2013 15" MBP Iris + GTX960@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Dell DA-2

[kos]

Hi there,

 

just a short thread to give you some inspirations. My setup consists of:

 

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Late 2013 OSX + Windows 10

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 Superclocked ACX 2

Akitio Thunder2 PCIe Box

Dell-DA2 PSU

Dell U2311H Display 

Samsung TV and Onkyo Receiver

Steam Link

XBOX One Controller / XBOX 360 Controller

Apple Thunderbolt Gigabit-Ethernet Adapter

 

I spend almost 30€ on Adapters and Cables, Crimps etc just to find out that it does not work well and it does not take much to get a sleek and simple design. You just have to be brave enough and willing to cut the Dell PSU

 

 

The cut Dell-PSU. White is 12V, black GND, blue needs to be shorted against GND, red is not required and can be cut or isolated. I don't know whats that blank is for, so I just cut it. There is some additional cable from 1x 12V and 1x GND to be connected to the Akitio's Power Supply, I don't use the Barrel-Plug anymore. 

 

 

I drilled a hole (about 10mm width) right above the Power Connection. Intelligent people put the cable through the housing first, other (like me) have to force it

 

 

 

 

Cables go under the board, there is about 1 cm of free space. Now it's time to solder the boards power supply. (No pictured) 

 

 

 

 

The tiny pins can be bought at Ebay ("PCI-E Pins"/ "PSU Power Connector Pins"). There are also "Wire End Sleeves"with crimp-able necks available which might work as well but I didn't try them. You might give them a try too

 

 

 

.

 

Doesn't look good but fits well. I use the lower plastic parts of one PCI-E 8 Pin Power Adapter to make the Pins fit in there, otherwise they would slip out the plug. 

 

 

 

 

Holes drilled for better cooling. The front Fan is still connected and blows air into the housing. The GPU Fan presses it out through the selfmade holes.

 

 

 

 

Final and simple Setup, I'am streaming the games over network to my Steam Link. I still need to try if I can connect the TB-Ethernet Adapter to the back of the Akito.

 

 

 

best regards 

kos

 

 

Edited June 22, 2016 by kos

[Dschijn]

Careful with the bend PCIe plug, better isolate them a bit more.