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kloper

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  1. CLICK >> [url=http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-hub-tb-ec-mpcie.html#Thunderbolt]Implementations Hub: TB[/url] The above links indexes all the DIY eGPU Thunderbolt implementations which have progressed significantly by using an inexpensive native Thunderbolt2 enclosure (AKiTiO Thunder2), and reduced both the hardware and software installation compexity compared to kloper's solution posted in 2013 below. Forum -> Notebooks -> DIY e-GPU Projects -> Sticky: Implementations Hub: TB [FONT=verdana]TLDR: By buying around $250 in commonly available parts, plus a video card, you can make the graphics of your 11" Macbook Air from 5X to 7X faster. Demo video at end of post. Step-by-step, here's how to exactly do it. Warning: not for the faint of heart! NOTE: after this guide was written another was produced showing how for less than $100 more than this solution you can create a faster native 10Gbps Thunderbolt solution instead. See it at [url]http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4570-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-rmbp-gtx660-sonnet-echo-express-se-%40-10gbps.html#post63754[/url]. [URL=http://imgur.com/DktfNr7][/URL] [URL=http://imgur.com/54b3A0E][/URL] [URL=http://imgur.com/e8W1eJ7][/URL] [URL=http://imgur.com/aV1Say8][/URL] (click to see larger versions, video at end of article) Hey everyone! This is my third article here on this forum, though it's the first that the process can be done by anyone with off-the-shelf parts. No more discontinued exotic parts like the $180 BPlus TH05 are required. All you need is a macbook air, a graphics card, a power supply, Windows 7, and ~$250 to buy some adapters and software online. All these parts are readily available for anyone. Like usual, I really want to thank Tech Inferno Fan for his help in doing all this. He's the mastermind behind the technicals, I just like writing articles and making stuff easier for everyone. He's super dedicated and eGPUs wouldn't be anywhere near where they are today if it wasn't for him! Thanks! So what are we doing? We're going to make a Macbook Air accept an external video card via Thunderbolt! Yes, you might have read in the news that real commercial solutions are just around the corner. We've been promised by these companies over-and-over again, with youtube videos, hands-on reviews, press releases, etc, but nobody is releasing anything. It's been like this for over a year. Intel even openly admits its bias against GPU usage where it's listed as unsupported in their Thunderbolt Certification Application. Talking to one of their thunderbolt guys, here's what that "Not Supported" means: So with the bad news out of the way, the good news is that you can still do it yourself -- just a bit less elegantly. We'll be using the Sonnet Thunderbolt to ExpressCard adapter, together with the BPlus PE4L ExpressCard to PCI-Express adapter. This PE4L adapter also includes a Delayed PCI-Reset jumper, making Windows 7 + Internal LCD rendering possible on the Macbook. Also, it's not that bad. As you'll see by the benchmarks later in the article, yes you're only running at expresscard 5Gbps x1 2.0 PCI bus speed (as opposed to 16X 2.0 on a proper PC and only half of Thunderbolt's 10Gbps), but its WAY WAY better than the internal integrated graphics of the laptop, plus you can still max out tons of games. The full PC bus speed is super rarely used anyways, so it's not like you'll get 1/16th the performance. As part of this tutorial, we'll be using Windows 7 BIOS (installed the regular Bootcamp way). Things are possible in Windows 8 as well, but the instructions differ, and I've also had troubles getting Internal LCD rendering working on Windows 8. Yeah I'm not a fan of using legacy Windows versions either, but whatever, every game works on both OSes for now anyways. Oh and we're using Windows because games only exist for it, and I can't get the setup to work on OSX (haven't tried too much though). Alright, lets get started! My laptop specs Mid-2013 11" Macbook Air 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7-4650U (basically the most maxed out 11" mba) 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 5000 1024 MB 512GB Apple SSD Stuff to buy Sonnet Echo ExpressCard Pro. I purchased mine for $134 at B&H Photo Video. This adapter turns 10Gbps Thunderbolt to 5Gbps ExpressCard, which is needed for the PE4L later. It's probably one of the more expensive parts in your setup because of Intel's arbitrage on Thunderbolt-related parts. Note that Sonnet also sells a faster 10Gbps Thunderbolt->PCIExpress box (~US$310 Sonnet Echo Express SE) which might seem like a great idea, but that's all sorts of problems with it, including an underpowered power supply, no PCI Delay switch (making it not easily work with Windows) and dismantling it to be able to use full length and double width video cards. $70 BPlus PE4L V2.1 ExpressCard to PCI-Express adapter. You want the PE4L-EC060A package that includes the SWEX adapter to power on your power supply. If wanting a neater enclosure solution then purchase a $170 BPlus PE4H V3.2 instead, noting that your chosen video card will require the pci-e power connectors on the side of the card rather than the top. Visual comparison of the PE4H-EC060A 3.2 (left) and PE4L-EC060A 2.1 (right) in the spoiler: If you're curious, BPlus used to offer a US$180 TH05 (which included the TB cable), which was a direct Thunderbolt to PCI-Express, but Intel shut it down and the entire BPlus Thunderbolt division in Jan 2013 per TH05 Recall Notice. A Thunderbolt cable. You can get this at any Apple Store or online for around $36. I'd recommend getting a 2m cable since you'll probably want to have your GPU not directly beside your laptop. 