arnautovic

I can confirm its the flashdrive! And i got a little upgrade

Hi, I have been able to install everything as described and it worked just fine until today. Now I am getting the GRUB command line. Tried over and over again but nothing... Any Idea?

Thx!

Fraud? I don#t know, I mean if he wouldn't pretend that it is his work and his implementation I would say its just a business idea where he provides services and knowledge others don't have plus he has access to items others dont in his target market.

If people are to lazy to search the internet that shouldnt be his problem but I agree about the intellectual property it should be clear that he got his info from here.

This whole thing wouldn't be a problem if he'd just say: "Hey look, this is a Akitio Thunder2 PCIe box, this is a Dell DA-2 and together they provide you an external gpu solution for your Mac Sadly the box has to be modded a bit so it can run out of the box and that's where I come in. You could do it on your own but if you want I'll gather the stuff and do the modifications for you. I'll charge you the cost of the stuff and a bit for my modification work."

Maybe he could even mention that the information are taken from an eGPU community site.

But no, he simply takes the stuff, makes an ugly cut, DA-2 connector at the front and puts his logo on the front...

I guess I'd be simply too honest for such business. It's just sad for the unknowing customers.

I entirely agree with you, but lets face it thats like Business works. But yes I might be to honest for that Business too.

Decided to delete my post. I thought about it and really think that ist more important for people to know that there is better options out there...

So what you are sayingis: Try to get hands on a MBPr 15" (2014) for a good price or go with the 13" (early 2015).

Will the early 2015 13" be worth it in comparison with the early 2013 model, CPU wise? And what about the TB1 vs TB2, that should give extra performance as well, right?

Thank you!

Hi Guys!

I need a purchase advice re an upgrade of my MBPr (early 2013) i5 with Akitio eGPU EVGA GTX 970 to an early 2015 MBPr.

Would it boost my system significantly? Stronger i7 CPU and Thunderbolt 2 instead of TB1?

First I am kind of stuck between MBPr 13" (i7-dualcore) and 15" (i7-quadcore), if its just the size I would go with the 13" since its much easier to carry around but I wouldn't mind the extra bugs for a 15" if its worth the CPU boost in games like "The Witcher 3" etc..

I gave been already reading a lot about this and basically people are saying that core clock CPU is much more important than hyper-threading especially when it comes to gaming since no game is currently using it also some sources say that the i7-dualcore is not really worth the money. Also Haswell or Brodwell?!

Apart form the CPU the TB2 instead of TB1 should give me some extra performance.

I don't do any graphic intense work on my system apart from gaming. So what do you thing?

Best and thank you!

I am running on a TB Display and after trying everything I have figured out that turning the eGPU on for like 3-5 minutes before booting helps. Without it I am like 4 out of 10 black screens with "waiting" I get like 0-1 out of 10!!! Waiting for confirmation by anyone!!!

has anyone had any success with daisy chaining an external thunderbolt hdd drive to the thunderbolt display or Akitio2/similar unit whilst having the egpu connected (powered off first). I am trying this and can only get the hdd to work sometimes - but it has to be connected to the 2nd TB port. Meaning I can only use either my eGPU + TB Display OR eGPU + TB HDD.... I need to use both! Any tips?

Currently running Win8.1+Akitio2+970GTX+TB Display - all running perfectly in windows. Only have boot issues (black screen) when I connect the TB HDD to the back of the Apple Display or the Akitio2 unit. Using the GrubEFI mod.

This is correct, Im having the same issue. I have checked the hardware info and it looks like that since you have added an additional TB connection MBP cant find resources to work with both the HDD and the eGPU.

Wow, that's awesome news!

Have you tried using the MBP screen as well as the TB monitor at the same time? Your MBP has the GT 750M, correct?

Thanks again for testing and posting the results.

Yes I have once the TB Display is working its basically the same as with the internal GPU, but I am having trouble to boot with the eGPU and TB Display right now, it looks like it works sometimes and sometimes it doesnt no idea why.

Will do the Optimus guide now and see how it works. Actuall I got a 720+ score on Heaven with High settings and the TB Display which is pretty good for the card.

Im on an early 2013 MBPr with Intel 4000 and an ASUS GTX 960.

Ok guys so after a bit of testing, I have no idea why, but Optimus works like a charm as soon as I am in Win 8.1. NO EXTRA EFI MANIPULATION NEEDED!

All I takes is download the drivers. Both TB Display and eGPU must be connected to the MBP and not clamshel, once you are in Windows you can just close the MBP and everything works.

Ok forget everything its an ls (Ls) not Is (is)

Ok guys I can confirm that TB Display with Akitio and ASUS GTX 960 works without VIRTU only Optimus and even there I havent done any changes.

Clamshell mode plug and play.

Im having issues to boot stable into Windows with the eGPU attached but thats not linked to the TB since I am having this with HDMI and DVI directly attached to the GPU too.

If any questions or pictures let me know.

Nothing of this would be possible without Dschijn so big, big thx to him!!!

