Sachin10

What do you think would be the best way to connect this or another external power brick to the aux connector of the GPU? I'm looking for an aesthetic solution so no desktop PSU. The PSU would only be needed for the aux power of the GPU because I would use the new Sonnet Echo Express SE II with a powered PCIe x16 slot (you can't find them yet on their website but I received confirmation via email).

So if I want to build an eGPU for my 13" Retina MacBook Pro (Late 2013) I would need: 1) Sonnet Echo Express SE II with a PCIe 16x slot 2) MSI GTX 760 Gaming ITX (N760 2GD5/OC ITX) or ASUS GTX 760 Mini (GTX760-DCMOC-2GD5) 3) Dell 220W DA-2 PSU or something similar. I'm looking for an aesthetic solution so no desktop PSU. 4) Something to connect the PSU to the aux input of the GPU? 4) Apple Thunderbolt cable 5) Windows 8 with EFI Did I miss something? So no special drivers are required anymore? Thanks!

So the Dell 220W DA-2 PSU power cable doesn't fit directly into the graphics card?

Good news because the sales people of Sonnet just confirmed to me: "Yes, all our Echo Express SE II are now shipping with one x8 and one x16 slot.".

@Relentless @squinks Good news because the sales people of Sonnet just confirmed to me via email: "Yes, all our Echo Express SE II are now shipping with one x8 and one x16 slot.". So everybody should be able to order the new version with PCIe x16. You just need to be sure they send the new version and not an old version from their stock.

According to the Sonnet website the Echo Express SE II has two PCIe x8 slots. I understand that you received a newer board with a PCIe x16 and x8 slot. But how is it possible that I can see three PCIe slots on both boards?

I guess the GPU wouldn't fit anymore inside the Sonnet case with a PCI Express x8 to x16 Extender?

I see you have received the Echo Express SE II with a x16 slot. Who did you contact?

Can you hook the Dell 220W DA-2 directly to the GPU or do you need some kind of an adapter? Update: Sorry my question is already answered :-)

Could you solve the problem?

Not really because they cost a whopping € 415 = $ 570 in Europe.

Thanks for you update. Maybe I wait until other people have tried the 13" rMBP with the ThunderTek enclosure because the Sonnet Echo Express is too expensive.

My original idea was to buy the 13" rMBP for portability and use the price difference to build an eGPU. But I have noticed that the the dualcore CPU isn't fast enough for video editing and gaming. So guess it would be better to build a dedicated mini-itx PC for both things that doesn't work great on my laptop. Or maybe I should sell my laptop and buy the 15" rMBP.

Thanks a lot for all your tests. Now I think that I will build a mini-itx game system because it is getting too compliated to use an eGPU for my 13" Retina MacBook Pro (Late 2013).

Impressive configuration. Too bad it doesn't work but good to know you tried!

Moved to other thread

The cheapest way is to buy 2 adapters: 1) One to plug into the ThunderTek/PX: PCI-E 4x to 16x Riser Ribbon Extender Cable Adapter Extender Cable +/- $ 4 2) One to add the power: Powered PCI-E Extension Cable 16X To 16X Riser Extender Card with Molex LTC DOGE +/- $ 7 I guess this would work? Or you can buy only one adapter (4x to 16x with power) but they ask too much money: 4 x PCI Express PCI-E 1X to 16X Slot Riser Card Flat Flexible Extension Cable +/- $ 40

Thanks for your review. I'm interested to buy the following components to connect to my 13" Retina MacBook Pro (Late 2013): 1) ThunderTek/PX Thunderbolt™ to PCIe Chassis: $ 199.00 + $ 26.89 = $ 225.89 / € 165 (MacSales + shipping to Europe) 2) Apple Thunderbolt cable: € 39 3) PCI-E Extension Cable 4X To 16X Riser Extender Card (so I don't need to cut the PCIe port): $ 4.35 (eBay) 4) Powered PCI-E Extension Cable 16X To 16X Riser Extender Card with Molex LTC DOGE: $ 6.99 (eBay) 5) SilverStone RVZ01: € 83,25 (Amazon.de) 6) Silverstone SFX 450W (SST-ST45SF): € 80.10 (Amazon.de) 7) MSI GeForce GTX 770 Gaming: € 286.71 (Amazon.de) Total: +/- € 665

I'm very interested in your upcomming review! Update: I've found your review. Thanks!

Would this setup work out of the box without an external PSU and without modifications (except the cutting the PCIe x8 slot to accept x16)? My laptop is a 13" Retina MacBook Pro (late 2013) with Thunderbolt 2.0 ports. I'm looking for an elegant and affordable solution (+/- $ 600) so I can play modern games in Windows 7 or 8.1 at acceptable frame rates with a resolution of 1280x800 on the internal display of my laptop. The Iris HD 5100 is great for older titles but it struggles with modern games like COD Ghost, Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, etc. (+/- 20 fps at lowest settings and 1024x768). Thanks in advance for your advice. Sonnet Echo Express SE II (ECHO-EXP-SE2): $ 499,00 (Retail) / € 519,90 (Amazon) PCIe: x8 => Need to cut an opening in the end of the slot Power: 80 Watts Height: Two PCIe slots Length: 7.75” EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (02G-P4-3751-KR): $ 149,99 (Retail) / € 138,14 (Amazon) PCIe: x16 Total Power Draw: 60 Watts (Max. 68 Watts according to TomsHardware) Height: 4.376in - 111.15mm Length: 6.7in - 170.18mm

Good luck with this new enclosure. I'm also interested if you get it working!