450W power supply capable of running the video card. $24AR-shipped Diablotek PH450 offers 12V/30A (360W) or Corsair CX430 offers 12V/32A (384W) of peak power, enough for ALL current video cards. If getting a basic ATX PSU then carefully read the first rail data on it, eg: 12V1:18A means 12*18=216W of peak power. That wouldn't be enough to drive my GTX570 that can draw up to 298W peak power. Look at your video card's spec sheet to see the peak wattage only it uses (not the suggested value that often includes motherboard + hard drives, etc). Honestly though, I'd recommend going for the 450W or even 500W power supplies available for around $20 at your local money-laundering stolen-stuff electronics store. If you get a power supply that doesn't output enough or doesn't like power spikes, it'll basically make your computer blue screen a lot mid-gaming. Ask me how I know. $25 DIY eGPU Setup 1.X, developed by nando. Yes, you're paying for software, get over it. Nando did spectacular work to get Windows 7 Bootcamp to be able to properly accept the external videocard without giving an "Error 12" code. You want the latest 1.20 version incorporating new Macbook features that's not advertised on that linked page as yet. A video card. I have the NVidia GTX 570, which is an awesome balance of great performance and price. You can use basically any video card you want, including AMD ones. Note on AMD cards, internal LCD rendering won't be possible without using something like Lucidlogix Virtu (not covered in this article). Also, don't go too crazy and order a NVidia Titan. Yes it's a great card, but you won't see the value for money since you are limited to a slower PCI bus. I'd recommend sticking in the 5xx or 6xx series of NVidia GTX cards. 2013 11" Macbook Air. This is the laptop I have, but these instructions should be identical for the 13" Air. Additionally, the only step that will be different for every other kind of Macbook is the contents of the PCI.BAT file later. Post your laptop's specs in the comments of this thread to see if someone has a PCI.BAT for you. A USB memory key that's at least 4GB for Bootcamp to install windows plus it's drivers. Other software: Windows 7 ISO (from MSDN / MSDNAA / etc). Don't steal software. PART A: Generic prep of Windows 7 64-bit PART B: Putting together the eGPU and understanding the problem PART C: Getting rid of Error 12 on this Windows 7 (BIOS) install Install Notes Again, for AMD cards to render on the Internal LCD, you’ll need to use Virtu. See [URL]http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2967-lucidlogix-virtu-internal-lcd-mode-amd-egpus.html#post41056]Lucidlogix Virtu : internal LCD mode for AMD eGPUs[/URL] for instructions on how to get this to work. When doing Internal LCD mode (which you’re doing when you have no monitor plugged into the video card), PhysX might not be on. Open the NVidia control panel and switch it from CPU to Auto. When doing benchmarks, keep it on CPU though. Dont forget that every time you reboot, you must power cycle the eGPU If someone knows how to get the eGPU to restart with a reboot of the computer, please let me know. Simply connecting the black and red cable isn't enough on the MBP from my observations. I tried the switch in both positions and both polarities. Benchmarking Cutting to the chase, benchmarks are below. It's insanely fast because the MBA LCD is 1366x768, it's a 15W i7-UM Haswell CPU that is on par performance wise to a high end 35W Sandy Bridge i5 CPU, plus a crazy video card. Woo! :D external monitor 3dmark06: 19921 vantage: P15876 (gpu=19574) 3dmark11: P4900 (gpu=5210) 3dmark: Ice Storm: 87663, Cloud Gate: 10128, Fire Strike: 3413 internal monitor 3dmark06: 17645 vantage: P15030 (gpu=18270) 3dmark11: P4732 (gpu=5110) 3dmark: Ice Storm: 23839, Cloud Gate: 8943, Fire Strike: 3264 Intel HD5000 PE4L with GTX570 Difference Difference vs Internal Min Settings Max Settings Min Settings Max Settings Min Settings Max Settings Min Settings Max Settings Mirror’s Edge (DX9) Internal 41.467 18.083 88.933 85.133 2.1X 4.7X External 41.467 18.083 142.167 123.333 3.4X 6.8X 1.6X 1.4X Witcher 2 (DX9) Internal 20.700 6.083 70.683 29.567 3.4X 4.9X External 20.700 6.083 121.300 39.417 5.9X 6.5X 1.7X 1.3X Red Faction Armageddon (DX11) Internal 25.683 12.650 82.323 70.283 3.2X 5.6X External 25.683 12.650 107.333 84.667 4.1X 6.7X 1.3X 1.2X Bioshock Infinite (DX11) Internal NA for now External 36.533 15.733 149.367 69.317 4.1X 4.4X