Will a GeForce GTX 1060 fit in an AKiTiO Thunder2 box?

[samuelkneppel]

Hello all,

 

I am new to this forum so I apologize in advance if this question is in the wrong place or has already answered elsewhere.

 

I am thinking about setting up my 13 inch mid 2012 non-retina MacBook Pro with an eGPU.

 

I considering an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060, similar to this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487267

 

I am also considering an AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe box since it is not too expensive: http://a.co/7TsdwNH

 

I know I will need an power supply of some sort as well but am not sure what I want to get yet since I am new to all of this (any suggestions are welcome).

 

So, my main question is, with the GTX 1060 fit in the Thunder2 box without modification? 

 

I also request that if anyone knows of a cheaper thunderbolt 2 box out there please let me know. I would like to set up this GPU as cost effectively as possible.

 

Thank you in advance for your help!

[benjaminlsr]

Yes. Both ZOTAC 1060 Mini or EVGA 1060 Mini fits in the Akitio Thunder2/3 chassis.

You'll need a power brick from either a XBOX 360 PSU or DELL-DA2 PSU (plenty of tutorials here).

[sehooo_2006]

sure you can, you just need a power supply for it

[samuelkneppel]

Thank you both for your quick response.

 

14 hours ago, benjaminlsr said:

Yes. Both ZOTAC 1060 Mini or EVGA 1060 Mini fits in the Akitio Thunder2/3 chassis.

You'll need a power brick from either a XBOX 360 PSU or DELL-DA2 PSU (plenty of tutorials here).

 

benjaminlsr, I am not sure where to find tutorials on how to use the power brick from an Xbox 360 on this forum. Could you point me in the right direction?

Edited November 20, 2016 by samuelkneppel

[benjaminlsr]

XBOX: 

 

DELL: 

 

 

[samuelkneppel]

Thank you benjaminlsr.

 

I noticed someone else posted about a box that is more than $50 cheaper than the Akitio Thunder2: 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Will a GTX 1060 fix within this enclosure? If so, how much modification would be needed in order to make it work? Would you recommend this box over the Akitio one?

 

Thanks again for your help guys, just trying to figure out exactly what I want to do.

[kxplus]

The thundertek only has a TB1 link, which is a bummer if you have a TB2 port in your mac. There wont be issues, just more bottlenecking which i would avoid, since egpus already have many factors causing bottlenecks.

 

IMO its not worth it. I tried searching and couldnt find anyone who tried it. Youd be better off with an akitio so people can help you out along the way too.

Of course, technically speaking it should work. If youre daring you could give it a spin and let us know- you could be the first!

But if you would rather play it safe and have a more smooth sailing experience, get the akitio or something more tried and tested. I got a used akitio (TB2) off B&H for just 10 dollars more than the thundertek thing- just my two cents.

 

[samuelkneppel]

Thanks for the info kxplus.

 

I will point out that I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro, so my computer is only equipped with TB1 so I believe bottlenecking would happen with both enclosures.

 

B&H has the Akitio enclosure for $219, about $80 more expensive than the ThunderTek enclosure minus shipping.

 

How much did your Akitio enclosure cost?

[kxplus]

Ah i see. Didnt notice the mbp model. If you ever change to a TB2 mac in the future, getting an akitio will be futureproof for that . The newest touch bar macbooks are TB3 though so thats another story.

B&H occasionally has used Akitios, ive seen it 3 times (of which one of them i bought haha). The condition is excellent with almost no signs of use, i got mine for $149 excluding shipping.

I saved up some money for the akitio especially given shipping it to my country is quite expensive. Even so, it was the most cost effective option for me after searching tons of reseller websites. I would also suggest aaving up that little bit more money, just for peace of mind. If you have spare time to tinker or have a really strict budget, you could probably still get the thundertek, just no promises on reliability or support.  Im sure the community will gladly chip in though since it will be interesting if this proves a good cheap alternative. 

[kxplus]

Btw, B&H's used akitio prices are as follows: Condition 10 goes at $159, Condition 9 goes at $149 (mine was a condition 9).

For what I mean by condition 9 and 10 see here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/UsedConditions.jsp

 

If you get lucky and are able to catch when they have a used one in stock, it will likely follow the above prices, although I'm not sure when they will have stock.

Not sure about other conditions as I havent seen them yet but you can roughly make an estimate. Hope this helps!

[samuelkneppel]

Thanks for the information kxplus.

