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  1. Hi there, at 1st i have to thank to that great Forum and all the members who helped and inspired me! some of you have waited long time, thanks for your patience. After several hours of soldering, drilling & painting i'm now proudly to present the results. Although it does not looks like it take many hours of work but due i´m highly visibility impaired(my viewing range is about 2“) some simple things take much more time, therefore sorry if some img´s are creepy. about the background why i build an eGPU / a GPGPU: I own a Macbook Pro 13“(Early2011 CTO), a Macbook Air 11“(Mid2011 CTO) and an iMac 27“(Early2011 CTO), all with Sandy Bridge i5 & i7. Also i have a 3D Printer and a 3D Scanner. For the most normal work their performance is quite sufficient, however, if more sophisticated models to be scanned or modeled, my Mac's poking often their performance limits. Because of i've no desire to spend a few thousand bucks in new Mac's, I decided to build eGPU / GPGPU. eGPU for my iMac & GPGPU for my MB´s. Hardware: Computer: Macbook Air11"(4,1, CTO, [email protected], 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD) OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Macbook Pro13"(8,1, CTO, [email protected], 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD) OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 iMac 27"(12,2, CTO, [email protected](soon replaced by [email protected]), 32GB RAM 128GB SSD) OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 [*]GPU´s: Gainward GTX970 4 GB GDDR5 (planned as GPGPU with my MB´s) Zotac GTX660Ti AMP Edition 2GB GDDR5 (planned as eGPU with my iMac) [*]PSUs Dell DA02 (to use with GPGPU) industrial PSU 12V300W (to use with eGPU) [*]and of course: Akitio Thunder2 PCIe Box let's begin @first i've dismantled the Akitio to get only the PCB´s and do the software setup on my MBP. This step has been discussed in some Threads here several times, so I must do this not again? If you wish i can do that of course. (most of the Pic's linked to larger versions. Click on it for larger view) wiring on the fly for software setup next step: electric/electronic mods Description of mods: A: added Connector for 2nd Fan B: customized 6X2 PCIe connector C: to prevent instability added 2x4700µF/16V B & C have insulation of Kapton tape closer view to the current input i've bought a Dell Optiplex including the PSU DA02 on eBay, desoldered the 4X2 housing from the PCB, desoldered the jack from the Akitio's PCB, take some 2K-glue and solder the new connector to the Akitio. For the moment the Remote pin is soldered directly to GND so the DA02 is permanently on if it's plugged in. I've replaced the wires from my provisional setup from AWG14 to AWG10, this should be quiet enough next step: Case mods: increase the space above the PCIe for better cooling i´ve opend the front of the inner sleeve and inserted a second 60mm fan because of the black design isn´t my favortite design, i´ve firstly dismantled the housing completely and bring many many layers of argent and satin lacquer to the surface. Look&Feel is almost identical to my Unibody Mac's: isn‘t it? Despite of the second fan in the front, the ventilation was too low to cool down the GPU, when the housing is closed. What to do, i thought? As well as my top fav design is the Mac G5/old Pro i take my drill and drilled overall 1150 3mm holes. And this it is how it looks like after at least 6 hours of drilling and cleaning The software installation went very smoothly both with the MB’s as well as with the iMac. The MB's don´t have any problems during the operation. The used software recognizes the GPGPU and uses that also correct. With my iMac I have several small problems with the eGPU. I do not get it, not reproducible, times it aborts the boot process and restarts automatically times it aborts the boot process and remains frozen with a crossed out circle, times it boots through normally. When booted through normally, times everything is OK, times the screen settings where shaked up to settings i´ve never used. Today i've made a provisional setup with the Akitio PCB's only and my Zotac GTX660Ti Amp! There are much less problems during boot in contrast to the setup with the GTX970. Here some img’s of it: don't lol, because of i've mounted the Zotac cooler to my GTX970 i've added an Arctic Accellero Twin to the GTX660Ti, atm i don't find the given fan so i connected a 140mm Thermalright . So, that's it what I've made with the Akitio. and finally: Feel free to visit the album on flickr. There are some more img's seefew's aitAC at flickr WTH stands aitAC for? Simple desc: it means all in the Akitio Case, regarding to Dschijn Hope you like my build My desk, aitAC connected as eGPU to my iMac Two Unigine Heaven Benchmarks eGPU(GTX970) vs. dGPU(Radeon HD6770M) vs. Greets seefew
    2 points
  2. The next version includes: - detects if your system has been updated and suggests reinstallation - if the new driver is not yet available from Nvidia after OS X update (for example 10.10.4), it can modify the previous driver on the desktop and reinstall it within the terminal automatically - bug fixes, much better error handling if the web driver is not found
    2 points
  3. That's a great find! I had emailed this vendor on Friday inquiring about super low profile cables. They seem to be very in tune with our projects and are willing to custom make anything we need (I inquired about a splitter cable with low profile connectors). This is exciting stuff for those that don't want to fabricate their own cables!
