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DIY eGPU Macbook experiences


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4 hours ago, airbusa321 said:

 

Hi all,

I am very interested in constructing an external GPU for my new 2015 13" rMBP and have been lurking on these forums nonstop for the past few days. Let's just say that my head is spinning from all this information.

I am on the edge of purchasing an Akitio Thunder2 but have many questions. These are as follows:

1) I am considering using a new EVGA GTX 750 TI (no PCIe power). How would the power supply work? Can I use it at full clock with the official Akitio 72w PSU or do I need something more (if so, kindly link to a reliable source)?

2) I am running Windows 10 Bootcamp in UEFI. Does this mean that I can just plug-and-play the GPU?

3) Could I use my internal display? How would I go about disabling the internal display and using an external display instead?

PS: I am planning on using Windows 10 for all of this.

Thank you all so much! Any help is greatly appreciated.

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1. No. You need a PSU that delivers more wattage as you need up to 75W(or even more if the card doesn't acknowledge the PCIe specification) + some wattage for the Akitio board itself. The Akitio comes with a 60W PSU, not a 72W. You may take one of these -> https://www.amazon.com/eFreesia-Adapter-Monitor-Compatible-Devices/dp/B00JFCVOYU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473593725&sr=8-5&keywords=120w+2.5mm

The important part is that you need 12V and a 2.5mm x 5.5mm plug. Everything 120W and higher should be fine for a setup like yours.

2. Pretty much, yes.

3. Yes, should work out of the box as far as I've read here(I'm on Windows 8.1 only). If it doesn't there are easy fixes. You don't need to disable the internal display itself, you simply disconnect it in Windows(I do it that way) if you don't want to use it and turn off the backlight before doing so.

 

Just as a hint: You may consider waiting for the GTX 1050 which is supposed to be without the need of a PCIe power plug again, in comparison to the GTX 950.

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1. No. You need a PSU that delivers more wattage as you need up to 75W(or even more if the card doesn't acknowledge the PCIe specification) + some wattage for the Akitio board itself. The Akitio comes with a 60W PSU, not a 72W. You may take one of these -> https://www.amazon.com/eFreesia-Adapter-Monitor-Compatible-Devices/dp/B00JFCVOYU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473593725&sr=8-5&keywords=120w+2.5mm

The important part is that you need 12V and a 2.5mm x 5.5mm plug. Everything 120W and higher should be fine for a setup like yours.

2. Pretty much, yes.

3. Yes, should work out of the box as far as I've read here(I'm on Windows 8.1 only). If it doesn't there are easy fixes. You don't need to disable the internal display itself, you simply disconnect it in Windows(I do it that way) if you don't want to use it and turn off the backlight before doing so.

 

Just as a hint: You may consider waiting for the GTX 1050 which is supposed to be without the need of a PCIe power plug again, in comparison to the GTX 950.

Thanks so much for answering my questions! I just have a few more...

1) How stable is the eGPU setup?

2) When you say "pretty much, yeah", do you mean that after driver installation it's as simple as booting into Windows 10 Bootcamp and then plugging the eGPU in?

3) What would my options be for using a card with a 6 pin power connector (such as the GTX 1060)?

Thanks again.

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3 hours ago, airbusa321 said:

Thanks so much for answering my questions! I just have a few more...

1) How stable is the eGPU setup?

2) When you say "pretty much, yeah", do you mean that after driver installation it's as simple as booting into Windows 10 Bootcamp and then plugging the eGPU in?

3) What would my options be for using a card with a 6 pin power connector (such as the GTX 1060)?

Thanks again.

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1. Stable. Why should it be unstable? The Akitio doesn't like AMD cards though, they tend to crash randomly, so you should stick with Nvidia cards. If you want to use the eGPU on your internal display you're bound to Nvidia anyway.

2. Usually you boot up, hold the ALT key for the boot menu to come up and then you turn on the eGPU which is plugged in already. Then you boot Windows. Same procedure as of first boot, because you can't install the drivers unless the card is connected.

3. Dell DA-2 or a usual ATX PSU both with a 2.5mm x 5.5mm barrel plug which you have to built yourself. See https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/7377-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion/, especially post #2. You'd have to modify the enclosure though if you want to close the Akitio case or the wires because the PCIe power plugs usually block at the top and the card get hot when closed and throttles. Otherwise, if leaving it open is fine, you'd just have to find a card with max. length of around 20cm.

