GaetanoP Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 (edited) Hi, this is my first post My brother recently sold me the Late 2013 MacBook Pro, Iris edition without a dedicated GPU for just $600, which is a huge steal. He also gave me his ASUS GTX 980 after he killed it from an over volting accident, I sent it back to ASUS and had a brand new card within 2 days, absolutely love their support. I am new to this, I want to game with the internal screen on the MBP, which I know I can do becuase it is the Iris edition, it doesn;t have a dedicated GPU. I've been reading about EGPU's probably for over 48 hours over time. I am ready to do it, I just need some help with the hardware, so I'll ask a couple of questions. I will go for the AKITIO Thunder 2, and that's where I will start. What kind of accessories do I need to get to have this baby start gaming? What is the recommended Power Supply I should get for the GTX 980 Strix, preferably a modular one. What kind of powered riser should I get for this setup? What should I do to fit the GTX 980 into the Thunder Box? I know I cant put the card in and close the box, but what is the best way I can house the card into the box? My Macbook only has a 256GB SSD, is that going to limit my usage on the macbook? Since I will be using Windows 10 to game, what is the lowest space I could put on the partition on the Macbook, so when I am not gaming, I can use the Macbook for browsing, and minimal downloading. Since I only have the Card and the MB, is what I requested above all I need? I have already installed the Windows 10 through macbook, is there an earlier version I should get? I hear mixed reviews about running games through the internal screen with the new Windows. Just looking for advice. I also live in Canada, so I will pick up the Power Supply at Canada Computers down the street, and a powered riser if they have any. But where is the best place to order the Akitio? Really appreciate it! Regards. Edit. If I buy the Sonnet Express SE, Do I need to power the box separately, or can I just get a x8-x16 ribbon for the graphics card, and power the card with a PSU? Because I know you have to power the Akitio box, as well as the GFX card. Edited May 8, 2016 by GaetanoP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldwinjimenez Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 (edited) I'm also here in canada mate. bought the akitio thunder2 online last feb.5 at b&h photo. Received it after 7 days including the weekdays. Paid about 345.43CAD for everything taxes+shipping+fees. note: also dont use powered riser as it causes instability issues on the egpu set-up. Just pry open the front part of the akitio thunder 2 so the gtx 980 would fit. btw this is my build: macbook pro 13 2015 i5 128gb ssd (windows 10) EVGA gtx 960 4gb(single fan) EVGA 750w g2 PSU + some ordered cables to power up egpu set-up Edited May 8, 2016 by aldwinjimenez Note Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaetanoP Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 What do you use to power the Akitio? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dschijn Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 I hope he does it with the EVGA 750W PSU, because you should power the whole system with a single PSU. Please read this basic guide: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldwinjimenez Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Just as Dschijn said I only use the EVGA 750w g2 PSU to power both akitio thunder2 and graphics card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaetanoP Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Okay, got everything today. Just having issues with Win10 Detecting the card Even the nvidia install says that there was no hardware detected. The fans are running though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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