jacobsson

I'm no expert in this at all but I think it's standard to use an anodized layer inside metallic electronics enclosures, which makes it non-conductive. You could always test it with your multimeter to be sure. I'm pretty sure Cloud has this figured out =)

With a drill and a grid with holes =)

Cool, so you did one cable already? That's crafty! Yeah the heat might be a problem. My plan is more of a 'warranty voiding' nature =) * Making vent holes on the sides * Solder the 5.5/2.5mm jack to be directly connected to the PCIe x16 slot * Split this rail to 2 x 6-pin PCIe power for the GPU Since my Thundertek board have no problem providing a GTX660/GTX670 via x16 slot (plus the PCIe 8-pin for GPU of course), I think the Akitio board would too. The 25W fuse limitation is probably a design restriction in order to have the enclosure licensed (for low end GPU purposes?), but this is of course only speculations from part.

I think this looks awesome, really something I'd love to have on my desk! The acrylic is much more hardcore since you see all cable work and such, could be really cool with some blue leds for those who like that kind of modding =) If I had one request it would be a 20CM version, black or grey doesn't matter, for the portability of ITX cards. Then adding a 150W small sized AC-adapter for the GTX970

Haha no problem, It's means that theoretically we have 1mm room for fitting this card =)

Jcagara08 Remember that this's just for V7.0 at this point, the V6.0 is coming later. I'll ask him if he could consider a black version too.

@goalque This says it all, sent from Zotac themselves: So the total including bracket lip would be 204mm + 12mm = 216mm

The V7.0 enclosure is coming off beautifully! Cloud has confirmed a V6.0 version too =)

@goalque Thanks, good to know since ASUS mini DCII design won't ever fit! I've made a couple of low profile PCIe cables my self, it's pretty easy, 1. use a fine tool like a mini flat screw driver to pull the connectors out, by pushing back the small "locking wings". 2. Cut of a wanted portion of connector plastic housing with a sharp knife or saw, 3. put the cables back (of course expand the "wings" to their original locking position first) add shrink tube, 4. heat the shrink tube 90 degree angled. Voila!

Hi guys. SELLING I have a small Thundertek PX (Thunderbolt1 @10Mbps) which I want to sell, shipping should be very cheap since it's small. It doesn't need the DC-adapter since It can be fed by a regular powered riser and it works great! I've made a small custom enclosure for it too, see images: PM me if you are interested, don't want to Hijack this thread =)

@goalque Oh, so we have a little extra 12mm there = 217mm, good..good! Then we might be in luck after all! I emailed three Swedish suppliers of the ZT-90101-10P and asked them to verify the total length of the card. If 204mm i w/o vga bracket then it'll be a close to none fit, if so we should look into short aftermarket coolers from Zotac as mentioned. They pop up now and then for ~$20 on eBay and such. I'm really considering buying this card now since the PCB would be of the smallest size among any competitor, so in the end it might come down to a aftermarket cooler for fit. Too bad I don't have the Akitio box yet, I'm going to check here first for a used one first! By the way, with your 750ti, is there good enough head room for the PCIe power 6pin?

@goalque Alright, change of plans, we'll just use the: Zotac TwinCooler on the Zotac GTX970 (ZT-90101-10P): It's measured to be: 177.8mm × 111.2mm The height should not be a problem (compared to the ASUS DCII mini cooler). Contender number two: Zotac GeForce AMP! Cooler It's measured to be: 195.07mm x 111.15mm

Hi guys. BUYING If anyone selling the Akitio thunder2 box I'm very interested, PM me please. I think it's time for me to mod one of these bad boys to the capacity it intended to be! SELLING I have a small Thundertek PX (Thunderbolt1 @10Mbps) which I want to sell, shipping would be cheap since it's small, interested? PM me. It doesn't need the DC-adapter since It can be fed by a regular powered riser and it works great! I've made a small custom enclosure for it too, see images:

@goalque Thanks a lot! 3. Then my experiment with the DCII mini cooler won't fit. So it's up to the Zotac now, keep my fingers crossed!!!

@goalque I got three Qs: 1. Which card is in your images? 2. Can you send me the 204mm referenses? 3. Could ypu measure the height inside enclosure from x16 connector to the top? Thanks buddy

Do that and I love you! =) This would mean that our proposed Zotac GTX970 would fit w/o modifications Of course I'd have to mod the power input to have my DA-2 work with closed chassis, but that would not be a problem. EDIT: weird enough the store says that the card is 266mm :S ?!