Edited by Morv
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1. Stable. Why should it be unstable? The Akitio doesn't like AMD cards though, they tend to crash randomly, so you should stick with Nvidia cards. If you want to use the eGPU on your internal display you're bound to Nvidia anyway.

2. Usually you boot up, hold the ALT key for the boot menu to come up and then you turn on the eGPU which is plugged in already. Then you boot Windows. Same procedure as of first boot, because you can't install the drivers unless the card is connected.

3. Dell DA-2 or a usual ATX PSU both with a 2.5mm x 5.5mm barrel plug which you have to built yourself. See https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/7377-220w-dell-da-2-ac-adapter-discussion/, especially post #2. You'd have to modify the enclosure though if you want to close the Akitio case or the wires because the PCIe power plugs usually block at the top and the card get hot when closed and throttles. Otherwise, if leaving it open is fine, you'd just have to find a card with max. length of around 20cm.



Semi-related question: Though I am considering waiting for the GTX 1050, would it be a good idea to go with the Asus GTX 950? It does not require a 6 pin connector.

I ask because I heard that EVGA cards are somehow better with plug and play capabilities.


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9 hours ago, airbusa321 said:

 


Semi-related question: Though I am considering waiting for the GTX 1050, would it be a good idea to go with the Asus GTX 950? It does not require a 6 pin connector.

I ask because I heard that EVGA cards are somehow better with plug and play capabilities.


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There are only 2 models made by Asus that don't require the 6 pin connector. Keep in mind that the chip isn't designed to be powered solely by the PCIe slot and maybe they'd throttle when they exceed the 75W. Just a thought though, of course I don't know for sure.

Otherwise it's simply faster than the GTX 750 Ti, the GTX 950 exceeds the GTX 750 Ti by about 3000 points in 3DMark11.

Given the improvement from 750 Ti to 950 we may see around 12000 points in 3DMark11 which would be amazing given that it only needs up to 75W.

So I'd definitely wait or get a cheap card(used 750 for example) for the time until release which can then be sold again.

 

The EVGA thing was only about the use of the internal display which was easier with EVGA models due to internal bootup timings of the cards, when I'm remembering that correctly.

There are easy fixes though to make that happen with every card so that shouldn't be a matter at all.

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Hi Guys,

 

Really new to the eGPU scene. Been reading about it for a couple of months now and always end up coming back to techinferno with my searches on google.

 

So basically I want to take the plunge and do this but the most "easiest" way possible - although that is not entirely possible. I mainly need some help with regards to the Power Supply. Just some background on what I want to achieve, I have Mac Mini Mid 2012 model. Currently I am running a 4K screen on it, only way this is possible by running a mac-pixel-clocker-patch if available after every update this enables 3840 x 2160 @ 30hz. This is okay however there is sometimes its difficulties where doesnt work 100% reason why I am looking at eGPU option as it should be more stable. I am not gaming just purely running 4k resolution on Mac Mini.

 

So my list of parts I am looking is as follows

 

Akitio Thunder 2

EVGA 750ti (Single fan, with no pcie power)

HP 230W Replacement AC Adapter HSTNN-DA12S with this Barrel Convertor (this is where I need the help - need to know if this will work?)

 

So Im opting for this option as it seems to be the most "easiest" way out there but the question more around the power supply if the power supply is sufficient with the barrel converter or is the Dell D220p the only option out there?

 

My main idea is to have a power brick to provide enough power through the Akitio Thunder 2 to power the GPU to only run normal tasks - I wont be gaming on this.

 

Any input appreciated?

 

Thanks,

Riaan

 

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You need a 12V PSU, the one you linked has 19.5V.

There are not a lot of 12V PSUs, since 19.5V PSU are more efficient and more common on the market.

Check for guides with similar GPUs, if they made it work with only powering the setuep through the barrel plug.

