Dschijn 329 Posted May 12, 2016 Yeah, it should work, in Windows! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m1sk 13 Posted May 13, 2016 Hello, Currently I am having problems with my eGPU and I cant run games on it. I'm looking for some help to diagnose the problem. So here's the story: About a year ago I successfully setup an eGPU(all thanks to this site) on my 17" 2011 Macbook Pro using Akitio Thunderbolt w/ GTX 960. Also to run the games on my internal screen I made a VGA dummy, then I just set the fake screen as the main screen and move the games to the internal screen. My Macbook is also upgraded: 16GB RAM, SSD. So I have had this solution for a while, and now a week ago everything worked but suddenly this Thursday I was playing Fallout 4 and suddenly it crashed. Now at first I thought this was a one time crash because the week before I played a lot of Fallout and I think it did crash a few times. Anyway this time it was different, it kept crashing and crashing. I thought it might be a problem with the game but no when I tried running Witcher 3 it also crashed after a minute or so. So this happens pretty much in all games. What I tried to do: Placed GPU in a desktop computer - no crashes Reinstall display drivers - still have crashes My suspicions: This all started on when I was installing Visual Studio 2015 while playing Fallout 4, later I also installed a few more things to enable my GPU for Deep Learning (https://datanoord.com/2016/02/01/setup-a-deep-learning-environment-on-windows-theano-keras-with-gpu-enabled/), that includes CUDA. Now the problems started before I could get across to actually installing CUDA but it could be two separate errors. When I was setting this deep learning stuff I still didn't understand that I had serious problem. My thunderbolt cable always had to be connected in an odd way = I had to pull it out a bit for it to work properly. This could be something wrong with the cable, so I order a new one now. But it could be a sign of some other problem with my connection. Things I want to try: Run on clean installation of windows Connect eGPU to another macbook. (if I do this I won't have to do the first one I guess) So I am looking for any tips, ways to diagnose my problem. All help would be appreciated. Thank You, Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
entzoe 48 Posted June 1, 2016 Hey Guys, has anyone here jumped to and use GTX 1080 on your EGPU? Please post some little review. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dschijn 329 Posted June 2, 2016 14 hours ago, entzoe said: Hey Guys, has anyone here jumped to and use GTX 1080 on your EGPU? Please post some little review. Currently I only saw this guy here: https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/9972-2014-macbook-pro-15-retina-gtx-1080-tb2-akitio-thunder2-osx-1011/ I bet it would work in Windows... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eGPUfan 10 Posted June 11, 2016 So guys... I think that I have a problem. On the picture you can see that my CPU is on the max. 100 °C (212 °F) at 45-65% operating grade!!!! Do I have dust in the case of the MacBook? because I dont think this is a common temperature for this operating grade. Does this bottleneck the GTX 970? because the GPU runs in average about 75-102% picture (while playing GTA on high Settings) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dschijn 329 Posted June 12, 2016 @eGPUfan unfortunately that is normal. Especially GTA V has a high CPU load. Options: - fans at 100% - limit CPUs clock speed to sth like 3GHz - lower CPUs voltage by -50mV Try Intel XTU tool. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Another Tech Inferno Fan 30 Posted June 12, 2016 19 minutes ago, Dschijn said: @eGPUfan unfortunately that is normal. Especially GTA V has a high CPU load. Options: - fans at 100% - limit CPUs clock speed to sth like 3GHz - lower CPUs voltage by -50mV Try Intel XTU tool. I don't think undervolting is possible on anything later than the last of the Core 2 CPUs or overclockable laptops. (Speaking as a Windows user on an i5-2520M. If undervolting is indeed possible, I'd love to know more about it. I've already tried Intel XTU a while back) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dschijn 329 Posted June 12, 2016 worked fine on my i7-4870HQ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Another Tech Inferno Fan 30 Posted June 12, 2016 Seems to be an exception for Haswell series. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shez 18 Posted June 17, 2016 Good news! http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/egpu-natively-supported-in-macos-sierra.1977969/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devild 21 Posted June 17, 2016 3 hours ago, Shez said: Good news! http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/egpu-natively-supported-in-macos-sierra.1977969/ Only works with EFI bios on his Titan X. Doesn't work with usual bios. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
