mzinz

I'm a little confused - is there any reason the Alienware enclosure would not work instead of an Akitio? I've got an Akitio now, but would swap for the Alienware (pay the extra) if it worked the same.

Rephrased: Would my MacBook Air be able to tell the difference between the Akitio and the Alienware?

Thanks for posting this. I recently did a similar setup, but am not using an external case.

I'm currently using the AC power from my Akitio, and powering my GPU with another power-brick. I've read about potential ground loops, and I've been having some crashes, so I'm thinking about switching to a small case like yours with an ATX power supply (powering via riser).

Can you provide more detail on how you connected the Akitio boards to this case? You said you have them on some plastic. How was that done exactly?

Thanks!

Edit: Also - was curious if you were happy with that case, or if you would have chosen another one now that you're up and running?

Just some tips that worked for me:

- to enable edited .kexts AND the NVidia Webdriver you have to type:

[FONT=Menlo]sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1 nvda_drv=1"[/FONT]

Thank you. That did it for me.

My Gigabyte 750Ti (PCIe + 6pin powered) and EVGA GTX 780 are both stable, but only the latter is now fully tested (you can see the performance numbers from my updated post, retina screen playing is very smooth and no stability problems at all). There are so many variables. I guess too, that it is vendor specific. Firstly, you have to choose the right vendor, and secondly the card must have at least one 6pin power connector. By solving the 25W limit of the PCIe slot, we very likely extend the collection of supported GPUs.

Hey, did you test your Gigabyte 750Ti any further? I'm using this version (Gigabyte GTX750 OC). It seems to be benchmarking fine (no crashes), but did crash once in CS:GO (black screen when using ultra high settings). I'm powered the same way you were, with the included Akitio AC adapter and a separate PSU for the 6-pin.

The AKiTiO is rated to guarantee 25W to the slot when driving using the factory AC adapter. Per opening post, use of a PCIe riser will allow you to provide 75W directly to the slot. That is the first place I'd suggest looking to overcome your instability. I'd go so far as to say use a ATX PSU to drive it all (PCIe riser + PCIe power plugs). Then once working, attempt to integrate using your 90W PSU to do it.

Thanks for the quick reply. Are there any cards rated at 25W or below for the slot? I'd prefer to not use a riser if possible.

Hey all. Hoping someone can help me out.

I'm using Phobia External 90W Molex PSU and a molex to 6-pin adapter to power my GPU (Gigabyte 750 GTX OC, plugged into 6-pin). I power the Akitio through the AC power brick that came with it.

When I give power to the Akitio power brick, the blue lights come on and my GPU fan starts spinning. When I give power to the Phobia power brick (for my GPU), I don't get any indication that anything else is happening (I'm not sure if I should since the fan is already spinning).

When I boot into both Windows (8.1) and Mac (10.10) I don't see the new GPU anywhere. Not in device manager or anything. When I try to install drivers, it says the GPU can't be found.

I don't know what the issue is. It seems like neither OS is recognizing the card, so my first guess is that I have a power issue, but I don't know how to tell if that's the case. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hoping that @Tech Inferno Fan or @jacobsson can help!

Edit: After reading the troubleshooting section and doing a reboot the GPU was recognized. Installed NVidia drivers and ran some benchmarks without any issue. I rebooted again then fired up CS:GO (put all settings on high) and right when I entered the game my computer crashed (external screen went black, laptop monitor froze). Anyone have any idea how to troubleshoot why? This seems similar to the "black screen of death" mentioned in the troubleshooting section... I should have more than enough power though, considering that I'm powering the Akitio with its power brick.

I'm not clear on something. Is there any risk of ground loop if I do the following:

Power akitio using included AC

Power GPU using 6-pin from power brick (no riser)

?

I thought I had read that this was a risk for ground loops, but I just read back through the thread and it looks like this is exactly how @entzoe did his setup.

@Tech Inferno Fan is this something you have any idea about?

Sorry to make a new thread for this, but I'm having a really hard time getting an answer.

