Understood but if I use two 60W power supplies at the same time would that work?
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Building external GPU's on Mac (eGPU)
- Thread starter Synchro3
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Understood but if I use two 60W power supplies at the same time would that work?
I guess it works.
[doublepost=1479757665][/doublepost]
Yes. SIP disabled, and all five KEXT edited? https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/building-external-gpus-on-mac-egpu.1893792/page-2#post-22013272
Yes, SIP disable and 3x kext edits required for RX 460. https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...2-akitio-thunder2-108w-adaptor-osx-102-hedge/
Edit: Never-mind. Missed the previous post specifying 1xxx nvidea.
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From: http://lab501.net/egpu-connecting-external-video-card-notebook-diy-implementation/4/
The operation above was also required in order to avoid some issues (PERST# delay) with computer having time to „see” the video card after doing POST initializations by the BIOS. You may ask why the 12V wires were splitted, considering the card could draw the voltages over the dual 8 pins connectors from the ATX PSU. Well, the Sonnet Echo Expansion board was also powered from 12V from the original brick adapter, and allowing current to flow from both ways might not be a clever ideea.
Also, why did I cut the first 3 wires for 12V, when the PCI Express specification labels the third pin as Reserved and only the first two pins are for 12V? The reason is simple, please get a video card and take a look at the pins, you will see that first three pins on side B are connected and like mentioned above you don’t want current coming from ATX PSU to flow back into the Sonnet Echo Expansion board.
This guys hardware is exactly the same as mine. OWC just rebranded the adapter.
Can you decipher what this guy is talking about here? From what I can gather he doesn't want current coming from the riser power supply to go back to the expansion board. I think is what I am trying to achieve if I use both power supplies.
I don't think the first part is relevant as I am not using 8 pin connectors (GPU doesn't support it) but the second part might apply.
Synchro3, on your riser was one 12V line attached to pins 1, 2, 3 on side B and the other only to pin 2 & 3 on side A? If it wasn't, could this be why you were able to power the ThunderTek/PX board through the riser PSU?
In this image the guy the quoted guys build he has the original PSU connected and the ATX PSU.
I am confused on the power portion of this whole thing and don't want to fry anything.
[doublepost=1479767558][/doublepost]Based on this thread it seems that you should only use one power supply. If using a riser it will power everything but if your GPU allows you to connect it directly to a power source use 1 power supply with multiple connectors to power both the thunderbolt board/pcie adapter and the GPU. In my case my GPU can't be powered directly so it looks like powering the whole thing with through the riser is my only option.
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So I went ahead and did it and all worked out. The PCIe slot is rated at 75W and my card is 60W so it should be fine. I wouldn't recommend soldering directly to the board if your card is over 75W. I used hot glue to insulate the solder points and used some electrical tape over the capacitors because they are up against the enclosure. Super tight fit but it fits!
The pin out is as follows:
Side A:
1. Molex (+) <--to--> A2, A3 (jump together) <--to--> (+) side of capacitor
2. Connect the (-) side of the capacitor to A4
3. Molex (-) <--to--> A12
Side B:
1. Molex (+) <--to--> B1, B2, B3 (jump together) <--to--> (+) side of capacitor
2. Connect the (-) side of the capacitor to B4
3. Molex (-) <--to--> B13
I bought a 12V 10A (120W) power supply and dremeled out part of the case to fit a DC barrel jack. It powers both the graphics card and the Helios boards.
Here are a bunch of pics of the completed build. All is working and imo looks great. Thanks for the guidance.
The pin out is as follows:
Side A:
1. Molex (+) <--to--> A2, A3 (jump together) <--to--> (+) side of capacitor
2. Connect the (-) side of the capacitor to A4
3. Molex (-) <--to--> A12
Side B:
1. Molex (+) <--to--> B1, B2, B3 (jump together) <--to--> (+) side of capacitor
2. Connect the (-) side of the capacitor to B4
3. Molex (-) <--to--> B13
I bought a 12V 10A (120W) power supply and dremeled out part of the case to fit a DC barrel jack. It powers both the graphics card and the Helios boards.
Here are a bunch of pics of the completed build. All is working and imo looks great. Thanks for the guidance.
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No, not possible. One port of the Sonnet Echo Express is Thunderbolt-In, the other Thunderbolt-Out.
I wonder if someone can help.
I have followed the guidance by hkoster1, but I still get a kernel panic at boot.
I get to the Apple load screen and then after about a third of progress the system hangs.
Previously, it was booting with the eGPU connected but showing up as Display "No Kexts loaded" in System Information.
This was when I followed the guide on the Netkas forum (so I wasn't editing the additional kexts hkoster1 mentions).
I have a 2013 Mac Pro running the latest El Capitan (inc. Security updates). The eGPU setup is:
Akitio Thunder2
EVGA Titan X
650W be quiet PSU
Akitio is powered by twin Molex to barrel
Titan X is connected to the Akitio board (no riser)
Connected to the lower left TB2 port on the Mac Pro
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have followed the guidance by hkoster1, but I still get a kernel panic at boot.
I get to the Apple load screen and then after about a third of progress the system hangs.
Previously, it was booting with the eGPU connected but showing up as Display "No Kexts loaded" in System Information.
This was when I followed the guide on the Netkas forum (so I wasn't editing the additional kexts hkoster1 mentions).
