tre87

I'm also trying to get TB3->TB1/2 adapter, but it seems they are nowhere to be found. Still nothing on Akitio's site and last i spoke to Startech they said that it would be available for retailers in May 2016.

Guess I'll have to put my laptop update on hold until such and adapter arrives.

Does anyone know of someone else making such an adapter?

1 hour ago, maarten said:

 

Hi there. That worked! Thank you so much for the suggestion. I did have to install both x86 and x64!

 

Now I am still wondering how to get Optimus and the eGPU working on the internal LCD...

 

- When I switch to the internal GPU (Iris Pro), the rendering on the internal LCD is done by the internal GPU

- When I switch to dedicated GPU (750M), the rendering on the LCD is done by that one.

 

How do I get the rendering to be done by the eGPU (GTX 760) on the internal LCD? Do I need to disable the dedicated GPU (750m) in device manager after enabling the internal GPU (Iris pro)? Last time I disabled the dedicated GPU, windows refused to boot.

 

Thanks!

Try disabling the dGPU for starters. Create a restore point before you do it. So that if it fails, you can either boot in to safe mode or use that restore point to recover

As I haven't messed around with Optimus alot, I don't know if you can choose the Optimus device within the nvidia settings? Maybe someone else can answer this

Did running the the integrated.bat for the gpu-switch fix the problem you had changing the brightness?

MSVCR120.dll is a part of the Visual C++ Redistributable 2013.

Download it here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784 -> You might need to install both x86 and x64  

Try installing those and run the gpu-switch again, then report back to me with the results :-)

@pizzacat -> You linked to this thread from the other thread saying there would "steps"? Where is the steps/guide to get this working?

@Dschijn -> Did you manage to get it to working? I remember you were trying to disable the dGPU only to run on the iGPU like me, but we ended up with the "idle cpu usage bug".

Are you running Windows 10 and what is the cpu usage % at when idle?

Last time I looked at this I got it working, but under Windows 10 it kept having some CPU load and I couldn't figure out why. I eventually ended up just reverting back the the 750M as I always have external monitors connected to the eGPU.

@juniordiscart

Just did the Win10 clean install and all things seems to be great. Only 1 issue remaining - my Macbook can't "sleep"... Shutdown, Restart and Hibernate are there, but no sleep.

Are you able to sleep on your Macbook? If so, it might be a local problem. Otherwise it's gotta be the Bootcamp driver...

Replying to my own question. Resintalled the Bootcamp drivers! Sleep is now working again

Seems like Windows 10 works a 100% unless you have the iGPU and need Optimus.

@juniordiscart

Just did the Win10 clean install and all things seems to be great. Only 1 issue remaining - my Macbook can't "sleep"... Shutdown, Restart and Hibernate are there, but no sleep.

Are you able to sleep on your Macbook? If so, it might be a local problem. Otherwise it's gotta be the Bootcamp driver...

Well, you can always mess about a bit with the iGPU of course. The changes are undone fairly quickly. I just found it to be kind of disappointing.

Yes, I indeed just booted the installer and just deleted all partitions of my SSD (I don't have OS X installed, so I didn't need to keep track of it) but just formatting the Windows partition should be enough.

Perfect!

What guide did you use to enable the iGPU and do you have a guide for the undoing as well?

Thanks for all the info so far

@tre87

I only ran it on Win 8.1. I might try again later on Win 10, to check it out again. I didn't compare the heat dissipation, mostly because my Macbook stays on my desk in clamshell mode (plus I use a Blue Lounge kickstand), and I hardly take it on my lap. It should be generating less heat indeed, but with a constant CPU load of 10-20%, I think that effect is undone. I do know that the fans sometimes kicked in when the iGPU was enabled, even though the Macbook was idle. Although I can't really find the post anymore, but I believe someone said that the load disappears when after booting, you put Windows to sleep mode and then wake it again. But this is problematic when a TB device is attached, since it disables sleep mode in Windows.

The Github issue thread where I reported the power stealing can be found here: https://github.com/0xbb/gpu-switch/issues/5

I believe there is no specific thread that discusses the iGPU stealing power here on Tech Inferno. I think @TheGrreatGatsby reported in a thread that his load was a constant 20% when his iGPU was enabled (he has a 2015 model with AMD dGPU, but is experiencing the same issues).

Looks like I will skip messing with the iGPU for now then.

When you did the clean install, did you just boot the Windows 10 installer, then format the Win 8.1 partition and installed Win 10 on that?

@tre87

I meant that for eGPU use, the dGPU models seem to experience no issues and can have the same experience as on Windows 8. But now that you mention it, there are hardly posts of failures on iGPU-only models. But I can't comment on them anyway... Sorry for the confusion.

You could try to get the iGPU working, but as I mentioned in the thread for enabling the iGPU on this forum (I also opened an issue at the Github page where Andreas Heider confirms my problem) there is a constant CPU load between 10% and 20%, effectively undoing the battery saving you would get from running on the iGPU. But you can always try of course.

