2014 15" MBP GT750M + GTX960@16Gbps-TB2 (AKiTiO Thunder2) - Win10/OSX10.10.5 [junior

[juniordiscart]

Hey guys

After about a year of testing, experimenting and finishing up my build, I decided to put my setup on display here. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Specifications of my current setup:

Machine: MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2014)

CPU: Intel Core i7 4780HQ @ 2.5GHz

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB SSD

OS: Windows 10 Pro (x64) and OS X Yosemite 10.10.5

E-GPU: Akitio Thunder2

Case: Coolermaster Elite 130

PSU: Corsair RM450

GPU: EVGA GTX960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+

External monitor: Dell U2913WM Ultra wide-screen monitor

Setting up the hardware:

In the early stages of my build, I used a powered riser. Back then it was recommended. However, it quickly became clear that it was a cause for stability issues, so I removed the riser from my build and made a molex-to-barrel adapter from the plug that came with the Akitio.

I also drilled some holes into the case so I could mount the Akitio circuit board into the case like you would do with a motherboard. I wasn't pleased with the result however, because the card didn't have enough support for its weight. So I cut off the back of the Akitio inner-case so my card would fit inside the enclosure. I mounted the circuit board back into the inner-case, and screwed the inner-case into the mounting holes of the case I drilled.

To turn on the E-GPU setup, I also mounted a latching vandal switch at the front of the case that is hooked up to the PSU. This allows to easily turn on/off the system.

Setting up the software:

There was not much to this, actually. This version of the MacBook pro (the ones with dedicated GPU) hardly experience any problems with the installation.

For Windows 8.1 and 10 (having them installed in EFI mode), it immediately detected the presence of the extra GPU and was as simple as installing the correct NVIDIA drivers again.

For OS X, I used the script from @goalque to make it work, which is very neatly and easily done.

Issues:

I faced some issues while I experimenting and playing with the setup.

My initial setup used a Gigabyte GTX770 4GB, which seemed to crash rather randomly. I had the same problem with a Gigabyte GTX760. These cards, however, were factory overclocked, and clocking them back to the default specifications from NVIDIA somewhat lessened the problem. But I never experienced these issues when using older cards (GTX560 and GTX460). So I assume it was either something with the 700-series, or manufacturer related. The card I use right now, the EVGA GTX960, doesn't have any of these stability issues.

The only problem I still face right now, is the black boot screen without booting chime. I can see my USB-devices starting up (blinking lights, LED displays turning on), but it doesn't get further than that. I need to do a hard shutdown of the system by holding down the power button, hoping to have better luck next time I turn it on. However, this doesn't cause any stability issues once the system finally gets past the boot chime.

Credits:

I would like to sincerely thank this entire community for making this possible. Your dedication and experimentation to making this work is something that I admire and appreciate. I believe this setup is the most ideal one and most convenient to use in my daily life: good system on the go for work, best system at home to game!

[Crof]

Thanks for your run through I have one question though. I'm thinking about making my system run on Windows 10( or 8 if need be). What does it mean when you say that you ran with the efi mode?

 

Kind regards Chris

[juniordiscart]

Hi Crof, sorry for the late reply. I'm not as active anymore as I used to be.

With running in EFI mode, it kind of depends on the model of your Macbook. I'm not entirely sure, but from the 2012 or 2013 model on, when you install Windows through OS X Bootcamp, it will automatically install Windows in EFI mode (at least, it does that for Windows 10 and 8).

But you can also install Windows directly from USB drive, when you created the appropriate disk partitions in OS X. When you power on your MacBook, and press Alt (or option key), you get to see the boot selection menu. Whn your USB drive with Windows installation files is connected, you should see 2 options for the connected USB drive: one "regular" Windows install option (which installs Windows in MBR mode), and another EFI option. Preferably select the EFI option. That's what I meant with installing Windows in EFI mode. I explicitly mentioned this, because many unaware people would be tempted to select the MBR option, while the EFI option is the better one IMO.