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2016 Macbook Pros and eGPUs


leocanela

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Casey-S, hopefully you saw my note about disabling m mirroring or Optimus.

 

It cause a MAJOR performance hit when running. (If same thing is on both screens, it's running)

 

I am hopeful that the AKitio Node is going to change the game for eGPU.

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8 hours ago, ikir said:

With?

 

On 11/22/2016 at 11:43 AM, Casey_S said:

Only had a moment to plug in the Thunder3 + GTX 1080 to my 15" 2016 MBP in Bootcamp last night, but it was recognized in the device manager as a "Microsoft Display Adapter" without any steps taken other than powering on the Thunder3 then powering on the MBP. Haven't installed any additional drivers, didn't try hotplug, haven't done any EFI management yet.

 

6 minutes ago, MVC said:

Casey-S, hopefully you saw my note about disabling m mirroring or Optimus.

 

It cause a MAJOR performance hit when running. (If same thing is on both screens, it's running)

 

I am hopeful that the AKitio Node is going to change the game for eGPU.

 

Set the display settings to only show on my external, but if there's anything more I have to do other than going into Windows' display settings and changing that option then I haven't done it.

 

afaik the Node uses what is effectively the same version of the Thunder3's PCB so there shouldn't be any performance difference. It's essentially just a pre-modified Thunder3 eGPU. 

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I've done literally every test I can imagine, tried tons of different driver configurations, and changed which lanes and devices are disabled, but every time the scores are the same. Either I'm not getting full TB3 speeds - which I don't know how to check - or the CPU is actually what's been bottlenecking eGPU's this whole time. Either way, my final verdict is the new MBP's yield no additional performance for eGPU's. Not in Bootcamp anyway.

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You're going down the same path someone else did, so I'll copy paste the steps I told them to take:

 

You need to install your iGPU drivers. Boot into Windows under safe mode with networking, check your device manager, and you should see your iGPU along with your dGPU, but the iGPU will have a generic name. Look up which iGPU corresponds with your MacBook model, then find and install the drivers. Be sure to run the iGPU switch batch file and restart, and you should be good. Then disable your dGPU along with the "HD audio device" associated with it, as well as "Intel Xeon... PCIe controller (x4) - 1909". Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Power enough times during Windows loading and eventually it'll tell you it's having trouble starting and give you an option to reboot in safe mode.

 

After that, plug the eGPU in one second after launching the windows EFI, basically as soon as you see the windows 10 logo.

 

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1 hour ago, Casey_S said:

You're going down the same path someone else did, so I'll copy paste the steps I told them to take:

 

You need to install your iGPU drivers. Boot into Windows under safe mode with networking, check your device manager, and you should see your iGPU along with your dGPU, but the iGPU will have a generic name. Look up which iGPU corresponds with your MacBook model, then find and install the drivers. Be sure to run the iGPU switch batch file and restart, and you should be good. Then disable your dGPU along with the "HD audio device" associated with it, as well as "Intel Xeon... PCIe controller (x4) - 1909". Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Power enough times during Windows loading and eventually it'll tell you it's having trouble starting and give you an option to reboot in safe mode.

 

After that, plug the eGPU in one second after launching the windows EFI, basically as soon as you see the windows 10 logo.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

The issue is when booting windows after EFInd is installed and the script is loaded. Windows will just freeze at the boot logo (spinning wheel eventually freezes) and I have to force restart... 

I can't get to the steps you are describing above. :( 

 

 

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15 hours ago, Casey_S said:

That's what I'm telling you how to fix. Fail to boot enough times and Windows will give you the option of rebooting in safe mode. Unless you mean safe mode fails to boot as well.

Okay! I will try that when I get home, thanks!

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20 hours ago, Casey_S said:

You're going down the same path someone else did, so I'll copy paste the steps I told them to take:

 

You need to install your iGPU drivers. Boot into Windows under safe mode with networking, check your device manager, and you should see your iGPU along with your dGPU, but the iGPU will have a generic name. Look up which iGPU corresponds with your MacBook model, then find and install the drivers. Be sure to run the iGPU switch batch file and restart, and you should be good. Then disable your dGPU along with the "HD audio device" associated with it, as well as "Intel Xeon... PCIe controller (x4) - 1909". Alt + Ctrl + Shift + Power enough times during Windows loading and eventually it'll tell you it's having trouble starting and give you an option to reboot in safe mode.

 

After that, plug the eGPU in one second after launching the windows EFI, basically as soon as you see the windows 10 logo.

 

 

I have the same problem, and when I tried to install the iGPU driver it showed "This computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software"

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I just got my 13" MBP with TB. I don't have access to a Razer Core yet and the situation with the Node was a bummer :(

 

So what I did was I bought a TB3 -> TB2 adapter from Apple and I tested my Maxwell Titan X + Sonnet III-D set up.