All numbers above are in frames per second done using FRAPS and recording 1 minute of actual gameplay All games were run at 1366x768. Internal and external monitor were set to this. VSync off everywhere. The Macbook Air 11" has this resolution on the LCD. Sorry that this kinda makes the numbers seem high for real-world-with-a-monitor gaming. "Internal" refers to numbers when rending in internal LCD mode. "External" is when I had an external monitor hooked up "Min settings" means that I set every setting to the lowest possible value. This should make the game run as fast as possible (but look ugly). "Max settings" is the opposite. If the game had the option for presets of "Very Low" and "Ultra", etc, I just selected those and didnt go into advanced modes (except to turn off VSync). Bioshock Infinite Internal LCD numbers arent ready yet. Internal LCD Rendering vs External A decision you'll need to make is if you want to plug a monitor into your video card or just use your laptop's monitor. Each has it's own pros and cons. You'll get faster performance with an external monitor, but you'll lose the convenience of not needing a giant monitor. This becomes relevant as people make better eGPU cases where your eGPU will be portable. Why bring a monitor to your friend's place when your laptop already has one? It's actually kind of cool that you even get this choice. The way it works is by the NVidia Optimus drivers taking the video frame memory from the video card, piping it back over the Thunderbolt bridge to the Intel HD 5000 memory and overwriting Intel's memory so that you see the eGPU's output on the Intel LCD. Cool! If you're curious, this is the exact tech that's used when laptops have an NVidia internal discreet graphics chip. Conclusion It has become very clear that gaming is not only high-performance, but super practical on an 11" Macbook Air. There's so much going against it: this hodgepodge of adapters, it has a low voltage CPU, disaster of wiring and exposed sensitive parts, crazy boot-time chainloading software, Intel killing companies producing adapters and products left right and center via legal threats, etc. but somehow, with the right parts and some patience, it works spectacularly. And is quite cheap too! Again I want to thank Tech Inferno Fan for all his help in working with me tirelessly over the last few months to get this working. Also, thanks goes out to TechInferno and the community thats been built here for allowing people to help eachother so efficiently. If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to reply to this thread. I'm also available on twitter, @lg. Thanks everyone -- have a great day! And enjoy gaming, I hear PayDay 2 is awesome too :D kloper [/FONT] Additional References * [url]http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4570-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-rmbp-gtx660-sonnet-echo-express-se-%40-10gbps.html#post63754[/url] - an alternative guide put together after this one showing a native 10Gbps Thunderbolt solution for * [GUIDE] 2012 13" MBP + GTX660Ti/[email protected] (TH05): nando's extensive performance comparison of x1 2.0 (TB-to-EC) versus x2 2.0 (native TB) bandwidth, AMD vs NVidia, and NVidia Optimus vs LucidLogix Virtu drivers for internal LCD mode. * [GUIDE] 2013 11" Macbook Air + [email protected] Win7-BIOS (TH05): my writeup using a native Thunderbolt TH05 eGPU adapter * [GUIDE] 2012 13" Retina MBP + BIOS-WIN7 + [email protected] (TH05): my writeup using a native TH05 Thunderbolt eGPU adapter * Thunderbolt, expresscard and mPCIe eGPU implementations: documented DIY TB/expresscard/mPCIe eGPU implementations. [video=youtube;kZZdwkICE3M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZZdwkICE3M[/video]
  2. I wonder how much it would cost to clone the thing...
  3. thanks the SW1=1 i believe will only work on an EFI install (which means no Optimus internal lcd stuff)
  4. NOTE: The US$180 BPlus TH05 (inc Thunderbolt cable) native Thunderbolt adapter used in this implementation was recalled in Jan 2013 due to (presumably) threats by Intel/Apple per TH05 recall notice. As a result refer to either of these solution that can be implemented today: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4570-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-rmbp-gtx660-sonnet-echo-express-se-%40-10gbps.html#post63754 or 2013 11" Macbook Air + Win7 + Sonnet Echo ExpressCard + PE4L + Internal LCD [uS$250]. Hi! Well, with Apple having just released the new 2013 Macbook Airs and me being bored of my old heavy 13" Retina Macbook Pro, I figured, sure, lets try it out. As you might remember, I got my old laptop working perfectly with my eGPU (w/ Optimus) here: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2728-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-retina-mbp-bios-win7-gtx570%40x2-2-th05.html. Thing is, I'm not upgrading unless everything works again. Well, I'm happy to say that my newly purchased 11" Macbook Air (w/ i7 Haswell) is fully compatible -- and I've written instructions for how you could do it too! We're going to be using Windows 7 BIOS (not windows 8, and not EFI). Getting Windows 