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


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Shit I should have worked faster on the hardware side, I have had akitio working on my mac mini for upwards of 2 months, I have just been waiting to finish my product before I start selling my mac installer. I also have a windows installer in the works that converts existing installations into UEFI so they work directly with egpus. Might have it run on osx since my product is designed for macs, yet if there is enough desire I will compile it on a standalone linux drive aswell (sucks that freedos doesnt support uefi).

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If anyone is interested im selling my Akitio TB2 Box (shipping from germany). Just PM. Thanks.

Nando4 comment>> gothic860 implemented an expresscard-based eGPU on his Lenovo W540 rather than a Thunderbolt-based one. Details at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7388-%5Bguide%5D-thinkpad-w540-pe4l-2-1b-amd-r9-290x-nvidia-780ti.html#post101232 . I guess the AKiTiO is a leftover enclosure??

@gothic860 How did you setup your AkiTio? did you use a PCI-e riser?

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Hello @Tech Inferno Fan here is my implementation guide for my AkiTio using Mac Mini

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

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My Sonnet Echo is already sold, but i wasnt able to get it working with the 780 (not Ti).

Will test some games later today and report.

EDIT: Tested and unstable. WoW for example was working but as soon as i tab in and out it crashes with BSOD. I attached my powered riser again and working.... Strange thing is that real stresstests like Furmark were working without problems.

Another problem is the dGPU (K2100M): I cant install the driver or my eGPU isnt working (no display).

EDIT2: 2 Problems: 1. I cant use my dGPU (with installed dGPU my eGPU shows no display)

2. Its unstable. I tested with World of Warcraft and with and without the powered riser i get BSODs or other stuff.

I think i stick with my PE4L 2.1b

Thanks for testing. Do the GTX780 Ti and R9 290X exhibit the same instability issues?

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I had my old Mac mini (Mid 2011) laying around and was going to sell it very soon, but changed my mind after this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12356[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12357[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12358[/ATTACH]

Those pictures tell it all, I am wordless... the same installation method doesn't work yet with the new 15" MacBook Pro.

Here's my Ultra/Extreme Benchmark. So it's really on the GPU right?

post-28502-1449499825231_thumb.jpg

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Shit I should have worked faster on the hardware side, I have had akitio working on my mac mini for upwards of 2 months, I have just been waiting to finish my product before I start selling my mac installer. I also have a windows installer in the works that converts existing installations into UEFI so they work directly with egpus. Might have it run on osx since my product is designed for macs, yet if there is enough desire I will compile it on a standalone linux drive aswell (sucks that freedos doesnt support uefi).

Excited to see your Mac Installer :)

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Thanks for testing. Do the GTX780 Ti and R9 290X exhibit the same instability issues?

R9 290X was too slow for WoW (maybe driver issue, dont know), but i tried many thinks to get it working with the 780Ti and it was unstable all the time.

Sometimes it worked for about 15minutes and when i changed a zone in WoW and get a loading screen it crashed with a BSOD.

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Here's my Ultra/Extreme Benchmark. So it's really on the GPU right?

Looks so. I have a GTX 780 with 6GB, and that VRAM probably gives some extra boost. Not much behind the Heaven benchmark result of MacBook Pro 15". I cannot say anything yet about stability but so far looks good. This will go under my TV, making it a perfect gaming machine and HTPC. I am close to have Win8.1 on it, but when starting to install Boot Camp drivers the screen went black and goes now black every time I reboot to Windows. I have a self modified version (64GB SSD + the original 500GB inside connected with a Mac mini server cable).

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I was able to test this setup with dual monitor with my Apple Thunderbolt Display

Thank you for the guide! But I have one question. So you can daisy chain from the AkiTio Thunder2. Does that affects performance or is it the same like using HMDI or DisplayPort?

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R9 290X was too slow for WoW (maybe driver issue, dont know), but i tried many thinks to get it working with the 780Ti and it was unstable all the time.

Sometimes it worked for about 15minutes and when i changed a zone in WoW and get a loading screen it crashed with a BSOD.

Would you tell your platform and the vendor of 780Ti?

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Its a ThinkPad W540 and a Gainward 780Ti Phantom. Maybe its a driver problem since i cant install my dGPU drivers or my eGPU shows no display.

Ok thanks, one reason could be a dGPU. It may be a vendor specific too. We have seen success with the computers that have integrated graphics only.

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@gothic80 where did you buy your akitio-box? i´m from austria and also interessted to buy one.

@all: is it possible to run this box on a mac mini 2012, because i read, you have to install windows in efi-mode. does this mini support this? is it also possible to drive it under a bootcamp-install. does it work properly under osx 10.9?

i´ve a msi 7850 lying around, but probably don´t work under osx?. but i want to buy a msi gtx760. or do you have any other suggestions?

since thunderbolt 1 has "only" 20gb/sek, what is the real-world speed of pci-express in a normal pc system?

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did i understand this correct? you don´t need the akitio-psu?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12370[/ATTACH]

That is correct. If you choose AkiTio's adapter, then you will need to remove the riser.

Base on my testing, continuos gaming both of the option gives you some kernel panic, maybe every after 3 couple of steam games. so basically, it is not yet a 100% stable.

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may, i missunderstand it.

but isn´t it an advantage to run the eGpu by a riser, since you only need to power-on one power-supply, instead of two with the akitio-psu?

Using a PCI-e RISER with Molex

  • PSU power off, Mac Mini off.
  • My SWEX is always turned-on
  • Attach the Molex riser to Akitio then Attach your GPU to riser. Connect a cable from your PSU to the molex adapter
    • WARNING do not connect the AkiTio's power adapter.

    [*]Connect the Thunderbolt Cable from AkiTio to your Mac Mini

    [*]Connect your HDMI or DVI from GPU to your Monitor

    [*]Power on PSU

    [*]Power on Mac Mini

    [*]You should be able to see your GPU Mac Mini's System Information

    [*]I was able to test this setup with dual monitor with my Apple Thunderbolt Display wink.png.pagespeed.ce.SNEods9ahz.png

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My Mac mini now has a dual booting to Windows 8.1 (500GB HDD) and OSX 10.9.4 (64GB SSD) via TB cable to GTX 780 & AKiTiO. 3DMark11 graphics score 11393 very close to MacBook Pro 15" setup:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2415M Processor,Apple Inc. Mac-8ED6AF5B48C039E1

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My Mac mini now has a dual booting to Windows 8.1 (500GB HDD) and OSX 10.9.4 (64GB SSD) via TB cable to GTX 780 & AKiTiO. 3DMark11 graphics score 11393 very close to MacBook Pro 15" setup:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2415M Processor,Apple Inc. Mac-8ED6AF5B48C039E1

Whohaa!!

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My Mac mini now has a dual booting to Windows 8.1 (500GB HDD) and OSX 10.9.4 (64GB SSD) via TB cable to GTX 780 & AKiTiO. 3DMark11 graphics score 11393 very close to MacBook Pro 15" setup:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2415M Processor,Apple Inc. Mac-8ED6AF5B48C039E1

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

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