    2 points
  4. tre87's eGPU implementation | 2014 15" Macbook Pro GT750M + GTX970@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win8.1 Last update on November 16th 2014! My setup is as follows:Laptop: Macbook Pro 15 Retina (Mid 2014) /w dGPU (nVidia GT 750M)GFX: Asus GTX 970 Strix 4GBeGPU: AKiTiO Thunder2 PCI-E BoxPSU: Corsair RM550PCI-E: 16x Powered RiserCase: Cooler Master Elite 130Thunderbolt cable: Apple Thunderbolt Cable (2.0 Meters)Extra: Plastic board for mounting, superglue, black wire, cable strips and a standard on/off powerswitch. (Also had a fan silencer from a Noctua fan I used on the front mounted case fan to reduce its noise to nothing. It's not required for this build, but like like to have NO noise :))Images More images can posted if someone requests it :)[ATTACH=CONFIG]13147[/ATTACH] Front: Large image[ATTACH=CONFIG]13149[/ATTACH] Side (Case shield off) -> Yes, some screws are missing. Was taken while i was testing the riser placements :) ScreenshotFirestrike:GTX 970 (+ GT 750M PhysX)Validation:GPU-ZBuild Hardware:1. Remove the CM Elite 130 case shield and unscrew the 92mm side fan and it's mount!2. Remove the front of the case and drill out the rivets and unscrew the 2 screws to completely remove the optical drive mount.3. Open up the AKiTiO box and take out the curcuitboard.4. Place the AKiTiO board on the plastic board aligning the TB ports and power to point towards the back (where a motherboard would have been) and measure out where to drill and make holes for the motherboard risers5. Then place the plastic board on the bottom of the case and mark out the holes for mounting.6. Drill all the holes -> Small holes for the AKiTiO board so that you can super glue the motherboard risers (comes with the case | image for the layout). Place the other wire in the above or underneath black wire (Ground).11. Remove the case front and pull both wires thrue the bottom right USB port and put the case front back on.12. Insert both wires, one in each end of the on/off switch and mount it like you see in the Front image above.13. Install the powered riser in the AKiTiO board and the other end to the GPU.14. Mount the GPU in the case. (I used a cable strip from the GPU fanshield to the case to tighten the card in the opposite end of the case mount. Otherwise it won't be stable!)15. Install the 6+2-pin PSU cable for GPU and the 12V Molex PSU cable for the powered riser. Remember to connect the front mounted case fan as well with a molex connector! I also used a silencer (one of those that comes with a Noctua fan to slience the fan to no noise at all).16. Use some cable strips and sort out any loose cables to make room for the front fan to make some airflow.17.Put the case shield back on and let the fun begin.Note: You won't need the AKiTiO power adapter. Everything will be powered by the PSU.Prerequisites:1. Install Windows 8.1 (UEFI) on your MacBook2. Have the newest nVidia drivers downloadedSoftware (+Power up):1. Connect the Thunderbolt2 cable from the AKiTiO board to your MacBook.2. Power on the eGPU via your on/off switch. (Note: If you have a Corsair RM series PSU and/or the ASUS/MSI GTX 970/980 the fans wont spin on power on. They will start spinning once the PSU/eGPU is under load)3. Power on your MacBook.4. It sometimes helps to halt the bootup by holding down the option key and give it a few seconds before booting Windows. (Thunderbolt devices apperantly needs some initialization time)5. Once you reach the Windows logon screen the MacBook display should flicker and turn off while your external monitor(s) will come on (Might take a few seconds since it is actually installing the GPU drivers). If that happens everything is good! :) If you have the iGPU version of the MacBook you will properly use the MacBook screen as Optimus will be engaged immediatly.6. Login and start your nVidia driver installation. Choose the custom option in the installer and tick the Clean installation before installing.7. Once the GPU driver installtion is complete -> Reboot and your eGPU is ready to go! Enjoy! :DExtra Made a post about this setup at the danish hardware forum HardwareOnline.dk (Danish) -> My alias on there is ZazzY:Post (In english using Google