Early-2015 13" MBP + GTX1070@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win10/8.1 + 3D Printed Enclosure [nasiryahm]

[nasiryahm]

Hi All,

 

I'm new to the forums but I found a lot of great information here so I thought I would share. I have successfully run an NVIDIA GTX 1070 with my Early-2015 Macbook Pro. My setup is the following:

 

- Akitio Thunder2 PCI-E Box

- NVIDIA GTX 1070

- Powered 16x PCI-E Riser

- EVGA NEX650G PSU (I know it is overkill, it was my only option in a pinch. Paperclip trick for power.)

 

 

I have outlined the pieces, my excitement and some issues at my blog.

 

Issues:
- I initially had an issue where my system would not boot correctly with the eGPU powered and plugged in. The screen remained black and no boot chime. Booting into and shutting down from OSX solved this issue but it occasionally returns.

- The first PSU I tried (EVGA 500W) would spontaneously turn off when I started using the GPU at high load (e.g. intense gaming). I replaced it with the EVGA NEX650G which I had from an old project.

- Windows 10 still holds issues for me. I often have to get to the boot screen (holding alt at boot) and then plug in the eGPU + Power before selecting Windows. Even then I have a high failure rate (>70%). Windows 10 often hangs at the loading screen (spinning circles) and never moves on. This happens 3/4 times. I am currently re-installing windows 10 to see if it helps. When I get through to windows the eGPU works great. Tried with Witcher 3 @ 1080p with ultra-high settings. I believe that Optimus is also running with the current driver.

 

If there are any requests for benchmarks, I am happy to do them. I am new to this world though and therefore don't know the defaults.

 

Nas

 

[EDIT: 23/06/2016]

 

After using the setup for a number of days, I have come across a few problems and solutions. I am using a 2015 Macbook Pro and others on this forum have had issues making eGPU builds with this macbook. After installing Windows >5 times and Linux > 3 times, here are my outcomes:

 

Issues:

-> Windows 10 or 8.1 installed via bootcamp to the local disk barely works. One boot out of every 20 allows you access to the GPU, otherwise infinite spinning wheel or blank screen.

-> Linux is a bit tough too as we are using an integrated graphics card. From what I have understood, to get the eGPU working you must uninstall the nouveau drivers and use bumblebee (for optimus on linux). Still trying to make that work.

 

Solution:
-> To get the setup working on Windows, install to an external drive. Following that, every time you want to use the eGPU do the following:

1) Turn off everything

2) Plug in the eGPU -> Thunderbolt2

3) Power up the eGPU and wait for ~10s

4) Turn on the Macbook Pro while holding alt and get to the boot option screen

4.1) It the GPU starts up but the mac does not, hold the power button until the GPU dies down and then try again. If it fails repeatedly, boot into Mac OSX and then shut down.

5) Success! 

 

This above technique has allowed me to boot around 7 out of every 10 times I try. I am now running Windows 8.1 but I shall also try this technique with windows 10 sometime. Much better.

 

[EDIT: 03/07/2016] 

I created a 3D printed enclosure for my Akitio board! Check it out on my blog: https://nasiryahm.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/3d-printing-an-egpu-case/

Or on my post in TechInferno: 

 

Edited July 3, 2016 by nasiryahm
Title

[nasiryahm]

On looking around, tranJ10's post on installation for a macbook pro 2015 is a perfect explanation on how to move forward.

https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/8212-2015-13-macbook-pro-gtx97016gbps-tb2akitio-thunder2-win81osx1010-tranj10/

 

Also see his link for installation of Windows to an external drive:

http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.html

Edited June 23, 2016 by nasiryahm

[jagung]

Hi @nasiryahm . Awesome news getting the GTX 1070 to work with Windows. Any luck getting it to work with OSX El Capitan?

[nasiryahm]

Hi @jagung - There have been no drivers released for OSX at all yet. Since it is a new architecture, it won't work if I install existing drivers (as far as I am aware). There are quite a few people in wait for the new drivers :/ 

[cloudlee9]

Hi nasiryahm, have you run the 3DMark for the 1070? I already got a eGPU of 970 and now planning to upgrade to 1070 or 1080. But I am not sure the tb2 interface is enough for the new GPU. So if you can run a 3DMark test it will be very helpful, thanks. 