8 EFI working with the eGPU is effortless, but Internal LCD rendering (via Optimus) doesn't seem to work. Windows 8 BIOS didnt work for the same reasons as the retina mbp (internal lcd remains off when the eGPU is plugged in). Also, I didn't get to try Windows 7 EFI because I couldn't get the damn installer to start. Ok! Benchmarks are coming [for reals this time!], and I'll update this thread once they're done. Spoiler: It's still insanely fast It's fast because this monitor is 1366x768, plus a crazy video card. Woo! System specs Mid-2013 11" Macbook Air 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7-4650U (basically the most maxed out 11" mba) 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 5000 1024 MB Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (BIOS) 512GB Apple SSD Requirements TH05 Thunderbolt -> PCI-Express adapter. Unfortunately this adapter is still discontinued. Intel requires all Thunderbolt devices to be licensed and BPlus Technologies (the makers of the TH05) have been unable to get this license. Intel first complained about there not being a case, but when that was fixed, Intel came up with other excuses, forcibly preventing eGPUs from existing. See the Facebook discussion, and http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2680-th05-recall-notice.html, for more details. Although these instruction are specific to the TH05, they could also be relevant to other adapters. NVidia GTX 570 videocard. Note you can probably use any video card including ATI cards and these instructions should be identical. See note at end about Internal LCD rendering on ATI cards. 300W power supply capable of running the video card. Look at your video card's spec sheet to see the peak wattage only it uses (not the suggested value that often includes motherboard + hard drives, etc). 2013 11" Macbook Air. Instructions should be identical for the 2013 13" Air though. DIY eGPU Setup 1.X, developed by nando, available for purchase here: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html. This allows you to do the PCI bus remapping to allow windows to see both your internal Intel HD 4000 and the GTX 570. It also gets rid of the Error 12 that you'll usually get in a Windows BIOS install. A USB memory key that's at least 4GB for Boot Camp Other software: Windows 7 ISO (from MSDN / MSDNAA / etc). PART A: Generic prep of Windows 7 64-bit On your mac use Boot Camp Assistant to prep a USB key with Windows 7 64-bit Still with Boot Camp Assistant, partition your main drive and start the Windows 7 installation process. I recommend around at least a 60GB partition. Games are big these days. If you just don't have the space, you can do what I do and turn off Hibernation Mode and the Virtual Memory Page File to save hard drive space (about 17GB together). Once partitioning is done, your computer will auto reboot and the Windows 7 installer will start. Install Windows 7. The Windows 7 installer will install the Boot Camp drivers at the end of it. Go to Intel's site and download the latest Intel HD 5000 drivers for Windows 7 64-bit. Launch Windows Update and apply all required/optional patches. Reboot as required. Repeat this step until nothing’s left. There's some clock weirdness when switching between Windows and OSX, so add the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\RealTimeIsUniversal with DWORD value 1 PART B: Putting together the eGPU and understanding the problem On the TH05, set SW1 to position 3 (6.9s, though note it's more like 30s). Set SW2 to 2-3 for 2X. Plug in the power (the white connector) on the TH05 to your power supply. There is no need to plug in the Black and Red cable (this is for automatic powersupply control, which doesnt work on the Macbook). Keep the pins disconnected on the TH05. Plug in the TH05 to your video card. Plug in the motherboard connector to the included SWEX adapter. Make sure it is in the ON position (1-2). Also plug in any required 6-pin/8-pin connectors to your GPU. Mine required 2 6-pin plugs. Make sure your laptop is shut down. Plug in the thunderbolt cable to the TH05 and then the laptop. Also, make sure no monitors are plugged into the video card. Turn on the power to the power supply, the GPUs fans should start, then start your laptop. Hold the Option key. Now wait for the red light to turn off on the TH05. Once it’s off, select Windows. Go to NVIDIA’s site, download and install the latest drivers for your video card. When prompted to reboot, shut down the computer instead. Turn off the eGPU’s power supply. Start the eGPU's power supply and boot your laptop, waiting for that red light to go off again before selecting your Windows partition. You will always need to do a power cycle of the eGPU when rebooting your computer because of the way the TH05 works. Once Windows has started, open the Device Manager. Select Scan For New Hardware. Notice the GTX 570 is listed with the yellow exclamation mark. If you double click on it you’ll see the dreaded Error 12. This Error 12 means that Windows wasn’t able to allocate a contiguous block of memory for the video card. Yes you probably have 8GB in your laptop, but the PCI Bus doesn’t