, does that mean the eGPU is idle and cannot be the primary graphic card (replace 680MX)?

Edited by chowbe
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