dj_khalsa

For the high-end graphic card (like GTX 780, etc), the card is powered by 6/8 pins PSU. For them, is the "PCIe power" still required?

Its mostly the power suppy issue. Let us know the updates once you get your 120W PSU

Even if you are able to provide 60W via the included power supply, when the card is in actual use and processing graphics (games, etc) - it will definately be requiring more power. Hence the only solution is to get a PSU and a 16x powered riser. I understand that it will not be neat, but you might be able to cover the riser within the thunder2 pci-e box and just a single PSU (molex?) wire getting into the box. If you continue without PSU, it might damage your NUC. Waiting for the pics for current setup with the card inside the box

Also, can you post pics of your current setup?

True ... you will need a 16x POWERED riser after a PSU - - - Updated - - - What's NUC?

Hey, did you get a chance to test?

Thanks, it confirms that I need a 16x PCI-e Riser Also, did you get this from Amazon OR B&H? Amazon have increased their price to 270$

At-least I got to see the innards in more detail. Can you also remove the front grill? I want to see if I can use inside my case OR I require a 16x riser/extender. Can you provide more pics from different angles? Also, how long before you get the GPU?

For the power, I simply use PSU's on/off switch. No pins, hacks, etc - - - Updated - - - Did anyone ordered/tested AKiTiO's thunderbolt solution?

Coz mine is an "AMP" edition which means custom card. Also power is a simple matter of PSU switch. Inside, everything is set to the optimal settings.

I already did that using this same case! My GPU was bulging out a bit so I cut the side, applied rubber borders & added a nice acrylic and it looked even more cool that it was before

My GPU (GTX 680) requires ~ 250 W. I am not talking about the power it gets via 6/8 pins from the PSU. I am talking about the power required at the base (PCIe Slot of the card). Implementing eGPU with PE4L did not have such requirements. For it, I just powered the PE4L board (does that provided the power to PCIe slots of the GPU?)

The current cheapest way for Thunderbolt 2 is to use Akiti​o Thun​der2P​CIe Box Just 201$ - - - Updated - - - Nando4, I am wondering why does PCIe slot in the card requires power? The graphics card itself is powered by 6/8 pins from the PSU, but I have seen 16x risers with Molex power too!

Ok Then, I dont think its ever tested by the community, so I am going to purchase and test out myself One more Q - Being a TB2 technology, will this work for TB1? Meaning my MBA will max out the thunderbolt bandwidth it has?

Do let us know your experiences when you get it

Thanks a lot for the valuable suggestion. Definately a no-brainer since the bandwidth is (somewhat) futureproof. However in the description of the item, it clearly mentions 2 things: 1. Does NOT support graphic cards 2. This Thunderbolt product is NOT compatible with Apple's Boot Camp. Does this mean that it does not "officially" support OR some hack is required to make it into eGPU host?

Hi Nando4, Is there any way to find if the bandwidth of 5GBps (using PE4L) is getting bottlenecked apart from low FPS in heavy graphic games? Is it worth to upgrade to 10 GBPs using firmtek adapter ($199)? I am using eGPU in 2012 MBA with PE4L V2.1b + Sonnet Echo express pro

Hello Nando, It has been a while since I dropped by into this forum to say Hi I have already build my eGPU on MBA 13.3". Its using 5GBPS PE4L. My DX11 benchmark score is 6000. I am using GTX 680, so obv its bottle-necked!! My Q - what is more beneficial to increase the graphics processing: a. Upgrade my eGPU setup to use 10 GBPS bandwidth or b. Build a complete desktop PC (for utilizing the entire bandwidth)?? How much % boost should I expect in both?

Yup, I already tried that option too, but no use Issue is that the external screen uses only iGPU, not the eGPU!

Hi Nando4, Is there an issue with internal screen video not being able to be used on external monitor? I am using GTX 680 eGPU on MBA 13.3" (iGPU = HD4000) and when playing Tomb Raider on internal screen, I am getting decent frame rates (~ 60FPS on high settings). However on external screen either: 1. The game does not start (crashes before even starting) 2. Starting the game on internal monitor and redirecting the video to external monitor (via Windows + P key - and external monitor only option) plays the game on iGPU (instead of eGPU). 3. Changing the settings (on windowed mode) on external screen (once game is started) gives the options of iGPU settings. Nvidia control panel too does NOT have any 3D settings, etc options available. Is there a known issue OR there is something more I need to do? PS - All other games works perfectly fine on external monitor using eGPU.

Hey Nando, Sonnet Express EchoPro is a PCIe Gen2 expresscard to thunderbolt (which gives 5 Gbit/s | 500 MB/s), whereas PE4L supports Gen3 (which is 8 Gbit/s | 984.6 MB/s) So, if sonnet (or any other vendor) releases PCIe Gen3 expresscard to thunderbolt adapter, can we use entire setup with current PE4L to achieve increased bandwidth? In-fact, are there any such adapter currently available?

Hey Nando, Is the x1 pci-e compression only for Direct X 9 ??? What about DX 10 and 11?

Sure, however since my RAM and Processor are limited, the overall score is not that high, but the graphics score is respectable (I guess ) 3D Mark 11 3D Mark 06

I have completed assembling my eGPU setup comprising of [gtx680] + [PE4L] + [sonnet Echo Pro] + [2012 MBA] + [Windows 8.1] The most beautiful thing is that it did not give any error (12/43,etc) on Win 8.1 (my initial attempt was on Win 8 which gave me error 12). Also I've brought cooler master elite 120 case and modded it a bit to accomodate the bulging out of the GPU via cutting one side of the case and adding an acrylic sheet on it. Although its a full fledged case for mini ITX form factor, using it for just an eGPU is cool since its not that huge and also I am going to keep on my computer desk where space will not be an issue. Let me know if some one wants detailed steps I followed. Special thanks to Tech Inferno Fan and all the other members of this community Pics of Case: Benchmark results

Hi Nando, I am done with my setup which is same as Kloper's [PE4L] + [sonnet Echo Express Pro] + [MBA] + [GTX 680] Now that I am using much faster GPU (gtx 680) v/s that of Kloper's (gtx 570), the benchmarking results are confusing. For 3D mark 11 - I have P6037 v/s Kloper's P4900 - which is as expected (due to faster GPU), but ... For 3D mark 6 - I have 16843 v/s kloper's 19921 - which is wrong/something missing!? Now, I understand that the overall result is based on both CPU + GPU, and Kloper have a faster CPU (i7) compared to mine (i5), but if you see the result of the graphics along (in detailed scrores) you will see that my graphics FPS is < Kloper's (for 3D mark 6 only). What is going on here? Since the score is > 15k I am confident that both of us have optimus compression working. Also, my eGPU is working @ PCIe Gen 2 @ x1 link. Can you please assist if I am missing something??