2012 13" MBP + GTX1060@10Gbps-TB1 (Akitio Thunder2) + Xbox One PSU + Win10 [nowai_david]

[nowai_david]

Hardware:

• Late 2012 13" Retina Macbook Pro (i7, 8GB RAM)
• Akitio Thunder2 enclosure
• ZOTAC GTX 1060 6GB mini
• Rocksoul Xbox One power supply
• MyDigitalSSD 512GB USB 3.0 USAP SSD

 

I recently acquired a Akitio along with the GTX 1060. I am currently running this from a Xbox One power supply that I hacked together to be compatible with a barrel plug and 6 pin for the GPU. The adapter is only like $30 unlike the DA-2's which to be older and may not be as reliable. It powers it up and is working as expected! I will be posting a general guide on using the Xbox One PSU as a viable replacement instead of the DA-2 since this is lighter and more compact.

 

I cannot comment on how this setup working in OSX as I am only currently running Windows and have no desire to for OSX.

 

I have a blog article here on installing Windows to an SSD for OSX. I will be posting a better write up of the eGPU on there as well. 

 

And pictures to follow:

 

http://assets.davidjameshowell.com/davidjameshowell.com/mac-egpu/setup-and-verify.jpg

https://assets.davidjameshowell.com/davidjameshowell.com/mac-egpu/egpu-unit-setup-new-power-supply.jpg

https://assets.davidjameshowell.com/davidjameshowell.com/mac-egpu/egpu-unit-setup-new-power-supply-uplcose.jpg

Edited November 8, 2016 by nowai_david

[sonnytron]

Hi,

Can I ask you, how did you manage to get the eGPU software to boot on your Mac? 

Did you install Windows with Bootcamp on a partition or did you use a separate drive? 

I'm having a lot of issues with an Akitio Thunder2 and an ASUS GTX 1070. I don't care about using it in OSX. 

But in Windows 10, I either boot with it too early and get a black screen, or too late and the eGPU software doesn't read it. 

But for some reason when I try to plug the TB cable while booting into eGPU software, my keyboard freezes or it won't load the image. 

I've tried eGPU Setup 1.2 and 1.3 both. 

Any advice? 

[nowai_david]

10 minutes ago, sonnytron said:

Hi,

Can I ask you, how did you manage to get the eGPU software to boot on your Mac? 

Did you install Windows with Bootcamp on a partition or did you use a separate drive? 

I'm having a lot of issues with an Akitio Thunder2 and an ASUS GTX 1070. I don't care about using it in OSX. 

But in Windows 10, I either boot with it too early and get a black screen, or too late and the eGPU software doesn't read it. 

But for some reason when I try to plug the TB cable while booting into eGPU software, my keyboard freezes or it won't load the image. 

I've tried eGPU Setup 1.2 and 1.3 both. 

Any advice? 

 

I have Bootcamp installed to an external USB SDD drive. I have had increasing difficulty in getting the boot order times down right. I've been having success with booting up the machine, waiting 10 seconds (about three seconds short of the drive selection), turning on my eGPU on, waiting 4 seconds, before the spinner for network boot finishes, and then immediately enter. I know I am successful because when plugged in I will get a "_" flashing for 9 seconds then the Windows 10 logo. 

 

I'm still trying to dial down more precisely. External monitor seems to work better than Optimus with the internal monitor.

 

For reference, I am still on 372.70 driver. Newest NVIDIA (as of writing) causes error 43's still.

 

I am not using any eGPU Setup software. This is all vanilla as I am not using OSX for the setup. 

[dawistr]

Hi,

Can I ask you, how did you manage wires?

Can you show some more photos? Because thunderbolt cable obscures the view. I can't see exactly how it is connected. Where the red, white, black cable goes? Did you conected white one or red one with switch? 

Could you draw a diagram?

Thanks.

Edited December 10, 2016 by dawistr

[fireheadman]

Hello Forum!

This is my first port, just wanted to say hello and I have purchased this setup from @nowai_david

Or at least the Akitio Thunder2 case/PSU.

