US$189 AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box (16Gbps-TB2)

[euqlaog]

On behalf of Mac Mini owners, could you please consider making a guide for how to get an eGPU + Windows 8.1 going on this system? Our very first guide for a Mac Mini release only days ago is for OSX only: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7598-%5Bguide%5D-akitio-thunder2-mac-mini-2012-os-x-10-9-4-evga-geforce-gtx-760-4gb.html#post104243

Ok. Installing Win8.1 on Mac mini requires patience and time, but finally I got it working by trial and error method. I will collect the steps to a guide, as far as I can remember what I did. I cannot promise that the same would work with a single HDD, but Mac mini is configurable to two hard drives:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac+Mini+Mid+2011+Dual+Hard+Drive+Kit/6634

You can switch the HDMI cable on the fly between Mac mini/GTX780 HDMI ports. I have not much more to say at the moment, because have done booting to Windows only couple of times and it is slow (maybe because of the HDD), but seems to work.

[jacobsson]

Ok. Installing Win8.1 on Mac mini requires patience and time, but finally I got it working by trial and error method. I will collect the steps to a guide, as far as I can remember what I did. I cannot promise that the same would work with a single HDD, but Mac mini is configurable to two hard drives:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+Mac+Mini+Mid+2011+Dual+Hard+Drive+Kit/6634

You can switch the HDMI cable on the fly between Mac mini/GTX780 HDMI ports. I have not much more to say at the moment, because have done booting to Windows only couple of times and it is slow (maybe because of the HDD), but seems to work.

If it's extremely slow/halting it's could very likely be a hardware problem. I had this symptom when connecting a mSATA SSD (turned out to be broken), my system took ~10min to boot, when removed it booted normally ~1min.

[euqlaog]

If it's extremely slow/halting it's could very likely be a hardware problem. I had this symptom when connecting a mSATA SSD (turned out to be broken), my system took ~10min to boot, when removed it booted normally ~1min.

It is not extremely slow after Boot Camp drivers installation and when you are logged in. I am so used to my new MacBook Pro speed so every HDD seems to be slow In booting stage, there is a delay via TB before black screen changes to login screen.

[jacobsson]

It is not extremely slow after Boot Camp drivers installation and when you are logged in. I am so used to my new MacBook Pro speed so every HDD seems to be slow In booting stage, there is a delay via TB before black screen changes to login screen.

OK I see =)

Then it's probably normal due to mechanical HDD speeds.

[tyrol_dude]

for eu-citizen, who are interessted in the box: in this shop in germany is the box available until end of september for really fair € 238,-:

AKiTiO Thunder2 PCIe Box T2PC-TIA-AKTU

they have a warning there: nicht geeignet für Grafikkarten = not to use with graphicboards *hehe*

[arclord]

With regards to graphics cards that require additional power from a PCIe 6-pin plug, is it possible to supply the 12V power using the following:

I am hoping to make use of a 12V/10A (120W) power adapter to supply power to graphics cards instead of using an ATX power supply. The Thunder2 PCIe Box will be powered using the default 60W power adapter. No PCIe riser extender will be used.

Is this setup feasible?

[reptilianbrain]

Hello guys,

I recently found out about eGPU and it really resonates with my lifestyle and setup.

I have 4 questions - about feasibility, enclosure for eGPU, expandability and Thunderbolt booting.

1) I have rMBP 2014 (GT 750M) 16GB RAM etc. I know Iris is recommended, but I can't see myself downgrading any time soon. Will 750M cause much troubles for Win 8.1 eGPU?

2) I plan to use AkiTio but all the builds I see have wires and internals exposed. I would rather have everything in one box (hopefully with a handle haha). I am not up to date with current PC industry (last one i built was in 1999-2000) Would it be possible to get some small HTPC -type enclosure that will both provide 75Watt to GPU and house the modded AkiTio Thunder 2?

3) Is it safe to say that I would be always able to upgrade my GPU in this setup? Extra bonus to anyone who can recommended a good GPU for about $500.

