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UPDATED: 2013 13" or 15" MacBook Pro - Thunderbolt 2 - eGPU Plug and Play - Optimus


squinks

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All,

Everything is working great in my setup.

13" 2013 MBP i7 16GB RAM with GTX 780TI connected using SEL.

A big word of warning - do not use the thunderbolt cable shipped with the SEL - it's AWFUL. I was only getting approx 350MiB between host and device - and only PCI 2.0 x16 @ x1 2.0 !!!! When using the legit apple cable it increased to the bandwidths and bus speed you would expect.

How do you turn on the power?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Has somebody experience with the Sonnet Echo Express SE II or SEL together with a GeForce GTX 750 Ti without extra power supply?

I got an SE II with a GTX 750 Ti set up this past weekend. It works pretty well and is probably the most compact solution since it doesn't require extra parts outside of the chassis and there aren't wires everywhere. But it has the same problem as other cards that use the PCI slot's power, Optimus doesn't work well. The only way I've found to make it work is to hot plug the GPU shortly after the computer boots, still not totally sure of the timing. Though if you're not worried about being able to use the internal LCD conveniently, it works quite well.

If you want Optimus to be easy you might find it worthwhile to get a better card with an external PSU, I went with the 750 because I wanted to make sure it would fit inside the SE II. Newegg says the card is 6.7" long and the SE II says it supports 7.75" cards but the card is actually about 6" to 6.5" (depending on if you include the slot covers in length, which it looks like Newegg did) and there's about 2.5" of clearance from the end of the card to the back of the fan so you could just barely fit an 8.5" or maybe 9", again, depends on how you're measuring.

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Hi, would appreciate help with my setup: Late 2013 MBP retina 15" + Sonnet SEL + EVGA GTX 760 + Win 8.1 UEFI

I tried following the guide at the beginning of this thread, notably I tried the "hot plugging" part which was suggested however the egpu is simply not detected, no errors, nothing. When I connect and power everything right from the beginning (not hot plugging) then I get a black screen and have to force shutdown the computer. I'm at a loss on how to proceed and would appreciate some direction. Thanks.

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Configuration Summary:

Pre 2013 MacBook Pro

- No plug and play

- Figuring out a way to do a Bootcamp w/GPT install could then provide PnP over TB1

How to do a Bootcamp w/GPT installation???

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I got an SE II with a GTX 750 Ti set up this past weekend. It works pretty well and is probably the most compact solution since it doesn't require extra parts outside of the chassis and there aren't wires everywhere. But it has the same problem as other cards that use the PCI slot's power, Optimus doesn't work well. The only way I've found to make it work is to hot plug the GPU shortly after the computer boots, still not totally sure of the timing. Though if you're not worried about being able to use the internal LCD conveniently, it works quite well.

If you want Optimus to be easy you might find it worthwhile to get a better card with an external PSU, I went with the 750 because I wanted to make sure it would fit inside the SE II. Newegg says the card is 6.7" long and the SE II says it supports 7.75" cards but the card is actually about 6" to 6.5" (depending on if you include the slot covers in length, which it looks like Newegg did) and there's about 2.5" of clearance from the end of the card to the back of the fan so you could just barely fit an 8.5" or maybe 9", again, depends on how you're measuring.

Interesting setup. This solutions looks cleaner than the Sonnet SEL. Do you always use the internal display? Are you sure about the steps to make Optimus work?

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Just to confirm:

How do we know whether our graphics cards are internally power controlled? I have an MSI 670, and would rather use it instead of buying a new EVGA card. According to the first post, we can still use MSI cards with Optimus, but it requires some extra fiddling at startup?

Regarding PCIe slots:

Does the Sonnet SEL still ship with a mechanical 8x slot? I remember reading a post by squinks I think where Sonnet had replaced his unit with a x16 slot.

Also, does the x8 to x16 riser have to be a powered riser?

Thanks for clearing these up for me!

- - - Updated - - -

I got an SE II with a GTX 750 Ti set up this past weekend. It works pretty well and is probably the most compact solution since it doesn't require extra parts outside of the chassis and there aren't wires everywhere. But it has the same problem as other cards that use the PCI slot's power, Optimus doesn't work well. The only way I've found to make it work is to hot plug the GPU shortly after the computer boots, still not totally sure of the timing. Though if you're not worried about being able to use the internal LCD conveniently, it works quite well.