burrlin 0 Posted June 25, 2016 So, I have been running my eGPU for about two weeks now, with about a 95% success! That means for me, minimal problems and successful rendering with Octane render engine. I have had some crashes, about once a day but it hasn't been a huge problem, its usually with the first start up of the eGPU in the morning. Having said all that, today has been different, not only is it unusually hot here in Berlin but I am getting constant crashes when the eGPU is on. The crashes happen when rendering or just randomly when working in Cinema 4D, my computer freezes and then reboots from the "multi language" Apple screen. Remember, this only happens when the eGPU is on, otherwise my computer is running fine. I provided the Panic Report below, its all 'Chinese' to me, maybe someone is better at reading it. My eGPU unit is sitting on my desk "ghetto style," while I wait for some parts to start building a enclosure for the components. Could that be causing stability issues? Thanks in advance! Full computer specs here: iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) Processor 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1024 MB eGPU hardware on hand here: Apple Thunderbolt Cable 2.0m EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Ti 6GB GDDR5 be quiet! DARK POWER PRO 11 750W PSU w/ bridge Akitio Thunderbolt2 PCIe Expansion Box Powered Riser Cable 16X PCI-E Anonymous UUID: D9599F27-14AC-BA43-E4BF-06BF41004813 Sat Jun 25 22:44:50 2016 *** Panic Report *** panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8009f20c9a): "a freed zone element has been modified in zone kalloc.16: expected 0x3f0089f303aeaa42 but found 0x980000009800, bits changed 0x3f0011f303ae3242, at offset 0 of 16 in element 0xffffff8046eaba40, cookies 0x3f0011f303ae3242 0x5352109e794d791"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3248.50.21/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:503 Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address 0xffffff93b27f3890 : 0xffffff8009edab12 0xffffff93b27f3910 : 0xffffff8009f20c9a 0xffffff93b27f3980 : 0xffffff8009f202fe 0xffffff93b27f39c0 : 0xffffff8009f1f2e2 0xffffff93b27f3af0 : 0xffffff800a47fecd 0xffffff93b27f3b10 : 0xffffff800a4997b9 0xffffff93b27f3b40 : 0xffffff7f8d19e04d 0xffffff93b27f3b90 : 0xffffff7f8d19baad 0xffffff93b27f3ba0 : 0xffffff7f8aabb0b5 0xffffff93b27f3bf0 : 0xffffff7f8aabafc8 0xffffff93b27f3c10 : 0xffffff7f8aabf532 0xffffff93b27f3ca0 : 0xffffff7f8aab710b 0xffffff93b27f3cd0 : 0xffffff7f8ab0f170 0xffffff93b27f3d20 : 0xffffff800a494de1 0xffffff93b27f3d70 : 0xffffff800a4dea89 0xffffff93b27f3de0 : 0xffffff8009f97991 0xffffff93b27f3e30 : 0xffffff8009edf283 0xffffff93b27f3e60 : 0xffffff8009ec28b8 0xffffff93b27f3ea0 : 0xffffff8009ed2665 0xffffff93b27f3f10 : 0xffffff8009fb8dca 0xffffff93b27f3fb0 : 0xffffff8009fecc86 Kernel Extensions in backtrace: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[172C2960-EDF5-382D-80A5-C13E97D74880]@0xffffff7f8aaad000->0xffffff7f8aae7fff dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[D8216D61-5209-3B0C-866D-7D8B3C5F33FF]@0xffffff7f8a72c000 com.nvidia.web.NVDAResmanWeb(10.1.1)[5C094812-86E1-35B5-9B9F-AFD29D97CEC3]@0xffffff7f8ab0b000->0xffffff7f8adeafff dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[D8216D61-5209-3B0C-866D-7D8B3C5F33FF]@0xffffff7f8a72c000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.4.1)[1114B99F-E439-329E-876D-1FEC4CF45DF6]@0xffffff7f8aaf4000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[172C2960-EDF5-382D-80A5-C13E97D74880]@0xffffff7f8aaad000 dependency: com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.12.8)[81C2784E-285A-38A7-A16E-515DCB816E0A]@0xffffff7f8ab04000 com.apple.driver.AGPM(110.22)[D6F3F5F1-C1B0-31B1-9F5F-AF0A47F03B95]@0xffffff7f8d199000->0xffffff7f8d1affff dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[D8216D61-5209-3B0C-866D-7D8B3C5F33FF]@0xffffff7f8a72c000 dependency: com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily(6.0.0d7)[4BEF649C-7CFD-31CA-8D84-1F0DB25BF60B]@0xffffff7f8b88a000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.4.1)[1114B99F-E439-329E-876D-1FEC4CF45DF6]@0xffffff7f8aaf4000 dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.4.1)[172C2960-EDF5-382D-80A5-C13E97D74880]@0xffffff7f8aaad000 dependency: com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl(3.12.8)[81C2784E-285A-38A7-A16E-515DCB816E0A]@0xffffff7f8ab04000 BSD process name corresponding to current thread: WindowServer Boot args: nvda_drv=1 Mac OS version: 15F34 Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 15.5.0: Tue Apr 19 18:36:36 PDT 2016; root:xnu-3248.50.21~8/RELEASE_X86_64 Kernel UUID: 7E7B0822-D2DE-3B39-A7A5-77B40A668BC6 Kernel slide: 