work that way. We’re going to get rid of that error by reallocating devices in the PCI Bus. PART C: Getting rid of Error 12 on this Windows 7 (BIOS) install Go purchase DIY eGPU Setup 1.x here: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html and run the self-extracting exe on Windows to install to c:\eGPU. Open an administrator command line and run c:\eGPU\setup-disk-image.bat. This will install everything and add a boot item so you can load the video card. Next we'll configure DIY eGPU Setup to work with the 2013 Macbook Air and Haswell chipset. Mount the virtual disk image by running e:\eGPU\eGPU-Setup-mount.bat. This will mount a V: drive. In notepad, open the file V:\core\intel.txt. Add the following above the Series-7 entries: 0x9c43 QS87 2 8 62 ; Series-8 (5GT/s) In notepad, create the file V:\config\pci.bat and paste the following into it: @echo -s 0:1c.4 COMMAND=0 1d.b=50 22.w=BEB0 26.w=D3F1 > setpci.arg @echo -s 5:00.0 COMMAND=0 1d.b=41 20.w=B0B0 22.w=BB00 24.w=C001 26.w=D1F1 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 6:03.0 COMMAND=0 1d.b=31 20.w=B200 22.w=b700 24.w=c001 26.w=CDF1 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 6:04.0 COMMAND=0 1c.b=41 1d.b=41 20.w=BAC0 22.w=BAF0 24.w=D1C1 26.w=D1F1 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 7:00.0 COMMAND=0 3C.b=0 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 8:00.0 COMMAND=0 1c.w=2121 20.l=B300B200 24.l=C9F1C001 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 9:00.0 COMMAND=0 1c.w=2121 20.l=B300B200 24.l=C9F1C001 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg :: NVidia eGPU @echo -s a:00.0 COMMAND=0 10.l=b2000000 14.l=c0000000 1c.l=c8000000 24.l=00002F81 3c.b=10 3C.b=10 50.b=1 88.w=140 >> setpci.arg @echo -s a:00.1 COMMAND=0 10.l=B30FC000 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg :: Re-enable CMD @echo -s 0:1c.4 COMMAND=7 -s 5:0.0 COMMAND=7 -s 6:3.0 COMMAND=7 -s 6:4.0 COMMAND=7 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 7:00.0 COMMAND=6 -s 8:0.0 COMMAND=7 -s 9:0.0 COMMAND=7 >> setpci.arg @echo -s a:00.0 COMMAND=6 -s a:0.1 COMMAND=6 >> setpci.arg setpci @setpci.arg :: Disable CMD, set PCIe config space In notepad, edit the file V:\config\startup.bat and paste the following into it: call vidwait 60 call vidinit -d %eGPU% call pci.bat call chainload mbr call speedup lbacache Turn off your MacBook, power cycle the eGPU from the power supply and make sure the thunderbolt cable is still plugged into the MacBook. Make sure no display is plugged into the card. Turn your MacBook on while holding Option. There's no need to wait for the red light to turn off now before proceeding. Select the windows partition. Windows will boot into a menu allowing you to select between Windows and eGPU setup. Select eGPU setup. Once you get to the Blue first menu, press enter for Option 1. This will prep the PCI Bus. Note it might take a few seconds for the eGPU to be detected (basically until the red light goes off) Once that exits, you'll be back at that same menu from step 9. This time select Windows 7 and wait for it to boot. Open up the Device Manager and you should see the GTX 570 again, except ... without the yellow exclamation mark! Horray! You fixed Error 12! Double click on the NVidia icon in the system tray. On the left side click on “Adjust image settings with preview”. I know it’s shocking, but if you see a spinning NVidia logo, your internal LCD screen is being rendered by your external GPU! If you don’t believe me, launch your favorite game and notice how there’s no way the Intel HD 5000 could render it so well. I recommend you now install your fav benchmarking software, GPU-Z, FRAPS, Steam, etc to take advantage of your laptop’s new abilities. You win! Notes For ATI cards to render on the Internal LCD, you’ll need to use Virtu. See http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-35.html#post33187 for instructions on how to get this to work. When doing Internal LCD mode (which you’re doing when you have no monitor plugged into the video card), PhysX might not be on. Open the NVidia control panel and switch it from CPU to Auto. When doing benchmarks, keep it on CPU though. Dont forget that every time you reboot, you must power cycle the eGPU If someone knows how to get the eGPU to restart with a reboot of the computer, please let me know. Simply connecting the black and red cable isn't enough on the MBP from my observations. I tried the switch in both positions and both polarities. Here's my latest "case": (the clear strip is the tape "handle"!) Enjoy, and I hope these instructions were helpful for you! If you're on Twitter, i'd appreciate a follow: @lg Also thanks to Tech Inferno Fan for helping out!
  5. just received the following from them via email: like with everyone else... they'll get their TH05 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. seriously though, i dont really understand why they're so excited to get these back... tried just asking them what their motivation is, waiting for reply...
  6. i just tried what he did and i didn't have any luck. the gtx570 refused to come out of error 12 even with basically everything disabled.
