Relentless

Good find Jamie. I submitted the TomsHardware article after finding it yesterday to Anandtech, ArsTechnica and TheVerge with a hope that one of them might write this up. The problem is that these product managers seem to be poor problem solvers: - Get Intel to sign it off for Thunderbolt 2.0 by certification for using one of their 'approved' purposes i.e. Certification for one of those professional camera interface cards. Also stress on the product web page that it is strictly only for supported PCIe cards and any use of unsupported cards is at the consumers risk as it is not intended for this. - Start selling it and 'leak' it to forums that it also works for standard consumer video cards. - Profit.

Guys. Check this out; The Silverstone T004 has become the Asus XG2 'Thunderbolt PCIe' Box. Also, I didn't think that Asus had any Thunderbolt laptops? maybe, finally, a manufacturer with a brain? About half way down. SilverStone Joins the 'Steam Machine' Compact Case Race Cheers

Hi Nando, That is the problem. There are so few Thunderbolt 2 equipped machines on the market. I was hoping for one of the Dell XPS machines (or their professional equivalents) to have a high speed connector but it is non-existent. Another option is to use the Sonnet Echo Express SE II product with a DirectCU II type card with external power supply but my preference is to keep the package very tidy and portable. Do you know if there is an adapter cable to convert something like the XBOX power supply brick to the correct plugs for a video card? or is there another (maybe server) power supply brick worth considering? To be honest, the Macbook is not that over priced as the Dell XPS 15 which is very similarly specced is almost the same price. Maybe we will see some progress at CES 2014 in a few weeks - including hopefully from Silverstone with the T004.

Thanks Nando. It is interesting you mention that 'While TB2 is advertised as 20Gbps I believe the electrical link is x4 2.0 (16Gbps)'. Based on feedback from Sonnet a few weeks ago I think you are correct. This is quite misleading/deceptive if correct. I sent this email to Sonnet a few weeks ago: I wonder if it is worth contacting Magma too? Cheers

Hi Nando, Thanks for this information. I am tempted to spring for the 15" MacBook Pro top spec (but without the Nvidia GPU) and maybe the Sonnet Echo Express III-D to get Thunderbolt 2.0 connectivity. This would be to dualboot Windows/Ubuntu using EFI. Ideally I would like to be able to use the internal screen (initially) but have the option of connecting a larger screen in future (maybe 4k). Based on what you have found from the 2013 MacBooks can you see any reason why this would fail as it is a substantial investment. p.s. Also in Australia (Melb) Cheers

Hi guys, Sent an email to the Sonnet Guys about the Echo Express III-D Desktop Thunderbolt 2 Expansion Chassis: 1. Will you continue to upgrade this case when future versions of Thunderbolt are released (i.e. Thunderbolt 3+)? I notice you don't sell the original Echo Express Pro anymore so that is unlikely to be upgraded. The Echo Express III-D, unlike the previous Echo Express models, is upgradable (the Thunderbolt cards plug into a PCIe slot on the backplane,). The upgrade from Thunderbolt 1 to Thunderbolt 2 is as simple as replacing the card. We expect the Echo Express III to be upgradable to future versions of Thunderbolt, however the nature of the upgradable to Thunderbolt 3 won't be determined until that technology is released. It could be another simple TB card upgrade, or, if TB3 is Gen 3 PCIe, then it will require that the backplane be upgraded as well. I suspect we have at least until 2015 before we see another generation of Thunderbolt. 2. When will the Thunderbolt 2 upgrade be released? We expect the Thunderbolt 2 to be released sometime between mid December and the 1st week in January. While we do have a Mac Book Pro with TB2 in house and everything is looking good, we want to have had the Mac Pro for a few weeks of testing before we release the cards. Thinking of getting one and a top spec Macbook Pro (without NVidia) but wish that some of the Linux distros had support for hidpi screens (want to dual boot alongside Windows for egpu use).

Hi MLow. For clarity, are you doing a UEFI or Boot Camp windows 8.1 install? Have you managed to get hte TH05 recognised? I went an had another look a the Macbooks - that screen just blows away everything else on the market - quite amazing. Cheers

Hi gp, Thanks for the update and it is good that the EFI install is (relatively) easy. Is it possible to try this rEFInd approach detailed here (http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2367-macbook-pro-retina-15-gtx-560-ti-%40-th05-12.html#post37304)? Maybe then you can get the igpu to be enabled at same time. I think you could even try booting the EFI bit from a USB so that you dont have to mess around with your machine too much. I would really like to know because I have been watching waiting for someone to confirm before I buy a 15" MacBook Pro (with only Intel GPU) and probably the big Sonnet/Magma box to get Thunderbolt 2. Cheers

Things are looking up for Thunderbolt. A smaller Thunderbolt 2.0 box from Sonnet $500 and 80W power. Might just fit one of these 'mini' 760s - unfortunately not enough to supply 170W. At least we might get some Thunderbolt 2.0 traction.

Let's hope the MacBook Pros will have only the Iris Pro (no discrete GPU) and Thunderbolt 2.0. Then it will be game on (literally).

Thanks for spending the time to answer oripash.

Thanks @oripash. I think you can use Optimus compression to use the internal LCD but @Nando can confirm. It seems that @MrHaPPyPiLLs is having trouble with the rMBP (http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/3909-rmbp-15-sonnet-echo-express-pro-%3D-no-joy.html) so maybe not 100% 'it just works' quite yet but it still looks like the best option. I am hoping that the new Lenovos might have a Thunderbolt port but not holding my breath. Intel certainly botched this Thunderbolt launch.

Hi, Did you keep the case or you have just used the Thunderbolt to PCI adapter out of it? Cheers

Good stuff mate. Was this with the TH05 or your Sonnet Echo Express Pro? I really want to do an eGPU on my next laptop (TBD) and think that Thunderbolt is the way to go. Have you tried on your internal LCD too? Cheers