0x0000000009c00000 Kernel text base: 0xffffff8009e00000 __HIB text base: 0xffffff8009d00000 System model name: iMac13,2 (Mac-FC02E91DDD3FA6A4) System uptime in nanoseconds: 62277997263 last loaded kext at 51257480050: com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy 3.12.7 (addr 0xffffff7f8d1dd000, size 49152) loaded kexts: com.nvidia.CUDA 1.1.0 com.nvidia.web.NVDAGM100HalWeb 10.1.1 com.nvidia.web.GeForceWeb 10.1.1 com.nvidia.web.NVDAGK100HalWeb 10.1.1 com.nvidia.web.NVDAResmanWeb 10.1.1 com.nvidia.NVDAStartupWeb 10.1.1 com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy 3.12.7 com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.5d0 com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.70 com.apple.driver.AGPM 110.22.0 com.apple.driver.ApplePlatformEnabler 2.6.0d0 com.apple.driver.X86PlatformShim 1.0.0 com.apple.filesystems.autofs 3.0 com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 4.4.5f3 com.apple.driver.AppleOSXWatchdog 1 com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver 124 com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver 274.9 com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver 274.9 com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.6.1 com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 274.9 com.apple.driver.pmtelemetry 1 com.apple.iokit.IOUserEthernet 1.0.1 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHD4000Graphics 10.1.4 com.apple.Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X 7.0.0 com.apple.driver.AppleMuxControl 3.12.8 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltIP 3.0.8 com.apple.driver.ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin 1.0.0 com.apple.driver.AppleHV 1 com.apple.iokit.BroadcomBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.4.5f3 com.apple.driver.AppleFIVRDriver 4.1.0 com.apple.driver.AppleSMCLMU 208 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelFramebufferCapri 10.1.4 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelSlowAdaptiveClocking 4.0.0 com.apple.driver.AppleBacklight 170.8.9 com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.2.13 com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 3.1 com.apple.nvidia.NVDAStartup 10.1.0 com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothUSBDFU 4.4.5f3 com.apple.driver.AppleFileSystemDriver 3.0.1 com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1 com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0 com.apple.BootCache 38 com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 2.8.5 com.apple.driver.AppleSDXC 1.7.0 com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 800.20.24 com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet 10.2.0 com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 1040.1.1a6 com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 3.1.8 com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBEHCIPCI 1.0.1 com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 2.0 com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 4.0 com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.8 com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 2.1 com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 4.0 com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.7 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 218.0.0 com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 163 com.apple.security.quarantine 3 com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 8 com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 218.0.0 com.apple.kext.triggers 1.0 com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 11 com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 274.9 com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 525 com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 108.2.1 com.apple.driver.CoreCaptureResponder 1 com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 3.12.8 com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginLegacy 1.0.0 com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothHostControllerUSBTransport 4.4.5f3 com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 4.4.5f3 com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.14d1 com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 274.9 com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 274.9 com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 204.4 com.apple.vecLib.kext 1.2.0 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltEDMSink 4.1.1 com.apple.iokit.IOAcceleratorFamily2 205.10 com.apple.AppleGraphicsDeviceControl 3.12.8 com.apple.driver.X86PlatformPlugin 1.0.0 com.apple.iokit.IOSlowAdaptiveClockingFamily 1.0.0 com.apple.driver.AppleBacklightExpert 1.1.0 com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.4.1 com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.9 