I want to power my Akitio via my power brick (in addition to powering my GPU). I know that I need a molex to barrel adapter - this is clearly mentioned/shown in threads - but I can't seem to find the correct one.

Can someone link me to one I can buy? I can't find the right size.

I am stuck on whether to get a macbook pro 15" and build an akitio egpu, or wait for thunderbolt 3 which will be late 2015...

But if I were to build an akitio egpu, I would try to fit a gtx 970 and the power supply all within the akitio chassis. I am not sure if this has been discussed before. This company called HDplex sells a miniature 250 watt modular power supply module. It requires the use of a 240 watt dell/alienware ac adapter brick. The HDplex module has 2 connectors for 6/8 pin for pci-e. There is an additional 4 pin that can be used for sata or molex, so a molex to barrel plug can be used to power the akitio box. If using the mini-itx gigabyte gtx 970, it looks like this power supply could be made to fit inside the akitio chassis as well. There would be some drilling involved for the screw mounts. Has anyone tried this?

The Akitio chassis is small and can't fit anything more than a GFX card (a mini one at that).

@mzinz

Are you planning to use a riser too?

If you solder and split to a molex (for powered riser) or barrel plug (for the Akitio female) you should be good. Which card are you planning to use?

Sent from my iPhone

I'm planning on not using a riser since I want to keep my enclosure closed. I ordered a Gigabyte GTX 750 OC, which I think can be powered via 6-pin.

I am receiving a 90W molex power supply which I'm planning on splitting to 6-pin (for the GPU) and barrel (for the Akitio). I'm worried that the molex to barrel adapter I got is the wrong barrel size though. Do you have a link to the correct one by chance? Also, does this setup seem like it should work?

@mzinz

Yep, that's the Mickey mouse / DA-2 that has been replaced by a regular PCIe 6pin. The blue and ground must be shorted to have the DA-2 running, I suggest some kind of switch so that you don't need to pull the cord to power off.

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks jacobsson. I'm going to try out the PS I have on the way and I'll order a DA/2 if I don't have enough power

Can you link me to the correct molex-to-barrel plug adapter? I ordered one off eBay but I'm not sure it's the right one.

- - - Updated - - -

Thinking about this more - if I do the solution above, then I'd only be powering the card, right... what about powering the Akitio?

@mzinz

Adding a molex beside the PCIe 6-pin is easy if you're willing to solder some wires?

Hell yeah I'll solder! Sounds fun!

Is that a mickey mouse connection pictured above? Did you do this?

http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/8059-%5Bguide%5D-2013-15-macbook-pro-gt750m-gtx780ti%4016gbps-tb2-sonnet-ee-iii-d-osx10-10-a.html

Has all you need to know about it really. I can't stress enough though about the nvram thing, make sure that is set, and also sudo cache at the end too like explained in the guide.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Is there a thread anywhere on kext? I keep seeing it mentioned but haven't seen a thread or post dedicated to it. I'll be assembling my setup this week and want to be prepared. I have a 2013 MacBook Air.

Hehe, I was confused like you as well in the beginning. The molex powered riser can provide power to the PCIe in both directions: to the GPU and to the AKiTiO itself. I don't need to power the AKiTiO in another way.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! It all makes sense finally.

Dschijn, thanks for all of your help man.

I'm now wondering if it would have been a better idea to get the Dell DA/2 power brick, since it's 220W. The only issue I see there is that it uses "Mickey Mouse" connection, so I don't know how I would adapt it to molex... have any idea there?

No, I power my AKiTiO with a powered riser. No more need to power it by the barrel plug.

An answer to your question regarding the barrel adapter… I think it is written somewhere in this thread.

Sorry, I don't think I understand... How can you power the Akitio enclosure with a powered riser???

Thanks for the info. Super helpful.

Do you use that barrel adapter or a different one?

- - - Updated - - -

Can anyone tell me what size molex to barrel adapter to use, or link me to one?

