2012 15" MacBook Pro Retina (GT650M) [3rd,4C,Q] + GTX 1060 @ 10Gbps-TB1 (AKiTiO Thunder2) + Win10 [enjoy] // includes videos  

Posted by: enjoy

 

I read a lot of info before i start my project! Now i have more then 5 times better laptop just for 633 EUR!

   

great write up!  This will, for sure, be incredibly helpful anyone looking to incorporate a TB2 egpu in their setup.

I install 3DMark and run the Fire Strike 1.1 here are the results:

6584 in Fire Strike (V1.1) - External (fake display) - the basic test
Graphics score
7 210 
Graphics test 1
32.47 FPS
Graphics test 2
30.30 FP

FOR EXAMPLE: This user have 8556 in Fire Strike (V1.1) (  http://www.3dmark.com/fs/9689714  ) with the closer CPU to mine so there is 20% performance loss because of TB1 but I still can play all games Very High or Ultra FULL HD!

1680 x 1050 - External (fake display) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
9 089
Graphics test 1
46.98 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.11 FPS

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Borderless) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
7 852  - the score is enough to play all games VERY HIGH/ULTRA with 1680 x 1050 on the Internal Retina Display  (Borderless)
Graphics test 1
33.96 FPS
Graphics test 2
34.32 FPS

1680 x 1050 - Internal Retina Display  (Windowed) - just change the resolution i don't touch any settings
Graphics score
8 377 
Graphics test 1
37.83 FPS
Graphics test 2
35.12 FPS

Here is also a video of the setup

Between i just buy Far Cry Primal, and this is the first game that have a menu to choose the video card you want to play!

1. So to play the game I made my Retina display as my main display

2. Start the game

3. Choose GTX 1060 6GB

4. set Borderless Windowed

5. Restart the game

6. DONE, i can play without   Borderless Gaming and  Dual Monitor Tools - Home

If in future more games have that options, it will be easy for us, because Retina display will be Primary always,

Not big problem for me now because i drag the taskbar from primary display (fake display) to my Retina display and i have fake main display but i must use Dual Monitor Tool or Shift + Left + CMD to move programs to my Retina display and Borderless Gaming app   

And again Far Cry Primal with Far Cry Primal HD Texture Pack and all set to ULTRA Setting with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-50 FPS on my retina display   Its look amazing!

And again, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 

Ultra preset with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-40 FPS on my retina display   Its look great!

When my AKiTiO Thunder2 grows up, it wants to be like yours. Awesome build and documentation!

Need For Speed

Ultra + TAA with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-40 FPS on my retina display... 

For everyone who is interested:

Here is the deference between Thunderbolt™ 1,Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 3

In my case, my eGPU have TB1 (PCIe x4 2.0) so we have only 5% drop vs. TB2 and TB3, so no reason to update to TB2 or TB3 laptop and Akitio Node or Akitio TB3   I will have only 5-10% better performance from what i read or 5 FPS increase in games with other words!

Posted by: enjoy

 

For everyone who is interested:

 

Here is the deference between Thunderbolt™ 1,Thunderbolt™ 2 and Thunderbolt™ 3

 

In my case, my eGPU we have TB1 (PCIe x4 2.0) so we have only 5% drop vs. TB2 and TB3, so no reason to update to TB2 or TB3 laptop and Akitio Node or TB3   I will have only 5-10% better performance from what i read.

 

@enjoy, you have a x4 2.0 electrical link (16Gbps) but your TB1 channel is constricted to 10Gbps. With an external LCD TB1 to TB3 can do OK.

Its when you drive the internal LCD that bandwidth requirements increase. A lot. Running 4k internal @ 60Hz requires 15Gbps, more than your entire 10Gbos link can supply. Hence these new XPS/Macbooks with high res screens want TB3 for good eGPU performance on the internal LCD (NVidia Optimus or AMD X-Connect).

@nando4

Yes but with the "fake display" we removed that limits, I speak for my case.

I just add the post for people that maybe want to buy TB2 or TB3 laptop and use the same method as mine, for now i don't have a reason to update my laptop, because for example - Macbook Pro 2016 with Akitio Node or Akitio TB3 and my EVGA 1060 SC 6GB will have the same permormance like me (or close) if they run the games with NVidia Optimus on the internal dipslay right ?

Posted by: enjoy

 

@nando4

Yes but with the “fake display” we removed that limits, I speak for my case.

I just add the post for people that maybe want to buy TB2 or TB3 laptop and use the same method as mine, for now i don’t have a reason to update my laptop, because for example – Macbook Pro 2016 with Akitio Node or Akitio TB3 and my EVGA 1060 SC 6GB will have the same permormance like me (or close) if they run the games with NVidia Optimus on the internal dipslay right ?