translate)My thoughts so far... At the time of writing this I've had this setup up and running for 14 days. I've been using it everyday for both professional work and gaming! I'm a .NET developer and I use my MacBook for designing, developing, browsing and lots of gaming with my friends. And the gaming part is really an outstanding experience with this eGPU setup.So far the last 14 days has been a blast! The setup is TOTALLY stabile. I haven't had one crash or anything! All games run smooth and the whole thing ran over an entire weekend of none stop gaming, I didn't even restart during an almost 48 hour period of pure gaming! :) Let me just say that this setup goes beyond my expectations and that I can see myself using this setup for LOOOONG time!More experiences and thoughts will come once I've have a lot more experience! All I can say is, don't wait for this - do it, DO IT NOW! :Banane10:--->Please comment or ask any questions you may have... I'll answer as soon as possible. More will be added to this post as my time with this setup increases! :)
    1 point
  5. FYI, those of you who fly Alaska (and other airlines): I happen to know someone at Astronics who developed the seat power systems being installed on Alaska's fleet now. Each seat has a 110V outlet that puts out a max of about 230W in addition to USB power. Pro tip is this: Power is distributed on a first come first serve basis per seat row. If you want to run your overhacked desktop replacement gaming laptop and suck up all the juice, make sure you are the first to plug into your outlet in your seat row. Don't buckle your belt, don't text, immediately plug in your laptop before you sit down. The first person to plug in per seat row gets as much of the power as you can draw. Any leftovers get sent to the 2nd person to plug in, then the 3rd person to plug in. If the system registers a draw on your outlet first in the seat row, you win. A dedicated 230W probably still isn't enough for some of the biggest power hog systems out there, but you can work with it!
    1 point
  6. Goalque hinted me towards this thread. I think I can add some of my experiences. I went for a 2014 15-inch-MBPr (GT 750m)+Sonnett EE SE II + KFA2 Geforce GTX 750 Ti. [i also experienced that the setup only works when I deactivate FileVault.] Using goalques script (http://forum.techinferno.com/mac-os-x-discussion/10289-script-enabling-nvidia-egpu-screen-output-os-x.html) I am now able to boot to OS X 10.10.3 following this procedure: 1) Power on the eGPU (unplugged TB!) 2) Turn on the Macbook, wait until the chime + Apple Logo 3) Plug in. For my setup this works 100% reliably and stable. I can access my external screen through the 750Ti while the Iris Pro/GT750m power the internal screen. Systemprofiler shows the card properly and the LuxMark confirms a 300% boost of the 750Ti alone compared to the 750m only. (UnrealeEngine Benchmark also shows huge improvements. I can't wait to play a little game on that... (-; ) This is the happy part. What makes me unhappy is, that I can't make it work under Windows (tried both Bootcamp and UEFI). If I plugin during boot up, it does not continue, if I plug when the Windows dots appear, it's too late and the card won't be detected.
    1 point
  7. Maybe a additional possibility for your frozen system from 6-13-2015. Yesterday it was a very hot day. I've figured out the following: during about 5 hours of 3D modeling only the TB PCB of the Akitio becomes very hot also, until the system freezes, while temps of GPU and CPU are in a regular range. Greets
    1 point
  8. Seems like someone is selling a ready to go cable on US ebay: Akitio Egpu 8 Pin to 2 x PCI E 6 Pin Male and 1 x ID 2 5mm OD 5 5mm Barrel | eBay
    1 point
  9. I have not found a better non conductive, non capacative TIM than IC Diamond. From my own experimenting, it runs 2-3C cooler than GC Extreme at load, and results are instantaneous and don't degrade over time. GC Extreme takes a little bit of set time, to see some improvement (not much, but a handful of hours at temp/load) and it does start to degrade after 10-12 months. I know the scratching with IC diamond sucks, but with some due care you can minimize it. It's really cosmetic anyhow.
