Morv

I would not use the barrel-ended Dell DA-2. That would be running up to 220-240W down that single barrel wire from which you'd fan out wires. That then becomes a massive point of failure.

Furthermore, the big point about using a Dell DA-2 is many of our users with a PE4C V2.1 or EXP GDC will have a 8-pin Dell DA-2 and possibly a SWEX hanging around, as I did, and could re-use it with an AKiTiO using the mods in this thread.

If don't have a Dell DA-2 then then why not a PSU that's affordable and easier to work with? Something like the US$25.39-shipped 240W 12V adapter at AC to DC12V Power Supply Adapter 10A 20A 30A Transformer for 3528 5050 LED Strip | eBay , with easily accessible terminals and just wire it up?

What kind of failure do you mean? Loss of power? Unstable behaviour under load? What exactly might happen or be a problem?

I understand your point of people already owning the DA-2 instead of buying it for the mod.

To this point I didn't know about those transformers but those models are more or less exact available on german ebay so I could give that a shot. The nice thing about the DA-2 was the casing though. Those transformers don't look good the way they are although they're handy to use.

Yes, you could use Antminer. Problem there is it looks like the tracks are routed in the middle layer so you can't cut the switch track to reroute it. The good news is:

• the switch would be connecting the pin I had with the red dot and the one next to it. Both of which become GND lines when modded so switching it on/off makes no difference.
  
• it's not necessary to add the switch. The AKiTiO powers down my GTX970 when the system is powered down.
  

Only negatives then of the Antminer are:

• it has a red LED assuming shows when it's powered on. That is routed somewhere. Need to do continuity checks against the proposed wiring mods here to ensure it's not going to a short circuit.
  
• there is no protective backing plate so you'd need to come up with some similar insulative solution to protect against electrocution
  
• it's bulk and (imho) not particularly good looking
  

Wish the SWEX had cheaper shipping. Better yet, if BPlus made a SWEX specifically for use with the Dell DA-2 as requested to make this all a lot easier.

Thanks for your reply. I just looked what the price was for the SWEX including shipping but $28? Nope.

Still I stumbled upon this -> 12V AC Adapter (2nd tab MK394)

It's a Dell DA-2 with a barrel plug 2.5mm x 5.5mm which fits the Akitio Thunder2(a mod by Bplus? Can't find it anywhere else even if searching for MK394, everytime it's 8 Pin output). Not really useful as 220W are way too much for the 75W the barrel plug can provide to the graphics card via PCIe slot but, and that's the point, isn't it way easier to mod?

If I'd buy a 2.5mm x 5.5mm terminal block with a jack(like this) fitting the plug of the PSU would it be safe to put in cables of a PCIe 6 pin adapter? I'd only need to power one 6 pin for now and the barrel plug I'm using already(2 12V yellow, 2 GND black coming from 2 Pins of a 4 Pin molex).

So it'd be like:

Dell DA-2 barrel plug -> terminal block jack (here we split) -> cables of 6 pin PCIe adapter into their according places in the green thingy* -> 6 pin to graphics card

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> cables of my terminal block plug into their according places in the green thingy* -> barrel jack of Thunder2.

*idk the name but apparently it's 2 pin terminal strip, it's Lüsterklemme in german

Using 2 or more(?) thick cables that would come from the green thingy, would I be able to split them afterwards safely as another way instead of directly putting the cables into the green thingy? They'd need to be able to carry the max. 220W safely without melting(that's my only concern for now, the rest seems to fit for me). Is this possible? I'm not knowing too much of this and the most I've got from this board while reading the Thunder2 discussion

I'd be willing to order one although it's somewhat more expensive than a 8 pin Dell DA-2 and the Antminer board.

As always, thanks for your help.

Thanks Tech Inferno Fan. I might be somewhat confused. Does this mean the GPU draws power through the PCIe slot and also through the 6/8pin plug from the PSU?

My probably incorrect understanding is that:

GPU is powered through the 6/8pin PSU plug, Thunder2 is powered through barrel adapter.

With a molex->barrel, the PSU powers the GPU through the 6/8 pin, and powers the Thunder2 through the barrel. Am I missing something? And what does using a Molex->Barrel adapter change in regards to the 75W maximum?