 

Regarding the 4k... please ask goalque here if 4k would work, because I think 4k capability is linked to the Mac Version. Especially 4k@60Hz might be tricky.

https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/7989-script-automating-the-installation-of-egpu-on-os-x-inc-display-output/

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Hello,

 

i'm trying to get my eGPU Setup work under Windows 10 Enterprise since 3 weeks and can't find the issue. First my hardware:

 

1. Macbook Pro 2014, Intel i7 2.2Ghz, 16 GB Ram, Iris Pro 5200 and dGPU Geforce GT750m

2. Akitio Thunder 2

3. beQuiet Pure Power 9 600W

4. EVGA Geforce GTX1060

 

What i did:

 

1. Paperclip trick on the PSU

2. Plugged the card into the Akitio and removed the fan of the Akitio

3. Plugged PCI-e Cable from the PSU into the GTX1060

4. Build a custom plug from Molex to DC 5,5/2,5 and connected the PSU to the Akitio

 

Windows 10 was installed via Bootcamp. I prepared an USB dongle with refind 10.3.2 and apple-set-os.efi. I booted from the USB, activated the Iris Pro via apple-set-os.efi and booted Windows via EFI. Then i installed the driver for the Iris Pro from Intel Site. After that i used GPU-Switch from Github (integrated.bat) and disabled the GT750m. 

 

Now when i'm booting, the boot process freezes or i if got success, the GTX1060 has a yellow triangle in device manager. If i try to install the driver from Nvidia, there is an error, that my windows is not compatible. Has someone an idea, what i can do? It would be great! Thank you

 

P.S. Do you recommend Setup1.30 for my setup? I bought it, but i don't know what to do :D 

Edited by pixelvaganz
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43 minutes ago, pixelvaganz said:

Windows 10 was installed via Bootcamp. I prepared an USB dongle with refind 10.3.2 and apple-set-os.efi. I booted from the USB, activated the Iris Pro via apple-set-os.efi and booted Windows via EFI. Then i installed the driver for the Iris Pro from Intel Site. After that i used GPU-Switch from Github (integrated.bat) and disabled the GT750m. 

 

Now when i'm booting, the boot process freezes or i if got success, the GTX1060 has a yellow triangle in device manager. If i try to install the driver from Nvidia, there is an error, that my windows is not compatible. Has someone an idea, what i can do? It would be great! Thank you

 

P.S. Do you recommend Setup1.30 for my setup? I bought it, but i don't know what to do :D 

 

Pls ensure you remove all existing NVidia drivers, the use "DDU" to remove NVidia registry entries as well as disable automatic driver installation and then install the latest Win10 GTX1060 driver. Check if there are any errors against the GTX1060 in Device Manager, eg: error 10, 12, 34.

 

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Hi all,

I have just finished installation of my eGPU with a Thunder2 Box and an EVGA GTX 750 TI inside. The card has plenty of power (120w), and I am having trouble after driver installation. I am running Windows 10 on a 2015 rMBP with Integrated Graphics.

After successful driver installation, I am struggling to restart. I reached the boot screen by pressing ALT and plugged in the box before booting into Windows. I am now stuck on the splash screen. The box is connected to a TV via HDMI as a monitor.

Does anyone have any suggestions/answers? Any help would be greatly appreciated!



PS Windows 10 detected the card during driver installation. I just cannot boot with the box plugged in.

Thanks,

Josh



c10522d3f1384c11152338a2911dba9a.jpg

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 @airbusa321 Try plugging the eGPU in/starting it when you're in the boot menu. What do you mean exactly with "splash screen"? Have you had a look at one of the implementation threads for a 13" 2015 MBPr?

 


I have looked around, but I cannot seem to find a solution. Also, I mean that the screen is stuck on the Windows logo with the loading circle that is presented before the login screen. Finally, I have tried plugging in the GPU at the boot menu but am only getting the problem.

Is there a specific thread I should look at?


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Hi everyone,

 

just wanted to share my experience with my e-GPU rig: a Portable MEDIA-SERVER for VJING and VIDEOMAPPING.. which is going great!

I'm running my visuals at 50-60fps constant with 4 layers of Full HD contents and one layer with a heavy ISF SHADER (GLSL for VDMX),

with lot of very heavy video filters and effects (all ISF and running on GPU),

outputting to 7 monitors with different resolutions (and each with different images):

 

A-laptop monitor (used only for the softwares controls and NOT for any video preview - it will slow down completely the machine)

B-external preview monitor (acer 1366x768 res)

C-3 outputs of 1024x768 from DVI-D to Matrox TripleHead2go

(in the picts outputting only to 1 monitor but is effectively outputting out all the 3 DVI ports - sorry didn't have enough monitors in the house!)