Hmm I can guarantee you that the card won't fit with it's original cooler, so might have to remove the back of the enclosure (maybe it'll look OK anyway?) The inner length of the AkiTio are: AkiTio Front to Fan:~18CM AkiTio Front to back (no fan): ~20cm Oh by the way, you have the AkiTio enclosure already? Could you give me the height from x16 PCIe connector to the inner top of the enclosure? It looks tight :S

I'm currently looking at the Zotac GTX970 of your first reference. My comparison clearly shows the that the length of the PCB is very similar/or same to ASUS mini cards. Now, since I'm not sure how the ASUS mini cooler is installed in forms of screw alignment etc. this could be the downfall of the compatibility. The GTX670 cooler itself has absolutely the capacity to cool the GTX970 since it's of much lower TDP: 170W vs 150W. The second Zotac card you posted might have the same PCB underneath but with a different cooler (maybe for high OC), all this will probably show in future reviews (disassembly etc.).. EDIT: I'm happy to confirm that the ASUS DirectCU mini fan actually is attached at the common reference points marked in red =)

It gives me hope when I see the backside of the Zotac GTX970: The size reminds me of my former ASUS GTX670 mini: Maybe it's possible to slap the ASUS mini cooler on the GTX970? That would result in a GTX970 ~170mm card that could easily fit inside the AkiTio thunder2box. Here is a sloppy overlap of the PCB's aligned at the four main screws. GTX670 = Blue transparent PCB The comparison clearly shows a similar length of the cards, only big difference is the lower height of the GTX970, this makes me believe the ASUS cooler could actually work since they share the same cooler mounts (red)! The power connectors will of course be a little harder to reach, but shouldn't be a big problem. So how do I buy the ASUS DirectCU mini fan+heatsink? Please let me know if you find one, then I might realize this idea!

@jcagara08 Yep, now I'm impatiently waiting for the ITX cards to be released. I'm hoping to see an ASUS DC mini version of the GTX 970 (148W), which then can be OCed +20W to reach GTX980(165W) performance (Like they do here). <-Sorry for Swedish ref.

Thanks buddy I love those figures, Now, I'll just sit back and wait for some ITX GTX970 / 980 -cards!

Hmm... Win 8.1 has been kind to me regarding PCI space. I remember when setting up my Win7 Dell 6430 I had the same problems, since it was a protected work-station I couldn't use setup 1.x to solve the problem. What I did was different trial and error plugging unplugging of the power and Expresscard, eg. : powered eGPU up during boot powering up the eGPU during boot powering up the eGPU just after BIOS post powering up the eGPU just before WIN load screen powering up the eGPU just during WIN load screen After some "random" plugging of this method it got registered for some reason. You could always try this! Also, I remember one of my workstations had a bad EC-port which forced me to hold the expresscard pushed in with a little force to get connection, I did not let it "lock back" those 2mm that it normally do. If none of this helps you, you might need the setup 1.x software. If so I would first consult with @Tech Inferno Fan for an opinion.

Nice, thanks buddy! I'll just post some games that I find interesting, maybe you happen to have one or two of them: Borderlands 2 Chivalry: medieval warfare Counter-strike GO DOTA 2 (free) Skyrim Metro: Last light Far cry 3 I'm looking at your scores for 3DMark06 and I guess they are a bit low due to the CPU. I wonder if 3DMark11 would be more suitable since the test is more CPU independent than 06, would you mind do a test? I know I might ask a lot of stuff from you, but you can use all this info in your write-up later =) After all you are the pioneer of this kind of implementation

Yep, that's a shame. The cable is pretty significant for your application. Please update me if you find another source for a modular 6-pin splitter (additional to the sources in the first post).

Lol, remember doing this schematic for EXP GDC 6-pin cable once: - - - Updated - - - Which GPU's are active in your system atm? Also, test powering the eGPU just before win logo. - - - Updated - - - I think it could work, it's on the edge though since the 750ti is ~55-60W. I would go for an adapter ~65-70W to be safe, since some adapters doesn't perform well during high load. Something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-OEM-GZCX12500A-12V-6A-Monitor-AC-ADAPTER-TLM1718L-/390932355066?pt=US_Monitor_Power_Supplies&hash=item5b056257fa