   

 Fake display is impinging on your 10Gbps bandwidth since the image needs to be sent from the eGPU to the dGPU along TB channel for display on internal LCD.

https://k.kramerav.com/support/bwcalculator.asp tells me 1680×1050 @ 60Hz, 8bits-per-pixel, 3 channels = 4.41Gbps. So nearly half your 10Gbps bandwidth is used for “fake” internal LCD traffic.

Watch Dogs 2 also have the option to choose the Display and the Video Card - its amazing if the new games keep this option!

Posted by: nando4

 

Posted by: enjoy

 

@nando4

Yes but with the "fake display" we removed that limits, I speak for my case.

I just add the post for people that maybe want to buy TB2 or TB3 laptop and use the same method as mine, for now i don't have a reason to update my laptop, because for example - Macbook Pro 2016 with Akitio Node or Akitio TB3 and my EVGA 1060 SC 6GB will have the same permormance like me (or close) if they run the games with NVidia Optimus on the internal dipslay right ?

   

 Fake display is impinging on your 10Gbps bandwidth since the image needs to be sent from the eGPU to the dGPU along TB channel for display on internal LCD.

 

https://k.kramerav.com/support/bwcalculator.asp tells me 1680x1050 @ 60Hz, 8bits-per-pixel, 3 channels = 4.41Gbps. So nearly half your 10Gbps bandwidth is used for "fake" internal LCD traffic.

   

Thanks for the info, i know that i can UP the FPS and the performance with 5-10% if i buy TB2 Macbook (2013) for example (i can buy it for the same price) but for now i like my setup, maybe when new games starts to lag on my setup i will upgrade just the model of the Macbook! I dont like the new Macbook. 

Can you tell me how much -  i will UP the FPS and the performance (on the internal display) with Thunderbolt 2 laptop if i use the same video card?

Thanks for the info, i know that i can UP the FPS and the performance with 5-10% if i buy TB2 Macbook (2013) for example (i can buy it for the same price) but for now i like my setup, maybe when new games starts to lag on my setup i will upgrade just the model of the Macbook! I dont like the new Macbook. 

Can you tell me how much –  i will UP the FPS and the performance (on the internal display) with Thunderbolt 2 laptop if i use the same video card?

Based on the x4 1.0 (8Gbps ~TB1) versus x4 2.0 (16Gbps-TB2) PCIe scaling results for a GTX980,  you’ll go from 75% to 87% of x16 2.0 desktop performance at FHD. That’s if using an external LCD. Using the internal LCD, [email protected] requires 4.46Gbps. So you’d have 11.5Gbps left over for gaming traffic.

You could approximately see that performance by attaching an external LCD to your current rig, which would be slightly less bandwidth at 10Gbps. See how much it improves performance over your current ~5.6Gbps bandwidth remaining after using internal LCD mode on your 10Gbps-TB1 link.

BIG UPDATE about Thunderbolt 1 vs Thunderbolt 2:

Here is the results from a user with MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) TB2 with the same video card like me clocked - GPU +120Mhz Mem +300Mhz (2126Mhz and 4304Mhz)

Internal Display:

I have run the same test with the same clocks of the video card - GPU +120Mhz Mem +300Mhz (2126Mhz and 4304Mhz)  (MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) on my Internal Display

So its confirmed that for now i dont need upgrade to TB2 Macbook 🙂

Here is the Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark Score with my gaming 1680x1050 on my Retina Display: 

DiRT Rally

Ultra (all to MAX) + 8xMSAA with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-35 FPS on my retina display... 

The Witcher 3 

Ultra (all to MAX) + Nvidia HairWorks AA with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-35 FPS (i have some drops but it is playable) on my retina display

After month with my AKITIO Thunder2 feat. EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB eGPU setup I can confirm that this is the best way to turn your OLD Macbook in gaming Laptop.

I can play all games - FULL HD / 60 FPS (all to MAX + AA) on External Display

I can play all games - 1680x1050 / 30-40 FPS (all to MAX + AA) on my Internal Reitna Display

 I also made a custom Windows 10 theme aka macOS Gaming 10.10.10 🙂

enjoy 🙂

I got a question for you enjoy. I'm currently waiting for my Thunder3 and EVGA GTX 1060 (half length) to arrive. I have also bought this cable. Will I be able to close the enclousure?

I will drill a hole in the back so the power cable can go out there. But my concern is the GPU power cable at the top. The cable have a 90 degree socket. Will that help?

@noler Yes you can.

1, I made by myself 90 degrees 6 pin i use one of my  Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable to close the Akitio

 2. I buy 6-pin to 6+2-pin PCI-E power cable (you can use 6pin to 6 pin but i cant find here in Bulgaria), cut him and put him in the Akitio original hole close to Akitio Barell plug

3. I remove the Akitio back panel (also help for the Air)

About your cable i think you will need to cut small part of the plastic of the 90 degree 6 pin end (look first picture in this post) to close the Akitio Thunder3

@enjoy how you make those low profile cables?

