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MBPr + eGPU & Windows 10?


tre87

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@tre87

I only ran it on Win 8.1. I might try again later on Win 10, to check it out again. I didn't compare the heat dissipation, mostly because my Macbook stays on my desk in clamshell mode (plus I use a Blue Lounge kickstand), and I hardly take it on my lap. It should be generating less heat indeed, but with a constant CPU load of 10-20%, I think that effect is undone. I do know that the fans sometimes kicked in when the iGPU was enabled, even though the Macbook was idle. Although I can't really find the post anymore, but I believe someone said that the load disappears when after booting, you put Windows to sleep mode and then wake it again. But this is problematic when a TB device is attached, since it disables sleep mode in Windows.

The Github issue thread where I reported the power stealing can be found here: https://github.com/0xbb/gpu-switch/issues/5

I believe there is no specific thread that discusses the iGPU stealing power here on Tech Inferno. I think @TheGrreatGatsby reported in a thread that his load was a constant 20% when his iGPU was enabled (he has a 2015 model with AMD dGPU, but is experiencing the same issues).

Looks like I will skip messing with the iGPU for now then.

When you did the clean install, did you just boot the Windows 10 installer, then format the Win 8.1 partition and installed Win 10 on that?

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Well, you can always mess about a bit with the iGPU of course. :) The changes are undone fairly quickly. I just found it to be kind of disappointing.

Yes, I indeed just booted the installer and just deleted all partitions of my SSD (I don't have OS X installed, so I didn't need to keep track of it) but just formatting the Windows partition should be enough. :)

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Well, you can always mess about a bit with the iGPU of course. :) The changes are undone fairly quickly. I just found it to be kind of disappointing.

Yes, I indeed just booted the installer and just deleted all partitions of my SSD (I don't have OS X installed, so I didn't need to keep track of it) but just formatting the Windows partition should be enough. :)

Perfect! :)

What guide did you use to enable the iGPU and do you have a guide for the undoing as well? :)

Thanks for all the info so far :)

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Hmm, I didn't really follow a pre-made guide. However these are the steps I followed:

Follow instructions to install rEFInd on Windows (you can also install it from OS X if you prefer): The rEFInd Boot Manager: Installing rEFInd

Install apple_set_os.efi: https://github.com/0xbb/apple_set_os.efi

Install the batch files for enabling the iGPU: https://github.com/0xbb/gpu-switch

Undoing is done by simply removing the refind folder from the EFI partition. :)

Some more detailed steps from a post I made from thread http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides-apple/8717-%5Bguide%5D-enabling-intel-iris-pro-hd5200-win8-1-15-macbook-pro-gt750m-4.html

Once rEFInd is installed on the EFI partition, then you can certainly just continue from Windows on.

That's correct, there is no drive letter for the EFI-boot partition. Windows hides it.

I'll try to summarize the steps for Windows, assuming you indeed have rEFInd installed. Sorry if some of the commands sound too simple or obvious, but I just want to make sure everything is clear to what you have to do.

Also, download the apple_set_os.efi file and place it in an easy-to-access location. I'll here assume that this is your Desktop, for me that would be: C:\Users\Jan\Desktop\. Yours will probably be different, just make sure you switch out the name of my user account for yours.

Alright, so open a command line or Powershell window as administrator (search for "cmd" or "powershell", right click the program and select to run it as administrator.

Enter the following commands:

This will mount the EFI partition in Windows and assign it the drive letter S. You won't be able to see it appear in "My Computer" however, it remains hidden.

Check the output after these commands. If you see a directory for refind, then you have refind installed and you can proceed with the next set of commands. Otherwise, make sure you follow the installation instructions for rEFInd for Windows on this link: The rEFInd Boot Manager: Installing rEFInd

This last one copies the efi file to the custom folder of the EFI partition. Make sure you get all of the "\" right and that your path to your apple_set_os.efi file is correct. It should ask you to create any custom directory if you don't have one already.

After this, you should see an extra entry in the boot menu when you reboot. This should be it. :)

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@juniordiscart

Just did the Win10 clean install and all things seems to be great. Only 1 issue remaining - my Macbook can't "sleep"... Shutdown, Restart and Hibernate are there, but no sleep.

Are you able to sleep on your Macbook? If so, it might be a local problem. Otherwise it's gotta be the Bootcamp driver...

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@juniordiscart

Just did the Win10 clean install and all things seems to be great. Only 1 issue remaining - my Macbook can't "sleep"... Shutdown, Restart and Hibernate are there, but no sleep.