    1 point
  10. In this thread! http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/9426-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion-4.html#post134037
    1 point
  11. @martinm0: take a look at Morvs pic "egpuwiring.jpg". Instead of the paperclip (red stripe) you can insert a switch. There's no huge load on it so you can use a small switch and thin wires
    1 point
  12. Just type in Google "Silicon Lottery", and you can see very much info about your question. For example like this: What is the silicon lottery? - CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory - Linus Tech Tips CPUs of a particular series or model are not exactly identical. Some overclock better than others. The lottery means you have lucked out and gotten a good one for OC. There is no way to predict until you reach the upper bounds of overclocking. Quality of memory controllers of the identical CPUs have differs. One can be stable with 2400, but other one do not stable with 2133. It is normal. When chip manufacturers like Intel, TSMC, UMC, GF, etc. make wafers, there are slight variations in material quality across the wafer surface, there are local variations in how the lithography, metal vapor deposition, photoresist chemical deposition, etc. are done and this can yield a significant contrast between how good the best chip of a given batch will perform vs how bad the worst chip of the same batch will perform. You have absolutely no way to know beforehand how much farther beyond that your specific chip can go under any given circumstances beyond stock conditions. That's the chip lottery. Some i5/i7 may max out at 4.2GHz while others may hit 5GHz. With CPUs memory controllers happens exactly the same things.
    1 point
  13. had you tried the secondary timings beside the usual first few usually tweaked? I have had good luck on most Samsung chips that have come with my laptops before. Cool J95 uses a real fast CL9 2000mhz
    1 point
  14. HyperX Impact 4gb SOdimm @ 2400Mhz This has been a long journey. I will update this post with all my info's for 2400mhz that I have been able to learn in past couple months. @J95 this has been a long journey and I want to give J95 a special thanks for working with me trying to make a 2400mhz profile stable for Alien 18. I never succeeded but never gave up. I would also like to thank Prema for making such an amazing bios for the Eurocom Panther 5. The 16gb Kit of 2 8gb sticks of HyperX Impact first revision proved unstable at a full 2400mhz at any timing for my Haswell 4940MX in Alien 18. The endeavor proved to be well worth it as over time I worked 2400mhz out of HyperX impact 2nd revision SOdimm at 4gb sticks. The lower density ram proved to be the real boost to get 2400mhz stable. The following is the fruits of my labors over the last few months. Dual Channel 2400mhz on Alien 18 4940MX system. For Alien 18 it took modifying the SPD table (XMP not available !?) to have 2400mhz and I started with timings that would place 2133mhz near stock in the SPD Tool Will be shown below in Image of Thaiphoon Burner to share my settings to recreate these results on your ram dear friends Plus XMP working on Eurocom Panther 5 with customized timings which needed lots of work to get the correct timings in windows vs what was programmed to the ram. I used XTU to see what XMP profile timings loaded on the ram after I flashed the profiles and corrected them one at a time. Once they were at the right values I was able to boot them. Automatic/manual bios timings will never do 2400mhz perhaps as the 2400mhz options is not available in the bios options. Using XMP I was able to accomplish 2400mhz on the ram. Included is XMP profiles for you guys as well to work on Panther 5 only as they are made to load the right timings specifically for Panther 5 bios SEE SPOILER BELOW 8Gb 2400 mhz 12-13-14-25 Dual Channel @ 2x4gb on Haswell IMC i7-4940MX Alien 18 TM5 pass Memtest pass 8Gb 2400 mhz Dual Channel @ 2x4gb Ram Timings SPD Table 16Gb 2400 mhz 11-13-13-35 Quad Channel @ 4x4gb on Ivy Bridge Extreme IMC i7-4960X Eurocom Panther 5 Using XMP 2133 TM5 Pass 2400 TM5 Pass 2133 Quad Channel Aida 2400 Quad Channel Aida Eurocom Panther 5 working XMP stock hyper x impact 2133mhz 4gb quad channel XMP 2133.zip hyper x impact 2400mhz 4gb quad channel xmp 2400.zip hyper x impact 2400mhz tight timing 4gb quad channel xmp 2400 tight.zip @J95 [MENTION=119]Mr. Fox[/MENTION] @johnksss @usmc362 @Khenglish @Prema
    1 point