4) I am booting Win 8.1 off external Thunderbolt enclosure and it works nicely. I wonder if that would have to change with eGPU? I have 2 Thunderbolt ports, so it seems I can actually use both of them - one for eGPU another for Win 8.1

Thank you very much for reading this. Excited to hear your advice.

[Arclite]

With regards to graphics cards that require additional power from a PCIe 6-pin plug, is it possible to supply the 12V power using the following:

I am hoping to make use of a 12V/10A (120W) power adapter to supply power to graphics cards instead of using an ATX power supply. The Thunder2 PCIe Box will be powered using the default 60W power adapter. No PCIe riser extender will be used.

Is this setup feasible?

I'm not sure if your setup works, but I plan on using the setup below:

You can find more details on this page.

It provides all the ATX connectors including the 6-pin PCIe power input. Maybe it will help in setting up your Akitio box.

[Arclite]

I googled a bit and noticed that there are these cables for 6-pin PCIe power

There are 3 pairs of (12V + ground) barrel connectors.

So this connector

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12383[/ATTACH]

should have 3 inputs in order to connect those 3 pairs (12V + ground).

The PCI cable you show has yellow, black and brown cables. Im not sure how those 3 cables are connected to the barrel plug. It may not result in right wiring for 6-pin PCIe power.

Do you have more information on the PCIe cable you found, the one with yellow, black and brown cables? Maybe a full picture of it?

[jacobsson]

@Arclite @arclord

Wouldn't soldering be the easier/cheaper alternative in the end to have 220W (I read through some pages of proposed adapters and power bricks etc.)?

My earlier post

[Arclite]

@Arclite @arclord

Wouldn't soldering be the easier/cheaper alternative in the end to have 220W (I read through some pages of proposed adapters and power bricks etc.)?

My earlier post

I want to create the following setup for the Akitio box:

1. Akitio enclosure without the PCIe 16x Board

2. The PCIe 16x board is replaced by a powered female-female 4x to 16x PCIe riser described here.

3. I need a molex connector for the powered PCIe riser, a 8-pin PCIe connector for the GPU (MSI GTX 760 ITX) and possibly a floppy connector for the Thunderbolt board.

Im not sure if it will work as it wasn't tested by anybody, but in theory it should work.

I want to use HDPLEX power supply because I need different types of power connectors. Soldering the Dell DA2 provides only one PCIe power connector so I can't use that.

@reptilianbrain The setup I posted above doesn't have any cables on the outside, maybe it can help you in creating your setup for the Akitio box.

[trollinteemo]

Just letting you know that the riser almost definitely wont work, it's missing pcie clock as well as 3.3v power

[jacobsson]

I want to create the following setup for the Akitio box:

1. Akitio enclosure without the PCIe 16x Board

2. The PCIe 16x board is replaced by a powered female-female 4x to 16x PCIe riser described here.

3. I need a molex connector for the powered PCIe riser, a 8-pin PCIe connector for the GPU (MSI GTX 760 ITX) and possibly a floppy connector for the Thunderbolt board.

Im not sure if it will work as it wasn't tested by anybody, but in theory it should work.

I want to use HDPLEX power supply because I need different types of power connectors. Soldering the Dell DA2 provides only one PCIe power connector so I can't use that.

@reptilianbrain The setup I posted above doesn't have any cables on the outside, maybe it can help you in creating your setup for the Akitio box.

Sorry for my total confusion!

1. "Akitio enclosure without the PCIe 16x Board"

Are you intending to remove the PCIe 16x board, it's modular/detachable I guess?

Then adding 16x riser, plus extended 4x Riser to connect to PCIe interface of the main board.

If I'm correct so far:

What stops you from adding 12V powerd molex connectors straight to the original PCIe 16x board?

Would be a total 4 cables and one capacitor.

Or is the new "16x riser + 4x riser" needed to get rid of the limiting fuse of the original 16x board?