  7. NOTE: The US$180 BPlus TH05 (inc Thunderbolt cable) native Thunderbolt adapter used in this implementation was recalled in Jan 2013 due to (presumably) threats by Intel/Apple per TH05 recall notice. As a result refer to either of these solution that can be implemented today: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4570-%5Bguide%5D-2012-13-rmbp-gtx660-sonnet-echo-express-se-%40-10gbps.html#post63754 or 2013 11" Macbook Air + Win7 + Sonnet Echo ExpressCard + PE4L + Internal LCD [uS$250]. First off, before anything, I really want to thank Tech Inferno Fan for all his help. There is no way I could have gotten anywhere nearly as far without his prompt replies and help debugging stuff. Thanks! Ok, so, I have managed to just get this configuration working! As it was quite an effort, I felt like a tutorial was in order to help others in the future. Note that although this is mostly designed for 13" Retina Macbook Pros, different parts of this tutorial can be used for different computers. Also, realize that the Retina has different config in pci.bat from the non-Retina (see the Note at the bottom). This tutorial is for Windows 7 BIOS (not windows 8, and not EFI). Although I was able to get Windows 8 EFI working with little to no effort, Internal LCD mode wasn't working likely because of immature drivers. Windows 8 BIOS also had a host of problems (see Notes section below for more details). Although this tutorial might be useful for you, I'd really like your help! If you were somehow able to get Win 8 BIOS (or EFI) working with Internal LCD on this laptop model, please PM me so I can try it and update these instructions. See note at end about what happened when I tried Win 8 BIOS. It sucks because I'd like this tutorial to be designed for the bleeding-edge, but oh well, compatibility... Anyways, here we go! Benchmarks are coming, and I'll update this thread once they're done. Spoiler: It's fast System specs 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7-3520M (basically the most maxed out retina 13" mbp) 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 4000 768 MB Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (BIOS) 256GB Apple SSD Requirements TH05 Thunderbolt -> PCI-Express adapter. Note that this device is currently discontinued because Intel wants cases for all thunderbolt products. See the Facebook discussion and http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2680-th05-recall-notice.html for more details. The company is working for a summer 2013 release of the TH04 which should operate identically. Finally, although these instruction are specific to the TH05, they could also be relevant to other adapters.<br><br> NVidia GTX 570 videocard. Note you can probably use any video card including ATI cards and these instructions should be identical. See note at end about Internal LCD rendering on ATI cards.<br><br> 300W power supply capable of running the video card. Look at your video card's spec sheet to see the peak wattage only it uses (not the suggested value that often includes motherboard + hard drives, etc).<br><br> 2013 13" Retina Macbook Pro. Instructions will differ for different macbooks. for example the non-retina macbook requires different config (see Note at end), and a 15" Retina/Non-Retina also requires different config (described here)<br><br> DIY eGPU Setup 1.X, developed by nando, available for purchase here. This allows you to do the PCI bus remapping to allow windows to see both your internal Intel HD 4000 and the GTX 570<br><br> A USB memory key that's at least 4GB for bootcamp and initial Setup 1.X configuration<br><br> Other software: Windows 7 ISO (from MSDN / MSDNAA / etc). See Note at end of article about Windows 8 PART A: Generic prep of Windows 7 64-bit On your mac use Boot Camp Assistant to prep a USB key with Windows 7 64-bit<br><br> Still with Boot Camp Assistant, partition your main drive and start the Windows 7 installation process. I recommend around at least a 60GB partition. Games are big these days. If you just don't have the space, you can do what I do and turn off Hibernation Mode and the Virtual Memory Page File to save hard drive space (about 17GB together)<br><br> Once partitioning is done, your computer will auto reboot and the Windows 7 installer will start. Install Windows 7.<br><br> Once the install is done, go back to your mac partition (hold the Option button while booting). Go back to Boot Camp Assistant and download the Boot Camp Windows Support software. You can put it in a folder on the USB memory key.<br><br> Reboot to Windows 7, go to the File Explorer, onto your USB memory key, and run the Boot Camp installer. This will install a bunch of drivers to make Windows more usable (including your Wifi drivers).<br><br> Go to Intel's site and download the latest Intel HD 4000 drivers for Windows 7 64-bit.<br><br> Launch Windows Update and apply all required/optional patches. Reboot as required. Repeat this step until nothing’s left.<br><br> There's some clock weirdness when switching between Windows and OSX, so add the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\RealTimeIsUniversal with DWORD value 1 PART B: Putting together the eGPU and understanding the problem On the TH05, set SW1 to position 3 (6.9s, though note it's more like 30s). Set SW2 to 2-3 for 2X.<br><br> Plug in the power (the white connector) on the TH05 to your power supply. There is no need to plug in the Black and Red cable (this is for automatic powersupply control, which doesnt work on the MBP). Keep the pins disconnected on the TH05. Plug in the TH05 to your video card.<br><br> Plug in the motherboard connector to the included SWEX adapter. Make sure it is in the ON position (1-2). Also plug in any required 6-pin/8-pin connectors to your GPU. Mine required 2 6-pin plugs.