Dschijn

What should be the benefit of that?

Ah I see, that is going to be interesting

@Sachin10: That Mini Version might be too small. The GTX 970 is longer than the supported 10".

Can't test right now, because the card is currently in the mail to be replaced with another card (same model/brand). Your problems with the OC are strange, because that is not a big OC itself. The power target shouldn't affect this situation, it should just limit the amount of times the boost can be achived (lower the boost if limited by the power target). Most of the times I will instantly increase the power target to get a stable boost. When my exchanged card returns I will do futher testing. Thanks for the input.

More of the 2nd sound sample. I know most cards do that, but a lot of the GTX 970 owners complained. It was so loud, that I could hear it from my closed desktop case (Define R4 which has sound damping). It wasn't even related to high FPS, as soon as there was load on the card it got the coil noise. Unfortunetly it is stuck in the "mail labyrinth" of DHL now and it will take at least 1 more week to get a replacement.

I tested the PSU of the AKiTiO and it was able to provide even 80W, but: - the AKiTiO PSU is specified to provide max 60W - AKiTiO itself is only mentioning 25W I would recommend to be extra careful and not to use the AKiTiO beyond its specifications. A molex powered PCIe riser will provide enough power to the graphics card (75w) and can power the AKiTiO.

Yeah that TDP of 145W is cute I thought the 6+8pin might help to get rid of the powered riser, but 2x6pin will be fine. The powered riser is a must. In Furmark + OC + higher powertarget, the eGPU setup draws 240W (in total) from the power socket. With 90% efficiency that is 215W.

Well that is beyond my current knowledge. You could play safe and just order a EVGA (awesome cards btw). I just ordered the MSI to have a 6+8pin power connector and the semi-passive fan feature.

Thanks, will try that when my GTX 970 returns.

I would definitely recommend to use a powered riser! As my power consumtion tests have shown, the AKiTiO PSU might be used beyond it specs. The Optimus "problem" might refer to my too much testing and playing with settings. Will reinstal Windows 8.1 when I get my GTX 970 back (had to send it back because of coil noise problems under load). I am pretty sure it will work again, as many people (including me) had it working.

Anyone who can help me with restoring the Optimus feature?

No a riser doesn't help. You get 75W by one 6pin cable which can be connected to the graphics card. You also get 75W provided by the PCIe slot. A powered riser is supposed to provide additional power if the PCIe slot is limited in its power output (= less than 75W). You need an additional PSU to provide enough power for the GPU. But than it is compulsory to provide ALL 6pin and 8pin power from the additional PSU. Do not mix power of two different 6/8pin sources!!!!!11111111eleven You might be able to use a powered riser + PSU but without the Sonnet PSU to power the GPU and the Echo Express. I managed to do that with my AKiTiO!

Providing enough power? Using a riser with molex?

That is a crazy work around. So you unplug the cable on the AKiTiO board and connect it later again? My Optimus stopped working 2 days ago… need to rework the settings, because it seems like I "broke" it in any way. External display is working properly, just the internal display is disabled as soon as windows starts.