I have a 2013 Mac Pro running the latest El Capitan (inc. Security updates). The eGPU setup is:
Akitio Thunder2
EVGA Titan X
650W be quiet PSU
Akitio is powered by twin Molex to barrel
Titan X is connected to the Akitio board (no riser)
Connected to the lower left TB2 port on the Mac Pro
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
With a Mac Pro 6,1, the Netkas display out enabling tool is needed: http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,11122.0.html
Quote: Tested machines to work: rmbp mid 2014, 13" and 15", macmini late 2014, MacPro 2013
On OS X Yosemite and later, SIP must be disabled, and all six KEXT must be edited.
/System/Library/Extensions/NVDAStartup.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/NVDAStartupWeb.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/IONDRVSupport.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/NVDAResman.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleHDAController.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/GeForce.kext
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Thank you @Synchro3 I'll have a look into that script.
I've modified those kext files, but I think the problem might be with NVDAStartupWeb.kext not being loaded.
I have a few things to try at least now and I'll post my updates.
Hello guys, I have a Mac Mini (late 2014), 3 GHz, 16 GB Ram, 256 GB Flash, Graphic card HD Iris, thunderbolt 2.0, with SIERRA macOS 10.12.2 (16C67).
.
I am very interested in the eGPU (GALAX GeForce GTX 960, 2 GB VRAM, OC, about 200 Dollars here in Europe) for two reasons:
- I would like to play some games on my Mac System, without using Windows.
- I would like to play some others through windows (I´ve got PARALLEL).
I have some questions about it:
1) Do any of you guys try to install the built through KEXT on MAC OS SIERRA?...any help?
2) Does it make any sense buying and apple adapter Thunderbolt 2.0 to 3.0, for the eGPU system?
3) Is it possible to use the eGPU by Parallel?
4) What do you think about the Graphic Card, I would like to use?
5) What do you think about the EFI script in my case?
Thank you very much, guys!
Tad.
.
I am very interested in the eGPU (GALAX GeForce GTX 960, 2 GB VRAM, OC, about 200 Dollars here in Europe) for two reasons:
- I would like to play some games on my Mac System, without using Windows.
- I would like to play some others through windows (I´ve got PARALLEL).
I have some questions about it:
1) Do any of you guys try to install the built through KEXT on MAC OS SIERRA?...any help?
2) Does it make any sense buying and apple adapter Thunderbolt 2.0 to 3.0, for the eGPU system?
3) Is it possible to use the eGPU by Parallel?
4) What do you think about the Graphic Card, I would like to use?
5) What do you think about the EFI script in my case?
Thank you very much, guys!
Tad.
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1) Same procedure in Sierra as in El Capitan -> https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/building-external-gpus-on-mac-egpu.1893792/page-2#post-22013272
2) -> Yes: http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,11671.0.html
3) Yes, but Parallels has no autonomous graphics acceleration, it uses the OS X acceleration. Better use Boot Camp Windows for gaming.
4) OpenGL: Anticipate via Thunderbolt 1 eGPU a performance drop between 12%-32%, depending on application. Better use a beefier card. Performance drop with TH2/TH3 is less.
5) Use the script if you want, or do it manually like described. With Mac Mini 2014 you need this tool: http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,11122.0.html
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I figured as much, thanks. Mine has the 6630m, do you think I will run into any issues?
Unfortunately you are out of luck, the Mac Mini 2011 with Radeon HD 6630M is not compatible with eGPU.
Bizon has a detailed Mac compatibility list: https://support.bizon-tech.com/hc/en-us/articles/210709789
- Mac mini Mid–2011(AMD Radeon HD 6630M configurations only)
OS X: Does not boot.
Windows: Unstable.
Mac Pro 6,1 w/ AMD eGPU
RX 480 eGPU TB2 working w/ 36 computer units on 10.12.2 w/ D700s
39K on "Simple Scene" Luxmark CPU + GPU benchmark
An increase of 11K verses only D700s GPUs
123K OpenCL compute score on GeekBench: https://goo.gl/s40ntl
BUT
nMP won't restart w/ eGPU connected and will only boot if I plug in the TB cable when the Apple icon shows.
RX 480 eGPU TB2 working w/ 36 computer units on 10.12.2 w/ D700s
39K on "Simple Scene" Luxmark CPU + GPU benchmark
An increase of 11K verses only D700s GPUs
123K OpenCL compute score on GeekBench: https://goo.gl/s40ntl
BUT
nMP won't restart w/ eGPU connected and will only boot if I plug in the TB cable when the Apple icon shows.
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What happens when you try to let the computer sleep? I'm thinking of making an eGPU with my late 2016 MacBook Pro.
Sleep or Shutdown is no problem.
nMP just won't boot/restart connected to the eGPU w/ RX 480.
Twice I erased the SSD and started from scratch.
Maybe i'm doing something wrong.
Everything boots and works in apps only if I plug the TB cable into the NMP after the chime,
when the
appears, but before the white bar starts to load.If i'm not quick enough and the white bar is already loading,
The RX 480 won't show in applications - but still shows in
> About This Mac > System Report...OR
The white bar fills, but the login screen/desktop doesn't load.
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Sleep or Shutdown is no problem.
nMP just won't boot/restart connected to the eGPU w/ RX 480.
Twice I erased the SSD and started from scratch.
Maybe i'm doing something wrong.
Everything boots and works in apps only if I plug the TB cable into the NMP after the chime,
when the
If i'm not quick enough and the white bar is already loading,
The RX 480 won't show in applications - but still shows in
OR
The white bar fills, but the login screen/desktop doesn't load.
Are you using the -a flag from automate-eGPU? This might help.