 

I will be rebuilding it as soon as I receive it from him (bought off eBay).

 

My plans are to throw a EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3Gb card in it.

I will be hooking it up to a Mid 2011 Mac mini (just reloaded Sierra on it yesterday).... in hopes of using 3- 24" ASUS VG248 monitors for some mild 1080P/1440P gaming aside daily office work.

 

I'm fairly new to the eGPU setups, but well versed in UNIX/Linux.   Hopefully this will be a smooth setup.

Edited April 21, 2017 by fireheadman

[plundh]

Quote

I will be posting a general guide on using the Xbox One PSU as a viable replacement instead of the DA-2

 

Hi nowai_david- I have almost exactly the same hardware that you used for your eGPU setup:

 

Hardware:

• Late 2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro (i7, 16GB RAM)
• Akitio Thunder2 enclosure
• EVGA GTX 1060 6GB mini
• X-ONE Xbox One PSU (220W)
• MyDigitalSSD 512GB USB 3.0 USAP SSD

I'd very much appreciate if you could write a small guide on preparing the Xbox One PSU for Akitio Thunder2 enclosure with the ZOTAC GTX 1060 6GB mini GPU. Many thanks in advance. -Peter

[nowai_david]

@plundh - as requested!

 

@fireheadman, if nice enough, can double check the setup of the wiring to ensure that I have it correctly drawn out.

 

I made these from memory and from pictures I had. It has been many months since I revisited this, so I went off of the memory I had.

 

The Rocksoul Power Supply has four wires after taking the casing and shielding off - red, black, white, and green.

 

The black and red are ground and power respectively. These wires were stripped and I applied a higher, thicker gauge wire going out to both the barrel adapter and the 6 pin. I found these barrel plugs which are 5.5 x 2.5. These 5.5 are a little bit longer than needed and doesn't sit as well as it should but does work. The barrel plug has thinner gauge wire and you simply unscrew the black cap, and identify ground and power (LOOK AT THE AKITIO BACK DIAGRAM FOR PROPER POLARITY. THIS IS CRITICAL, DO NOT MESS THIS UP). Then I soldered those components and reseated the cap on. The wires are loose but you can clean up as necessary. I then used my thicker gauge black and yellow wire for ground and power. I found something similar to this that I cut the one ends off and soldered all three ground to black ground and all three yellow power to the big yellow coming out. Make sure you measure out to ensure the length is enough to reach your Akitio! The switch is a simple switch that has a screw cover that comes off. You screw the wires down on both sides (the white and the green wire, mine are both red so disregard my poor planning) and then the switch will control turning the power supply and Akitio on at the same time.

 

Hopefully this helps someone. Sorry for the poor write up, all going from many months of not actually looking at the unit and the wiring. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by nowai_david

[fireheadman]

Actually... I've kinda overhauled the setup....  I have it working with 3x-24" VG249QE monitors on a 2011 MacMini (OSX) and also a 2nd SSD for BootCamp (Windows10).  Also can remove the eGPU and connect it to my MacBook Pro laptops if I need gaming on the go.   

 

I imagine if I post the link to my eGPU setup (from another forum) that might be frowned upon, so as to not tick anyone off here a few of the many pictures from that site.  (If you want to know the other forum name/url, PM me and I can let you know).

 

I'm using the Dell DA-2 power supply (slightly modified), IMHO, its far more superior to the Rocksoul unit.

I actually dissembled the Rocksoul PSU to inspect it and it is very cheaply made and I mean VERY CHEAPLY made!  Gobs of glue/goop all over the components, which look like they were assembled by a kindergartens class.  Components are bent out of place.   Just very unimpressed by it.   The DA-2 is a lot heavier duty, when I took it apart you can instantly see a difference in technologies being used.

 

Case modified with grill/EVGA logo

 

Custom harness from eBay that I re-worked so it would match the pin-out for the DA-2, cleaned it up with some heatshrink.  Its a 8-pin connector that plugs into the 8-pin DA-2 with a barrel connector for the case power

 

A layout of the components I used....