com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.14d1 com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.4.1 com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 6.0.0d7 com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 3.7.7 com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard 181 com.apple.driver.usb.IOUSBHostHIDDevice 1.0.1 com.apple.driver.usb.cdc 5.0.0 com.apple.driver.usb.networking 5.0.0 com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHostCompositeDevice 1.0.1 com.apple.driver.usb.AppleUSBHub 1.0.1 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPInAdapter 4.1.3 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPOutAdapter 4.1.3 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltDPAdapterFamily 4.1.3 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIUpAdapter 2.0.2 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltPCIDownAdapter 2.0.2 com.apple.driver.AppleXsanScheme 3 com.apple.driver.AppleThunderboltNHI 4.0.4 com.apple.iokit.IOThunderboltFamily 6.0.2 com.apple.iokit.IOEthernetAVBController 1.0.3b3 com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 900.4.1 com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 1110.26 com.apple.driver.mDNSOffloadUserClient 1.0.1b8 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com.apple.kec.corecrypto 1.0 Model: iMac13,2, BootROM IM131.010A.B09, 4 processors, Intel Core i5, 3.2 GHz, 32 GB, SMC 2.11f14 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX, PCIe, 1024 MB Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x31364B544631473634485A2D314736453220 Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM0, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x31364B544631473634485A2D314736453220 Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x31364B544631473634485A2D314736453220 Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 8 GB, DDR3, 1600 MHz, 0x802C, 0x31364B544631473634485A2D314736453220 AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0xF4), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.95.175.1a6) Bluetooth: Version 4.4.5f3 17904, 3 services, 27 devices, 1 incoming serial ports Network Service: Wi-Fi, AirPort, en1 Serial ATA Device: APPLE HDD ST1000DM003, 1 TB USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus USB Device: Hub USB Device: FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) USB Device: USB 2.0 Bus USB Device: Hub USB Device: Hub USB Device: BRCM20702 Hub USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller USB Device: Keyboard Hub USB Device: Apple Keyboard USB Device: USB 3.0 Bus USB Device: Intuos5 touch M Thunderbolt Bus: iMac, Apple Inc., 23.4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
burrlin 0 Posted June 26, 2016 On 6/21/2016 at 8:42 PM, M2tM said: I see someone else say not to use a riser cable... Is this the issue? I'd have to bend my akito thunder case to plug in directly, should I do that? I have also heard this many times now but nobody can give me a reason why. I am having problems with stability with my eGPU, constant crashes now while eGPU is running and using Cinema 4D or rendering with Octane. Basically if the eGPU is on, I am working very nervously. I can't pin point if my problem is my eGPU hardware or conflict with my iMac. I am at a point where I am thinking about abandoning this DIY eGPU and just going with a Bizon box. I just can't get any straight answer around the forum here, and every time someone redirects me to the "right topic" on another forum for trouble shooting I run into broken links and dead ends. I'm also not a gamer, so that doesn't help me either. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morv 72 Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) On 26.6.2016 at 0:37 PM, burrlin said: I have also heard this many times now but nobody can give me a reason why. I am having problems with stability with my eGPU, constant crashes now while eGPU is running and using Cinema 4D or rendering with Octane. Basically if the eGPU is on, I am working very nervously. I can't pin point if my problem is my eGPU hardware or conflict with my iMac. I am at a point where I am thinking about abandoning this DIY eGPU and just going with a Bizon box. I just can't get any straight answer around the forum here, and every time someone redirects me to the "right topic" on another forum for trouble shooting I run into broken links and dead ends. I'm also not a gamer, so that doesn't help me either. The riser is the problem, if you read that it is and already got told it in the automate-eGPU thread, why are you not simply solving the problem? And hell, don't buy a freaking overprized Bizon box. All you need is one of these things: https://www.amazon.de/adaptare-93525-DC-Hohlstecker-zweipoliger-Terminal-Block/dp/B01H5C29C2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1467030067&sr=8-2&keywords=terminalblock+2.5mm