I'm only asking since I'm too considering making my own mod to this hardware + GTX670 mini (ITX) or newer GTX 900 series.

In my case I will stay within the 220W limitation in order to use the excellent and cheap DA-2 adapter.

Thanks for your contribution!

[umax]

Just to note, I have HDPLEX 250W (with PA-9E) and Akitio TB2 box, and the PSU does not fit inside the box! I am still waiting for MSI GTX760 ITX gpu tho. Will post worklog when done.

Also, I have ordered 7.4 x 5.0 barrel female to 4pin pcie cable (to eliminate small pcb with DC connector that came with HDPLEX psu) and 5.5 x 2.5 male barrel to 4pin IDE Molex to power Akitio board (eliminating the extra psu).

[Arclite]

Just letting you know that the riser almost definitely wont work, it's missing pcie clock as well as 3.3v power

Thanks for you input, trollinteemo. I thought too it lacks the clock and it may not work. Guess I have more evidence now that it won't work.

I read your post and saw that you too want to implement a female-female PCIe riser and Im following your thread on new updates. Im curious how your enclosure will look and what components it will have.

Sorry for my total confusion!

What stops you from adding 12V powerd molex connectors straight to the original PCIe 16x board?

Would be a total 4 cables and one capacitor.

Thanks for your contribution!

First, soldering something on the board will void the warranty and I was looking for a way to avoid it. That's how I came up with the female-female PCIe riser.

Second, I don't know yet where to solder all power cables. There was some testing done by goalque which identified 7 pins near the Thunderbolt 4x board, but still for me it is not clear how to do it. Plus, there the capacitor, as you said earlier. Do you have more information on how to solder the power cables from the molex connector to the PCIe 16x board?

Now that the female-female powered PCIe 4x to 16x riser doesn't work, the only solution is to solder the molex connector on the PCIe 16x board.

@jacobsson If you use only the DA2 adapter to power the GPU, will you be using the original Akitio adapter to power the box? If so, there may be some problems with the GPU, as not all cards work only with 25W provided to the PCIe 16x slot by the Akitio power adapter. So far some EVGA cards work with this 25W limitation. What if the ASUS GTX670 mini card doesn't work with only 25W provided to the PCIe 16x slot? This question I asked myself for MSI GTX 760 ITX and started to look for a solution.

Also, thinking about upgradability, I want to have the posibility to change the GPU in future. Some GPUs have twin 8-pin connectors or (6-pin + 8-pin connectors). The HDPLEX adapter provides the cables to power any GPU.

If you're asking youself that another more powerfull GPU will not fit into the enclosure, you're right. If I choose to upgrade the GPU, I will either modify the front of the Akitio box to fit a longer GPU or create a new enclosure entirely.

[jacobsson]

Now that the female-female powered PCIe 4x to 16x riser doesn't work, the only solution is to solder the molex connector on the PCIe 16x board.

@jacobsson If you use only the DA2 adapter to power the GPU, will you be using the original Akitio adapter to power the box? If so, there may be some problems with the GPU, as not all cards work only with 25W provided to the PCIe 16x slot by the Akitio power adapter. So far some EVGA cards work with this 25W limitation. What if the ASUS GTX670 mini card doesn't work with only 25W provided to the PCIe 16x slot? This question I asked myself for MSI GTX 760 ITX and started to look for a solution.

Also, thinking about upgradability, I want to have the posibility to change the GPU in future. Some GPUs have twin 8-pin connectors or (6-pin + 8-pin connectors). The HDPLEX adapter provides the cables to power any GPU.

If you're asking youself that another more powerfull GPU will not fit into the enclosure, you're right. If I choose to upgrade the GPU, I will either modify the front of the Akitio box to fit a longer GPU or create a new enclosure entirely.

I fully understand the warranty issue, sometimes I get lost in this DIY stuff, which has cost me both economically and headaches =)

If I was to implement the solution for this board I'd use skip the original power adapter fully.

