pants_problems

So I had a chance to mess around with things last night for a bit.  I completely disassembled the case and plugged the 970 directly into the Akitio.  There was no change.  I also disabled any audio or extra resources on the card, no change.  I even disconnected my other Thunderbolt SSD attached to it.. and there was no change.

After that, I reinstalled the newest drivers, rebooted my system and downclocked my card a bit.  After doing that, I'm getting SIGNIFICANTLY better performance.  Basically, at this point, I'm getting the performance I expect out of this card on TB1.  

I'm not sure which it was - the card being too overclocked causing issues, or new drivers.  Either way, I'm happy with this setup now.

15 hours ago, Tempest said:

 

I can confirm it works. Well at least we can use the eGPU to power on the internal screen and we don't need setup1x to disable the dGPU before booting into Windows.

I've just tested it in my Asus G46VW using EXP GDC Beast mPCIe.

I can have the 660m and 750 2GB on at the same time with drivers 361.82. I was even able to have version 361.75 in the GTX660m while at the same time version 361.82 in the GTX750 2GB. In order to "force" the GTX 750 to power the laptops internal screen all I needed was to disable the 660m in the device manager and restart the laptop. Not restarting would the mean that only the HD4000 would power the laptops internal screen.

In my opinion this is a huge improvement compared to what we had before, specially in Windows 10. But on the other hand this should be like this since 2012... I guess its better late then never

If your machine only has a dGPU built in, will disabling the dGPU (no iGPU) after having the eGPU up and running route the output to the internal display if you turn on Optimus?

4 minutes ago, Dschijn said:

Some people reported they got lucky with the latest driver in Windows 10. Maybe you will have to disable the dGPU first.

 

Nevertheless... can you monitor the GPU stats during gaming liek with GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner. Would be interessting if your GPU hits any limit or can't reach full load.

Sure, I'll dig into it more when I get a chance and post my results.  According to the Afterburner OSD during gameplay, it looks like the 970 is reaching 90-100% though, and the fan definitely gets loud.

5 minutes ago, Dschijn said:

Using the eGPU on the iMac display or external display?

External display.  As far as I'm aware, there is no way to display it on the internal when there's no iGPU, correct?

I'm having some random performance issues with my setup as well that I cannot track down:

Late 2013 iMac

1TB SSD

24GB DDR3

775m

GTX 970(in Akitio2 + external  case + powered riser + 90 degree adapter + 600w OCZ)

In Windows 10 in particular, I feel like I'm not getting the performance I should be getting.  In some instances, my 775m outperforms the 970.  I know that Thunderbolt 1 can be a bottleneck, but it shouldn't be this much of a bottleneck I would assume?

For example, in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, I get a rock solid 60fps on my 775m on ultra, 1080p.  When I use the 970, I get anywhere from 40fps -> 60fps, but with lots of stuttering.  It happens in other games too, and I'm not sure what the issue is.  Some games perform better on the 970, but not by much.  Additionally, my 3dmark scores are higher on the 970, but not where they should be in my opinion.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the newest drivers, and the card is overclocked as well.

Thoughts?

I've been successful in running a GTX 970 Zotac on my Late 2013 iMac for the last few months, namely in Windows 10.  On some games though, I receive some horrendous stutter and I cannot for the life of me narrow down where it's coming from.  Also, some games seem to perform better on my 780m.  I've tried adjusting the settings I can think of, but none of them seem to help.  Additionally, I have a Thunderbolt SSD attached to the 2nd port of the Thunder2... does that affect performance even if the drive itself?  Either way, I just want to get rid of the stutter.

My setup:

Akitio Thunder2 => Powered PCIe Riser => Right angle adapter => 970GTX (in a Cooler Master 130).  PSU: OCZ 650W

So I've been running my eGPU GTX 970 on my late 2013 iMac for about 2 months now, and it runs great in Windows, no issues there.  

Today, I decided to give OSX a shot again, as the install didn't recognize it last time I tried.  It installed properly, and was recognized.  In fact, the internal display was reporting that it was using the 970 which I thought was impossible on a machine with a dGPU (this might be a mistake on the reporting).

 It booted at a 1024x768 resolution, and when I changed it to the native, it was reporting the 780m as the main display and the graphics were choppy.  I don't mind using an external display as I've been doing, but I need to figure out how to get the acceleration working for the 780m along with the 970.  Any ideas on what I should check to get both of these working in conjunction?

2m Apple TB cable is working perfekt.

Thanks! I just ordered an official 2m cable.

I tried searching, but didn't see anything in particular regarding this:

With the AKiTiO Thunder2, should ANY Thunderbolt cable work with the adapter? I have a late 2013 iMac with a GTX 970 connected via the AKiTiO adapter and Thunderbolt. The stock Thunderbolt cable works just fine, but it's too short for my current setup. I ordered a 2m OWC Thunderbolt cable, and the card is no longer recognized when using that cable. Reverting back to the stock cable works perfectly.

I've already returned it, but I would like to get a longer cable if it has a chance of being compatible. Anyone have any experience with a longer, non-included Thunderbolt cable for the AKiTiO setup?