Then cut off the Molex cable of the riser near the glue, strip a bit of the hull at the end of the cables, twist the cables if there are more than one per black and yellow. Then put the yellow one into "+" and the black one into "-" and fix them by screwing. That's all. Had a riser in use at the beginning and yes it was the problem. I'm using this molex cable for a few weeks again now since my Dell DA-2 died. Still works fine. Ask again if something isn't clear enough. Edited June 27, 2016 by Morv 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hblockx 13 Posted June 29, 2016 (edited) On 11.6.2016 at 11:55 PM, eGPUfan said: So guys... I think that I have a problem. On the picture you can see that my CPU is on the max. 100 °C (212 °F) at 45-65% operating grade!!!! Do I have dust in the case of the MacBook? because I dont think this is a common temperature for this operating grade. Does this bottleneck the GTX 970? because the GPU runs in average about 75-102% picture (while playing GTA on high Settings) Look at IFixit for changing the thermal paste and change it with Arctic MX-4 or a different wellmade thermal-paste. Did it 1 week ago, was fairly easy to do and lowered my temperatures by 10° idle and load @late2013 with 750m. Before my Macbook throttled at 100° in GTA5, now it achieves in highest case 92° but without throttling... When you see the way Apple applies their thermal paste and how fcking dry and cracky it is, you realize why that great difference is possible. Edited June 30, 2016 by hblockx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigYacky 0 Posted June 30, 2016 Hi everyone, So I'm looking at getting an egpu set up with my MacBook Pro, and was wondering if anybody had experience with a Radeon R9 270x gpu? Just wanting to know if it's at all compatible. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
P-Mac 8 Posted June 30, 2016 (edited) On June 26, 2016 at 3:37 AM, burrlin said: I have also heard this many times now but nobody can give me a reason why. Because you're extending a very sensitive, high-throughput interconnect many times its designed length via an unshielded, non-active cable that's likely of subpar quality, and splicing in power on top of that. The GPU and the CPU are literally the two busiest, most powerful compute devices in the system, janking up the interconnect between the two is just asking for trouble. All it takes is one bit to get flipped wrong and the GPU driver crashes, and OS X is far less forgiving than Windows when it comes to GPU crashes. To me, using a PCIe riser is like trying to type 150wpm using nothing but a few strands of balsa wood glued to each finger. It might work, but the chance of it failing is far greater. (And yes, the Thunderbolt cable is transferring all of that data as well. But it's shielded, and there's circuitry on either end to amplify and clean the signal, neither of which a PCIe riser has.) I honestly don't think I've seen anyone do a build that used a riser and stuck with it, they all ended up realizing risers are crap* and switched to powering the Thunder2 directly (as the box expects to be powered). * = except for that one guy that used a solid riser that was basically the length of the PCI slot itself, and it didn't add power, he just needed it to clear something in the case he was working with. You literally only need a pair of scissors and a bit of bravery to wire the Thunder2's barrel connector to the PSU. Cut the connector off the Thunder2's PSU that comes with the box, strip it carefully (because it's a coaxial cable, not two adjacent wires), twist the outer negative strands together to form a "wire", strip the inner positive wire. Then you strip the CPU 12v plug from the ATX PSU, and twist them together. You don't HAVE to get a fancy barrel connector, but it's technically the "right" way to do it. I was impatient. I ran my build like that for a week until I got around to actually soldering the connections, and it rendered video and played games flawlessly, even while running at 125% TDP in Windows. Edited June 30, 2016 by P-Mac Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tazling 0 Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) Complete n00b to eGPU here. I am considering what seems to be a common dilemma: build a gaming Hackintosh or hang an eGPU on my 2013 21.5" iMac. The iMac has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1GB graphics card. It is just dandy for every application except gaming. The only game I play seriously is Euro Truck Simulator (the Mac port is solid) and I'm finding the 1GB memory on the NVIDIA card is starting to hurt, I'm losing framerate in areas with many textures and objects. So... tempted to beef up my system a bit. The gpu on these later "slender" iMacs is soldered in, so no hope there. Therefore, choices... build a dedicated