My take would be changing the original 5.5/2.5 plug to a 6-pin PCIe female, or at least route one beside it.

The 6pin PCIe female would be split internally in three ways,

one split would be soldered to the 12V and GND of the original 5.5/2.5 line (to ensure power to the daughter board)

one split would go to the "molex" attached on the pins original PCIe 16X board (as powered riser would)

one split would go to GPU itself, maybe a 2 x 6pin+2pin as the EXP GDC cable have? That's nice!

Since I haven't looked at the PCIe 16x board myself I can't tell right now where to solder these two 4 wires and capacitor.

Finding out would be fairly easy though.

Take a powered riser and attach it on the original '16x PCIe board'.

1. The riser has bare pins under the (usually) blue tape and you will see to which pins the molex is soldered.

2. Take multimeter and diode/beep test the corresponding pin to find which pin on the '16x PCIe board' that corresponds.

3. Move wire by wire to the correct pins of the '16x PCIe board'

4. Now you have two 12V and two GND wires hooked up.

I did a similar thing yesterday for my setup where I desoldered a powered 16x riser to make my 4x powered riser, works like a charm!

I don't see that this would be much of a difference except it's the '16x PCIe board'.

Is this what I suspect it is, the backside 16X PCIe interface of the Akitio board (plus smaller daughter board beside)?

If so, one can clearly see it pins, so soldering some cables would be piece of cake.

[Arclite]

I fully understand the warranty issue, sometimes I get lost in this DIY stuff, which has cost me both economically and headaches =)

Is this what I suspect it is, the backside 16X PCIe interface of the Akitio board (plus smaller daughter board beside)?

If so, one can clearly see it pins, so soldering some cables would be piece of cake.

Yes, this is the picture I posted some time ago, my first attempt to solve the soldering problem.

Isn't it risky to solder the cables on those pins?

[Arclite]

Just to note, I have HDPLEX 250W (with PA-9E) and Akitio TB2 box, and the PSU does not fit inside the box! I am still waiting for MSI GTX760 ITX gpu tho. Will post worklog when done.

Also, I have ordered 7.4 x 5.0 barrel female to 4pin pcie cable (to eliminate small pcb with DC connector that came with HDPLEX psu) and 5.5 x 2.5 male barrel to 4pin IDE Molex to power Akitio board (eliminating the extra psu).

@umax can you post a picture of HDPLEX power supply inside the Akitio Box? I'm curious what is the difference of size between the two and how much space is required for the HDPLEX to fit in.

Thank you.

[euqlaog]

Hello guys,

I recently found out about eGPU and it really resonates with my lifestyle and setup.

I have 4 questions - about feasibility, enclosure for eGPU, expandability and Thunderbolt booting.

1) I have rMBP 2014 (GT 750M) 16GB RAM etc. I know Iris is recommended, but I can't see myself downgrading any time soon. Will 750M cause much troubles for Win 8.1 eGPU?

2) I plan to use AkiTio but all the builds I see have wires and internals exposed. I would rather have everything in one box (hopefully with a handle haha). I am not up to date with current PC industry (last one i built was in 1999-2000) Would it be possible to get some small HTPC -type enclosure that will both provide 75Watt to GPU and house the modded AkiTio Thunder 2?

3) Is it safe to say that I would be always able to upgrade my GPU in this setup? Extra bonus to anyone who can recommended a good GPU for about $500.

4) I am booting Win 8.1 off external Thunderbolt enclosure and it works nicely. I wonder if that would have to change with eGPU? I have 2 Thunderbolt ports, so it seems I can actually use both of them - one for eGPU another for Win 8.1

Thank you very much for reading this. Excited to hear your advice.

1) Most likely you don't have Optimus internal display support:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6918-updated-2013-13-15-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-2-egpu-plug-play-optimus.html

This concerns Sonnet enclosures, but I guess it's the same with AKiTiO.