This guide is based on http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/7580-%5Bguide%5D-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx780%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-a.html#post103029. Many thanks to the awesome people of this forum and especially Tech Inferno Fan and goalque. Other builds I made 3 builds until now: 2013 13" Macbook Pro + GTX970@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win8.1/OSX10.10 [Dschijn] 2014 15" Macbook Pro Iris + GTX970@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win8.1 [Dschijn] 2014 15" Macbook Pro Iris + GTX970@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win8.1 [Dschijn#2] CONFIGURATION Apple MacBook Pro 13" Retina / 256GB / 8GB (Late 2013), with Iris graphics AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box bequiet! System Power 7, 500W Bitspower 24 PIN ATX PSU adapter to start the PSU MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G PCIe 16x riser with powered molex- Please be aware that powered risers are not recommended to use. We strongly advice you to use a barrel plug instead: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/8317-%5Bguide%5D-making-molex-barrel-adapter.html a 90° PCB riser Apple 2m Thunderbolt Cable Cooler Master Elite 130 SOFTWARE INSTALLING Install Windows 8.1 64 bit from a USB stick by using ISO file. This is a standard Boot Camp installation. After installing Windows, download and install all Windows updates. Update Boot Camp drivers (Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5640) and shut down Do the hardware preparing part 1-8 Install Nvidia driver 340.52 (Drivers | GeForce) Shut down MacBook Pro and continue from the hardware preparing step 8 Apply following steps to get Optimus internal LCD mode working: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8106-%5Bwip%5D-2013-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx970%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-osx10.html#post110489. Without this Optimus would only sometimes work as detailed in the spoiler. OS: Windows 8.1 (64bit) Reinstalled windows as described above. Installed the lastest Nvidia Driver (v344.16) and the latest Intel Graphics Driver (v15.36.7.64.3960)! Optimus is working by: 100% if external screen is main display Optimus fails by: 100% (after a reboot) if internal screen is setup as primary display and external screen as extended display. The following situations are (not) working: - booting with external display, internal and external display are working - external screen as main screen - window mode "Ungine Valley" can be dragged between both screens, always powered by the GTX 970 - booting without external display, internal display is working - Optimus is working - hot plug (plug and play) of the external display works on the fly in windows - unplugging the external display works, internal display still works and windows is not crashing - internal screen as main screen works, but fails after a reboot! - external display as 2nd display works - reboot without external display -> internal display is switched off (Optimus fails!) - plugging in the external display while internal display is black works, external screen is now main screen, internal screen is still off (Optimus fails!) - changing setting to extend the display to both screens doesn't work, internal screen is still off (Optimus fails!) - shut down, unplugging TB, plgging in TB, booting, internal screen is still off (Optimus fails!), previously setup extended display is off - device manager: Intel Iris is not found (turned off?) - setting up to extend the screen between both displays (external is main display)! - the previous step is compulsory! Without it, the next step will have NO effect - reinstalling Intel Graphics Driver works, reboot is showing internal display again - internal screen as main screen - reboot without external display -> internal display is switched off (Optimus fails!) - device manager: Intel Iris is not found (turned off again!) HARDWARE PREPARING Open AKiTiO's box by a normal screwdriver, take out the PCIe board, attach the riser and the GPU to its x16 slot Attach PSU's power cable (blue) to the GPU and do the "paperclip trick" as shown in picture 1. Attach DVI/HDMI cable to the GPU (if using a back bracket, I wasn't able to fit DVI-cable because the plastic part was too wide) and use any external monitor you like (4K would be nice to test with this setup) Place something under the GPU so that it will be steady (a removed front panel is perfect for this) Attach AKiTiO's 60W power plug to the DC jack of the PCIe board Connect TB cable Power up AKiTiO's box (green light should appear) and the PSU at the same time (I use a power strip with a switch on the floor) Turn on MacBook Pro (blue light should appear). If it is booting to OSX partition, change startup disk to Boot Camp partition from the OSX preferences. BENCHMARKS Optimus results (internal vs. external display): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 8785 vs. 9976 (88% performance of external display) 3dMark_11(Graphics Score): 12981 vs. 13773 (95% performance of external display) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 1922 vs. 2104 (91% performance of external display) Results (eGPU external display vs. Hackintosh): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 9976 vs. 12367 (81% performance of Hackintosh) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 2104 vs. 2274 (92,5% performance of Hackintosh) Results (eGPU internal display vs. Hackintosh): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 8785 vs. 12367 (71% performance of Hackintosh) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 1922 vs. 2274 (84,5% performance of Hackintosh) POWER CONSUMPTION Combination of GPU, ATX PSU, AKiTiO [without PSU], molex powered riser: Idle ~ 21W Valley ~ 150-160W (max. 180W) 3dMark11 ~ 200W (max 215W) 3dMark13_Sky ~ 195-200W (crashes after entering the cave) 3dMark13_Fire ~ 170-200W (max. 210W) Furmark ~ 215W (max. 220W [100% power target]) Furmark ~ 225W (max. 230W [105% power target]) Furmark ~ 240W (max. 240W [110% power target]) Combination of GPU, ATX PSU, without riser [AKiTiO PSU in use!], measured on the ATX PSU: Idle ~ 12,5W Furmark ~ 150W (max. 155W [100% power target]) Furmark ~ 158W (max. 160W [105% power target]) Furmark ~ 165W (max. 167W [110% power target]) Without riser [AKiTiO PSU in use!], measured on the AKiTiO PSU: Idle ~ 10W Furmark ~ 70W [100% power target] Furmark ~ 74-75W [105% power target] Furmark ~ 78-80W [110% power target] imho a powered riser is almost compulsory. The AKiTiO PSU specifications are output 12V, 5A = 60W. Furmark, which is of course no real world scenario, is exceeding the PSUs specifications. Might work for temporary peaks in games (real world scenario). PROBLEMS - GTX 970 is making a "coil noise", which is appearing in all 3d load situations (low and high FPS). This card will be exchanged by the webshop I bought it from. - Pictures, web links to benchmarks and anything else has to wait until (earliest) Monday, because I will send the card back and not at home until monday. UPDATE Was able to install the GTX 970 in OSX 10.10 Yosemite, following @Mark guide: 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 BUT after changing to the OSX Default Graphics Driver, the eGPU setup is spoiled again… Can't fix it with reinstalling the WebDriver, kext editing, fixing and shutdown+boot. eGPU isn't recognized anymore PICTURES Note: MSI GTX970 with coil whine was replaced by EVGA FTW GTX970

