enjoy

2 hours ago, marcellom said:

Hi, is there any other way to use the internal display of the MAC instead using the adapter with the resistors?

BTW thanks a lot for the tutorial.

 

 

No there is no way, Nvidia Optimus is not available for this model, but the fake display method work great!

11 hours ago, DSaul said:

@enjoy Your case-mod looks great. Can you show inside your box how you were able to fit in the enclosed case the power cable into the graphic cards.

I got the 1060 SC and Akitio thunder 3, for my Mac 13 2016 with TB. Have everything ready except the Akitio Case coming next week.

 

1, I made by myself 90 degrees 6 pin i use one of my  Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable to close the Akitio

 

 

2. I buy 6-pin to 6+2-pin PCI-E power cable (you can use 6pin to 6 pin but i cant find here in Bulgaria), cut him and put him in the Akitio original hole close to Akitio Barell plug

 

 

3. I remove the Akitio back panel (also help for the Air)

 

I will make picture inside when i clean the Akitio Case mod for the dust in future!

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare

Need For Speed

 

Ultra + TAA with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-40 FPS on my retina display...

 

and again, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 

 

Ultra preset with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-40 FPS on my retina display  Its look great!

 

1 hour ago, goto35 said:

I think irokez might be up to something.

 

If we get that 4k adapter can we play on native 2560x1600 ???

 

enjoy can you even get to 1080p or 2560x1600 ???

 

My question is how can i get 2560x1600?

 

Yes you can, you can create it via NVIDIA Control panel, custom resolutions, its just progressive not native but who cares  the performance will be the same with the 4k fake adapter or our VGA fake adapter ...

16 hours ago, goto35 said:

Hey enjoy what resolution is your fake monitor???

 

Resolutions are 1680 x 1050 on both...

@irokez Win (CMD) + Left not work for every game, so i use both methods Dual Monitor Tools and Win (CMD) + Left (when sometimes Dual Monitor Tools fails), based on the game i play!

 

About Ghost HDMI dummy adapter, its the same, but the price is high  

6 hours ago, goto35 said:

that looks great!!! great job. I think your gonna get more people inspired.

 

another question can you do a video of the boot up procedures from the beginning? from the computer off to how to get to gaming....

 

I will make video soon

 

Between i just buy Far Cry Primal, and this is the first game that have a menu to choose the video card you want to play!

 

1. So to play the game I made my Retina display as my main display

2. Start the game

3. Choose GTX 1060 6GB

4. set Borderless Windowed

5. Restart the game

6. DONE, i can play without   Borderless Gaming and  Dual Monitor Tools - Home

 

If in future more games have that options, it will be easy for us, because Retina display will be Primary always,

 

Not big problem for me now because i drag the taskbar from primary display (fake display) to my Retina display and i have fake main display but i must use Dual Monitor Tool or Shift + Left + CMD to move programs to my Retina display and Borderless Gaming app  

 

And again Far Cry Primal with Far Cry Primal HD Texture Pack and all set to ULTRA Setting with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-50 FPS on my retina display  Its look amazing!

 

 

 

 

Video:

 

 

1 minute ago, goto35 said:

can you take some photos or even video of how games look?>

 

since you are using software to make bordorless can you tell? Is there qulity loss?

 

Yes there is 5% performance drop because of Borderless Gaming but i prefer to play the games fullscreen and with that program we can do it fake or nor its a fullscreen and its better because you can pause the game and use Chrome and all programs you want without exiting the game

 

I posted 3DMark results so you can see, the drops OVERAL we have 15-20% GPU performance drop because of TB1 but i don't care because i can still play all games ULTRA

 

Last nigh i played Battlefield 1 ULTRA 1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Borderless) with 40-60FPS for example!

I install 3DMark and run the Fire Strike 1.1 here are the results:

 

6584 in Fire Strike (V1.1) - External (fake display) - the basic test
Graphics score
7 210 
Graphics test 1
32.47 FPS
Graphics test 2
30.30 FP

 

FOR EXAMPLE: This user have 8556 in Fire Strike (V1.1) ( http://www.3dmark.com/fs/9689714 ) with the closer CPU to mine so there is 20% performance loss because of TB1 but I still can play all games Very High or Ultra FULL HD!

