computersaysno

OK, a bit of a silly post, but I'm curious nonetheless... I saw this youtube video debuting the new Steam controller and noticed that the game footage was buttery smooth: ---- make sure you select 1080p 60fpsIs this how my games should be running with an egpu (provided my settings are configured conservatively)? When FRAPS shows 60fps (and even above), my gameplay does not seem THIS smooth (with or without vertical sync & triple buffering). Is there some kind of post-processing going on in this video? I'm restricted to Thunderbolt 1 speeds, so I know that is having some impact. I had to downclock my card by -250MHZ to improve some stuttering.

Do you think "Maximum pre-rendered frames" setting would help this bandwidth demand in any way? I wonder because I was having some frame hitches in GTAV and it helped me a lot when I set this value to '1'. The way I understand it, the higher the setting on the pre-rendered frames, the more CPU intensive the graphics are. Would this, in turn, increase the demand for bandwidth?

I had no idea how much variation there was between games. I wonder what makes some games less dependent on the pcie bandwidth, i.e. Metro vs. Wolfenstein? I've noticed performance improvements with my TB1 setup in GTAV when I changed the "Maximum pre-rendered frames" to 1 in the Nvidia control panel. Could this have something to do with bandwidth? I wonder if any of these performance drops can be improved at all with some settings tweaks..

In reality I probably was not twisting them tight enough. I tried pretty hard with my fingers but maybe I should be using pliers to wind them tighter. If I can source some ferrules, I may try that option. Twist the 3 wires together, insert them into ferrule, crimp, then insert into screw terminal and tighten. Maybe that will work better for my application ;-) Edit: So as it turns out, it seems I was not stripping the wires long enough for the screw terminal to bite onto. Best method is to separate the strands like a fan, as Morv suggested, and be sure to twist the wires together well to where they're not coming apart at all. It's best to keep them kind of long, and push as much as you can into the terminal. Try to keep exposed wire to a minimum and make sure they don't come out of the terminal with a slight tug. If any exposed wired, cover it with electrical tape. Now I'm waiting for a new pcie splitter to come in the mail because I wasted a bunch of wire trying to get it to work!

I still don't know how in the world you got 3 wires in there. I can barely get two ;-) Maybe your screw terminals are better than mine I think I may try to use a ferrule and crimp the wires together before I insert them into the screw terminal. I'd feel more comfortable if they were seated better. Even with the two wires in each terminal, when i moved my Akitio on my desk I lost power when one of the wires moved a little bit. http://wiki.ztex.de/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=en:ztex_boards:ztex_fpga_boards:psu2-02-640.jpg

Glad to hear Morv's way is acceptable. I have mine rigged up as w4vz suggested but my wire length is very short from the barrel plug to the first pcie graphics connector. @Morv any tips on how to fit 3 wires into each of the screw terminals? I find it very tough to get them firmly seated (with a moderate tug, I can usually pull one of the wires loose).

Got everything hooked up & working great with the DA2 + (2) 6 pin PCIe splitters + Screw Terminal 2.5mm x 5.5mm barrel adapter! Only issue I ran into was fitting all of the wires into the screw terminals. 3 wires twisted together and stuffed into each terminal seems very tight fitting with a bit of exposed wire. I know this isn't recommended....and the photo makes it look even worse :-/ I was going to use some electrical tape and see if I can clean this up a bit. Any other suggestions from you guys?

Oops, I should've clarified I was referring to the DA2. I assume it contains a sensor that would shut off the power if voltage became too high, so i doubt it's a real concern. Anyone hook their DA2 set up through a voltage meter? Curious to see if it exceeds 220W. P.S. your closed case looks awesome!

Ha! i just got inspired to ditch my cooler master case and go for the most compact, streamlined option. There's really no need for an external case with a modded Akitio enclosure....and the fact that we can easily use a power adapter is exciting. Curious to know how warm this thing gets....We're not creating a fire hazard here are we? ;-)

Received my stuff yesterday (minus the screw terminal). I was surprised how easy the PCIE fit the DA2. You're right....just a little extra force was needed to push in. Also surprised how large the power adapter is. It reminds me of the size of the original Xbox 360 power brick ;-). Still much more convenient than a traditional ATX PSU. Just to dummy proof my inexperienced brain....it's 3 yellow wires to the positive terminal and 3 black to negative, correct?

@PerryStudios Does your iMac have a dedicated GPU? Pretty sure you'll require an additional monitor.

Yes, quite strange to all of a sudden not be recognized in the eGPU setup. Any notable software changes or driver updates done prior to failure?

Hmmm...maybe check your pcie connectors on your graphics card? Perhaps one of them is poorly seated? I had strange connection issues until I finally realized one of my pcie plugs had come disconnected slightly during our "mad scientist" set up routine.

Doubtful that it's a problem with the card. Mine made the same "strange small movements" before setup. It's just trying to communicate with your CPU. Are you using the internal screen? If so, do you have an external screen you could try plugging in to? Also, mine didn't show up in the Device manager until I installed the correct drivers. Go to the manufacturer's site as shown in your instruction booklet and download your model's specific GPU drivers. See if it shows up.

This is great. I cannot wait to get rid of my bulky 500W PSU! Appreciate you experts being so helpful to the newbies. @w4vz I'll presume your browser crashes aren't related to power issues...more OSX being stubborn?