DIY eGPU Macbook experiences

[MVC]

Yeah, I have to admit that I don't fully understand how and why my mod works. There is a missing component that is hidden.

Also, I have found in 10.10.1 it sometimes results in mouse cursor vanishing on left half of screen, but only at 60Hz.

[Hubo]

RE: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/8571-%5Bguide%5D-2014-15-macbook-pro-iris-gtx970%4016gbps-tb2-akitio-thunder2-win8-1-a-3.html

@Dschijn

Great work. Thank you for your Guide. Its really helpful for me, because I don't know so much about the technical background. I try to read as much about this topic as I can.

I'm planning to buy a new Notebook with the possibilty of having a good EGPU.

There will be out the MSI GS30 soon with its own EGPU System (1800 EUR without GPU).

I think the configuration with the MBP 13 (2014) is a very good and cheaper alternative. I would like to know if you are happy with your configuration? Is this stable?

Is the difference between Raven RVZ01 and Silverstone ML07 Milo only the design or would you recommend one because of technical reasons?

Sorry for my poor Englisch. (Im German, too but I couldn't send you an PM, cause of my status: 0 posts).

What do you think about the GTX960 in this combination?

Is it recommended to buy a GTX 970 with the known problems?

[Dschijn]

@Dschijn

Great work. Thank you for your Guide. Its really helpful for me, because I don't know so much about the technical background. I try to read as much about this topic as I can.

I'm planning to buy a new Notebook with the possibilty of having a good EGPU.

There will be out the MSI GS30 soon with its own EGPU System (1800 EUR without GPU).

I think the configuration with the MBP 13 (2014) is a very good and cheaper alternative. I would like to know if you are happy with your configuration? Is this stable?

Thanks! My system right now is very stable. I use Mac OSX for my regular daily based work. If I want to play a game I can turn on the eGPU during OSX is shutting down and do a quick reboot into Windows 8.1 to game on my external display in 1920x1200. I can play BF4 or Diablo 3 for hours without any problem.

I used a 13" i5 MBPr before I bought this 15" MBPr and wasn't so satisfied because of it's 2 cores.

So I would strongly recommend to consider a 4 core CPU!

The MSI solution is right now the best connected eGPU, as it will use a regular 16xPCIe port. How good the 13" laptop can cool the 4 core i7... I don't know.

Is the difference between Raven RVZ01 and Silverstone ML07 Milo only the design or would you recommend one because of technical reasons?

The Raven is shipping with two slim fans 15x120mm and three magnetic filters, but the Milo will not have any of these.

There is a 3rd case with the same function and design, but much better looking: the FTZ01 with 2 fans and 3 filters SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.- INTRODUCTION?FTZ01

Sorry for my poor Englisch. (Im German, too but I couldn't send you an PM, cause of my status: 0 posts).

What do you think about the GTX960 in this combination?

Is it recommended to buy a GTX 970 with the known problems?

I am german as well, but writing in this thread will give other people the chance to get more knowledge and not just the two of us

But at anytime you can write a PM

Any brand for the GTX 970 will be fine!

If you want to go with EVGA GTX 970 I would strongly advice to only buy the new EVGA cards (new SSC or FTW+).

The 3.5GB Memory bug is... something that everyone has to decide on his own. I will not change my card because of that.

The GTX 960 is very interessting and the better card regarding power consumption and noise.

Both are an option, but it's up to you and your budget what you want to do.

But one thing everyone should keep in mind: The GTX 960 is recommended for 1080p gaming, because the 2GB are limiting the card. 1440p, 4k or retina resolution (MBPr) will not be a good choise for current and new games.

[Hubo]

Thanks! My system right now is very stable. I use Mac OSX for my regular daily based work. If I want to play a game I can turn on the eGPU during OSX is shutting down and do a quick reboot into Windows 8.1 to game on my external display in 1920x1200. I can play BF4 or Diablo 3 for hours without any problem.

I used a 13" i5 MBPr before I bought this 15" MBPr and wasn't so satisfied because of it's 2 cores.