<br><br> Make sure your laptop is shut down.<br><br> Plug in the thunderbolt cable to the TH05 and then the laptop. Also, make sure no monitors are plugged into the video card.<br><br> Turn on the power to the power supply, the GPUs fans should start, then start your laptop. Hold the Option key. Now wait for the red light to turn off on the TH05. Once it’s off, select Windows.<br><br> Go to NVIDIA’s site, download and install the latest drivers for your video card. When prompted to reboot, shut down the computer instead.<br><br> Turn off the eGPU’s power supply.<br><br> Start the eGPU's power supply and boot your laptop, waiting for that red light to go off again before selecting your Windows partition. You will always need to do a power cycle of the eGPU when rebooting your computer because of the way the TH05 works.<br><br> Once Windows has started, open the Device Manager. Select Scan For New Hardware.<br><br> Notice the GTX 570 is listed with the yellow exclamation mark. If you double click on it you’ll see the dreaded Error 12. This Error 12 means that Windows wasn’t able to allocate a contiguous block of memory for the video card. Yes you probably have 8GB in your laptop, but the PCI Bus doesn’t work that way. We’re going to get rid of that error by reallocating devices in the PCI Bus. PART C: Getting rid of Error 12 on this Windows 7 (BIOS) install Go purchase DIY eGPU Setup 1.x here and run the self-extracting exe on Windows to install to c:\eGPU.<br><br> Shut down your computer and unplug the thunderbolt cable. Keep it unplugged until mentioned later. Restart the computer to OSX.<br><br> You’re now going to write the Setup 1.X raw disk image (ending in .img) to your USB memory key. Open a Terminal and type the following: diskutil unmount /dev/diskXs1 sudo dd if=/Volumes/BOOTCAMP/eGPU/eGPU-Setup-YYYYY.img of=/dev/diskX diskutil list (look for the /dev/diskX where X is the USB memory key) Make sure you replace the X and Ys with your disk number and Setup 1.X version.<br><br> Reboot to Windows 7.<br><br> If the version of Setup 1.X you received was 1.10b5, go to this thread: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html download the Patch named: Setup-110b5-updates.exe. Run it to extract. Instead of extracting to the suggested V:\ extract to the USB drive, which for me was E:\ (i'll be referring to this drive as E drive from now on). Select Yes when prompted to overwrite files.<br><br> Open up the command prompt in Administrator mode. Type the following to prep the boot image with your computer’s configuration: cd \devcon mkdevcon e: <br><br> In notepad create the file E:\config\pci.bat and paste the following into it: echo Performing PCI allocation for 2012 13" MBPr based off Tech Inferno Fan's MBP BIOS mode findings . . . :: The X16 root port @echo -s 0:1.1 1c.w=6030 20.l=AE90A090 24.l=CDF1AEA1 > setpci.arg :: Underlying Bridges in order from high to low @echo -s 4:0.0 1c.w=5131 20.l=AB00A090 24.l=C9F1B801 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 5:3.0 1c.w=4131 20.l=A700A200 24.l=C5F1B801 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 7:0.0 04.w=7 1c.w=3131 20.l=A300A200 24.l=C1F1B801 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 8:0.0 04.w=7 1c.w=3131 20.l=A300A200 24.l=C1F1B801 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg :: The NVidia GTX570 @echo -s 9:0.0 04.w=400 0C.b=20 24.w=3F81 10.l=A2000000 14.l=B8000000 1C.l=C0000000 3C.b=10 50.b=1 88.w=140 >> setpci.arg setpci @setpci.arg set pci_written=yes @echo off <br><br> Again in notepad, open the file E:\config\startup.bat and replace the contents with the following. Note the vidwait and vidinit lines. They need to have the correct PCI ID for your video card. 10de:1086 is my GTX 570. If you have a different card (including an ATI card) it will be different. call speedup lbacache :: wait for GTX570 eGPU to be on the PCI BUS call vidwait 60 10de:1086 :: initialize NVidia eGPU call vidinit -d 10de:1086 :: Perform the pci-e fixups call pci :: Chainload to the MBR call grub4dos mbr :: Speed up end-to-end runtime of startup.bat using caching <br><br> Turn off your MacBook, turn the eGPU on from the power supply and plug the thunderbolt cable into the MacBook. The fan on the GPU should be spinning right now. Make sure no display is plugged into the card.<br><br> Turn your MacBook on while holding Option. There's no need to wait for the red light to turn off now before proceeding. This time select to boot from the USB drive.<br><br> Once you get to the Blue first menu, press enter for Option 1. This will prep the PCI Bus. Note it might take a few seconds for the eGPU to be detected (basically until the red light goes off)<br><br> Windows 7 should start. If you open up the Device Manager you should see the GTX 570 without the yellow exclamation mark! Horray! You fixed Error 12!<br><br> Double click on the NVidia icon in the system tray. On the left side click on “Adjust image settings with preview”.<br><br> I know it’s shocking, but if you see a spinning NVidia logo, your internal LCD screen is being rendered by your external GPU! If you don’t believe me, launch your favorite game and notice how there’s no way the Intel HD 4000 could render it so well. I recommend you now install your fav benchmarking software, GPU-Z, FRAPS, Steam, etc to take advantage of your laptop’s new abilities.<br><br> You win! Bonus: Running Setup 1.X from your hard drive (not USB) The initial USB install is necessary as the disk image writes don't quite work right on a Macbook. So once the USB stick works we copy it to the disk image for a faster bootup time with more convenience. Here's how to do it: Open an Administrator command prompt and run the Setup 1.X installer: setup-disk-image.bat answer Y when asked about mounting the image del “c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\eGPU-Setup-mount.bat.lnk” xcopy /e e:\*.