Sachin10

Thanks goalque for the pictures of your setup! Has somebody found out how to use Optimus to drive the internal display with the AKITIO Thunder2?

Congratulations. Please keep us informed :-)

Have you tried to enable Optimus to work with internal (retina) display?

If you send a package without the bill than the customs might rip it open and choose how much it is worth. So you could end up paying more (or less). Or you might get lucky and they don't look at it... I have a friend who lives in the US and I could ask him to send it to me but I'm afraid they will intercept it and that I would need to pay more.

That is correct thank you. It costs almost twice as much but that is still cheaper than the Sonnet SEL solution. SubTotal: $201.81 Duties & Tax: $97.59 Shipping: $81.80 Order Total: USD $381.20 = EUR €285.64

It is not with a ATX PSU but with the DA-220 and some cables that you can find here. But I don't know if the cables need to be modified.

I'm not sure how it is possible but we are discussing it over here. You will need Windows 8.1 with UEFI. More information about this is available here.

Eurydice writes the following message in this thread: Is it correct that this would be a solder free solution?

Unfortunately the AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box is NOT availlable in Europe. I've contacted AKiTiO a few weeks ago. AKiTiO forwarded my message to their European reseller MAG and their answer is: "That will probably take a bit longer as we didn‘t even receive a sample yet, but I’ll keep you updated when I have some more info.". So I think the Sonnet SEL from Amazon.de for € 403 (= $ 538) is still the cheapest solution. But you also need a PCIe x8 to x16 riser (not a powered riser) and an external PSU (unless you use a GTX 750 Ti).

Yes. See first page of this thread. Yes. It has a x8 slot. So you would need a x8 to x16 riser. No. Because the Sonnet SEL has a 80 Watt PSU. If you use a more powerful graphics card you also need an extra PSU. But the GeForce 750 Ti (TDP 60 Watt) should be fine. - - - Updated - - - I almost ordered the Sonnet SEL + Apple Thunderbolt cable + EVGA GTX 750 Ti + PCI Express x8 to x16 riser on Amazon.de. But I didn't because the delivery time for the riser was up to 23 days... Unbelievable and I couldn't find any other riser (even not on Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk). Has anybody another idea where I could buy such a riser card in Europe?

Interesting setup. This solutions looks cleaner than the Sonnet SEL. Do you always use the internal display? Are you sure about the steps to make Optimus work?

Nice! Do you use a fixed 90 degree riser card PCIe x8 to x16?

Congratulations!

Amazon US doesn't accept an European address. Akitio forwarded my message to their European distributor MAG GmbH. But they haven't even received a demo unit and have no idea when the product will be available in Europe.

Yes but most Mini-ITX cases that fit a full size PSU & GPU are very big compared to the only compontents that you need (PSU, GPU & Thunderbolt board). So a custom enclosure that fits on our desk would be much nicer. Example: Source: MSI/SilverStone eGPU prototype (estimated at $250) at Computex 2013 Source: The MSI GUS II eGPU prototype (max. 150 Watt) 2012 Personly I like the SilverStone FT03 mini case but it is limited to a 10"/ 25,4 cm GPU (max. GeForce 760 or older GeForce 680). Let's hope the GeForce 800 series (Maxwell) will be shorter. Source: SilverStone FT03 mini

Yes I also found it om Amazon America (link) but I couldn’t find this product on the website of the different European approved stores. So I've send them an email to know when the Akitio Thunder2 be available in Europe. Hopefully the price will be acceptable because Sonnet for instance asks 40% more for their products in Europe (maybe it is because of higher VAT and import taxes).

Yes but the GTX 750 Ti normaly needs 75 Watt from the PCIe slot. But this device has apperently only a 60 Watt PSU to power the Thunderbolt hardware and the PCIe slot. Time will telll I guess. But even if you add a PCIe extender cable with molex connector for power you propably would still be able to fit a low profile GTX 750 Ti inside the chasis. Galaxy’s GTX 750 Ti GC Slim (low profile) PCIe Express x16 Riser Card Flexible Extender Cable w/Molex Connector (example)

Looks like a fantastic products but I'm afraid that even a GTX 750 Ti will not fit (length should be good but height is probably a problem because of the PCIe power cable that you need to add).

Has somebody experience with the Sonnet Echo Express SE II or SEL together with a GeForce GTX 750 Ti without extra power supply?

Do you use a case? I'm interested to do something similar but I want to have a clean setup.

How do you turn on the power?

You are right. It is better to use the SEL. The SE II is already too expensive (> $ 700 in Europe) and it becomes worse if you count the external PSU and internal DC converter. But it would be nice if we could find a small (Min-ITX) case to mount all the components. I want a clutter free solution so I can use it in my living room.

Yes if everything fits this would be great! Can somebody confirm this? If this works I might buy the updated version of the Sonnet Echo Express SEII with a PCIe x16 slot :-)

Nice work!

Thanks for your input. If I use the SEL than I would also need some kind of a case for the GPU. An Echo SE II already has a small case that would fit some short versions of the GTX 760.