Dschijn

Updated my power consumtion post! http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7205-us%24225-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-43.html#post107504 I have no clue about the cave crash… sound was still playing, which means no OS freez, but the 3dMark picture was frozen. Power consumtion dropped -> no GPU use anymore. Seems like a bug to me. 3dMark or Nvidia... no idea. All the other benchmarks worked flawless. A german hardware page (tomshardware.de) made an awesome review about "board partner" GPU layouts. Like my MSI GTX 970 Gaming, most of the cards are overclocked and used beyond the official TDP. But with more horsepower comes an exponential increasing power comsumtion. The "sweetspot" is the official TDP.

Setup: - Windows 8.1 with latest updates, latest Geforce driver - MBPr late 2013, 13", 8GB, i5 - MSI GTX 970 Gaming - be quiet! System Power 7 - 500W PSU - AKiTiO Thunder2 (without its PSU, only powered by the riser) - molex powered riser 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]) Power consumption (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]) Power consumption (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).

Sorry, forgot that the 6pin is connected to the III-D PCB... The question is: How smart are cables/PSU/PCB/ or the connector on the GPU. All the 300W is provided by one 12V rail and one ground connection.

6-Pin in general is offering 75W, I guess that is later limited by the consuming card. Theoretically there could be more provided. Because the Sonnet III-D is providing one 6Pin cable it is possible to even connect a Y-cable which splits this 6pin to 2x(2+6)pin. Nothing else as DIY connecting extra cable to the PSU by opening it. A 8pin cable is proving 12V by 3 yellow wires (same as 6pin), by the fact that 2x6pin is offering as much power as a single 8pin, there shouldn't be any risk.

I can try: - ATX PSU + AKiTiO PSU (no riser) - ATX PSU + powered riser (no AKiTiO PSU) for the first one I can measure each individually or combined

I can get one from my neighbor tonight. But not sure if I can measure with the riser and by that without the AKiTiO PSU. That riser has a squeezed spot. So I will try with and without riser vs. AKiTiO PSU, fingers crossed.

Awesome 3dMark score! Got an engineering sample to test graphics? Uhhhhhhh ^^

3dMark11: 12863 (graphics score)

It was very late yesterday… so just finished some tests. Will try more tonight and also will test Optimus (internal screen wasn't on at all). What are the Optimus steps? The card itself is awesome. Working fanless below 60°C and under load it's just at 63-65°C and the fans turn at 1100rpm. The buzzing sound is only appearing with load, like 3dMark and definitely made by the AKiTiO. In my desktop PC the GPU made a buzzing sound when framerates higher than 60fps are occurring. In the end MSI made an awesome card, but too many people are having the same buzzing noise in their desktop. I choose the card because of it's fanless optiom and the 1x6pin and 1x8pin power connectors.

Tested my AKiTiO rig today: MBPr late 2013, 13", 8GB, i5 AKiTiO Thunder2, MSI GTX 970, be quiet! 500W, no riser! Followed goalques guide and have it running under Windows 8.1: 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 Benchmarks (compared to my desktop rig, both external monitor): MacBook vs. Hackintosh 3dMark - Fire Strike: 9763 vs. 12367 (Graphics Score) - 78,9% of desktop performance Unigine Valley - ExtremeHD: 1232 vs. 2274 (Score) - 54,2% of desktop performance What I don't like: - AKiTiO PSU and board are noisy (electric noise) - MSI GTX 970 was noisy in my desktop system as well (electric noise) Will do more benchmarks (any wishes?) and will try a powered riser.

THAT is strange (imho)! Furmark should creat the highest loads, by that "normal" benchmarks and games should affect it in a more challenging way. Could you monitor your GPU load with MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision X? With that you should see how much power in % it is using. You also can limit the % of power it is using to gain some more stability…

My AKiTiO arrived today. Will try to do some testing in the evening (in 8h) with my GTX 670. More hardware testing will be possible on Monday.

Here you go: (Source: 8 PIN PCI-E Kabel?) Classic cables have the normal colors: https://www.google.de/search?q=8-pin+pcie+cable&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ZKYkVPnSMtbsaNHqgWA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1605&bih=1072 The Corsair cable is black to keep it sexy

The common colors mean: yellow = 12V block = ground Like I wrote…

Here you can see how the cables of the III-D are connected. The upper cables ending is with round "eyelets" separated into yellow (should be 12V) and black (should be ground): He than modified a old PC PSU cable which has 2x8pin connectors: removed the "normal" end and modified it to round "eyelets". These ends could than be connected to the III-D PSU.

I should be able to start testing latest on monday. But I am now more confused than before ^^ Fingers crossed it will be fine

For highest efficiency use a stock GTX 970. Most of the "partner board designs" are using much more power, because they are higher clocked. A additional PSU shouldn't be necessary if you are willingly to mod the PSU of the III-D.

Can anyone explain if is it necessary to cut some lines of the riser to prevent damaging the circuit board of the enclosure? I read there might be problems with using two PSUs (AKiTiO + ATX PSU). Or just use the ATX PSU without powering the AKiTiO directly and rely on the power the riser is giving it?

yes 0.5m is the cable that ships with the AKiTiO!

Why low profile? Do you already own such a card? What do you want to achive? Gaming or more monitors? OSX or Windows? There are cards with a TDP below 20W, but that cards are: - old - slow A clean setup with a extra powered GPU should be the GTX 750 Ti (which doesn't work in OSX, yet). Models like the ZOTAC GTX 750 Ti OC or the Gigabyte GTX 750 Ti OC. These cards are 19cm long and the AKiTiO can handle cards (if you remove the case fan) with a length less than 20cm. The thing is the power… The AKiTiO will provide just 25W and these cards need about 60W (TDP). This power could be provided by the additional 6Pin, which these OC cards have. To get the power to the card you could use sth. like the Phobya External PSU 230V to 4Pin Molex 90W and than use an adapter to 6Pin…

At first, no. Maybe later if I get my hands on a cheap adapter. 238€ (germany): format.de-Artikelinformation: AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box 249€ (france): Thunder 2 PCIe Box - Châssis d'extension Thunderbolt 2 Pour Cartes PCIe - Chassis d'extension - AKITIO - MacWay

@Slovedon: I just ordered all my parts for a GTX 970 setup. MSI GTX 970 because of the disabled fans at idle and the 6+8 pin power. Additionally a cheap PSU, a powered riser (just in case) and a Cooler Master Elite 130 black.

I just read in some other forums (like bitcoin mining or case mods), that people have problems with cheap and espially "thin cable" PCIe risers. Also it seems to improve the riser to shield the flexible cable with aluminum foil and to use riser with thicker flex cables in the first place. About the power backflow, cutting… no idea. Still in the process of getting the knowledge before buying and setting everything up.

Thanks! Did you do any research on this and picked this one by any special reason? Did you cut any lines of the riser to prevend powering the AKiTiO?

@JimJ740: Which riser did you use? I have read that some are not "good" or stable…