2) If you are looking for HTPC style enclosure, I recommend this one:

SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.- ML07

But you have to modify it somehow, because it is designed for Mini-ITX motherboards.

3) There are some successful implementations with EVGA models, but it is very hard to say in advance what GPUs are supported in the future.

4) Yes, it should be possible to use AKiTiO as eGPU and use the second TB port for bootable HDD or SSD. AKiTiO also has two TB ports, and you can daisy-chain up to 6 devices, so your external bootable TB hard drive can be attached to AKiTiO's second TB port. This may disable the Optimus internal display (if having Iris only model).

[reptilianbrain]

Thanks a lot @goalque I just asked in that thread about Optimus. It might actually be a total deal breaker for me.. I don't really own an LCD monitor and was not intending to buy one (in that case I might as well add some money and buy a PC).

There is no way around the internal LCD limitation with GT750M?

[arclord]

I'm not sure if your setup works, but I plan on using the setup below:

You can find more details on this page.

It provides all the ATX connectors including the 6-pin PCIe power input. Maybe it will help in setting up your Akitio box.

Thank for the suggestion Arclite. Unfortunately, HDPLEX 250W requires 16V-24V input. My power adapter provides 12V.

- - - Updated - - -

I googled a bit and noticed that there are these cables for 6-pin PCIe power

There are 3 pairs of (12V + ground) barrel connectors.

So this connector

should have 3 inputs in order to connect those 3 pairs (12V + ground).

The PCI cable you show has yellow, black and brown cables. Im not sure how those 3 cables are connected to the barrel plug. It may not result in right wiring for 6-pin PCIe power.

Do you have more information on the PCIe cable you found, the one with yellow, black and brown cables? Maybe a full picture of it?

I already have item 1 (120W power supply) and 2 (+/- adapter for 5.5 x 2.5 mm barrel plug) so I am thinking of ways to make use of them.

I don't have item 3 (PCIe cable) but can get it easily. If I get one with 3 yellow and 3 black wires, is it safe to connect all 3 yellow cables to the positive point and all 3 black cables to the negative point on the adapter?

[jacobsson]

Yes, this is the picture I posted some time ago, my first attempt to solve the soldering problem.

Isn't it risky to solder the cables on those pins?

No this is actually as good as it gets!

Just add a little extra solder to the pins (so the joint heats up), then add solder to the stripped wire tip, then add them together with heat of the iron =)

This is the pinout of the x16 connector (down to the x4 for the Akitio board), as you might know the soldering will take place on first mentioned "key" pins that you will find with the multimeter:

what do you think @Tech Inferno Fan `?

[umax]

@umax can you post a picture of HDPLEX power supply inside the Akitio Box? I'm curious what is the difference of size between the two and how much space is required for the HDPLEX to fit in.

Thank you.

I will. In the meantime, I have changed my mind (+ I need founds for GPU) and I will be using normal ATX psu that I have left over from other build, so anyone interested into cheap combo of new HDPLEX 250W PSU + new Dell PA-9E 240W power adapter, let me know.

[Arclite]

No this is actually as good as it gets!

Just add a little extra solder to the pins (so the joint heats up), then add solder to the stripped wire tip, then add them together with heat of the iron =)

This is the pinout of the x16 connector (down to the x4 for the Akitio board), as you might know the soldering will take place on first mentioned "key" pins that you will find with the multimeter:

What about the capacitor? Should a capacitor be used in this case?

Soldering the molex connector onto the board means that the TB board will be powered by the molex. This means there are only two power inputs: the molex and the 6-pin pcie. This is the same build as the powered pcie riser build but without so much cables on the outside. That's great!

[Arclite]

Thank for the suggestion Arclite. Unfortunately, HDPLEX 250W requires 16V-24V input. My power adapter provides 12V.

I don't have item 3 (PCIe cable) but can get it easily. If I get one with 3 yellow and 3 black wires, is it safe to connect all 3 yellow cables to the positive point and all 3 black cables to the negative point on the adapter?

I think it is safe to do that.