I cut big part of the plastic of one of my Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable 6 pin end (look first picture in this post)

Posted by: enjoy

 

I cut big part of the plastic of one of my Startech.com 6 inch PCI Express Power Splitter Cable 6 pin end (look first picture in this post)

   

I'm sorry. I Must be stupid, but I seriously cant see which part you cut of. Can you be more specific? 

Sorry haha

Nice setup and very well explained! I didn't know it was possible to run games so well on macbooks with only thunderbolt 1 ports 🙂

I would have two questions:

How are the fans? Are they noisy while you're playing? Does your macbook heat up?

If I build my setup (your setup 🙂 ) but with a thunderbolt 2 macbook (dGPU 750m), the available bandwidth will be twice that of the bandwidth you have, right?
So, i don't understand why i could not run games on my internal screen much better than you're running these games on your internal screen. As nando4 wrote, I should have 11 Gbps left for gaming traffic and you only have 5.6 Gbps. Why does thunderbolt 2 not improve the performance that much?

I must miss something 🙂

@Antharsious -

• No big difference between TB1 and TB2 tbh. Maybe you will play all games FULL HD - 1920x1200 (not like me with 1680x1050) on the Internal Display nothing more in game performance! - more info here -  https://egpu.io/forums/mac-setup/2012-15-mbpr-gt650m-gtx106010gbps-tb1-akitio-thunder2-win10-enjoy/#post-1778
• About heat - when i play games - no more than 50-60 degrees the noise is the same like your Macbook on full speed!

@noler - see the picture:

Thanks alot for the picture!!

Thank you enjoy...

GTA V

Ultra (all to MAX) + 8xMSAA  with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-35 FPS on my retina display... 

@enjoy

Thanks for your write-up as well. I have the same MBP model as you, GTX 970 and Win10 ready but before I proceed with buying the DIY setup and switching the drivers, I wanted to kindly ask a couple of questions:

1) According to this, I suppose I could use the newest driver instead of 327.70 due to having GTX 970?

2) Did your MBP also fail to boot without the DIY setup when you plugged in the Akitio?

@Kyrio

1) I don't know but I'am still with 376.09 and don't have problems with all games 🙂 - you must try with latest!

2) You will have error 12 without nando4's DIY eGPU Setup 1.35

Forza Horizon 3

Ultra (all to MAX) + 4xMSAA  with 1680x1050 I can play the game with 30-35 FPS on my retina display... 

Have you had any issues with the boot process being broken by, say, a Windows update?

Posted by: Kyrio

 

Have you had any issues with the boot process being broken by, say, a Windows update?

   

Windows update doesn’t touch the BCD used for the boot process.

Posted by: Kyrio

 

Have you had any issues with the boot process being broken by, say, a Windows update?

   

No problems with my setup for 2 months, i still update the Windows 10, i don't touch only the NVIDIA drivers because all games work great with 376.09.

eGPU - turns our 2012 old Macbook Pro - in a Gaming Macbook better than the new one 2016 with TB - 5 years later. So if you want to gaming like me - just DO IT 🙂 Our laptops have a Quad Core processors, its old but its still great for gaming, SSD and 8GB of RAM is enough for all games, even Thunderbolt 1 is not a problem 🙂

I still update the thread with games that runs like a charm on my retina display. With External Display you can have 60 FPS gaming, but 30 FPS in great for me and i love my retina display and how clean the setup is. 

You must also know that our 2012 15" MBPr GT650M with DIY Setup is the best and easy setup, its work great, other have a problems, we can restart always without problems!

That's great to hear, thank you both! I'm trying this out right now but when I uninstall the GT650M driver in device manager, I can no longer install 327.70 (or the latest). The included hardware compatibility check tells me it can not find an NVidia card... So far, I can't boot with Akitio+GTX970 plugged in and the end result is the same if I try to plug them right before the uninstallation. Had to go back to a recovery point.

Is it really necessary to uninstall the GT650M driver first?

GT650M + GTX970 are included in the same 351.53 MB 372.70 NVidia driver regardless of if they refer to it as the mobile or desktop driver. So no need to uninstall the GT650M. Instead:

– install 372.70 while only the GT650M is detected (eGPU attached).  Reboot into Windows.

– shutdown Windows

– attach the GTX970 eGPU

– boot Win10 and allow Win10 to automatically PnP the 372.70 driver for the GTX970. Do a Device Manager rescan confirm it’s detected and showing as GTX970 in Device Manager->Display adapters.

– then use Setup 1.35 to eradicate error 12 against the eGPU (PCI Compaction->All except SATA, Chainloader->Test Run).