If you want Optimus to be easy you might find it worthwhile to get a better card with an external PSU, I went with the 750 because I wanted to make sure it would fit inside the SE II. Newegg says the card is 6.7" long and the SE II says it supports 7.75" cards but the card is actually about 6" to 6.5" (depending on if you include the slot covers in length, which it looks like Newegg did) and there's about 2.5" of clearance from the end of the card to the back of the fan so you could just barely fit an 8.5" or maybe 9", again, depends on how you're measuring.

Could you post some pictures of this solution? I looks really elegant, though I'm worried that the 750Ti is a little underpowered...

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According to the first post, we can still use MSI cards with Optimus, but it requires some extra fiddling at startup?

Yes. See first page of this thread.

Does the Sonnet SEL still ship with a mechanical 8x slot? I remember reading a post by squinks I think where Sonnet had replaced his unit with a x16 slot.

Yes. It has a x8 slot. So you would need a x8 to x16 riser.

Also, does the x8 to x16 riser have to be a powered riser?

No. Because the Sonnet SEL has a 80 Watt PSU. If you use a more powerful graphics card you also need an extra PSU. But the GeForce 750 Ti (TDP 60 Watt) should be fine.

- - - Updated - - -

I almost ordered the Sonnet SEL + Apple Thunderbolt cable + EVGA GTX 750 Ti + PCI Express x8 to x16 riser on Amazon.de. But I didn't because the delivery time for the riser was up to 23 days... Unbelievable and I couldn't find any other riser (even not on Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk). Has anybody another idea where I could buy such a riser card in Europe?

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  • 9 months later...

sorry if this has been answered before, but has there only been success with the 2013 rmbp models? I'm considering getting a newer rMBP, and i only have interest in using the laptop screen(using optimus?), no external display. Anyone know if this is feasible running Yosemite and/or a bootcamp windows flavor with a 2015 macbook?

thanks!

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I've read about one user runnign a 2015 13" with only Optimus in Windows 8.1

Thanks Dschijn, you recall if that was using the same process as others have done, or any unique customization required? Also, do you know if the laptop must be a model WITHOUT discrete GPU inside? Lastly, much respect to you and the rest of this community for working through some of these ridiculous 'restrictions'. This has really sparked my interest.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I got an SE II with a GTX 750 Ti set up this past weekend. It works pretty well and is probably the most compact solution since it doesn't require extra parts outside of the chassis and there aren't wires everywhere. But it has the same problem as other cards that use the PCI slot's power, Optimus doesn't work well. The only way I've found to make it work is to hot plug the GPU shortly after the computer boots, still not totally sure of the timing. Though if you're not worried about being able to use the internal LCD conveniently, it works quite well.

If you want Optimus to be easy you might find it worthwhile to get a better card with an external PSU, I went with the 750 because I wanted to make sure it would fit inside the SE II. Newegg says the card is 6.7" long and the SE II says it supports 7.75" cards but the card is actually about 6" to 6.5" (depending on if you include the slot covers in length, which it looks like Newegg did) and there's about 2.5" of clearance from the end of the card to the back of the fan so you could just barely fit an 8.5" or maybe 9", again, depends on how you're measuring.

Could you please provide some details on your setup? Which Macbook did you use? Which Version of the GTX 750 Ti? I'm really struggling with a 2014 15"-MBPr (GT750m-Version) and the Gigabyte Windfore GTX 750 Ti.

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Could you please provide some details on your setup? Which Macbook did you use? Which Version of the GTX 750 Ti? I'm really struggling with a 2014 15"-MBPr (GT750m-Version) and the Gigabyte Windfore GTX 750 Ti.

I have a late 2013 13" rMBP and this was done with an EVGA Geforce 750Ti SC. It's also worth mentioning that I didn't manage to get it working on OS X, just Windows which was essentially plug and play.

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I have a late 2013 13" rMBP and this was done with an EVGA Geforce 750Ti SC. It's also worth mentioning that I didn't manage to get it working on OS X, just Windows which was essentially plug and play.

Thank you, so I'll try this as well. I'd be more than satisfied if it runs on Windows. Did you use DVI or HDMI? (Or do both work?)

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