Defo

I wonder if Thunderbolt 1 and 2 equipped notebooks will benefit from this as well?

I think this one is very interesting if it does in fact have a power connector. That would make for a very compact and simple case that can be used with a GTX750Ti or maybe even a 960, without the hassle of external PSU's and modifications.

-snip-

Does optimus work with your configuration?

@Tech Inferno Fan @jacobsson Indeed it does! The shroud slides off easily after removing those 4 screws. You can see how the Akitio had to be bent slightly outward to accomodate the card with the shroud on, but it would have clearly fit comfortably without any alterations.

Are you able to use that without a powered riser? How does the Zotac card work compared to the recommended EVGA cards regarding optimus?

Cool, thanks for the elaboration!

Thanks for the reply. Do I need a powered riser, if I use a molex-to-barrel plug adapter to power the SEL?

The fans won't spin without a powered riser?

So is it conclusive to say that this setup will work with a MBPr 2014 iris model, with bootcamp win 8.1 and optimus?

EVGA GTX 980

Sonnet SEL

8x to 16x riser

External PSU

I searched the internet for a cable that would fit the daughter board power connector and the closest one I found is the floppy drive power connector. There is also a molex to floppy connector converter that can be easily used with an ATX power supply.

What I meant, is if it is possible to just draw a 6-pin pci power cable directly from the solder points on the barrel input somehow, in order to feed the GPU card.

Like the picture below.

Then you can just use the dell adapter in order to provide enough power, and leave everything else stock (with the exception of the 6-pin cable mod ofc).

I'm no electrical engineer, so It may be a far fetched idea.

Is it possible to draw a molex cable directly from the solder points on the barrel input connector on the board?

Coupled with the more powerful Dell adpater instead of the standard one of course.

I will order 4P PIN to DC 5.5 2.5MM to test Akitio 25W limitation.

That would be great! I'm hoping that the Aikidio is eligible for use with a bigger power brick in order to get the full 75W from the slot.

Have you tried to get optimus to work? Shouldn't be a problem according to this thread.

Oh so it's @arclord that ownes it?

Don't know if arclord owns one, but it seems call does.

@author - Any way to get around having to use riser + molex?

In other words, can the AKiTiO be modified to supply full power to the slot?

Are you the guy owning the Akitio or have I confused myself? =)

My bad, posted in wrong thread. Meant to ask the author of this thread: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7453-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-fully-support-macbook-pro-15-iris-model.html

But no, I don't own an Akitio

Any way to get around having to use riser + molex?

In other words, can the AKiTiO be modified to supply full power to the slot?

Has anyone been able to confirm whether or not the slot actually only delivers 25W? Or if that it can be easily modified? (without riser + molex)

I use the late 2013 retina macbook 15" without dedicated GPU, and I'm also looking into the Sonnet Echo Express III-D TB2 solution, using its internal PSU and a fitting Nvidia card.

I imagine this solution will be the least problematic, and highest performing solution available today?

How much of a hassle would it be to get this combo up and running?