 

Another question for anyone else reading this thread that has experience building an eGPU: is it worth it with my current MacBook? I currently have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. I believe that year MacBook only has TB1. So, I believe that there will definitely be a bottleneck of some sort that will limit its performance, I am just not sure how much it will be limited.

[enjoy]

On 12/2/2016 at 3:54 AM, samuelkneppel said:

Thanks for the information kxplus.

 

Another question for anyone else reading this thread that has experience building an eGPU: is it worth it with my current MacBook? I currently have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. I believe that year MacBook only has TB1. So, I believe that there will definitely be a bottleneck of some sort that will limit its performance, I am just not sure how much it will be limited.

 

I have the same Macbook and you will play with 60FPS on very high/ultra settings all games even with TB1 :)! 

 

I wait for the new macbook but after i see the price and the funny Radeon 460 4GB performance i chose to build EGPU with Akitio and EVGA 1060 6GB Gaming SC mini - its fit in the Akitio case!

 

I start now to order the parts i want to build with Dell DA-2 220W because i want to move the setup easy from home to work in the weekends (i have own business):

 

Akitio Thunder2 - 3kg

Dell DA-2 220W - 1kg

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 - 1kg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

weight 5kg

 

1. all setup ~ 600$

 

2. our rMBP mid 2012 = now is 800$

 

3. The new Macbook Pro 15 with 256GB and Radeon 460 - 2600$ 

 

you save 2000$ for no ports mac and touch bar and you will have better game performance! 

[samuelkneppel]

4 hours ago, enjoy said:

 

I have the same Macbook and you will play with 60FPS on very high/ultra settings all games even with TB1 :)! 

 

I wait for the new macbook but after i see the price and the funny Radeon 460 4GB performance i chose to build EGPU with Akitio and EVGA 1060 6GB Gaming SC mini - its fit in the Akitio case!

 

I start now to order the parts i want to build with Dell DA-2 220W because i want to move the setup easy from home to work in the weekends (i have own business):

 

Akitio Thunder2 - 3kg

Dell DA-2 220W - 1kg

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 - 1kg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

weight 5kg

 

1. all setup ~ 600$

 

2. our rMBP mid 2012 = now is 800$

 

3. The new Macbook Pro 15 with 256GB and Radeon 460 - 2600$ 

 

you save 2000$ for no ports mac and touch bar and you will have better game performance! 

Nice setup enjoy!  I am glad you are happy with it and it works.

 

My only concern is the fact that  I do not have a Retina MacBook, only a regular 2012 MacBook Pro. However, that should not make a difference in this case since they both use TB1, right?

Edited December 5, 2016 by samuelkneppel

[enjoy]

10 hours ago, samuelkneppel said:

Nice setup enjoy!  I am glad you are happy with it and it works.

 

My only concern is the fact that  I do not have a Retina MacBook, only a regular 2012 MacBook Pro. However, that should not make a difference in this case since they both use TB1, right?

 

no problem if you MacBook Pro is not retina its have the same parts!

 

I now order the parts, i will post soon if everything is ok when i setup the eGPU, you must read @LukeHero setup: https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/8088-2012-15-mbpr-gt650m-gtx97010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win10-lukehero/&page=1 

(we can play on our internal display and that is the reason why i order the parts)

 

The EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING SC, ACX 2.0 (Single Fan), 6GB GDDR5 will have best performance than GTX 970 used by LukeHero and will fit in the Akitio!

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by enjoy

[samuelkneppel]

Thanks again for the info enjoy.

 

I am not sure how to modify the power supply in order for it to connect to the expansion box. I am planning on using either a Dell DA-2 220W or xBox 360 power supply. Do you know of any good, simple, step-by-step tutorials on this forum? I have little to no electrical experience so some of the tutorials here are too complicated for me.

 

From what I understand, once the power supply is set up correct, it is just plug and play from there. Well that and then installing the drivers.

Edited December 7, 2016 by samuelkneppel

[enjoy]

@samuelkneppel i order the parts for Dell DA-2 220W setup, from what i read in the forums i made that picture its easy:

 

1 put the 6 pin (F) splitter in the male 8 pin of Dell DA-2 

2. cut the of the two 6 pin (M) and put all yellow cables to (+) and all black into (-) of 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel

3. connect the other 6 pin (M) with the other 6 pin splitter

4. Put the paperclip to turn ON your Dell DA-2

5. connect the 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel to Akitio and 6pin (M) from the splitter (that without barrel) to the video card

 

DONE

 

 

paperclip:

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by enjoy