Macbook Pro with a GTX 980 Setup Guide & Benchmarks [eGPU setup, Windows 10]

[Claryn]

let me know if it works on windows 10. it should.

 

The GPU is detected, for sure. Whenever I have the TB cable in, the MacBooks screen is black while it boots, and waits for the GPU to push out an image like it did in Windows 8. Problem is that it doesnt push out an image. When I remove the TB cable, Windows 10 boots normally and an image is displayed on the MacBooks screen.

 

I guess I just need to fiddle around a little

[Claryn]

Alright got it working flawlessly. Only thing is I dont know how to connect several displays to the GPU or get the internal monitor to work.. 

[Firearm2112]

The GPU is detected, for sure. Whenever I have the TB cable in, the MacBooks screen is black while it boots, and waits for the GPU to push out an image like it did in Windows 8. Problem is that it doesnt push out an image. When I remove the TB cable, Windows 10 boots normally and an image is displayed on the MacBooks screen.

 

I guess I just need to fiddle around a little

well in my experiance, if i get a solid black screen, that tells me the boot failed and i have to try again. its all about timing

[Claryn]

well in my experiance, if i get a solid black screen, that tells me the boot failed and i have to try again. its all about timing

 

With the 960, the Akitio shuts down when the Mac shuts down and starts up just in time for the boot. It works flawlessly! With the 960, it also works with the internal display and from all the ports on the GPU. Time for some benchmarking!

 

Oh and also; the Gigabyte 960 ITX fits inside the cabinet with about 0.5mm clearance. 

Thank you a lot for this post dude, very helpfull!

[Firearm2112]

With the 960, the Akitio shuts down when the Mac shuts down and starts up just in time for the boot. It works flawlessly! With the 960, it also works with the internal display and from all the ports on the GPU. Time for some benchmarking!

 

Oh and also; the Gigabyte 960 ITX fits inside the cabinet with about 0.5mm clearance. 

Thank you a lot for this post dude, very helpfull!

Awesome! 

[DigitalNik]

Hey guys, I've been following this thread and I managed to get a little set up of my own.

 

I have a Macbook Pro 13" 8gb 512SSD Dual core i5, etc. I used the Akito Thunderbox2, an EVGA GTX 970, and a EVGA PSU. The GPU is recognized on my computer and everything, but everytime I go to launch a game, my Macbook starts running it on the internal graphics (Intel Iris 5100).

 

I'm running Windows 10, and I think that is the problem. Claryn was able to get the card working on Windows 10, could you please elaborate?

 

With the 960, the Akitio shuts down when the Mac shuts down and starts up just in time for the boot. It works flawlessly! With the 960, it also works with the internal display and from all the ports on the GPU. Time for some benchmarking!

 

Oh and also; the Gigabyte 960 ITX fits inside the cabinet with about 0.5mm clearance. 

Thank you a lot for this post dude, very helpfull!

[Claryn]

Hey guys, I've been following this thread and I managed to get a little set up of my own.

 

I have a Macbook Pro 13" 8gb 512SSD Dual core i5, etc. I used the Akito Thunderbox2, an EVGA GTX 970, and a EVGA PSU. The GPU is recognized on my computer and everything, but everytime I go to launch a game, my Macbook starts running it on the internal graphics (Intel Iris 5100).

 

I'm running Windows 10, and I think that is the problem. Claryn was able to get the card working on Windows 10, could you please elaborate?

 

Make sure to set your external monitor to the primary display, and run the games in fullscreen on that display. The MBP-screen is still powered by the Intel GPU, and games will be set to run on that monitor if it is the primary screen. 

[DigitalNik]

I see. I don't have an external display, so my Macbook would never utilize my GTX 970. I ended up uninstalling my Windows 10 upgrade and going back to Windows 8.1 anyway.

 

Thank you both Claryn and Firearm2112! This guide was great for setting up my eGPU!

[Clyne]

I think my sister needs one because of OpenGL/Photoshop thing.