Every GPU draws up to 75W through the PCIe slot. Those 6 and 8 pin connectors only came up when the cards became more power hungry and the 75W became insufficient around a decade ago. Look for old high end cards and you won't find them or anything else giving additionally power other than the slot it sat in.

With the molex->barrel you overcome the 60W the Thunder2 PSU offers and you offer the card all the power it may possibly need through the PCIe slot(as Tech Inferno Fan stated, it doesn't have to be using all of the 75W). Also you power the Thunder2 itself through the molex->barrel.

So with using the molex->barrel you only have one PSU that power everything -> less trouble.

@Tech Inferno Fan: This thing will work as a substitution for a SWEX, won't it? Antminer Netzteil Schalter Bitmain Bitcoins | eBay

The SWEX is rather expensive in comparison and needs some time to get delivered. The Antminer switch is available directly from Germany. Looking at the fourth picture flipping it vertically should give the other side of the first picture and I should be able to follow your cable arrangement for the SWEX. The part that differs is the blue cable that is placed at JP1. This jumper isn't available. Where'd I put this one?

Really looking forward to do this mod. I've got some people to check the work, so I won't blow myself up

This one over here by Tech Inferno Fan -> http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/9426-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion.html

This makes the Dell DA-2 PSU together with a barrel plug mod(4 Pin molex and cables to 5.5mm dc terminal block) applicable for use with the Akitio Thunder2 .

The EVGA GTX 960 should be indeed fine as I am owning a Gigabyte GTX 960 OC which is by far the only model which doesn't fit into the Thunder2. Still the part of which is too much is really really short and measures only few mm.

All the other models which fit into the Thunder2 by length are also thin or small enough.

With the described Dell DA-2 mod I'll possibly try another GTX 960 together with the Dell PSU. This is still by far the most comfortable solution.

Hi,

Thanks for your replies! I would typically agree with you, but the fact is I am not that picky, I've managed to go through half of battlefront 4 with the iris card on my macbook, it just got to a point were I quit eventually. I would not mind lowering the resolution a bit if it wasn't fluid enough with the 960 (honestly 40fps is probably more than enough for me), I just wouldn't want to do that on every game. I wouldn't also mind lowering a few settings.

So for now this would seem a good setup, if not for anything else, for me not to make a great investment that may not work out for some reason.

Any suggestions on the store front? I saw some (format.de and mag.de) which either appear not to chip to the UK or are for business only, so I guess my best deal would be with scan.co.uk?

You'll be fine with the GTX 960.

scan.co.uk seems to be the best choice, it's even a few bucks cheaper there compared to german stores if you only take the price itself(idk about shipping from or to germany, for example).

Hello,

I've been considering some options to be able to decently play games, and came up with 2 possibilities: either a ps4 (obviously out of scope to this forum) or an external gpu for my mac.

I'm in the UK, so my budget would be around 350£ (price of a ps4). The macbook I have is a 15" retina, 2013 (TB2), iris-only (8Gb ram).

This post seems to be quite similar to what I'm looking for:

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/9007-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx960%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-%5Bmorv%5D.html

I want to play recent FPS games (lets say far cry 4 for instance) decently at 1080p (GTA V as well).

I would like to know more about some things first though:

- Is the following buy list appropriate and does it represent all the needed parts (excluding a case)?

Akitio PCI Express Card Thunderbolt 2 External Expansion Enclosure - AK-T2PC-TIA-AKTU - Scan.co.uk

Corsair CX430M 80+ 430 Watt Semi Modular Refurb ATX Power Supply - Scan.co.uk

MSI GTX 960 Twin Frozr V 2GB NVIDIA Maxwell PCI Express Graphics Card - GTX960-GAMING2G - Scan.co.uk

Powered PCI-E 16X to 16X Adapter Riser Extension Cable Molex Power Connector | eBay

(any feedback from these sellers or other suggestions for the UK would also be appreciated!)

- Would I be able to use the HDMI output instead of the DVI (probably to hook up to a TV)?

- Would going back to the integrated iris card be as easy as a power cycle without the external card connected?

Thanks for your help, this is my first post in this forum so if it is on the wrong place please let me know!

This is about what you need to have a working TB eGPU, yes.

I was playing Far Cry 4 maxed out but resolution at 1366x768. FullHD maxed out didn't produce stable 60 FPS and was dropping to 30-40 but I was too lazy and simply reduced the resolution.