Did you run the the iGPU setup before Win10? How's the heat on the chassis of the Macbook compared to the dGPU when running with the eGPU? I've heard when using the iGPU instead of the dGPU it should be generating less heat - whats your exprience?

Do you have the thread for the discussion about Windows 10 and iGPU stealing CPU power?

@tre87

It seems there are few problems for the dGPU models, but going from the posts above it seems that the iGPU-only models have some struggles.

I did a quick test like you asked to: I browsed for 20mins, with screen brightness about half and got from 98% battery to 92% battery. Yesterday I also had a skype-conversation with webcams going both ways which lasted for a little more than 3 hours (Don't know if that is a reference )

Tested bluetooth as well. I could successfully connect to my phone, and stayed connected for a few hours, so I assume that it works ok.

I hope these answers help you and are what you had hoped for.

What are the problems regarding the GPU's? I haven't read about any problems regarding the dGPU/iGPU anywhere. Also, if you don't have any problems with your MBPr, then I'm comfident I won't either as I have the exact same model (MBPr mid 2014 + 750M and 512GB SSD).

Perfect info on the battery. Must be around the same as Win 8.1 then I really should look into disable that dGPU though as the iGPU uses a lot less power.

And great to hear Bluetooth is working flawlessly!

Think I might go for a clean install of Win10 in the weekend then - YAY!

I think an SSD is always "idle" when it isn't reading or writing... So I don't know whether it will give a noticeable difference when telling Windows is should power down your drives. So I never noticed anything unusual there, or thought it was a problem.

I'll do a quick check later today to see the battery drain.

Hmmm, I do notice some Wi-Fi problems, but I'm not sure whether they are related to something Win10 specific or that it just my network, since I had sporadic interrupts under Win 8.1 as well. But these problems don't drop my connection to my network or something. So I'm not experiencing connection dropouts.

I haven't tested bluetooth yet, since I don't have any bluetooth devices to couple to at the moment. (I have wireless speakers, but I won't get these back until late september :/ )

My keyboard keys initially didn't work when doing an upgrade. So I re-installed the bootcamp drivers again for the keyboard, and everything works again as expected. The bootcamp configuration screen also seems to work as before. You probably won't have problems there when doing a clean install. Only upgraded installations will probably experience the most issues.

So it seems like a clean Windows 10 install works with the MBPr Mid 2014 without any major issues!

If you could do the battery test I would be really happy as that is the only thing holding me back from Windows 10 right now

Also, regarding Bluetooth? Can't you just connect your phone to your Macbook via bluetooth? That should tell if it works or not. Just discovering it would be verifying bluetooth is working.

Thanks for the answers once again

Hmm, I never experienced any lockups for sleep mode. But I usually disable sleep mode and hibernation mode. I always do a complete shutdown of my system, never sleep or hibernate. I disabled those options. So I can't comment on that unfortunately. The reason I disable these features is that (especially in the past) caused lots of problems (not necessariy eGPU problems) but since the SSD is very fast, I don't mind the slightly longer bootup times. I do know that you can't enter sleep mode when Thunderbolt devices are connected to the system, since not all Thunderbolt hardware is hot-pluggable and can cause crashes. Maybe that could be the cause of your concern?

I never really benchmarked my battery to see how long it could hold out, but I believe Windows 10 gives a marginally better batterylife. Windows 10 also has a new energy saving feature when the battery gets below a certain percentage (much like is known with smartphones). So I'd say you will see an increase, but don't expect to see a few hours of difference.

I just removed the nvidia folder that you can find in the bootcamp folders. It doesn't give you any warnings or something during installation, so you can just delete the folders (I also removed the setup files for ATI-based GPU systems, since I don't have any AMD hardware and I also removed the Intel Graphics driver. Not that this last one matters much, since the Intel GPU is disabled at boot time and isn't visible anyways, but just to make sure it doesn't fuck up with my system.)

Hope this helps you.

Thanks for the awesome in-detail reply

Another thing I've read about regarding the SSD is that it dosen't power down when Windows idles. Have you noticed anything unusual there? Usually there will be some event logs...

The battery concern was also related to the above. Both the sleep/hibernate issues, but also the lack of powering down the SSD when Windows i idle. If you don't mind. Could you unplug the Macbook at 100% charge and browse for 10-20 minutes and the read the percentage/time left? I'm really concerned about my battery as I'm very mobile in my daily work

That was quite easy if it just removing the folders. How about your bluetooth/wifi, any problems there? Also, does the keyboard and screenbacklight buttons work as Win 8.1 and how about the bootcamp trayicon and its features?

Thanks in advance for the answer

Like @zackbummente, I did a clean install after I upgraded to Windows 10, just to make sure no incompatible drivers or other software was present.

I would strongly suggest to do a clean install after the upgrade to avoid potential problems with older drivers. I also just installed the regular bootcamp drivers, but stripped away the nvidia setups, since Windows 10 delivers its own, and the ones in the bootcamp folder are outdated.

Som questions:

1. I've read some Macbook Pro Models have "lockups" with the SSD unable to enter sleep mode? Have you exprienced any of this? Also, have you monitored/checked the eventlog for any errors?