So I would strongly recommend to consider a 4 core CPU!

Thank you very much for you fast answer. My girlfriend needs a new notebook with eGPU possibilty. Thats the reason that Im looking for a solution.

The most important thing for her is that she is very portable with the device.

So I think I would like to go for the MBPr 13, but only if it make sense. She doesn't need a "gaming machine". It would be great if she could play with the MBPr 13 new Games without Problem at FullHD.

I think she would play in windows and work witz OSX, too.

Another point is the limited budget. Do you think that this eGPU make sense with the MBPr 13 in this case?

The MSI solution is right now the best connected eGPU, as it will use a regular 16xPCIe port. How good the 13" laptop can cool the 4 core i7... I don't know.

I think the MSI has problems withs throttling. There aren't detailed reviews, because the device will come onto the market at the February. Another thing is that the Battery life is bad (I think because of 4cell and Quad Core).

The Raven is shipping with two slim fans 15x120mm and three magnetic filters, but the Milo will not have any of these.

There is a 3rd case with the same function and design, but much better looking: the FTZ01 with 2 fans and 3 filters SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.- INTRODUCTION?FTZ01

Is the FTZ01 out now? Are the filters and fans necessary? Especially with the GTX960 solution?

I am german as well, but writing in this thread will give other people the chance to get more knowledge and not just the two of us

But at anytime you can write a PM

You are right :-) I the posts could be helpful for more people!

Have you bought the AKiTiO @format.de or recommendations where I should buy all things. The last time I bought components for building an PC is more than 10 years ago ;-) Do you think its complicated to rebuild your configuration, if someone (like me) has not too much skills for building an PC (eGPU)

Thank you so much for your help!! :-)

[Dschijn]

What kind of games? In general a 13" will do fine.

The FTZ01 is just announced and not yet released. Filters and fans are just an extra and help to keep it dust free and cooler. For a GTX 960 I shouldn't be so important.

Format.de is my shop for the AKiTiO in germany!

The build should be easy to copy, it is just important to buy all the details like

- powered riser

- paperclip trick or adapter to make the PSU start

[Sachin10]

In general a 13" will do fine.

That is true but I'm not happy about it's performance for photo and video editing.

[Hubo]

What kind of games? In general a 13" will do fine.

Role playing games like Skyrim. Another game will be Sims 4 ;-)

Max Resolution would be FullHD

No Photo/Video editing.

What exactly was the reason for your decision to move from (13" i5) to an 15" i7?

For a GTX 960 I shouldn't be so important.

Good to know. The monitor has only Full HD so I think I would go for a GTX 960 and the Milo.

Actually I think that a combination of MBPr 13, GTX 960, AKiTiO Thunder2 (with components), Milo would be a good decision? What do you think?

[Dschijn]

That is true but I'm not happy about it's performance for photo and video editing.

Role playing games like Skyrim. Another game will be Sims 4 ;-)

Max Resolution would be FullHD

No Photo/Video editing.

What exactly was the reason for your decision to move from (13" i5) to an 15" i7?

Still, a 13" i5 will be fine. Some people are even playing Crysis 3, GRID, BioShock on a MacBook Air 11"...

As long as you don't go beyond 1080p and you are confortable with lowering quality (worst case) , if the game is too demanding, it's fine.

Actually I think that a combination of MBPr 13, GTX 960, AKiTiO Thunder2 (with components), Milo would be a good decision? What do you think?

Milo is sexy... depends what kind of design your GF wants. here is a list of some possible cases: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8675-egpu-cases.html

If you want to go low budget you can get a CoolerMaster Elite 130 and a cheap 35-45€ ATX PSU.

The Milo itself is a nice case, but you still need a SFX PSU which are in general more expensive!

[Sachin10]

My 13" rMBP i5 2.6GHz + GTX 970 has no problems to play high demanding games like Crysis 3, BF 4, Far Cry 4 and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare on Ultra settings at 1080p with +/- 60 fps. I just need to recude the anti-aliasing. Because Apple SSD's are expensive I'm using a portable USB 3.0 drive for my Steam library. For the enclosure I've chosen the Silverstone FT03 mini but that depends on personal taste.