Furthermore I'm playing Project Cars, Battlefield 4(Ultra, FHD) and some other shooters. Dying Light needs some effect settings tweaking and/or reduced resolution to produce 60 FPS. Note that the GTX 960 is easily overclockable and produces around 800 additional points in 3DMark11 which also leads to more FPS in games.

Regarding your points:

1. HDMI output works at a TV. I'm having my monitor connected via DVI-DVI and my TV is even connected via DVI - HDMI with sound on TV.

2. No eGPU powered, no eGPU present and everything is as if there was never a eGPU connected. I'm using one of these in my power strip, so I can only power on/off my eGPU but don't need to power off the whole strip.

All together you will be fine with this setup and you'll always the possibility to upgrade your graphics card.

My laptop is relatively current and was paid for by work. I rarely ever take it out of the house and was looking at the Banggood Exp Beast adaptor.

I was hoping that someone with the same laptop can confirm a working combination. It seems like a risk/hassle given the fact I have to remove the wireless card and have a cable sticking out of my laptop. However, it also seems like a waste of money to build a full desktop system when I have an i7 latop with 16gb ram, ssd etc.

Just looking for advice. No PCI express slot so just wondering which method is the best way to go. Thanks.

You don't have any other choice than buying either PE4C/PE4L with mPCIe or EXP GDC with mPCIe. If you want to use an eGPU then you'll have to remove your wifi card no matter what to get access to that slot.

I would like to use the

EVGA GeForce GT 740 Super

Akitio Thunder2 PCIe box with

EVGA GeForce GT 740 Superclocked Single Slot 4GB DDR3 Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2744-KR

on my Sony Vaio Vpcec3dfx/bj windows 7 64 bit laptop. Before ordering...will it work? Are there any complications? Power? How too? I want to run it like a monster pc and I would like to order Alien Isolation, but I am short on graphics, thus the idea.

You don't have a Thunderbolt port. Don't buy the Akitio Thunder2 then. You may buy the PE4C/PE4L or EXP GDC with ExpressCard though as your notebook is advertised to have a ExpressCard 34 slot.

GT 740 isn't a good card for gaming. Purchase at least something like GTX 750 Ti.

Are you sure your own Thunderbolt cable actually is a Thunderbolt cable? It may be a mini-Displayport cable. They have the same connector and thus look the same, yet they aren't the same inside.

Read post #2 in this thread. I already wrote it has three different modes including a PCIe compatible one.

You mean something like USB-C which is just coming to users? It supports USB, Displayport and PCIe modes in one port. The different modes have to be enabled by the manufacturer, though. So not every device will necessarily support the PCIe mode.

Apart from this the speed isn't the same as Thunderbolt 2 yet. The theoretical speed is 10 Gbit/s as far as I know, so it would be like Thunderbolt 1.

My guess is that Thunderbolt will die. At last if Apple decides to only use USB-C in future.

Thanks for the reference, Morv.

Altough this guy seems to be getting the expected results link.

That's because it's a Mac Mini 2012 and not a MBPr 15" 2014... The hardware used is important, it's not about the OS version or anything software related. MVC already gave you a hint to this, though.

I just connected one FHD monitor via the DVI-I port. The card was in my desktop before, so I'm quite sure that it is working properly.

MBPr 15" 2014 doens't provide external screen support in OS X with an Nvidia eGPU, you can only use it for CUDA/OpenCL. AMD cards work though.

At least for now it's this way, read this as reference -> http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8507-no-kext-loaded-gtx-970-akitio2.html

The AMD instability is related to low power consumption situations, such as using a browser or just opening windows.

Just for the record: This happened with my GTX 780, too. Sometimes I played a game and it didn't crash and afterwards when opening my browser it crashed upon loading my saved tabs.

Thank you for your effort regarding the try out of Tech Inferno Fan's suggestions and your previous investigations as well

Dosent the card need 120w to run? Hmmm I will look into your solutions!

Yes, under full load...?

You either don't read what I write or you don't want to understand what I write, I don't know.

75W by 6 pin + 45W(if 120W would be the maximum need) provided by the slot of the Akitio. The Akitio PSU provides 60W and although the slot is labeled as "25W only" it provides more than this.

Found the solution. The GPU didn't got enough power.. That's probably why the fans never turned on. Waiting for a riser cable now. The Akitio box and the 6 pin didn't provide 120w if my math is correct. I'm going to pick up a gtx 970 so i can use two 6 pin and the problem should be solved.

