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If you read the first page of this thread you will see multiple compatible cards, even GTX 970! You could consider modifying a 220W Dell DA-2 like here: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/9426-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion.html

Additional PSUs have to be placed "naked" next to the AKiTiO or can be put into a case like in my Guide: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/8571-%5Bguide%5D-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx970%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-a.html

A list of cases can be found here: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8675-egpu-cases.html

The PSU you linked is weak and only has 1x6-Pin PCIe, that might limit you if you consider upgrading your GPU later and might not be enough for GTX 960 with 1x8-Pin PCIe.

Are there any parts recommendations if I want to avoid any soldering? I have no experience with it. :)

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@Tech Inferno Fan: Yes, that is sth I was thinking about. Especially with DIY there are even slimmer ways (first and second spoiler): [Guide] How-to Thread für einen abgewinkelten PCIe Stecker

Like the practical examples in the links but they all have a larger section above the stop edge than the ebay linked example I posted above. I'm wondering if the ebay items are as low profile as they can go while providing a 90 degree bend AND do it safely.

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There are low profile 90 degree PCIe extenders on ebay that might do the job with if you have a bit of clearance.

These cables are awesome. Some are rated to be 5.5mm or 6mm tall on the upper part. If you manage to bend the cables to be 2mm / 2.5mm they might actually fit into the 8mm clearance. Unfortunately the cables are not available in germany. Maybe I can find a cheap chinese reseller.

E.g. the first cable found on eBay is 5.5mm: PCI E 6 Pin 90 Degree Right Power Extension w Low Low Profile Made in USA | eBay

$%28KGrHqJ,!qgFI,5%29lfBRBSKI07QWgg~~60_12.JPG

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These cables are awesome. Some are rated to be 5.5mm or 6mm tall on the upper part. If you manage to bend the cables to be 2mm / 2.5mm they might actually fit into the 8mm clearance. Unfortunately the cables are not available in germany. Maybe I can find a cheap chinese reseller.

My standard PCIe plug has a 11mm top end above the video card PCIe plug stop edge, then the yellow/black ends hanging out of them. Those low profile 90 degree ebay extenders are way less than that. From looking at that ebay pic I'd guestimate at max 5-6mm above the stop edge and so would allow the AKiTiO top cover to fit over it with it's 8mm clearance.

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So what exactly needs to be soldered and how??

To pass 75W to the card without a powered riser: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2-98.html#post122901

To use a Dell DA-2 for power (can output ~240W with 10 going to the Akitio, so a 230W gpu should be good): http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/9426-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion.html#post127735

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Thank you for all your information.. I have one other question regarding power and the power supply.. I have pretty much narrowed it down to getting the Akitio with more than likely a Gigabyte or ASUS Nvidia 970 ITX Card.. The question I have with power is that I just would like to confirm that when you hooked up the Dell-DA2 everything was powered via it alone through the Breakout card in shown in DA2 thread.. From being able to read the wiring it looks like it is a direct power line from the DA2 basically split into a segment to the card you used and then a segment to carry the Barrel connector for powering the Akitio.. The sense wire connected to the switch and then to the ground is basically a power switch for the Dell-DA2 power supply (correct?). If this is the case, it appears that I could use any 12Volt power brick or Supply with the wattage rating I feel is needed in order to power the Akitio and the Card without worry of damage as the in my limited knowledge the wattage basically rates what the connected devices Could pull from the Supply without melting down the supply or having a loss of current, not what is actually sent to the device.

Also out of curiosity if the sense switch is a power supply Power switch for the DA-2. Does the Akito itself have any sort of power switch in it as sensing a thunderbolt connection and drawing power. Basically what I an asking here is since this is external when I shut down the computer I would need to somehow turn off whatever power is going to the Akito and the card to prevent it from running all the time even when the computer is shut down by putting some sort of switch inline or using a power strip.

IN researching the cars it appears that the 970's will work fine with the Dell DA2 or similar as the Rated System power I came to understand as being what the want you to have minimally for everything if you are putting together a full computer.

OK I think that covers my questions until I actually get the thing which won't be unfortunately for a little while,, Then I will probably have questions about getting rid of the errors mentioned earlier in getting it to work on my MBP mid2012 with Windows 7 Pro.

Thank you.

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Yes the sense wire connected to ground makes the DA-2 start.