[Sgt. Pepper]

Yeah, I have to admit that I don't fully understand how and why my mod works. There is a missing component that is hidden.

Thats a pitty. I was hoping you could give me a hint where i could look for the "hidden component" and change it to make it work also with the eGPU.

Concerning graphical artifacts, i would not bother as the web drivers right now show bugs in safari and preview in general.

I think we have to wait for newer drivers in order to overcome these artifacts.

@goalque:

I'm sorry i obviously caused some confusion here:

Concerning the HiDPI mode i just wanted to say that my GTX 970 is able to deliver the full resolution of 3840x2160 pixels that the Dell up2414q has as native resolution but can even put out resolutions as high as 3200x1800 HiDPI, which is equivalent to 6400x3200 pixels.

The Intel Iris however is limited to 3840x2160 pixels, so every "higher" resolution (e.g. 2560x1440) is a non HiDPI resolution resulting in computing less pixels then the native resolution of the up2414q.

The thing is just that i am limited to 30Hz with both GPUs or that my eGPU doesn't put out any video whilst the iGPU can then deliver the 60Hz.

I think your Samsung monitor is indeed a SST model? My Dell is a MST model which makes me dependent of MST support in any driver, no matter if its apple's or Nvidia's.

Also, i already tried all the drivers available from a fresh install of 10.10.1 as well as 10.10.2 ( every OS with their own drivers of course). So i fear i already did everything you advised me to do.

So i think the basic question is:

1. Does Apple somehow block MST support of the nvidia web drivers in some of their kext?

2. Is it a problem limited to the new Maxwell series?

Background:

I was able to swap in an old (borrowed) GTX 260 (PC) inside the box today an everything worked with MVC's hack, meaning i was able to put out video to an old external screen over DVI whilst "AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext" in "AppleGraphicsControl.kext" was modded. But as it is already supported in Appel's own drivers i was not dependent on the web drivers.

Problem is this card could of course not drive the up2414q in any way so i cannot tell if it would have worked?

[Hubo]

My 13" rMBP i5 2.6GHz + GTX 970 has no problems to play high demanding games like Crysis 3, BF 4, Far Cry 4 and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare on Ultra settings at 1080p with +/- 60 fps. I just need to recude the anti-aliasing. Because Apple SSD's are expensive I'm using a portable USB 3.0 drive for my Steam library. For the enclosure I've chosen the Silverstone FT03 mini but that depends on personal taste.

Still, a 13" i5 will be fine. Some people are even playing Crysis 3, GRID, BioShock on a MacBook Air 11"...

As long as you don't go beyond 1080p and you are confortable with lowering quality (worst case) , if the game is too demanding, it's fine.

The Silverstone FT03 looks nice, too.

Great to hear. So I think for the purposes of my GF the 13 rMBP is good.

Milo is sexy... depends what kind of design your GF wants. here is a list of some possible cases: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8675-egpu-cases.html

If you want to go low budget you can get a CoolerMaster Elite 130 and a cheap 35-45€ ATX PSU.

The Milo itself is a nice case, but you still need a SFX PSU which are in general more expensive!

Thank you for posting this thread. There are a lot of nice looking cases. Especially the Dan A4 (not released, yet?).

I have a general question:

Does the Silverstone cases always need Silverstone SFX PSUs? Are these PSUs better / more quiet than cheaper ATX.

So what would recommend in my case. I think 50-70€ more or less are not the Problem in relation to the whole sum.

By the way: I'm really impressed by the help of you in this community. I could imagine that this beginner question are a little bit annoying. So I'm really happy that you help me.

[helloman]

Hi all,

I have recently decided to try building eGPU for my MBPr with 650M & TB1 and will try to use with GTX 980 using Akitio thunder2. Being new at this, I have read many of the guides here and cannot really find a perfect guide that would work for me, so I have a few questions here that hopefully the super smart people here can help me out with.