 

I used the TB3 enabler as well as goalque's eGPU script to get it to work with Mac OS.

 

Worked better my old 2013 15" MBP+750m so far - seeing as I don't have to hot plug it at the Apple logo anymore. Not testing it on Windows yet until NVIDIA miraculously releases drivers for my 1080 - that's sitting inside my gaming pc for now.

 

EDIT: Hot-plugging unsurprisingly doesn't work.

Edited by Mark
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On 11/30/2016 at 7:07 PM, Casey_S said:

I've done literally every test I can imagine, tried tons of different driver configurations, and changed which lanes and devices are disabled, but every time the scores are the same. Either I'm not getting full TB3 speeds - which I don't know how to check - or the CPU is actually what's been bottlenecking eGPU's this whole time. Either way, my final verdict is the new MBP's yield no additional performance for eGPU's. Not in Bootcamp anyway.

 

Can you run something like open hardware monitor (http://openhardwaremonitor.org) in the background and see if either cpu / gpu are hitting 100% in tests? Found it handy to look at the graph afterwards to see what's going on. In graphic's tests these days gpu normally always hits 100% but cpu's rarely do.

Edited by pixxelpusher
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Hi guys. I'm a eGPU noob, but now I'm looking for solution for my MacBook Pro 15" radeon 460. My main goal is to use the eGPU in OS X, for creative applications such as Octane renderer and Adobe suite. With all I have read, I have come to conclusion that it is still best to go for TB2 solutions right? Is the Akitio2 + gtx 980ti route still the easiest and most reliable for this usage? If I understand correctly, any performance boost gain with TB3 is marginal at this point? Any advice is highly appreciated!

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Hi guys. I need some help.
I bought a Razer Core + GTX 1080 to use with my TB 2016 15-inch

According to people here I just need to do the DSDT Fix.


However I really don't understand how it works!
This is what I've done so far:
I tried using the simple version with the DSDT Editor: 

However when I restart I don't get a 'Large Memory' component on my device manager!

I've tried multiple times and it doesn't work. When I click 'compile' I get some Syntax errors that I don't understand but they aren't part of the PCI0 slot.

 

 

Then trying to use the normal version of the fix

 

I have no idea what to do. I downloaded the file pack and edited the .dsl file as directed, but I have no idea what I'm expected to the with the command prompt to make this work.

 

If anyone has any tips that can help me I would love them! I'm desperate to try out the razer core :(

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20 hours ago, Bagpipehero said:

Hi guys. I need some help.
I bought a Razer Core + GTX 1080 to use with my TB 2016 15-inch

According to people here I just need to do the DSDT Fix.


However I really don't understand how it works!
This is what I've done so far:
I tried using the simple version with the DSDT Editor: 

However when I restart I don't get a 'Large Memory' component on my device manager!

I've tried multiple times and it doesn't work. When I click 'compile' I get some Syntax errors that I don't understand but they aren't part of the PCI0 slot.

 

 

Then trying to use the normal version of the fix

 

I have no idea what to do. I downloaded the file pack and edited the .dsl file as directed, but I have no idea what I'm expected to the with the command prompt to make this work.

 

If anyone has any tips that can help me I would love them! I'm desperate to try out the razer core :(

 

Exactly same situation here

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You need to read the steps very carefully.

 

Also, I think in Win 10 you have to be in test mode to run modded DSDT

 

There might be a way to avoid DSDT, I have seen a post from a guy claiming he was successful just disabling a few items.

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It works! It runs the Gtx 1080 with Razer Core perfectly. My only issue now is that Windows is stuck in Test mode - anyone know if this is fixable?

Some helping tips that made it work for me:

(On a 2016 Macbook Pro 15 inch with 2.7 cpu and 460 AMD GPU)

 

Using this guide: 

 

1. Download Windows Binary Tools and then WDK and install them (from the '"Tools Required"section), it felt like you needed those apart from the pre-package. Windows Binary Tools has many options, I chose the Express version.

Once you download and install them make sure you check the WDK folder in your downloads folder and run the installer from there.

 

2. Use the iasl -g command in step 2, you don't need the  acpidump command

This is what you need to do to get the process started for the guide:

Download the tool pack http://www.mediafire.com/file/y686pbfr8zdvea1/2570P-dsdt-override.rar

On the terminal screen (press the command button in keyboard and search 'command prompt'- right click and run as admin) , you have to type "cd [address of the folder the files are on], then press enter to move to that directory and then the commands will start working

So for example cd C:\Users\bagpipehero\Desktop\2570P-dsdt-override

(cd stands for change directory I believe)

Then just type iasl -g and click enter, and then go through the next steps using the command prompt when needed and editing the text document when needed.