[Barzenberg]

On June 21, 2016 at 3:07 PM, nasiryahm said:

Hi All,

 

I'm new to the forums but I found a lot of great information here so I thought I would share. I have successfully run an NVIDIA GTX 1070 with my Early-2015 Macbook Pro. My setup is the following:

 

- Akitio Thunder2 PCI-E Box

- NVIDIA GTX 1070

- Powered 16x PCI-E Riser

- EVGA NEX650G PSU (I know it is overkill, it was my only option in a pinch. Paperclip trick for power.)

 

 

I have outlined the pieces, my excitement and some issues at my blog.

 

Issues:
- I initially had an issue where my system would not boot correctly with the eGPU powered and plugged in. The screen remained black and no boot chime. Booting into and shutting down from OSX solved this issue but it occasionally returns.

- The first PSU I tried (EVGA 500W) would spontaneously turn off when I started using the GPU at high load (e.g. intense gaming). I replaced it with the EVGA NEX650G which I had from an old project.

- Windows 10 still holds issues for me. I often have to get to the boot screen (holding alt at boot) and then plug in the eGPU + Power before selecting Windows. Even then I have a high failure rate (>70%). Windows 10 often hangs at the loading screen (spinning circles) and never moves on. This happens 3/4 times. I am currently re-installing windows 10 to see if it helps. When I get through to windows the eGPU works great. Tried with Witcher 3 @ 1080p with ultra-high settings. I believe that Optimus is also running with the current driver.

 

If there are any requests for benchmarks, I am happy to do them. I am new to this world though and therefore don't know the defaults.

 

Nas

 

[EDIT: 23/06/2016]

 

After using the setup for a number of days, I have come across a few problems and solutions. I am using a 2015 Macbook Pro and others on this forum have had issues making eGPU builds with this macbook. After installing Windows >5 times and Linux > 3 times, here are my outcomes:

 

Issues:

-> Windows 10 or 8.1 installed via bootcamp to the local disk barely works. One boot out of every 20 allows you access to the GPU, otherwise infinite spinning wheel or blank screen.

-> Linux is a bit tough too as we are using an integrated graphics card. From what I have understood, to get the eGPU working you must uninstall the nouveau drivers and use bumblebee (for optimus on linux). Still trying to make that work.

 

Solution:
-> To get the setup working on Windows, install to an external drive. Following that, every time you want to use the eGPU do the following:

1) Turn off everything

2) Plug in the eGPU -> Thunderbolt2

3) Power up the eGPU and wait for ~10s

4) Turn on the Macbook Pro while holding alt and get to the boot option screen

4.1) It the GPU starts up but the mac does not, hold the power button until the GPU dies down and then try again. If it fails repeatedly, boot into Mac OSX and then shut down.

5) Success! 

 

This above technique has allowed me to boot around 7 out of every 10 times I try. I am now running Windows 8.1 but I shall also try this technique with windows 10 sometime. Much better.

Unplug and power off everything. Press power button and hold alt to get the boot options. Turn on your gpu psu. Press enter on Windows partition then plug in thunderbolt cable ~a second after pressing enter. 100% boot rate now. 

[nasiryahm]

On 01/07/2016 at 4:19 AM, cloudlee9 said:

Hi nasiryahm, have you run the 3DMark for the 1070? I already got a eGPU of 970 and now planning to upgrade to 1070 or 1080. But I am not sure the tb2 interface is enough for the new GPU. So if you can run a 3DMark test it will be very helpful, thanks. 

Hi @cloudlee9 - I just ran Fire Strike (first time using 3D Mark, it's fun!). I have the following results and can post a screenshot on my blog maybe:

Overall Score-> 7960 | Graphics Score -> 12760 | Physics Score 4899 | Combined Score -> 2761

 

How does that compare with what you are getting on the 970? (Plus, is your windows installation on the internal SSD?)

One thing to note: I am running my windows os from a fairly slow mechanical external hard drive. I have already noticed that it is slowing down my laptop a large amount (and games loaded much faster when I used the internal drive). I am buying an external SSD drive with usb 3.0 and will update the scores when that comes through.

 

@Barzenberg : Hey! Thanks for the suggestion - I have tried that a few times. When I installed via bootcamp I tried it for around 20 boots and it only worked once. I also tried lots of variations (as I didn't want to have to use an external drive). On my external drive I prefer to: Power off everything, insert TB2 cable, turn on eGPU, turn on Mac with alt. It boots around 8/10 times and that is good enough for me. I personally find the process of having to plug in the TB2 cable after the boot screen a little annoying, especially since I have my macbook on a stand at home. Each to their own!