1. I have purchased only the following parts (other than MBP): Akitio, GTX 980, PCIE to PCIE 16x16 extender, and a 400W PSU. Are these parts enough to get me through?

2. Will I have to use an external display? Or is there possibly any way for me to use internal display (under windows 7 or 8)?

3. Would Thunderbolt 1 create a very big bottleneck compared to TB2 especially with a powerful card like 980?

4. Why the heck is Akitio thunder2 so small?!! Ok I guess it really isnt important

I probably have a ton more questions I should be asking but until I get all the parts these are my main concerns.

Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions for me

[Dschijn]

@helloman: Hello and welcome

1. Is the extender a molex powered riser? Please take a look in my guide to understand! 400W is enough, if the PSU provides all the required PCIe power plugs (like 6-Pin and 8-Pin).

2. Internal and external displays work for me. Windows 8.1 is the easiest way to go for (Windows 7 need Nandos tool, I guess). Keep in mind that using the internal screen will reduce the eGPU performance compared to using an external display (take a look at the benchmarks in my guide).

3. Yes, TB1 is going to be a bottleneck. Please take a look at this thread: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8170-gtx980-pcie-bandwidth-scaling-inc-x4-1-1-~tb1-x4-2-0-tb2.html

TB1 can be compared to be in beetween x4 1.1 and x4 2.0 (x4 2.0 is possible on TB2). But keep in mind that you need to devalue the performance if you want to play on the internal display!

4. Imho it is big enough for it's target market. The AKiTiO is a PCIe box for TB devices to connect sound cards, PCIe SSDs, USB3.0, FW cards,..... Bigger cards need a more powerful housing which can be bought with the Sonnet III-D, Netstore NA211TB, Magma ExpressBox 3T (all for 800-1000 $US / each).

[helloman]

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply!

Yes my extender is molex-

My PSU is Seasonic ss-400FL2, which i think is ATX- does that mean I have to purchase an adapter to turn it on?

Since i intend to carry around the eGPU a bit, external monitor seem to be not to feasible.. it would be nice to utilize the retina display

IMO 80% of GTX980 performance will be enough for now since I will get a new laptop when the next MBP or sth refreshes this year with TB2. At worst I will use the 980 to build a PC. 80% of 980 would still be a heaven compared to 650m...

The price tag on Sonnet III will just be way out of price... I hope soon there will be consumer friendly eGPU out (like the ones in CES this year) that are reasonably priced. Something like a driver that can take care of the entire process that this will take? If some company manage to pull that off then they will make big money IMO.

[Dschijn]

The PSU is ATX, yes. And it has 1x6-Pin and 1x8-Pin PCIe. You need to apply the paperclip trick or use an adapter to make the PSU start:

Read this: http://forum.techinferno.com/enclosures-adapters/8441-%5Bguide%5D-switching-atx-psu-using-paperclip-trick-swex.html

Or buy sth like this: https://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Netzteile/Netzteil-Zubehoer/Bitspower-20-PIN-ATX-Ueberbrueckungsstecker::10568.html

I doubt that you can use the internal screen with the eGPU because your MB already has the 650m… So no Optimus for you, if I am right.

Take a look at this Guide please: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/6689-%5Bguide%5D-2013-15-macbook-pro-gt750m-gtx780ti%4016gbps-tb2-sonnet-ee-iii-d-win8-1-a.html

There are some nice eGPU cases, but you will be limited because you want to use a ATX PSU: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8675-egpu-cases.html

Maybe a CoolerMaster Elite 130…

[Mike85b]

Dear all

Im somehow lost but i start to figure out what happening. I have 2011 imac i5 2400s and amd 6750m and TB 1 . Is possible the egpu thru TB? Do i need external monitor or i can use imac's internal monitor? im planning to build GTX970 egpu but i had to know if is possible for my imac.

Thanks

Edit: The egpu is for bootcamp and windows 8.1 only, i dont plan to have egpu on OSX

Sorry for my english

[Dschijn]

I think you have to use an external display than…

[helloman]

So basically there are absolutely no work around for internal display to be used for mbpr that hv 650m or 750m in them? That would be a big turn off since i will m planning to make the egpu portable for lan parties...