D-external monitor 1 (1920x1080) 

E-external monitor 2 (1920x1200)


HARDWARE:

-MBP Late 2011, 16GB RAM, 256 SSD and 500GB HHD storage;

-Akitio Thunderbolt 2 PCIe + PCIE 16x16 Extender (powered);

-MSI GTX 970 (bypassed the voltage control of the fans straight to the PSU to be always at max speed);

-Cooler Master 500w PSU;

-used small PC box (un-named);

 

SOFTWARE (running)

-OSX El Capitan;

-VDMX (syphoning to Madmapper)

-MadMapper;

 

 

TO NOTICE:

-i've tested the e-GPU with newer Retina MBP from 2013 and 15 and they don't work as good, actually running faster with their own built-in graphic cards;

-i've daisy-chained an Elgato Thunderbolt dock with an external SSD USB 3.0 drive and it was working still fine (when reading videoclips form it was only dropping a few frames);

-daisy chained a BlackMagic Ultra-studio mini Recorder with 1920x1080 HDMI signal in to capture another video signal and was working still fine, but dropping more frames as 

heavier the patch of VDMX and Madmapper is. For less stressing patches and setups i believe can run fine. 

 

hope it helps,

 

Federico

www.deltaprocess.it

 

 

IMG_1901.jpeg

IMG_1902.jpeg

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IMG_1904.jpeg

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23 hours ago, CodeSix said:

After installing NVidia 372.70 driver and disabled 750M from device manager, enable Intel Iris Pro using rEFInd, it finally works now, also the eGPU is working on internal rMBP monitor (i guess), 3dmark gets a score of 4038, thanks everyone for the help!  But the funny thing is that even I have disabled the 750M, it is still visible to 3dmark.

 

Below is a footage running 3dmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm18M-i4_68

 

 

Capture0.PNG

 

 

Capture1.PNG

 

 

 

I have a similar setup (Cept I have the i7 4850). 

 

It only seems to use the dedicated card for acceleration on the internal monitor. Efforts to disable have not fixed that little problem.

 

And I don't think I'm in a position to use rEFInd since I'm bootcamp... Thoughts?

 

 

 

Capture.PNG

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25 minutes ago, herrb said:

 

 

 

I have a similar setup (Cept I have the i7 4850). 

 

It only seems to use the dedicated card for acceleration on the internal monitor. Efforts to disable have not fixed that little problem.

 

And I don't think I'm in a position to use rEFInd since I'm bootcamp... Thoughts?

 

 

 

Capture.PNG

 

Hi herb, rEFInd is used to enable Intel Iris Pro on windows side such that you can disable the dGPU, Optimus will kick in if you are running graphic hungry software which will bring the process to the eGPU.  so you need to use rEFInd for that purpose.  However I am facing another strange problem, when I am using spoof_osx_version in rEFInd, windows does not boot up and hang in spinning dots.  I am trying to reinstall windows again.

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After starting up the eGPU successfully, I am facing another problem.  I can get everything works fine after a clean install of windows like playing GTA in max resolution.  But once I boot back to OSX, I can no longer boot into windows again, it hangs at the spinning dots.  I need to uninstall the Intel Iris 5200 driver (installed by bootcamp) with DDU in safe mode before I can get back to normal mode.  When I entered normal mode, I tried to reinstall all versions of Intel Iris 5200 drivers, all of them turned into black screen and freeze when I hear the "New Hardware Found" tone.  I then tried to remove NVidia drivers with DDU in safe mode, the same thing happened when I try to reinstall the NVidia driver in normal mode. So i guess it would be a windows 10 issue instead of drivers bug.  Does anyone have the same problem as it?

Edited by CodeSix
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Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum, Mac world and also to eGPU world! So I decided the better thing to do is to put my hands right into the mud..

I purchased an used, original Akitio, a Palit GTX970 JetStream and a cheap Micro ATX PSU (Vultech GS500M) - My pc is a mid 2014 MacBook Retina with Windows 10 and -from today- Sierra (I5 2.6 GHz, 8Gb RAM, Intel Iris 5100, 256Gb SSD).

First thing first, I prepared the PSU to power all the things.