 

3. On the parts of the guide when you have to type in dsdt.dsl, check if your file name is different. Mine was DSDT_MacbBookP.dsl so it worked when I typed that in instead.

 

4. When it finally works ('Large Memory' appears in device manager as shown in the final step) you will get an error 34, just install latest drivers for your gpu.  Windows takes 2.5 minutes to boot up so need to be patient.

 

5. Once it finally works, go to device manager 'sound, video and game controllers' and disable Cirrus Logic, press ok to restart computer. When it restarts just re-enable it and your sound will work.

 

6. Bonus fix: If you are having trouble moving and shooting in games, go to mouse settings in windows -> touchpad -> set it to no delay. This freaked me out for a second but works well now!

 

I wish I could teleport and do it for you guys as it is so quick after this stuff finally makes sense!

 

 

Edited by Bagpipehero
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I now have a GTX 980 Ti + Razer Core working in both macOS 10.12.2 and Windows 10 on my 2016 MacBook Pro 15" with Pro 460 GPU. Here's what I know:

 

Windows 10:

Spoiler

Getting it working in Windows was the easiest.

 

Here's the general overview of what I had to do:

  • Edit my DSDT to add a new large memory block. I followed instructions of others in this thread, and other threads online.
  • Put Windows in Test Mode and applied the DSDT.
  • Restarted the machine
  • Installed the latest Nvidia drivers.

Booting with the eGPU plugged in causes the boot time to increase dramatically. 

The eGPU is mostly hot-pluggable. Sometimes, I get a blue screen when I unplug it.

 

macOS 10.12.2:

Spoiler

This took me some time to get fully working.

 

A few things are needed:

General overview of what I had to do:

  • Patch my IOThunderboltFamily.kext in /System/Library/Extensions using tb3-enabler.
    • This takes the Core from being "Unsupported" in System Information > Thunderbolt to showing as connected.
    • The USB ports on the Core now work after a restart.
    • An Nvidia card shows up in System Information > Graphics/Displays, but no drivers are loaded (haven't installed them yet)
  • Run automate-eGPU.
    • This installs a patched version of the Nvidia web drivers with support for eGPUs.
    • It also fixes a few other common eGPU issues.
  • Add the "nv_spanmodepolicy=1" kernel argument to use a 4K or 5K MST display (optional)
    • automate-eGPU adds itself to `/usr/local/bin/automate-eGPU.sh` and runs on boot to set kernel arguments.
    • Nvidia Web Drivers will not support MST displays unless this argument is passed.
    • Search through automate-eGPU.sh for "boot_args" and add the "nv_spanmodepolicy=1" boot argument everywhere you find "nvda_drv=1"
    • Restart the machine at least two times.

Notes:

  • Test the eGPU without any screens plugged in. You'll hear the GPU fans die down if drivers engage. This is the first step to getting it working.
  • I've had graphics glitches and slowness when the Intel iGPU is in use. Turn off Automatic Graphics Switching (use the Radeon Pro GPU) to fix this.
  • I don't need to hot-plug the eGPU when the Apple logo to get the eGPU to work. However, at one point I did (not sure how I fixed that). If your eGPU is not working, you may want to leave it unplugged at boot until the Apple logo appears, then immediately plug it in before the progress bar appears.

Screen Shot 2016-12-15 at 2.32.07 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-12-15 at 2.41.40 PM.png

 

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On 02/12/2016 at 6:16 PM, Mark said:

I just got my 13" MBP with TB. I don't have access to a Razer Core yet and the situation with the Node was a bummer :(

 

So what I did was I bought a TB3 -> TB2 adapter from Apple and I tested my Maxwell Titan X + Sonnet III-D set up.

 

I used the TB3 enabler as well as goalque's eGPU script to get it to work with Mac OS.

 

Worked better my old 2013 15" MBP+750m so far - seeing as I don't have to hot plug it at the Apple logo anymore. Not testing it on Windows yet until NVIDIA miraculously releases drivers for my 1080 - that's sitting inside my gaming pc for now.

 

EDIT: Hot-plugging unsurprisingly doesn't work.

 

 

UPDATE: Well, I'm taking some of my words back.

 

For some reason 4k video chokes on Photos, Final Cut Pro X as well as Quicktime. Youtube and VLC however worked fine with the eGPU plugged in. Everything works fine with the Intel iGPU. I wonder if it's the NVIDIA driver playing up, or if moving over to an RX 480 would solve the problem...

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Hi, Could you clarify?

 

I don:t understand what you:re saying about 4K video.

 

Also * Turn off Automatic Graphics Switching (use the Radeon Pro GPU) to fix this.*

 

How do you do that?

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