Thanks, no problem.

I edited my post and had one more question:

If the power brick didn't supply enough power for both the GPU and the Akitio, would it be a bad idea to use the Akitio AC (to power the Akitio enclosure) and the Power Brick (to power the GPU 6-pin) at the same time? Should I be concerned with ground loops, or is that not something I need to worry about?

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Also, will this molex to barrel adapter work? I don't see where it mentions the size: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4pin-Male-Molex-connector-To-DC-male-connector-4-Pin-Peripheral-12v-to-DC-plug-/231181401394?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

The power the AKiTiO is using itself is neglectable! More interessting is the power needed in total by the GTX 750 OC. As most of that cards use less than the 75W the PCIe slot is providing you might end up well powering both. Maybe you need to limit your powertarget of the card if the OC is too brutal.

I would give it a go!

The origin of the ground loops is mainly from bitcoing, as there are people using (sometimes) up to 4-8 cards on one Mainboard. With high end cards they ended up using mostly more than one PSU and just one of them was powering the mainboard with it's PCIe slots (mostly up to 75W). By using the power of the PCIe slot from PSU 1 and the 6/8-pin power from PSU 2 the ground was not in common. For some people that ended in fried mainboards.

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not sure how much power this card draws, but I was under the impression that the Akitio PCI-E slot only supplied 25W (not 75W), which is why additional power is needed? I didn't want to do the powered riser route, because I want all of this to fit within the enclosure, so that's why I chose a card with 6-pin.

As long as my power brick can supply enough power for both the Akitio and the GPU, *should* everything work okay? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything here. If it doesn't supply enough power, would it be a bad idea for me to use the Akitio power (to power the enclosure) plus the power brick (to power the 6-pin on GPU)?

- - - Updated - - -

Also - is there any way to introduce an on/off switch into the equation for my power brick? Or do I need to physically plug/unplug it each time I want to use the GPU?

I have the following gear:

Akitio2

Gigabyte GTX 750 OC (w/ 6-pin) (any reason this card shouldn't work? I haven't seen it mentioned)

Phobya External PSU 230V to 4 pin molex 90w PSU

4-pin molex to 6-pin PCI-E adapter

I just noticed in this thread that it says to power the Akitio2 from your power supply (which I was not planning on doing) to avoid ground loops. I've seen several people talk about using a power brick instead of power supply, but I had never heard ground loops mentioned as a risk before.

How much power does the Akitio draw? Could my power brick supply enough for it as well, using something like this and this?

Hey all,

I've got my Akitio2 and my goal is to create a compact solution with the Aktio enclosure on, if possible. It sounds like this can only be done if a riser *isn't* used, so I think I need a GPU which inputs with 6-pin.

Has anyone had success with a small form factor GPU like the Gigabyte GTX 750 OC? It seems like it's small enough to fit inside the Akitio. If I had a regular ATX power supply, could I power the card by only connecting the 6pin?

Also, can I use the GPU in both Mac (Yosemite) and Windows (8.1)?

Hi karthikrajanv, thanks for the post. I'm going to be doing a setup nearly identical to yours but had a couple questions before purchasing.

I'm hoping to make my setup as clean as possible, so:

1. Since the card is so small, would it be possible to put the enclosure/case on?

2. I see a lot of people talking about the Dell DA/2 for power as opposed to a regular internal power supply. Is that something you considered, or do you know if it would work as an alternative?

Thanks again!

i could only confirm the 750 Ti FTW version(with 6pin) to be working even without the riser..

Thanks for the reply Entzoe.

That helps. Are you using a regular ATX PSU or a power brick and adapter?

I'm curious about a setup like this as well.

Would I be able to keep the enclosure closed (cover on) using the following parts:

Akitio2

EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti

Dell DA/2 power brick

16x to 16x Riser w/ Molex

Should that setup work? Is there anything else I'm missing?

Sorry to double post - but can anyone point out if this setup looks okay? I'm ready to order but want to make sure I'm not missing something.