The datasheet says it is a 500w, with two 12v rails, 29A total (348w). I cut all the connectors, isolated the other lines I won't use (3.3, 5v, 5vsb and -12v), shorted the power on with a negative. Then I had six 12v positives, and all the commons. I gathered 4 wires and solder them to the positive of the two PCI 6 pin cables, same I did for the negatives, except two.

I used the remaining wires (2 positives and 2 negatives) to make the barrel connection for the akitio.

Tested without anything plugged, it works (fan spinning)

Then I build a plexiglass enclosure to contain everything, i kept the layout of the original metal case, so the position of the board is the same; next to the video card, on the opposite wall I planned to install the psu, with the air intake obvously facing the outside, and the air output in the rear. In the front I installed a 120mm fan, plugged into the fan port of the Akitio board.

I partially assembled all the parts, leaving the top and the right side (opposite to the board, to be clear), and power on.

Surprisingly, nothing blew up... I managed to make the card recognized by Windows, installed the drivers, AND make some gaming - benchmark test to test the setup.

I made a short session of Farming Simulator 2015 and suddenly nothing wrong .. BUT .. after some minutes the PSU started to buzz. The more the card required power (by doing some "complex" tasks), the more PSU buzzed. I also tested with Unigine Valley, in ultra setup. Everything worked, I made two benchmarks, I reached 85°C on the GPU and 96° (WOW..) on the CPU..

And now.. my concerns..

- is the PSU buzzing just because is sh*tty? Or I made some terrible mistake by wiring, soldering and so? I took a look inside it and TBH.. even if I don't know electronics so deep to reverse engineering I noticed that 12v wires come ALL from the same pad on the pcb.. so I guess it's not a problem to put them together. If the power table is correct .. I should get 350 w from the 12v line .. during the benchs I logged the power consumption with HWINFO, and the 970 drew about 120w on its peak .. if summed with the Akitio I get less then 200w .. far more than the limit..

- the temperatures .. ok 85° in full load would not scare me if the GTX was inside my good old desktop gaming rig .. but here I think the game is different, is there any risk to "cook" the Akitio Board? The space between the card and the board is really low (I'm not using a riser), I'm thinking about improving the ventilation by drilling many holes in the wall very next to the board, and maybe installing a more efficient fan connected directly to the 12v. Would it be ok?

- the riser .. TBH I don't really know if I need the riser or not. By now the card is plugged directly into the Akitio Board, powered by the buzzing PSU, that also power the board. Everything works even if the mentioned troubles above.

Any kind of suggestion is accepted, last things to say, I'm quite able to solder and etcetera. I own also a Dell DA2, but I preferred to make an "everything integrated" solution and last but not least .. JetStream GTX970 on review peaked quite 200w itself. I need more power, I guess.

Ok I'm risking to be lynched .. but just to know .. I decided to mod directly the PSU by following a guide taken on the web .. stupid or not it's not my invention :)

I attach a pic of the connection I made, of the PSU board and the table

IMG_6817.JPG

IMG_6820.JPG

IMG_6821.JPG

 

-- EDIT ---

 

Here are some pics of my setup .. now it's running fine, no buzz BUT no load .. tested again Unigine and here are the results (AGAIN the psu is buzzing).

Respect to the post I modified the case by drilling holes behind the Akitio Board, drilling the psu case, and most important, I dressed the power wires of the akitio board with a silicone-fiberglass sheath to protect it from the heat produced by the gpu.

Again, thanks

 

File_000.jpeg

File_001.jpeg

File_002.jpeg

Cattura.PNG

Edited by El_Febio
added info and some pics
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Hey @Granty the idea to get the 1060 Mini sounds good to me. Have you already put it to work?

Let's hope the 1060 will be supported soon in OSX. It looks like with the recent addition of CUDA pascal for OSX the webdrivers might be around the corner! https://goo.gl/CQbKvR

I'm a bit scared of getting the DA2 cable right so I was wondering if @Dschijn you could make one for me as well? :)

I live in Canada, but could have it shipped to my parents in Germany. How much would you charge for that?

Edited by mrchrister
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I'm wondering if this post I made in the guide thread would be more attinent in this thread ..

 

--- 2nd edit START ---

Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum, Mac world and also to eGPU world! So I decided the better thing to do is to put my hands right into the mud..