* v:\*.* assuming e:\ is your USB drive. overwrite all. cd c:\eGPU <br><br> Shut down the macbook and remove the USB memory key. Power cycle the eGPU (as usual) and start the macbook again. Select Windows from the hard drive this time.<br><br> Once the Windows boot manager shows up, select “DIY eGPU Setup 1.1xxxx”<br><br> Press Enter on the first option which will do exactly what your USB memory key used to do. Convenient!<br><br> Once the Windows boot manager shows up again, select Windows<br><br> Windows should properly boot and everything should be back to normal! NOTE: if you ever get a black screen when booting, it means you probably forgot to power cycle the eGPU. NOTE: you won't be able to access the menu system from this hard drive boot mode. To change config do it using the USB drive and rerun these instructions. Notes For ATI cards to render on the Internal LCD, you’ll need to use Virtu. See http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-35.html#post33187 for instructions on how to get this to work.<br><br> If you have a non-Retina 13" Macbook Pro your pci.bat will be different, see http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2367-macbook-pro-retina-15-gtx-560-ti-%40-th05-3.html#post32194 for what yours will look like.<br><br> Although the eGPU steps are identical and work on Windows 8 BIOS too, there are problems in Win 8. With NVidia cards, having a monitor hooked up to the eGPU will make the Internal LCD flash and with no monitor, the LCD just renders the Intel HD 4000 output (making the eGPU useless). With ATI cards, although it does work to render games on an external monitor, Internal LCD rendering does not work (when using Virtu, supposedly need Virtu MVP which doesn't install on notebooks!). Because of compromises on both these and the relative immaturity of Windows 8’s drivers, I decided to make this tutorial for Windows 7.<br><br> If you ever change the video card you use, you'll need to update the startup.bat with the correct PCI ID.<br><br> When doing Internal LCD mode (which you’re doing when you have no monitor plugged into the video card), PhysX might not be on. Open the NVidia control panel and switch it from CPU to Auto. When doing benchmarks, keep it on CPU though.<br><br> Dont forget that every time you reboot, you must power cycle the eGPU.<br><br> If someone knows how to get the eGPU to restart with a reboot of the computer, please let me know. Simply connecting the black and red cable isn't enough on the MBP from my observations. I tried the switch in both positions and both polarities.<br><br> Oh and here's my "case": Enjoy, and I hope these instructions were helpful for you! If you're on Twitter, i'd appreciate a follow: @lg
  8. oh right i should have probably mentioned this. i dont know about you guys, but my sound works just fine. bootcamp drivers are all that's needed to get it enabled. maybe it's the configuration in my 13" Retina MBP, but works great.
  9. oh i had that error too for some reason. i uninstalled the driver (and deleted files) and reinstalled it from intel's .zip file on their site. it worked the second time...
  10. The Intel HD 4000 will work on its own in EFI, just not with the eGPU also hooked up. The new intel driver seems to have fixed the need to delete the driver file to make it display something. yeah with the whole dGPU thing you have going on in the 15", i'm not sure how it'll turn out. report back!
  11. thanks to nando i'm now fully egu compatible w/ Optimus+Internal LCD (intel hd 4000 igpu) on my 13" Retina Apple Macbook Pro. I got it working in Windows 7 Bootcamp BIOS + Setup 1.X (with patched pci.bat and startup.bat files as per http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2367-macbook-pro-retina-15-gtx-560-ti-%40-th05-11.html#post36670), though i think Windows 8 is possible too. I have a GTX570 running at x2.2 (TH05, SW1=6.9s). Will do a writeup and get some pix soon! wooohooooo!
  12. with nando's amazing help, i was able to get it working w/ Optimus + internal LCD! no DSDT changes were needed, but i did need to follow the instructions for proper BIOS setup as specified on this page: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2367-macbook-pro-retina-15-gtx-560-ti-%40-th05-3.html#post32194 this is important as macbooks appear to need to be done that way. i did this in win7 bootcamp bios, but i suspect i can reproduce this using win 8 as well. going to try that next. i had to use a different /config/pci.bat (below) in Setup 1.X: @echo off echo Performing PCI allocation for 2012 13" MBPr based off Tech Inferno Fan's MBP BIOS mode findings . . . :: The X16 root port @echo -s 0:1.1 1c.w=6030 20.l=AE90A090 24.l=CDF1AEA1 > setpci.arg :: Underlying Bridges in order from high to low @echo -s 4:0.0 1c.w=5131 20.l=AB00A090 24.l=C9F1B801 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 5:3.0 1c.w=4131 20.l=A700A200 24.l=C5F1B801 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 7:0.0 04.w=7 1c.w=3131 20.l=A300A200 24.l=C1F1B801 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg @echo -s 8:0.0 04.w=7 1c.w=3131 20.l=A300A200 24.l=C1F1B801 28.l=0 30.w=0 3c.b=10 >> setpci.arg :: The NVidia GTX570 @echo -s 9:0.0 04.w=400 0C.b=20 24.w=3F81 10.l=A2000000 14.l=B8000000 1C.l=C0000000 3C.b=10 50.b=1 88.w=140 >> setpci.arg setpci @setpci.arg set pci_written=yes /config/startup.bat :: Speed up end-to-end runtime of startup.bat using caching call speedup lbacache :: wait for GTX570 eGPU to be on the PCI BUS call vidwait 60 10de:1086 :: initialize NVidia eGPU call vidinit -d 10de:1086 :: Perform the pci-e fixups call pci :: Chainload to the MBR call grub4dos mbr go back a couple threads if you need to see the specs of my setup
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