Are you able to sleep on your Macbook? If so, it might be a local problem. Otherwise it's gotta be the Bootcamp driver...

Replying to my own question. Resintalled the Bootcamp drivers! Sleep is now working again :)

Seems like Windows 10 works a 100% unless you have the iGPU and need Optimus.

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I also had no luck getting my eGPU to work on win10 with the internal monitor..

2015 mbp 13" with the iris 6100...

External monitor connected to the egpu worked though but not what I wanted. So I went back to 8.1 and all is working well with Akitio thunder2/ EVGA 660 and a PSU.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Everyone,

Just received my Akitio Thunder2 with a Gigabyte GTX970ti, it works great under yosemite, however in Windows 10, it's not even recognized in device manager. I have installed NVIDIA drivers over and over without success.

Only one time, I had the image show up in the external monitor, however on restart it stopped working.

Can someone help me, or guide me. I don't know what I am doing wrong.

My hardware:

2015 15" rMBP

NVIDIA GT 970M

bootcamp yosemite/windows 10

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i have a mbp, but i ran into practically every error out there. But if you take your time and troubleshoot through the extensive DIY, you will be fine.

That being said i also encountered problems when i tried to output the graphics card to the native display (optimus tech) i have a gtx950.

My tips to you: use external monitor, and have patience when installing the drivers.

I had succes with reading the card in windows when i booted from osx with the nvidia drivers installed there (the cuda drivers in osx).

Some say you should turn on the psu and card when the windows sign appears.

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  • 2 months later...

@tranj10 Did you ever get a working setup? I have a very similar setup with similar problems.

I am booting Windows 10 of a USB drive that was installed using WinToUsb. It freezes on the boot screen most times but in the rare cases it does boot, everything works fine.

I have been unable to figure out what make it fail or succeed although booting into Mac first and then restarting directly to windows seems to work more reliability.

Edited by YukonAppleGeek
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
Hey.....

Anyone tested this again but with the new windows 10 updated?

Maybe Nvidia Optimus is working with the new big update for windows 10.

I just tested. Fresh install of Windows 10, updated all the things, installed nvidia's latest drivers, card was detected, install went fine, set all the games to prefer the nvidia gpu, still did not work with Optimus/ internal screen (2015 rMBP 13" w/ iris6100 & EVGA GTX760 attached via akitio Thunder2) ...

Back to win8.1 and all is working fine :-/

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Nvidia has added support for eGPU over TB3 (and TB2 i guess) in 361.75.

 

I just tried and it works for me! (2013 rMBP 13" + Aikitio Thunder2 + ASUS GTX 970)

 

There is a new UI in the latest drivers that shows what applications and games are running on the eGPU. 

And a "Disconnect GPU" button that I have not tried yet. (I'm guessing TB2 hotplugging on Macbooks still wont work in Windows)

 

Edit: found a thread on this here: https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/9289-optimus-now-works-in-win10-using-36175-driver/

 

Edit2: I played a bit with the "Disconnect GPU" button. I think all it does is disable the GPU in device manager. It switches to "Connect GPU" after you press it, but the problem is after you reboot, the nvidia drivers wont load and you have to enable the GPU in device manager.

 

Also, physically disconnecting and reconnecting the eGPU does not work for me without a reboot, but I think that's a problem with Macbooks on Windows. But disconnecting works fine.

 

Quote

361.75 (2016-01-27)

Added Beta support on GeForce GTX GPUs for external graphics over Thunderbolt 3.
GPUs supported include all GTX 900 series, Titan X, and GeForce GTX 750 and 750Ti.

 

364.51 (2016-03-08)

Added external graphics UI (Windows 10)

 

nvidia_egpu.png

Edited by abe
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Well I got antsy and tried Win10 again after reading the last few posts. No luck even with those new drivers. This is with a 2015 13" mbp retina with the iris6100 and external EVGA GTX 760. Back to Win8.1.... Again. Lol.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Now that I'm paying attention rather than jumping straight to it I see that my GTX 760 was not listed in supported devices. I have a 970 now, I'm going to try again with that later this week on the same 2015 rMBP 13"

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 3 months later...

I remember having issues installing Windows 7 with bootcamp for my eGPU on a MacBook Air 13", so I went ahead and installed Windows 8.1 instead. However, when using optimus neither my integrated trackpad nor keyboard would work, even after reinstalling Bootcamp drivers. 

Is this still a problem in Windows 10 with Optimus?

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  • 1 month later...

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