I wonder if the latest MBP would work well with the adapter. 

[pradog454]

I really dig this set up! I've been cosidering doing this with my Macbook, but I do think that it would look kinda janky if I cut it open by hand. I was wondering if you migt have considered using this:

http://www.gearbest.com/laptop-accessories/pp_229101.html

as a possible solution. I want to use it with my laptop and was thinking that since the displayport output doubles as a thunderbolt port, I might be able to use my own HDMI cable with my HDMI to Thunderbolt adapter to get similar results. That way it's cheaper and I wont have to spend a bunch of time cutting. I do like the Glass case idea and I think this could work. Do you know of any reason why it wouldn't?

[Firearm2112]

I really dig this set up! I've been cosidering doing this with my Macbook, but I do think that it would look kinda janky if I cut it open by hand. I was wondering if you migt have considered using this:

http://www.gearbest.com/laptop-accessories/pp_229101.html

as a possible solution. I want to use it with my laptop and was thinking that since the displayport output doubles as a thunderbolt port, I might be able to use my own HDMI cable with my HDMI to Thunderbolt adapter to get similar results. That way it's cheaper and I wont have to spend a bunch of time cutting. I do like the Glass case idea and I think this could work. Do you know of any reason why it wouldn't?

That would not work, and an HDMI to Thunderbolt is impossible. Two completely different signals. Also, that adapter would only work with laptops that have PCI mini slots, and it would be too slow for the Mac.

The Akitio is really the only solution. Making a glass case would be awesome.

[razzack3000]

Hi, I was thinking about doing this, except using a 980ti, will my CPU overheat or burn??? 980ti is much powerful, I do have i 4850HQ quad core in my mac with 16gb ram...

[Firearm2112]

Hi, I was thinking about doing this, except using a 980ti, will my CPU overheat or burn??? 980ti is much powerful, I do have i 4850HQ quad core in my mac with 16gb ram...

Your CPU will never overheat or burn

[Guest]

Hey, flip the spacebar on that K70, it's real nice.

I did that by accident one day and it felt SO much more comfortable.  Using a keyboard without the space bar flipped is so much less comfortable, not sure how I didn't learn about it before.

[ericksol96]

How good is GTAV? Can you do a benchmark please? And what settings do you have on it?

[pARTY-rOCKs]

Hey I was wondering, I have and Thunder2 box and I have my graphics card hooked up to my Dell DA-2 PSU... Now should I plug in both the power supply for the thunder2 and the Dell for the graphics card and have them both get power through like a power strip with an on off switch... Or is the PSU plugged into the GPU going to be enough to power both the GPU and the thunder2? Am I going to run into issues? What would be your recommendation? Thanks! (by the way I'm kinda a noob when it comes to this stuff haha)

[khrizer39]

Woww impressive! I would like to make one for my Macbook pro 13 mid 2012 but I am a bit worried since this model only has a fan. Do you have any issue about the CPU temperature?

[Firearm2112]

How good is GTAV? Can you do a benchmark please? And what settings do you have on it?

i was able to play at max settings at 60fps

[dkvasnikov]

I've been following the topic for some time, it seems to me it is not that easy to modify the Akitio box, to cut it with dremel and modify the power connectors.

I have found a hassle-free solution here: https://bizon-tech.com/ Didn't want to make everything myself, so I have bough the BizonBOX 2 from them.

Everything works fine with my MacBook on Windows and Mac OS.

 

The upsides:

They use a compact DELL laptop PSU and it looks way more solid and professional compared to DIY solutions with a big computer PSU.

No need to cut and solder anything myself, no chances to botch something.

They helped me with the setup and troubleshooting with Windows and Mac OS.

 

The obvious downside is price, but I don't have time and skills to experiment myself, so it was Ok for me.

[Mynster]

I would just like to know how you powered your setup? 

PSU -> GPU 

and what about powering the akitio, did you use the stock power supply? 

- like stock -> case

 

Which means 2 power supplies?