After a bit of searching it seems like Virtu is locked to specific motherboards and you can't buy it as a standalone product. Each OEM has their own licensed versions that are locked to specific motherboards.

Well I dont know about the locked to motherboards thing. But you can download a test version here driverdownloads-mvp2 | Lucidlogix

Re standalone product, there seems to be a link to buy it but it doesnt work. So are you saying it will def not work?

I will get my items today everything but the GPU still undecided between the 960 and 970 depending on the space in my Silverstone Ft-03-mini but that will come only today and then I will decide about the GPU. So tomorrow the latest we will know about TB display yes or no

The 970 is a Zotac and I dont really like the reviews the ASUS and MSI are like 1,1 and 2.5 cm too long will have to see if I can manage to make some extra space in the Ft-03 for the PSU and GPU.

Awesome. Please do, Im really interested (and hopeful) to see how it all works out.

In the meanwhile you could be looking at this.

AnandTech | A First Look at Thunderbolt on Windows with MSI's Z77A-GD80

AnandTech | A First Look at Thunderbolt on Windows with MSI's Z77A-GD80

As I see it what we are trying to do is not that much of a difference. Looks like LucidLogix VIRTU is a must have and TB Display must be connected at boot.

Thanks for the help can't wait to finally get my eGPU together.[/quote @arnautovic did you get this all together and working with the TB display? I'm in a similar situation. I have a TB display and I'm looking at getting a new 15" rMBP. Most of the time it'll be stationary and I'll only use the eGPU for gaming in Windows. Otherwise I'm in OS X the rest of the time.

still didnt manage to get all pieces together but I ll have some pro assistance once starting so Ill keep you updated. I guess mid next week Ill should be set.

It would work about 30% of boots.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I know what you mean about selling the TB display. The only benefit is the ports though and it's nice to not be limited to needing a TB output.

Ah ok, well thats not too bad. I actually use my MacBook 99% of the time with the TB display so its more or less stationary. The eGPU is basically for gaming in Windows and if I'll have to reboot 3-4 times I will prolly live with the TB display and reboot.

Have you been using the TV Display in Windows or MAC OS And anything special to consider?

Thanks for the help can't wait to finally get my eGPU together.

I have not been able to get my Thunderbolt Display to work consistently with my Akitio setup. I ended up selling it and buying a regular 27" Apple Cinema Display instead. I think what Nando says in a few threads is the case... basically, the BIOS gets confused and makes some random decisions at boot. This leads to the sometimes black screen boot and it means the display signal is routed to what seems to be a random port. With my 27" Display, it will work with mini-Displayport or Displayport via adapter. What I found is that the display output routes to either my empty TB port on my MBP Retina or it routes to the Displayport on my eGPU. So, when I boot my machine, either the display turns on or I switch the cable to get it to turn on. This allows me to use my display 100% of the time, but sometimes I have to switch a cable. It's worth it in the end.

Hey thx for the input.

What do you mean with "consistently"? It didnt work at all or it worked sometimes or it worked but not stable? And have you been using Optimus?

I wouldnt want to sell my 27 TB Display but will if I have to

I think this could really work.

1. TB Display works in Windows

2. Optimus works on displays connected to the TB port of the MBPr (tested that today with a 24" Dell connected with a mini DP -> DP cable)

The questions that remains is, if the TB display is special in any way to trouble that?!

I guess we will know soon. I have already ordered all items for my eGPU Akitio Set Up if I will not run into troubles we I will test it with my 27" TB Display asap.

Thanks to Dschijn

Still undecided re the GPU. GTX 770 or 960, depending on the price I will get for used ones on OLX.

wow thx should really use the search button I was close to buying it today. Thing is, its really hard to get hold of an Akitio Thunder2 here in Ukraine :/

But you have just saved me like 500€. Thanks for that.

Hi

I think I have found something interesting here.

Since I work in Kyiv/Ukraine right now I had been forced to use local sources for my eGPU and while looking for the parts I found this.

It looks like they have produced a ready to use box including the GPU. I know its hard to read but just use google chrome and auto translate, I speak Russian and the translation is pretty legit.

Хотите купить Mac Pro или Mac, но дорого? | Внешние видеокарты Ð´Ð»Ñ Ð½Ð¾ÑƒÑ‚Ð±ÑƒÐºÐ¾Ð² MacBook (Thunderbolt, Expresscard, eGPU)

Bizon Kits come in different variants.

1. Only Box

2. Nvidia GTX 750,760,770 or 970

There is also a video preview, which pretty much speaks for itself.

The price is the downturn, around 900 USD coming with the nVIDIA GTX 760.

If anyone will answer me if I can get my Thunderbolt Display to run vie Bootcamp and Optimus I might be willing to even make my own review in English.

Hi, sorry for bringing this topic up again. But I am wondering if using the thunderbolt display with an egpu and mbp is possible now using nvidia optimus in bootcamp and if one of this cards is compatible with nvidia optimus. gtx (760/770/780) if yes what would i have to do apart from downloading and setting up optimus?

thx in advance