I purchased an used, original Akitio, a Palit GTX970 JetStream and a cheap Micro ATX PSU (Vultech GS500M) - My pc is a mid 2014 MacBook Retina with Windows 10 and -from today- Sierra (I5 2.6 GHz, 8Gb RAM, Intel Iris 5100, 256Gb SSD).

First thing first, I prepared the PSU to power all the things.

The datasheet says it is a 500w, with two 12v rails, 29A total (348w). I cut all the connectors, isolated the other lines I won't use (3.3, 5v, 5vsb and -12v), shorted the power on with a negative. Then I had six 12v positives, and all the commons. I gathered 4 wires and solder them to the positive of the two PCI 6 pin cables, same I did for the negatives, except two.

I used the remaining wires (2 positives and 2 negatives) to make the barrel connection for the akitio.

Tested without anything plugged, it works (fan spinning)

Then I build a plexiglass enclosure to contain everything, i kept the layout of the original metal case, so the position of the board is the same; next to the video card, on the opposite wall I planned to install the psu, with the air intake obvously facing the outside, and the air output in the rear. In the front I installed a 120mm fan, plugged into the fan port of the Akitio board.

I partially assembled all the parts, leaving the top and the right side (opposite to the board, to be clear), and power on.

Surprisingly, nothing blew up... I managed to make the card recognized by Windows, installed the drivers, AND make some gaming - benchmark test to test the setup.

I made a short session of Farming Simulator 2015 and suddenly nothing wrong .. BUT .. after some minutes the PSU started to buzz. The more the card required power (by doing some "complex" tasks), the more PSU buzzed. I also tested with Unigine Valley, in ultra setup. Everything worked, I made two benchmarks, I reached 85°C on the GPU and 96° (WOW..) on the CPU..

And now.. my concerns..

- is the PSU buzzing just because is sh*tty? Or I made some terrible mistake by wiring, soldering and so? I took a look inside it and TBH.. even if I don't know electronics so deep to reverse engineering I noticed that 12v wires come ALL from the same pad on the pcb.. so I guess it's not a problem to put them together. If the power table is correct .. I should get 350 w from the 12v line .. during the benchs I logged the power consumption with HWINFO, and the 970 drew about 120w on its peak .. if summed with the Akitio I get less then 200w .. far more than the limit..

- the temperatures .. ok 85° in full load would not scare me if the GTX was inside my good old desktop gaming rig .. but here I think the game is different, is there any risk to "cook" the Akitio Board? The space between the card and the board is really low (I'm not using a riser), I'm thinking about improving the ventilation by drilling many holes in the wall very next to the board, and maybe installing a more efficient fan connected directly to the 12v. Would it be ok?

- the riser .. TBH I don't really know if I need the riser or not. By now the card is plugged directly into the Akitio Board, powered by the buzzing PSU, that also power the board. Everything works even if the mentioned troubles above.

Any kind of suggestion is accepted, last things to say, I'm quite able to solder and etcetera. I own also a Dell DA2, but I preferred to make an "everything integrated" solution and last but not least .. JetStream GTX970 on review peaked quite 200w itself. I need more power, I guess.

Ok I'm risking to be lynched .. but just to know .. I decided to mod directly the PSU by following a guide taken on the web .. stupid or not it's not my invention :)

I attach a pic of the connection I made, of the PSU board and the table

 

IMG_6817.JPG

IMG_6820.JPG

IMG_6821.JPG

--- 2nd edit END ---

 

Thanks in advance

 

-- EDIT ---

 

Here are some pics of my setup .. now it's running fine, no buzz BUT no load .. tested again Unigine and here are the results (AGAIN the psu is buzzing).

Respect to the post I modified the case by drilling holes behind the Akitio Board, drilling the psu case, and most important, I dressed the power wires of the akitio board with a silicone-fiberglass sheath to protect it from the heat produced by the gpu.

Again, thanks

 

File_000.jpeg

File_001.jpeg

File_002.jpeg

Cattura.PNG

Edited by El_Febio
Adding info
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@mrchrister Yes I'm just a couple of weeks away from purchasing a Zotac GTX1060 Mini, can't wait to get it running. I see the GTX970 has come down a bit in price to below £200 now but I think I'll pay that little bit extra for what appears to be a slightly better graphics card. 

 

I received my modded cable from @Dschijn and it works perfectly! I'm sure he would be very happy to help you, he was very helpful. And as you have parents in Germany, that will make shipping fairly quick too. 