gaming Hackintosh or add an eGPU to the iMac? I already use a second (ultra wide) monitor for gaming so the fact that the eGPU can only drive an external monitor is not a problem for me. Switching "primary monitor" back and forth is something I do all the time :-) Losing visible boot loader screen is only a minor issue for me; I don't run dual-boot, and if I needed to do a diagnostic or recovery boot I would just disconnect the eGPU. So I'm leaning towards an Akitio + NVIDIA card eGPU. It seems simpler and cheaper. But I'm puzzling over the dc power requirements. I read about people successfully running NVIDIA 970's in the Akitio box (heavily modded with brute force!), but when I read the specs on the card at NVIDIA's web site it claims this card requires 400W! When I read the specs at Tom's Hardware it says that the 970 in gaming mode pulls more like 200W. I understand (I think) that to power such a hungry card one must supply external 12vdc, the little Akitio P/S is nowhere near up to the task. But elsewhere I read that it's not recommended to pump more than 120W into a gpu card in the Akitio box... so I'm hopelessly confused now. Who to believe??? I believe the person who has really done it :-) Please could someone who has *successfully* configured an El Capitan Mac to use a 970 or similar (3+GB vram) NVIDIA card as an eGPU in an Akitio box share their actual hardware shopping list? and explain how many molex connectors they used to deliver 12vdc from an external PS to the gpu card? I'm comfortable with the soldering and so on, just worried about buying the wrong stuff (it may be cheaper than building a Hackintosh from scratch but it still ain't exactly cheap). This is my first foray into video card hacking (I don't count installing NVIDIA's web-drivers which is a no brainer), so please be patient with my enormous ignorance... PS I have been looking hopefully at the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 Mini ITX Graphics Card (4GB GDDR5) which might fit inside the Akitio box. BUT... Power requirement per the spec: 400W (!!!). Is there any possibility of using this card? Would some other card be a smarter choice? Edited July 6, 2016 by Tazling afterthought Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tmpkn 1 Posted July 12, 2016 3 minutes ago, goalque said: @tmpkn If the windowed OpenGL/Metal app is started on the eGPU monitor, it’s still accelerated by the eGPU on the internal display as well. What a time to be alive! In the mean time, I'm taking it to the next level: So far so good, even though both TB ports are being used. If eGPU proves to be stable enough, I will try to get some nice displays and hook them up directly via the GTX. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justified 1 Posted July 15, 2016 On June 20, 2016 at 9:48 PM, Barzenberg said: @goalque First, thank you so much for supporting the community like this. My setup is arriving this wednesday and I want to make sure that this script will work for my particular setup: GTX 1070 with a powered pcie riser to Akito thunder 2 running off a 430 watt psu. Computer: MBP late 2014 OS X El Capitan Version 10.11.4 (15E65). My main question is will the new pascal architecture of the GTX 1070 work with the nvidia drivers (downloaded by the script) and will it work on this version of OSX. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Austin Hi guys, I'm trying to run something similar to @Barzenberg but I get no output on my external monitor after restarting. The monitor isn't even recognized as another display on the mac. The system report doesn't list the GTX 1070 under Graphics/Displays, just the name Display. @goalque Did I do something wrong with running your script? See attached pic Specs for reference: Mid 2012 15" MBP i7 Akitio Thunder2 500W PSU Gigabyte G1 GTX 1070 LG 34" Monitor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devild 21 Posted July 15, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, justified said: Hi guys, I'm trying to run something similar to @Barzenberg but I get no output on my external monitor after restarting. The monitor isn't even recognized as another display on the mac. The system report doesn't list the GTX 1070 under Graphics/Displays, just the name Display. @goalque Did I do something wrong with running your script? See attached pic Specs for reference: Mid 2012 15" MBP i7 Akitio Thunder2 500W PSU Gigabyte G1 GTX 1070 LG 34" Monitor Nothing wrong, but there are no os x nvidia drivers for gtx1080/1070 atm. Edited July 15, 2016 by devild 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JamesGrean 0 Posted July 17, 2016 Planning to also try this on my 2013 nMP and compare to the iMac, seems success on the nMPs is iffy? I can only find one implementation guide. If I only want to use the GPU for rendering and not for display, is there anything to be aware of? I assume I don't need to bypass the dGPUs in this case? Thanks JG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