[SnJAe]

HI, Thanks for your tip. have you tried windows10 on external ssd? if you did and worked, which build did you use? I heard that windows10 with anniversary update ruins the egpu, and it works better on build 1511 windows10. Have you tried that?

[nowai_david]

On 11/6/2016 at 9:53 PM, SnJAe said:

HI, Thanks for your tip. have you tried windows10 on external ssd? if you did and worked, which build did you use? I heard that windows10 with anniversary update ruins the egpu, and it works better on build 1511 windows10. Have you tried that?

 

Hi SnJae, I made a blog post about installing Windows on an external SSD which collates resources together - https://blog.davidjameshowell.com/posts/windows-10-on-Mac-via-external-SSD-drive

[nasiryahm]

On 07/11/2016 at 4:53 AM, SnJAe said:

HI, Thanks for your tip. have you tried windows10 on external ssd? if you did and worked, which build did you use? I heard that windows10 with anniversary update ruins the egpu, and it works better on build 1511 windows10. Have you tried that?

 

Hey SnJae, I did try my eGPU with an external SSD (I bought a USB 3.0 SSD adapter). I installed windows 10 and still had issues booting, boot only worked once in every dozen tries. I tried the eGPU before the Anniversary edition was released but I do not remember which build number it was.

 

It sucked to use windows 8 but the boot was *incredibly* reliable compared to Windows 10.

[SnJAe]

23 hours ago, nasiryahm said:

 

Hey SnJae, I did try my eGPU with an external SSD (I bought a USB 3.0 SSD adapter). I installed windows 10 and still had issues booting, boot only worked once in every dozen tries. I tried the eGPU before the Anniversary edition was released but I do not remember which build number it was.

 

It sucked to use windows 8 but the boot was *incredibly* reliable compared to Windows 10.

 

Thanks! I just installed windows 8.1 on external SSD and tried to eGPU, but it never works. 

I've tried your powering process, but booting with thunderbolt cable attached always gives me black screen even after shutting down through OsX.

I've tried NVRam clean up, tried, hot plugging thuderbolt cable while in boot option menu, while loading, and all other boot up methods, but never works!!!!

 

what could possibly a problem? and by the way, what version of nvidia driver do you use?

[nasiryahm]

On 10/11/2016 at 11:01 AM, SnJAe said:

 

Thanks! I just installed windows 8.1 on external SSD and tried to eGPU, but it never works. 

I've tried your powering process, but booting with thunderbolt cable attached always gives me black screen even after shutting down through OsX.

I've tried NVRam clean up, tried, hot plugging thuderbolt cable while in boot option menu, while loading, and all other boot up methods, but never works!!!!

 

what could possibly a problem? and by the way, what version of nvidia driver do you use?

Can I check:

- Do you have a Macbook Pro (Early 2015 13inch)?

- Do you plug in the Thunderbolt3 Cable while the Macbook is off?

- When you try to turn on the macbook, what happens? Does the screen stay black? What if you try to hold down the power button/try multiple times?

- Does booting into Windows work without the eGPU? Have you installed the Latest Windows NVIDIA drivers?

At the time, I was using 368.39 I believe.

[SnJAe]

11 hours ago, nasiryahm said:

Can I check:

- Do you have a Macbook Pro (Early 2015 13inch)?

- Do you plug in the Thunderbolt3 Cable while the Macbook is off?

- When you try to turn on the macbook, what happens? Does the screen stay black? What if you try to hold down the power button/try multiple times?

- Does booting into Windows work without the eGPU? Have you installed the Latest Windows NVIDIA drivers?

At the time, I was using 368.39 I believe.

 

- Yes, I use Macbook Pro Retina Display(Early 2015 13inch)

-I've tried all possible plug in methods:

    plug in while macbook is off --> black screen when turn on macbook

    plug in while in boot option menu --> boot option menu freezes

    plug in right after selecting windows from boot option menu --> infinite spinning wheel

    plug in as soon as I see spinning wheel appear after selecting windows from boot option menu --> infinite spinning wheel

    plug in few seconds after spinning wheel appears --> windows boot up, but does not recognize gpu.

    let windows boot automatically without passing through boot option menu, and plug in as soon as spinning wheel appears --> works for less than 5% (less than 5% in a sense that when it decides to not work, it doesn't work no matter how many times I try)

- turning on macbook with egpu connected and powered on always gives me black screen, no matter how many times I try. even after going back and forth from osX or doing NVRam Clean up. 