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I was going back and forth between the 970 and the 1060 as well. Over here you can find them for like $250 CAD on craigslist. But the prospect of being able to fit the card into the case sounds good to me and it seems like the 1060 will be slightly faster than the 970. I'll make the purchase as soon as NVIDIA releases Pascal drivers for OSX which is hopefully soon.

Can't wait to play some GTA 5 on my 2013 Macbook Retina :)

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On 9/24/2016 at 9:37 AM, DeltaProcess said:

Hi everyone,

 

just wanted to share my experience with my e-GPU rig: a Portable MEDIA-SERVER for VJING and VIDEOMAPPING.. which is going great!

I'm running my visuals at 50-60fps constant with 4 layers of Full HD contents and one layer with a heavy ISF SHADER (GLSL for VDMX),

with lot of very heavy video filters and effects (all ISF and running on GPU),

outputting to 7 monitors with different resolutions (and each with different images):

 

A-laptop monitor (used only for the softwares controls and NOT for any video preview - it will slow down completely the machine)

B-external preview monitor (acer 1366x768 res)

C-3 outputs of 1024x768 from DVI-D to Matrox TripleHead2go

(in the picts outputting only to 1 monitor but is effectively outputting out all the 3 DVI ports - sorry didn't have enough monitors in the house!)

D-external monitor 1 (1920x1080) 

E-external monitor 2 (1920x1200)


HARDWARE:

-MBP Late 2011, 16GB RAM, 256 SSD and 500GB HHD storage;

-Akitio Thunderbolt 2 PCIe + PCIE 16x16 Extender (powered);

-MSI GTX 970 (bypassed the voltage control of the fans straight to the PSU to be always at max speed);

-Cooler Master 500w PSU;

-used small PC box (un-named);

 

SOFTWARE (running)

-OSX El Capitan;

-VDMX (syphoning to Madmapper)

-MadMapper;

 

 

TO NOTICE:

-i've tested the e-GPU with newer Retina MBP from 2013 and 15 and they don't work as good, actually running faster with their own built-in graphic cards;

-i've daisy-chained an Elgato Thunderbolt dock with an external SSD USB 3.0 drive and it was working still fine (when reading videoclips form it was only dropping a few frames);

-daisy chained a BlackMagic Ultra-studio mini Recorder with 1920x1080 HDMI signal in to capture another video signal and was working still fine, but dropping more frames as 

heavier the patch of VDMX and Madmapper is. For less stressing patches and setups i believe can run fine. 

 

hope it helps,

 

Federico

www.deltaprocess.it

 

 

 

 

That's an impressive setup mate! Reminds me of my Resolume days 10 years ago :) Back then I worked with a resolution of 640x480 with the Matrox TripleHead2Go and some weird Indeo codec. 

 

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On 4. Oktober 2016 at 10:53 AM, mrchrister said:

Hey @Granty the idea to get the 1060 Mini sounds good to me. Have you already put it to work?

Let's hope the 1060 will be supported soon in OSX. It looks like with the recent addition of CUDA pascal for OSX the webdrivers might be around the corner! https://goo.gl/CQbKvR

I'm a bit scared of getting the DA2 cable right so I was wondering if @Dschijn you could make one for me as well? :)

I live in Canada, but could have it shipped to my parents in Germany. How much would you charge for that?

 

Cable is no problem, but I am currently on vacation and a cable would be ready in 3 weeks. Just PM me ;)

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20 hours ago, Dschijn said:

 

Cable is no problem, but I am currently on vacation and a cable would be ready in 3 weeks. Just PM me ;)

 

Thanks Dschijn! I feel pretty confident I can get this cable done myself, after a bit more reading..

Do I understand your previous post correctly? You would get the 8pin extension and solder the remote pin to ground so you don't have to do the paperclip trick or is there another reason for it?

 

Right now I would order:

 

Dell DA2 brick (already on its way)

1x Y-splitter 6pin 

1x 6pin to low profile 6pin

 

Then I simply force the female 6pin onto the 8pin Dell DA2 (making sure I leave the correct two male pins untouched), one 6 pin male to the 1060 mini and the other one I cut and solder to a barrel plug. Then, I would use a paperclip to connect remote to ground.

 

Does that make sense to you?

 

 

Edited by mrchrister
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