P-Mac 8 Posted July 18, 2016 On July 5, 2016 at 10:03 PM, Tazling said: Complete n00b to eGPU here. I am considering what seems to be a common dilemma: build a gaming Hackintosh or hang an eGPU on my 2013 21.5" iMac. The iMac has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1GB graphics card. It is just dandy for every application except gaming. The only game I play seriously is Euro Truck Simulator (the Mac port is solid) and I'm finding the 1GB memory on the NVIDIA card is starting to hurt, I'm losing framerate in areas with many textures and objects. So... tempted to beef up my system a bit. The gpu on these later "slender" iMacs is soldered in, so no hope there. Therefore, choices... build a dedicated gaming Hackintosh or add an eGPU to the iMac? I already use a second (ultra wide) monitor for gaming so the fact that the eGPU can only drive an external monitor is not a problem for me. Switching "primary monitor" back and forth is something I do all the time :-) Losing visible boot loader screen is only a minor issue for me; I don't run dual-boot, and if I needed to do a diagnostic or recovery boot I would just disconnect the eGPU. So I'm leaning towards an Akitio + NVIDIA card eGPU. It seems simpler and cheaper. But I'm puzzling over the dc power requirements. I read about people successfully running NVIDIA 970's in the Akitio box (heavily modded with brute force!), but when I read the specs on the card at NVIDIA's web site it claims this card requires 400W! When I read the specs at Tom's Hardware it says that the 970 in gaming mode pulls more like 200W. I understand (I think) that to power such a hungry card one must supply external 12vdc, the little Akitio P/S is nowhere near up to the task. But elsewhere I read that it's not recommended to pump more than 120W into a gpu card in the Akitio box... so I'm hopelessly confused now. Who to believe??? I believe the person who has really done it :-) Please could someone who has *successfully* configured an El Capitan Mac to use a 970 or similar (3+GB vram) NVIDIA card as an eGPU in an Akitio box share their actual hardware shopping list? and explain how many molex connectors they used to deliver 12vdc from an external PS to the gpu card? I'm comfortable with the soldering and so on, just worried about buying the wrong stuff (it may be cheaper than building a Hackintosh from scratch but it still ain't exactly cheap). This is my first foray into video card hacking (I don't count installing NVIDIA's web-drivers which is a no brainer), so please be patient with my enormous ignorance... PS I have been looking hopefully at the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 Mini ITX Graphics Card (4GB GDDR5) which might fit inside the Akitio box. BUT... Power requirement per the spec: 400W (!!!). Is there any possibility of using this card? Would some other card be a smarter choice? The power requirement is the PSU spec for the ENTIRE SYSTEM that will hold the GTX 970, not solely the card itself. Here's my build thread for a 980 w/ El Cap and Win10 (highly suggest Windows for gaming as gfx API performance is better there) - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drmcducky 0 Posted July 22, 2016 Hi, I'm using a 2015 MBPr 15", with a gtx 1070 plugged into an akitio thunder 2, which plugs in to the thunderbolt port on my laptop. I tried to install the drivers, but the installation software cant recognize the gpu plugged into the thunderbolt port. It also doesn't show in device manager. Interestingly enough, several new things appear in device manager, under system devices, several PCI upstream and PCI downstream switch ports are connected, which seem to be from the thunder2. The lights on the GPU itself change depending on whether or not it is plugged into the thunderbolt port, and I'm certain that it's getting enough power from my PSU. Can anyone help me get this set up? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Siqizzle 0 Posted July 25, 2016 (edited) So, from everything I've read so far. If I have an iMac 5k, an eGPU will not work on the 5k screen unless I buy an external monitor and drag the application over to the 5k Screen? Anyone know if there are plans to fix this so that an external monitor is not required? I just got a reply from the (ripoff?) BizonBox company, they said.. "You can use BizonBox w/o external monitor as CUDA render in supported applications (DaVinci, Octane/iRay render and others) and have full 5k on internal monitor." In another thread, I read there is no difference between Akitio's box and BizonBox. This is confusing. Can someone help explain what solutions will work and what won't? Edited July 25, 2016 by Siqizzle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