 

1680 x 1050 - External (fake display) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
9 089
Graphics test 1
46.98 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.11 FPS

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Borderless) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
7 852  - the score is enough to play all games VERY HIGH/ULTRA with 1680 x 1050 on the Internal Retina Display  (Borderless)
Graphics test 1
33.96 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.32 FPS

 

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Windowed) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
8 377 
Graphics test 1
37.83 FPS
Graphics test 2
35.12 FPS

 

@goto35 No my don't have audio, you can order that HDMI to VGA  adapter and put the resistors like on the picture i posted

12 minutes ago, goto35 said:

hey so where do i download the eGPU Setup ? WHat does that do like create a new boot menu?

 

If i had not found your post I would have returned all items. but based on what you did, i am going to give it a shot!

 

Hi its great that i inspire you to make the setup

 

I don't know if i can give you a link to the eGPU Setup 1.20 because i dont know the rules, you can search via google about it! You need 1.20 not 1.30.

 

after you install the eGPU Setup 1.20, the boot menu will appear after restart!

On 1/4/2017 at 7:37 PM, simon753 said:

Your case look amazing! I used Fractal Design Node 304 as my eGPU case, and I added LED lights in it. Btw why did you check "closeunsedbridges" ? Does it made any difference?

 

Thanks, about "closeunsedbridges" i dont think its made any difference, i just follow the steps from one user in this forum but i cant find his the post right now

@goto35

 

You must use  372.00 driver first, next you can update to 376.09 like me!

 

You can play "Fullscreen" on the internal RETINA display like me with - Borderless Gaming and  Dual Monitor Tools - Home

 

Yes you need the VGA adapter to make the "fake monitor" set him the same resolution like the retina i use 1680x1050, because i play all games with 8x MSAA  - its still looks better than any display even with 1680x1050 you can try and 1920x1200 i use it for some games but it based on the game

 

I used the same resistors you can order them  

 

Every HDMI to VGA adapter must work  

 

Thanks for the words, i really love my case mod, its look amazing and clear

 

1 hour ago, goto35 said:

Hi I have a mid 2012 macbook retina and just bought the akitio,  gtx1070 and a dell power supply.

 

Since i have the mid 2012 will i have the error 12 issue!?

 

And i wanted to play on internal display.  is it really that easy? Its look more trouble then its worth? What do you think?

 

You can follow my steps, its easy. You can use your internal display like me, i dont use external monitor anymore, some games don't drop the FPS some does but its still 5-6 better performance then 650GT

Big update i made the best Akitio Case Mod Ever  no overheating - max 55-60 degrees on heavy games.

 

 

17 hours ago, simon753 said:

Have you ever encounter any BSODs during gaming time?

 

Never, its very stable, i never have any problems, i will update tomorrow with more pictures  i made the best Akitio case mod - its looks better then Razer Core

I update from 372.70 to 376.09 and its work, I don't want to risk to update to 376.33, because 376.09 is great for now :))

Firstly I just want to thank everyone in this community. I read a lot of info before i start my project! Now i have more then 5 times better laptop just for 633 EUR!

 

 

Windows 10 64 Bit (BIOS) / Bootcamp

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)

2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 "Ivy Bridge" (I7-3615QM) (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache

8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Nvidia Driver: 372.70

 

 

I dont like the new retina MacBook Pro 2016 and choose to spend my money for the Akitio eGPU setup with:

 

I. PARTS:

1. Akitio Thunderbolt2 PCIe Expansion Box 290 EUR

2. 2 x Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable 20 EUR

3. EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Super Clocked (1607 /1835)  GAMING 6GB  275 EUR

4. Dell 220W DA-2 35 EUR

5. DC Barrel 5.5mm x 2.5mm 1 EUR

6. HDMI to VGA adapter from Bulgaria 12 EUR - to play on the retina internal screen

TOTAL: 633 EUR

 

II. DELL 220W DA-2 SETUP: 

 

I have Windows 10 64 bit (BIOS) via Bootcamp on my SSD and eGPU-Setup-1.20 ready.

 

III. Uninstall GT650M Drivers from Device Manager and Download and install 327.70 NVIDIA Drivers - http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/107012/en-us

 

IV. ERROR 12 FIX

• Unzip eGPU Setup 1.2 to c:\eGPU
• run setup-disk-image (as admin user)
• Restart and load eGPU Setup 1.2 and select 2 with your keyboard
• Then:

 

 

V. Install again 327.70 NVIDIA Driver when you with the two GPU's in Windows

 

VI. DONE

 

VII. GAMES - I can play all games i have with 60FPS with High/Ultra setings FULL HD 1920x1080 - Before that i can play only on lowest settings with my GT 650M 1GB with 1280x800

 

VI. UPDATE NVIDIA DRIVER via GEFORCE EXPERIENCE TO LATEST DRIVERS - 378.66

 

VII. DONE

I can play all games - FULL HD / 60 FPS (all to MAX + AA) on External Display

I can play all games - 1680x1050 / 30-40 FPS (all to MAX + AA) on my Internal Reitna Display

 I also made a custom Windows 10 theme aka macOS Gaming 10.10.10 

 

VIII. PLAY ON INTERNAL RETINA MONITOR @LukeHero MOD:

 

So the main limitations with this model of Macbook is the fact that you need an external display. So @LukeHero got around this limitation with this little device and three resistors:



It's a HDMI to VGA adapter. 

