The physical part of the setup, getting the 1070 into the Node was quite easy. The node came with firmware 23.1 and was recognized immediately by the system. I haven't bothered updating firmware partly because I don't have a Thunderbolt 3 computer to do it on, and partly because I don't suffer from the H2D bandwidth issue.
You will require @goalque’s automate-eGPU.shshell script that will simplify the process of connecting the eGPU. You now have all the necessary components you need to run the eGPU on macOS. Instructions to successfully set up the NVIDIA eGPU on macOS are as follows:
Ensure that your enclosure with the GPU is powered on and ready. Plug in the TB cable into your Mac.
Power on your Mac while pressing CMD+R.
Proceed into system recovery and launch Terminal.
Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP): csrutil disable
Enter your macOS account password when prompted and then press return. Note that there will be no visual feedback as you type in your password.
The shell script should detect the following: connected eGPU, current macOS version, and previous macOS version if you have upgraded from an earlier release.
The script will prompt you to download drivers for your eGPU. Respond to the instructions accordingly.
Once the script completes, you will be prompted to restart.
Your Mac is now ready to use with the eGPU.
Whenever you boot, just make sure the Node is turned on and plugged into the TB port before turning the MacBook Pro on
Windows 10 Setup:
In Windows, uninstall the Nvidia 650m drivers from the Device Manager.
Upon restarting you should see the 1070 listed in Device Manager next to the 650m, but if you double click on it you will see a resource error (error 35).
Boot into Windows selecting the Chainloader automatic startup when the eGPU is attached and both the internal and external monitors work great.
Now I've got a 5-year old laptop that is much more powerful at gaming in both Mac and Windows than any computer Apple makes right now for an additional ~$700. It's quote the impressive setup!
As an update to this, I've played 2 hours of Mad Max on OS X (which I couldn't play before because of the 650m not being powerful enough). I don't know the exact framerate but it was 95% smooth with everything on the highest at 1440p, and 100% smooth at 1080p. Looked very good.
This first successful implementation of a GT650M 15" MBP with an AKiTiO Node thread has been tidied up and added to the implementations table. Nice work getting it all going.
However I do have a similar setup (non retina Macbook Pro 2012, 650M, Akitio Node with 980Ti Hybrid via TB1), which won't get recognized at all in Win10 Pro.
When you just plugged in the Akitio Node w/o doing any tweaks to Windows etc. did it just show up in the Windows Device Manager?
Just wondering, since mine is not being recognized at all in Nandos script (1.35) and Windows 10 Device Manager. In OSX everything works perfect though.
Thanks a lot!
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
I also just received all my hardware and trying to make this work. I was able to to set it up via OSX without any issues as suggested above and it works great. My issue is with windows recognition. I'll list my specs below, but the strange thing was that my 980 Ti did show up on a boot to windows without doing anything. I then followed the directions of uninstalling the 650 driver and I lost all screen capabilities...everything went black. After several attempts at going into safe mode and re-installing and repairing, the system seems to be fundamentally bugged. I therefor had to reinstall via a clone of a slightly older setup and do all my updates. Now, my 980Ti does not show up at all. I have not installed Nandos script yet, because I thought I read that you want it recognized first in the device manager...is that correct? Any suggestions would be great! THX!
I should also note that i'm using Windows 10. Also, I found in my device manager a PCI Express Root Port issue and the properties show a code 35. Is this the error 35 people have talked about? I was not expecting to see the error here..if it is it looks like I can install Nando's script. Thx for any comments or advise.
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
However I do have a similar setup (non retina Macbook Pro 2012, 650M, Akitio Node with 980Ti Hybrid via TB1), which won't get recognized at all in Win10 Pro.
When you just plugged in the Akitio Node w/o doing any tweaks to Windows etc. did it just show up in the Windows Device Manager?
Just wondering, since mine is not being recognized at all in Nandos script (1.35) and Windows 10 Device Manager. In OSX everything works perfect though.
Thanks a lot!
Good question. I didn't have any issues getting the Nod to be recognized in Windows, although I didn't check the Device Manager at all. However, once I uninstalled the 650m drivers and installed the new nVidia desktop drivers and restarted the 1070 was showing up in Device Manager, but with an error. Once that happened, I needed the DIY eGPU 1.35 script to do its magic on boot in order to get rid of the error 35 in Device Manager and have the external display attached to the 1070 actually work.
I saw your other post about having trouble getting this to work. What is the firmware on your Node? And are you using the Apple TB3 -> TB1 adapter? I think someone asked that, but not sure I saw an answer.
I should also note that i'm using Windows 10. Also, I found in my device manager a PCI Express Root Port issue and the properties show a code 35. Is this the error 35 people have talked about? I was not expecting to see the error here..if it is it looks like I can install Nando's script. Thx for any comments or advise.
I can check when I get home tonight to see if that's a similar error to what I got on the 1070 when I didn't run the script, although from memory it does look like it. But that's weird it would show up on the PCI Express root rather than the card. And it's also strange that the card isn't showing up in the Device Manager as well. Have you installed the latest nVidia desktop drivers?
That's a bummer about having to restore Windows from a backup. I remember when I uninstalled the 650m drivers the screen went black. I think I restarted and had an un-accelerated screen running in something like 640x480 and then proceeded to install the new nVidia desktop drivers, which also caused the screen to go black during install but I just left it running and after 5-10 minutes or so it came back to normal with full Retina resolution.
OK, I have a good update! So I started from scratch on both OS X & Windows and did clean installs. I do them once a year anyway. Unfortunately my OS X is still crashing on boot. Once the loader bar gets half way, it crashes and reboots.
On the other hand, I was still having some issues with windows as well and so I removed the card from the Node and checked all connections and switched the power cables. After that, BOOM...instant recognition in the clean install of windows. It did register first as a Microsoft Generic GPU with error code 35, but once I installed the nVidia driver it showed up correctly. I did not uninstall the existing 650M driver.
I then ran @Nando's boot loader and I also have had no connections issue with this. The eGPU gets recognized without any tinkering. Here is where I am confused, the configuration sequence is a mystery to me. I followed @Nando's videos but when I set up the PCI compaction I get a not found error on all of them. I decided to stop here and see what you guys did for this set up. None of you guys went into detail about it.
Any comments would be great and if anyone knows why my OS X is crashing when it did originally work, that would be great too! Almost there!
rMBP mid 2012 - Akitio Node - TB3 to TB1 Apple Adapter - nVidia 980Ti OC Gamers Edition.
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
egee, for your 2012 GT650M Macbook, proceed with the following steps to eradicate error 12/35:
- Reboot the system
- At the Windows bootmenu, select Setup 1.35
- Select Option 3 Setup 1.35 ->menu-based and wait for it to start
- Select PCI compaction->legacy mode (checked)
- Select PCI compaction->closeunusedbridges (checked)
- Select PCI compaction->Run compact -> All except SATA+...
- Select startup.bat->Test run
- Select Chainloader->Test Run
- Select Windows
Check the status of the eGPU. If is now working, then from this point onwards whenever you wish to use the eGPU reboot via Setup 1.35->automated startup via startup.bat (default) which will replay all of this in an automated fashion.