[Tech Inferno Fan]

So basically there are absolutely no work around for internal display to be used for mbpr that hv 650m or 750m in them? That would be a big turn off since i will m planning to make the egpu portable for lan parties...

Try the following to see if you can enable the Intel HD graphics as the primary active display: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8717-%5Bguide%5D-enabling-intel-iris-pro-hd5200-win8-1-15-macbook-pro-gt750m.html#post118919 . You'd need to do that then disable the GT650M/GT750M and load the desktop NVidia drivers to get Optimus' accelerated internal LCD mode working.

[Mike85b]

Please i cant find any information for imac, only for rmbp. Do i have to drob this project or is possible?

[Dschijn]

Please i cant find any information for imac, only for rmbp. Do i have to drob this project or is possible?

I don't think that it will be possible to use the internal screen. For that your iMac needs a Intel iGPU to be able to perform Optimus.

An external display should work though

[helloman]

So now that I have plugged my GTX980+Akitio thunder2 in the TB1 port into my macbook pro early 2013, following instructions from various guides. The internal screen flickers, but thats it. It did not turn off. The internal display did not turn off and my external display only shows black screen (but theres input). Both the akitio and 980 (both powered by psu) are on (980 even starts to get warm). What do I do now????

[Hubo]

SFX PSUs are in general

- more expensive

- louder

- not so efficient

But they are small… To make the SFX PSU better there are now a few SFX-L PSUs (like the one I use in this build) with a big fan fpr quieter operation.

Most Silverstone cases are for SFX PSUs… that is the price you need to pay to get a small case.

ATX cases are:

- Silverstone FT03

- Silverstone Sugo13

and all of the 3 linked CoolerMaster cases.

The Dan A4 is a project of a german guy and still takes time to get released.

Thanks for the help! That helps me a lot.

I think I will wait a litte bit. I want to buy the new Laptop in the End of Feb oder early March. It could be that in Feb. there will be a new MacBook pro Edition (like last year).

The other thing is that I will wait for more and better reviews of the GS30. All in all there is not such a big difference to the costs.

The cheapest MacBook pro 13.3 Configuration (with dock) in Student Version with the eGPU + case etc.. costs about 1800€ and the GS30 Configuration with Dock (Student Version) and GPU costs ~1930€.

Not so a big difference and I think that the GS30 will become a little bit cheaper in a few weeks because now the Notebook is brand new.

Pro MSI:

- CPU Passmark (4870HQ): 9056 (MBP i5 4278U: only the half --> 4289 or I would buy the 4578U with the value of 5204 for 180€ extra)

- Dock out of the Box with USB Ports, Audio port like a normal notebook dock (Apple solution would have a Henge dock + eGPU).

- No glossy Display

- only 1,2KG (but a bit "bulkier")

- SSD Super Raid System (2x256GB against 1x128gb)

- 16GB Ram (8gb MBP)

Pro Apple:

- Better looking (MSI is ok, but nothing special)

- Much better Battery life (8-9hours against the 4 hours of the MSI)

- Higher Display Resolution 2560x1600 (against FHD)

- a bit smaller

- cheaper solution ~130€ (but to the hole sum - not so much cheaper)

Another Solution could be to buy a Surface 3 Pro/MB Air for ~700-800€ and a Gaming PC for for 1000€..

I will post how I will decide and report how the solution is.

[Mike85b]

Thanks for your reply, my imac under windows has iGPU, The intel HD 2000. On osx intel hd2000 it is not suppoorted. So that is the reason i believe external gpu may be possible in internal monitor.

[Dschijn]

Thanks for your reply, my imac under windows has iGPU, The intel HD 2000. On osx intel hd2000 it is not suppoorted. So that is the reason i believe external gpu may be possible in internal monitor.

Maybe it would work… Not sure.

@Hubo: From the performance point of view, go with the MSI. Quad Core CPU is important for gaming.