Any other PSU? Might be hard to find sth as good as the DA-2. The advantage of the DA-2 is, it is already bringing the power to 8-Pins familiar with the "PC world". You don't really need the "card"=SWEX, you can also use an extension cable for 24-Pin ATX, cut the cables and rewire as you wish.

You can get a PSU with 80-90W to power the AKiTIO and deliver 75W to the PCIe slot to run sth like a 750Ti.

Be aware that the ASUS and Gigabyte ITX GTX 970 cards are too wide to make the AKiTiO case close. A slimmer card is the Galax/KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 Gamer OC. See my post here: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2-125.html#post130695

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you can also use an extension cable for 24-Pin ATX, cut the cables and rewire as you wish.

Hey Dschijn, Thanks for more infos on that. I am leaning toward using a Da2 myself and Im very interested to do the wiring with an extender because the soldering appears very tricky there. Could you elaborate on that by any chance ? I have no idea how to wire it really.

As I understand I need to plug 2x 6 pins PCIE connectors to power my 970 and my barrel to molex for the akitio from a 24 pin extender connected to the DA2 ?

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Well… you must take a look at the connectors on the DA-2. It can be connected on two positions to the 24-Pin ATX cable. If you cut the all the wires of the 24-Pin you can reconnect (soldering) them to the 8-Pins of the 24-Pin you chose. Maybe it is even easier to directly solder 6-Pin PCIe cables directly to that cut wires.

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Well… you must take a look at the connectors on the DA-2. It can be connected on two positions to the 24-Pin ATX cable. If you cut the all the wires of the 24-Pin you can reconnect (soldering) them to the 8-Pins of the 24-Pin you chose. Maybe it is even easier to directly solder 6-Pin PCIe cables directly to that cut wires.

Please forgive my electrical ignorance. I read the guide here but still can't figure it out :/

The idea is to make 2 x 12v 6pin molex adaptors and one 12v molex to barrel from the 3 12v pairs pairs coming out of the DA2 ?

each 6pins molex takes 6 connectors (3+ and 3-) so I could in theory connect everything like my (bad) diagram below ?

post-31956-14494999835719_thumb.jpg

Well... each part (barrel, 2x6-pin) has to deliver 75W. To spread the load even you can connect everything to all 3x12V and 3xground. 1x12V for the barrel might be insufficient.

@w4vz: As long as you keep matching 12V (yellow) and ground (black) between PCIe and DA-2 it should be fine. Just don't mix 12V from DA-2 with ground of the PCIe plug. Get the wiring diagram of the DA-2 and the 6-Pin PCIe plug.

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Ok so my diagram is correct ? I could double the barrel one. Would that be sufficient ?

@jacobsson Just found this on eBay, would that work you think ? could be plugged directly on the DA2 and only need to modify it for the barrel ? what do you think ?

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Yes the sense wire connected to ground makes the DA-2 start.

Any other PSU? Might be hard to find sth as good as the DA-2. The advantage of the DA-2 is, it is already bringing the power to 8-Pins familiar with the "PC world". You don't really need the "card"=SWEX, you can also use an extension cable for 24-Pin ATX, cut the cables and rewire as you wish.

You can get a PSU with 80-90W to power the AKiTIO and deliver 75W to the PCIe slot to run sth like a 750Ti.

Be aware that the ASUS and Gigabyte ITX GTX 970 cards are too wide to make the AKiTiO case close. A slimmer card is the Galax/KFA2 GeForce GTX 970 Gamer OC. See my post here: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/7205-us%24189-akitio-thunder2-pcie-box-16gbps-tb2-125.html#post130695

So in essence it sounds from other reading that in order to either get the 960 or 970 cars to work in the Akitio you either need to have an open back for a longer card (or) an open case for the wider cards. Are there any cards in this range that would fit fully inside the case but also provide adequate cooling (maybe needing some additional vent holes drilled in the case of the Akitio). What is the widest a card can be to fit in the width of the Akitio.. length as I understand it is around 200mm.

As for the PSU I know a little about wiring so I was looking at doing some internal hacking to pull all power of of the inside of the Akitio prior to the Akitio circuits which is what is effectively being done with the splitters and adaptors. I have found a few external PSU's that are of the correct wattage with a normal Barrel connection though I haven't found total details on them yet to see if it would actually work (i.e. the barrel being the correct size and polarity.

I was Hoping but it sounds like it might not be possible to get everything on the eGPU internal so it looks like a normal Akitio with an external PSU.

Brion

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