All you need to do is put 3x 100ohm resistors inside the VGA port to create a fake external display. You can see where the resistors need to go with this image:



So the deal with this is, any program started on the 'external screen' (being powered by the eGPU) will use the eGPU. So what you'll want to do is set the fake display as your main display. Then anything started on that display will be running from the eGPU. Now there is a little limitation here; only games that run in windowed mode will work (which is most). You'll want to start the game on the fake screen in windowed mode and then drag it over to your internal display.

So how do you grab from a display you can't see? Well, I found this free program called Dual Monitor Tools (it's free right here: Dual Monitor Tools - Home )
and what you can do in this program is set a keyboard shortcut to move the selected window over to the other display. So you click on the game in the task bar, and hit the shortcut you assigned and it'll pop over to the internal screen, but because it was launched on the fake screen, it'll be powered by the eGPU.

Simple as that, there's no performance hit either as you're just dragging the game to the other screen.

A good tip is to have the internal display set as default first, launch the game, go to options and set the game to windowed mode now, then quit and relaunch after you've changed the fake screen as your primary. Otherwise you might not be able to switch it with the shortcut while it's in full screen.

 

HOW TO CLOSE THE AKITIO CASE: 

 

 

HOW TO START THE SETUP (when i want to play games):

1. choose eGPU Setup 1.2 from boot menu and select 1 with your keyboard

2. choose again Windows 10 from boot menu

3. Start the game i want

4. Press the combination for Dual Monitor Tools to show the game on my internal display (i use Borderless Gaming so i run my games fullscreen on my retina display)

5. Done - my old rMBP 2012 can run all new games - 30-60FPS (1680x1050) on Very High/Ultra settings on my retina display Borderless like Fullscreen!

 

BENCHMARKS:

 

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark Score EXTERNAL DISPLAY 1920x1080:

 

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark Score INTERNAL RETINA DISPLAY 1680x1050:

 

6584 in Fire Strike (V1.1) - External (fake display) - the basic test (for example only 1522 with dGPU - GT 650M)
Graphics score
7 210 
Graphics test 1
32.47 FPS
Graphics test 2
30.30 FP

 

FOR EXAMPLE: This user have 8556 in Fire Strike (V1.1) ( http://www.3dmark.com/fs/9689714 ) with the closer CPU to mine so there is 20% performance loss because of TB1 but I still can play all games Very High or Ultra FULL HD!

 

1680 x 1050 - External (fake display) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
9 089
Graphics test 1
46.98 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.11 FPS

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Borderless) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
7 852  - the score is enough to play all games VERY HIGH/ULTRA with 1680 x 1050 on the Internal Retina Display  (Borderless)
Graphics test 1
33.96 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.32 FPS

 

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Windowed) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
8 377 
Graphics test 1
37.83 FPS
Graphics test 2
35.12 FPS

 

 

 

AKITIO TB2 CASE MOD - by enjoy

 

@samuelkneppel i order the parts for Dell DA-2 220W setup, from what i read in the forums i made that picture its easy:

 

1 put the 6 pin (F) splitter in the male 8 pin of Dell DA-2 

2. cut the of the two 6 pin (M) and put all yellow cables to (+) and all black into (-) of 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel

3. connect the other 6 pin (M) with the other 6 pin splitter

4. Put the paperclip to turn ON your Dell DA-2

5. connect the 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel to Akitio and 6pin (M) from the splitter (that without barrel) to the video card

 

DONE

 

 

paperclip:

 

 

 

I order my parts:

 

1. Akitio Thunderbolt2 PCIe Expansion Box (1) 

2. Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable (2)

3. EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Super Clocked (1607 /1835)  GAMING 6GB second hand from Bulgaria (with 3 years warranty)

4. Dell DA-2 second hand from Bulgaria

5.  DC Barrel 5.5mm x 2.5mm

6.  HDMI to VGA adapter from Bulgaria

 

I will update the Dell DA-2 setup when the parts arrived