 

- windows without egpu works perfectly. I tried using latest windows NVIDIA Driver, but had 0% success rate. driver 372.70 has 5% success rate though. Nvidia 368.39 doesn't support my gtx1060 unfortunately...

 

I have one question though. is it normal to have gpu's fan spinning at its max speed when there is no other connection to gpu except the power supply?

So when I power on the akitio box without any thunderbolt connection, akitio box has green light turned on and has no fan movement, but gpu's fan spins like crazy. And when I connect akitio box to powered on macbook, akitio box turns to blue light, its fan starts to spin, and gpu's fan slowly stops. Is this normal?

Edited November 12, 2016 by SnJAe

[nasiryahm]

2 hours ago, SnJAe said:

 

- Yes, I use Macbook Pro Retina Display(Early 2015 13inch)

-I've tried all possible plug in methods:

    plug in while macbook is off --> black screen when turn on macbook

    plug in while in boot option menu --> boot option menu freezes

    plug in right after selecting windows from boot option menu --> infinite spinning wheel

    plug in as soon as I see spinning wheel appear after selecting windows from boot option menu --> infinite spinning wheel

    plug in few seconds after spinning wheel appears --> windows boot up, but does not recognize gpu.

    let windows boot automatically without passing through boot option menu, and plug in as soon as spinning wheel appears --> works for less than 5% (less than 5% in a sense that when it decides to not work, it doesn't work no matter how many times I try)

- turning on macbook with egpu connected and powered on always gives me black screen, no matter how many times I try. even after going back and forth from osX or doing NVRam Clean up. 

 

- windows without egpu works perfectly. I tried using latest windows NVIDIA Driver, but had 0% success rate. driver 372.70 has 5% success rate though. Nvidia 368.39 doesn't support my gtx1060 unfortunately...

 

I have one question though. is it normal to have gpu's fan spinning at its max speed when there is no other connection to gpu except the power supply?

So when I power on the akitio box without any thunderbolt connection, akitio box has green light turned on and has no fan movement, but gpu's fan spins like crazy. And when I connect akitio box to powered on macbook, akitio box turns to blue light, its fan starts to spin, and gpu's fan slowly stops. Is this normal?

 

Ah, It sounds like you have been doing what I did: Every single possible arrangement of the parts. I'm sorry to hear that it isn't working. For me, I used to turn on the macbook with the eGPU plugged in and it worked 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, the macbook just wouldn't start (black screen). But shutting down windows/osx correctly often worked.

Question: Do you always turn off the eGPU and unplug it before every boot? I got a slightly higher success rate if I :

- Turn off my macbook pro

- Turn off my eGPU enclosure (or attached PSU) and wait for around 10-20s

- Finally turn the eGPU enclosure on and then the macbook pro.

 

If that doesn't help then I don't know if there is much else to try :/

[SnJAe]

2 hours ago, nasiryahm said:

 

Ah, It sounds like you have been doing what I did: Every single possible arrangement of the parts. I'm sorry to hear that it isn't working. For me, I used to turn on the macbook with the eGPU plugged in and it worked 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, the macbook just wouldn't start (black screen). But shutting down windows/osx correctly often worked.

Question: Do you always turn off the eGPU and unplug it before every boot? I got a slightly higher success rate if I :

- Turn off my macbook pro

- Turn off my eGPU enclosure (or attached PSU) and wait for around 10-20s

- Finally turn the eGPU enclosure on and then the macbook pro.

 

If that doesn't help then I don't know if there is much else to try :/

Thanks!! 

 

I do always turn of the eGPU and unplug before every boot

 

By the way, I got another problem. I just re-installed my windows8.1 on external ssd using the link you've provided http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.html

but external ssd freezes every time I try to install BootCamp driver.... do you know what is the problem for this is?

 

[nasiryahm]

On 12/11/2016 at 0:10 PM, SnJAe said:

Thanks!! 

 

I do always turn of the eGPU and unplug before every boot

 

By the way, I got another problem. I just re-installed my windows8.1 on external ssd using the link you've provided http://bleeptobleep.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/mac-install-windows-7-or-8-on-external.html

but external ssd freezes every time I try to install BootCamp driver.... do you know what is the problem for this is?

 

 

Not sure. I have not had this issue before. Just make sure that you are installing the windows 8.1 drivers? Other than that :/ ... A hard format and fresh reinstall is painful but tends to work.