  15. [Posted 12-12-2011 as Latitude E4300 Owners' Corner (NBR). Relocated to T|I due to being banned by Lenovo fan ZaZ]DIY eGPU implementation: [email protected] 13" Dell Latitude E4300 + GTX560Ti @x1.Opt Notebook US$300 13" Dell Latitude E4300 [email protected] 4500MHD 4/8GB DDR3 160GB HDD + DVD ICH9M expresscard 1.0 slot (2.5GT/s) Windows 7/64 and Ubuntu 11.10/64 DIY eGPU parts US$96(US)/US$113 delivered PE4H-EC2C 2.4 OR US$81(US)/US$93 delivered PE4L-EC2C 1.5+SWEX US$200 NVidia GTX560Ti 1GB 384 CUDA cores OR US$130AR NVidia GTX460_ 1GB 336 CUDA cores US$5 salvaged 12V/17A "550W" ATX PSU Benchmarks (highest OCed eGPU) 3dmark: 06/vant.gpu/11.gpu=15288/14305/3804, RE5.dx9=97.5, dmcv4.dx10_s4=117.8] LCD config CPU RAM GPU DX9 DX10 DX11 Ports OS 3dmk6^ RE5 var|fixed FFXIV Mafia2^! 1080p 3dmk^ vant.g dmcv4 scene4 3dmk11 720p Unigine Heaven Dirt2# 1080p 1080p 720p External P9400 @3.16 2x2GB GTX560Ti x1.Opt 15177 & 95.9 &|47.8 & 3105 & 3593 & 44.1 &48.2 12915 & 113.0 & 3359 & 1248 & 24.5/39.7 &27.3/41.5 ICH9M Win7 64b External P9400 @2.53 2x4GB 12156 & 81.0 &|38.2 & 2755 & 2849 & 43.1 &44.3 12729 & 105.7 & 3414 & 1218 & 24.6/34.2 &26.4/35.0 Internal 8776 46.9|34.2 2342 6986 33.2 2893 667 ! = two back-to-back runs using result from the faster second run & = 880/2100->1020/2300(GTX560Ti) eGU overclock result capture or text. # = min/average, London multi-car track with all HIGH except post-process=MED. cmd used "DiRT2.exe benchmark example_benchmark.xml", output saved to Documents/My Games/Dirt 2/Demo/benchmarks ^ = 1280x1024 'internal LCD mode' provided via notebook VGA/DP port to external LCD US$298 GTX560Ti+ PE4H-EC2C+PSU Setup 1.x showing system details + GTX560Ti eGPU Optimus driver setup Idea reference: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gami...ml#post5324240Software Setup 1. If you have 4GB or more RAM installed then you will always see an error 12 against your eGPU in device manager. This is because the C2D Dell Latitudes' bios set TOLUD=3.5GB where there is no 32-bit pci-e space available to accomodate the 256MB window required by the eGPU. The fix is a DSDT override (use the E4310 package) that extends the root bridge into 36-bit space so the eGPU can then occupy 36-bit pci-e space. Shutdown the system.2. Poweron your eGPU, poweron your system, boot Win7. The GTX560Ti is detected as Standard VGA. 3. Install the 285.62 modded Verde driver. Disable NVidia High Definition sound to maximize video bandwidth. 4. OPTIONAL for eGPU overclocking: Install MSI Afterburner. How to startup the eGPU1. Poweron your eGPU, poweron your system, boot Win7. The GTX560Ti will be available with no errors against it in Device Manager. Only issue is the wifi will have an error and not work. The fix is to either: disable then re-enable the wifi. This can be done manually or by writing a batch file with a devcon command to do it for you. Use DIY eGPU Setup 1.x and perform a 36-bit PCI compaction on the eGPU. When wanting to use the eGPU do so by booting via Setup 1.x's automated startup via startup.bat bootitem. Your startup.bat will look like shown here. OPTIONAL: use sleep-resume method. Boot Win7, sleep Win7, attach eGPU via expresscard slot and power it on, resume Win7. If a LCD is attached to the eGPU then make it the Main Display in Display Properties to output accelerated graphics to it. NOTE: this method does not allow Optimus to output accelerated graphics to the internal LCD - the eGPU must be detected on bootup for that. You must set the PCI Reset Delay slider on the PE4L/PE4H to the 0 second (disabled) position for this to work BSOD-free.2. Use the Safely Remove Hardware And Eject Media systemtray icon when finished using eGPU.Comments 3dmark06/RE5 both see good performance improvements from a 25% CPU overclock. I was surprised to find that with stock 880/2100 clocks this GTX560TI can be powered by a basic 12V/17A ATX PSU. Though if trying to overclocking's at 1020/2300 it did require a second 12V/15A PSU to supply power via one GTX560Ti pci-e lead. I don't intend to overclock the GPU during regular use since there aren't any significant real-world gains to be had doing so. At this point in time I would however recommend a overclocked GTX460 over a GTX560Ti. The GTX560Ti delivers at best 15% more performance but at over 55% price premium. Better to save the money and put it towards a 28nm GTX6xx (Keplar) scheduled for release in the next 3 months.
    1 point


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