4 core i7 seems to give an advantage too. My MSI GTX 970 is getting lower graphic scores as thomas_price1 gets.

Can't get risers on eBay shipped from Hongkong/China? They are not that slow in shipping. corsair vs350 seems very bad suited for future projects, as it just offers one PCIe power plug. I bought a 50-60$ PSU, 500W and 2x8pin power connectors.

Did you: - power the riser (connected the molex to the ATX PSU) - disconneted the AKiTiO PSU - did the "trick" on the 20/24-pin PSU connector to get it started? - connected all 6-pin and 8-pin connectors to the GPU - powered the eGPU setup before anything else - conncted TB cable - last: started the PC/Laptop

Gaming on the Retina display is something that I need to test in the next days. Right now I'm very limited in the free memory and need to instal games to my external HDD.

To instal the eGPU I just followed exactly your guide: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7580-%5Bguide%5D-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx780%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-a.html For Optimus I booted without any display connected. Optimus with a connected external (but not used) external display doesn't make that much sense to me (no offense)!

Optimus worked flawless. Just booted without an external display and ran some benchmarks. Results (eGPU external display vs. Hackintosh): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 9763 vs. 12367 (79% performance of Hackintosh) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 2104 vs. 2274 (92,5% performance of Hackintosh) Optimus results (internal vs. external display): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 8785 vs. 9763 (90% performance of external display) 3dMark_11(Graphics Score): 13687 vs. 12981 (95% performance of external display) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 1922 vs. 2104 (91% performance of external display) Optimus results (Optimus vs. Hackintosh): 3dMark_FireStrike (Graphics Score): 8785 vs. 12367 (71% performance of Hackintosh) Valley_ExtremeHD(Score): 1922 vs. 2274 (84,5% performance of Hackintosh)

I will test Optimus in 2h with my setup (13" late 2013, AKiTiO and GTX 970).

Connect the AKiTiO without any card in the slot, power it up and hot plug it to the MacBook. Open  ; About this Mac ; More Info ; System report ; Thunderbolt Here you should find the AKiTiO!

I totally agree, especially the Nvidia stock cooler should be the best option for the Sonnet III-D, because it's exhausting the main heat on the backside.

Be aware that this are the Nvidia TDP values for GPUs within the official specifications. No board partner is sticking to them. My GTX 970 can withdraw (110% power limit & Furmark) up to 240W. That is far beyond the official specifications. Bottom line is: a GTX 980 with "medium" OC should work, but be careful to hope for putting in a OCed GTX 980Ti oder Titan2...