2. What's your normal laptop-only battery life like compared to Win 8.1?

3. How did you strip the bootcamp installer from the Nvidia driver?

Thanks for the answers

Hey all

Has anyone had any experience with their MBPr, eGPU and Windows 10? Does it work like Windows 8.1?

Please share your experiences

Edit: I'm planning on reinstalling mine with Windows 10 later today btw!

Hey all.

I managed to get hold of a new case, the NCase M1 in a V1 version. I've ordered a SFX PSU and are waiting some other hardware parts that should all arrive this week

So if everything arrives before the weekend, I will migrate my setup into this new case and post a completely updated guide once it's all up and running.

Looks great so far

Looking forward to the next update!

How come that my eGPU setup becomes unstable when I remove my powered riser then?

Everytime I've tried to run without it, I get random crashes and black screens both in Windows and games.

Has anyone got/tested/tried the following cases:

- EVGA Hadron

- NCase M1 (V3)

- In Win 901 (Older case, I know)

Also - @bigdaniel: When is that A4 case available for order?

i want to set a same setup for my 2014 15" Macbook Pro GT750M. I am having problem in understanding the internal of the CS case, like how you mounted the GPU inside it and also the power cables from PSU. Please post some more photos from inside.

Hi rohit,

Im sorry for the lack of images! I've been planning on taking a lot of new images, but just don't have a lot of time to do it at the moment. I'm hoping to completely update my #0 post very soon with new images, a more detailed guide and lots of info!

Thank you so much @tre87!

Apologies if this is painfully obvious, but at this point you're only installing the newest "desktop" drivers, correct? Or are you individually installing both the newest mobile AND desktop drivers, one after the other? In that case, would you select clean install or upgrade and in what order should I install them?

This is the only part that isn't clear to me.

Thanks!

I downloaded the desktop driver installer (for the GTX970) and that package also contains a driver for the dGPU. So both are installed... I did not select a clean install since everything was allready uninstalled

Thanks for the reply, that's interesting info.

So I really only need to install the desktop driver after a fresh bootcamp install and let the 750m default to the "basic display adapter" driver. But since there's currently no way to totally disable the dGPU, won't the desktop eGPU drivers still affect the 750m on reboot? Its detectedin the (now installed) nvcpl but you're saying it's using the microsoft display drivers and not the Nvidia ones? This is what confuses me.

Also- what usually happens to your internal display during boot? Does it disable automatically and activate eGPU display as primary? Do you have multiple drivers installed/enabled or do you keep the 750m without nvidia drivers permanently?

Thanks!

What I did was after a clean bootcamp install and installing the bootcamp drivers (that also installs Nvidia drivers), I went to the control panel and completely removed ALL Nvidia software along with drivers. I then initiated a shutdown on the Macbook and hooked up the eGPU once it was completely shut down. To the eGPU i also have 2 external monitors hooked up via Displayport and Dual-DVI. I put power on the eGPU and booted the Macbook. The Macbook then boots Windows on the internal screen and shows the login screen on the internal screen once booted. After 5 seconds the internal screen switched off and the 2 external monitors turned on. I logged in, downloaded the newest Nvidia drivers and installed everything so that both cards (eGPU + dGPU) has an Nvidia driver installed. I rebooted after the install and the internal display shows the Apple logo and Windows boot. But once it gets to the login screen the external monitors take over and the internal monitor remains black. I can turn on the Macbook's internal display, for an extended screen but having 2 x Dell U2711 is more than plenty of pixels for me It is a 100% normal that you can see both the dGPU and the eGPU. The dGPU still powers and runs the internal display. I've set the dGPU as a dedicated PhysX card

Hi @tre87,

I'm trying to set up an eGPU solution on Win8.1 (15in/750m) and have a couple questions.

Let's say I use a fresh bootcamp UEFI install as my starting point and the only software installed is Apple's "Windows Support Software". At this point, I assume no Nvidia drivers have been installed yet.

This is where I get confused- Should I first be installing the most recent 750m notebook driver then rebooting with my eGPU plugged in? Then after a reboot install the gtx560 desktop driver as a "clean install"?

I would have assumed having two sets of nvidia display drivers would be chaos, but perhaps this isn't an issue because of the clean install?

Thanks very much in advance for your help, I can be reached at eeevan AT gmail dot com if that's more convenient.

Before connecting the eGPU, just uninstall all Nvidia drivers/software. You will still be able to use the internal display on a Windows driver. Once everything Nvidia related is uninstalled -> shutdown -> connect eGPU -> boot up Windows -> install Nvidia drivers. It can run with multiple Nvidia drivers with no problems

// tre87

I was hoping to get my package with my replacement PSU before the weekend in order to install it and to take alot more pictures and add other info and how-to's. Unfortunately they lost my package in the local postoffice and the site where I bought it has to make a case for that item and a lot of other stuff before they can send me a new one

I might just order somewhere else and return the replacement PSU once they sort it out :\