How that? Like I told you I've got the same components and it worked. The 6 pin provides 75W. The remaining power comes from the slot even though it's labeled as 25W only.

You may also want to only use one PSU(the ATX or whatever one), so you'd need a barrel plug.

I bought such a thing -> 2.5mm DC Power Socket with Screw Terminal Block (5pcs) and removed the molex connector from my old powered riser, so I could connect the cables with the block. You may take any other cheap molex-to-xyz adapter,

This way you can power the board itself and your gpu with the ATX PSU.

No one will know unless someone tries it. You'd still need an ATX PSU(or any other compatible kind of external PSU), though. Helios provides 120W and you obviously can't run a 170W+ card with it while expecting it to be stable.

Be the first to try Helios with AMD card and tell us if it works. No risk, no experience

Hi!

I've just started to setup my eGPU with:

Akitio Thunder 2

GTX 960 mini Gigabyte

Coolermaster 650w (Paperclip)

So my problem is I can't install the Nvidia drivers. I've put the GPU into the PCI slot in the akitio box. Then I've connected the akitio Power supply. And then I've connected the 6-pin Cable into the GTX 960 from the Cooler Master.

I'm booting up my mac (Mid 2014 13'') and pressing alt. When the bootcamp selection start I turn on the coolermaster and the akitio PSU. After that I press boot windows (windows 8.1 preview). When I'm searching for the egpu i cannot find it in the device manager either in OSX.

When I trying to install the Nvidia drivers (the newest one) it says ''Nvidia Installer cannot continue'' ''The graphic driver could not find compatible Graphics hardware''.

The fans on the GPU started the first time I booted the computer (That was in OSX) and after that thay never started again.

The akitio box blue and green light is up. I've connected the akitio through thunderbolt (ofcourse).

I've put a HDMI Cable from the GTX 960 to my external Acer minitor and made it as the main screen in windows 8.

Could you guys help me out? Why dosent my computer detect the GPU? I've tried the troubleshooting steps in the forum but it doesnt work. Help.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I'm using the same card with an Akitio, only difference is that I've got a MBPr 15" 2014 model and another PSU(which shouldn't be the bad guy here).

I've used the card both the way you try to do and it worked as well as the known powered riser way which I currently use so I could put it in a case.

I boot the following way:

- Power up the Macbook, hold Alt so the boot choice appears.

- Wait for the wifi networks to be found, then I power up my PSU(you need to power up both your PSU then, nothing regarding the eGPU is powered up to this point)

- Wait 30s or more

- Start Windows.

How did you install Windows? With bootcamp? Drivers are properly installed, especially the Thunderbolt drivers? Check in device manager if you've got an entry "Thunderbolt" under System devices.

If nothing helps, do a SMC reset and a NVRAM reset. I've had it too, that my eGPU wouldn't boot up properly and this fixed it because something was weirdly stuck in the system.

What? You don't need to do anything but follow the instructions Boot Camp gives you. No Alt key holding, nothing, it will boot itself into Windows installation after preparing the usb drive.

Just install via Bootcamp...works fine for me, never tried a manual installation.

You're probably missing the drivers which Bootcamp loads onto a USB stick together with the Windows ISO. Try external mouse and keyboard and see if you come further with this.

If you can log in you install the Boot Camp Support Software from here -> Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621

Load it in OS X because you most probably won't have wifi in Windows without drivers.

Thank you @Tech Inferno Fan.

It's too bad I've already sold my GTX 780, I'd probably have tried the mod.

I hope someone else can try that and hopefully it really fixes the issue because otherwise the AKiTiO is awesome

Also, if Akitio knows about us using their box as an eGPU adapter they hopefully address this issue by themselves for the next generation with Thunderbolt 3, once it's released. Do you think they'd react to our needs as far as possible?

Thanks and yes, it was thought to fit in the Akitio case but it's to tall for it and I didn't want to end up searching for another stable graphics card when the struggle with stability was finally over

Edit 18.2:

After several days of testing I can now tell that a wait of 30s, after waiting for the networks to be found and turning the eGPU on then, gives a 100% chance to boot properly into Windows. No falsely activated iGPU, no undesired load on System task and available CPU power settings in your energy plan.

Seems like it simply needs some time to configure stuff.

Nope.