- #MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 FULL#
- #MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 PRO#
- #MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 SOFTWARE#
#MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 FULL#
Exactly how hard will depend on the game, but it’s safe to assume an external desktop GPU will only offer 65-80% of theoretical full performance when connected in this fashion. The implication is that the PCIe 2.0 x1 link will hit performance harder than this.
Keep in mind, however, that PCIe 1.1 x4 is still capable of an 800MB/sec effective transfer rate - double what we see here. Interestingly enough, AMD and NV cards don’t exhibit the same behavior here test results indicate that Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 680 loses 33% of its performance on a PCIe 1.1 x4 link, while the AMD Radeon HD 7970 only drops by 17%. That’s about 400MB in either direction once we account for transmission overhead. The card is open-ended, which allows for anything up to an x16 card, but it’s only providing one channel worth of bandwidth. The PCIe 2.0 to ExpressCard link, however, is just x1. In theory, Thunderbolt can provide up to four PCIe 2.0 links, since that’s the width of the channel that connects the controller to the motherboard. One interesting question is just how much of a performance hit games take when you run them through this kind of system. Gaming on a single-channel - what’s the performance hit? Kloper calls this “eminently practical,” which I’m not sure I agree with given the additional $300 cost (not counting the GPU itself), the difficulty, and the rather tortured connection system required to make it all work - but it is impressive. Games are four or five times faster on the MacBook Air’s LCD, and five to seven times faster on a separate external monitor. But the results, according to both these tests and other articles around the ‘net, are impressive. You’ll have to reset the GPU by cycling the power supply if you reboot the system, and the enclosure/cabling can kindly be called messy.
#MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 SOFTWARE#
According to Kloper, AMD and NV GPUs are both supported, but AMD GPUs will need to use Intel/Lucid’s Virtu software under Windows 7 in order to get the device up and running.Īs you might expect, the final setup, though technically beautiful, has some issues. It’s not clear from this description exactly what the product does, but it avoids the “Error 12: Cannot allocate resources in Device Manager” problem that apparently hits some systems, including the MacBook Air. Kloper attributes the functionality to DIY eGPU creator nando4, but the “purchase” page for the product appears to currently be down. You’ll need the DIY eGPU Setup 1.x software to make the entire process work smoothly. Software-side, there are still some kinks.
#MACBOOK EXTERNAL GPU ENCLOSURE THUNDERBOLT 2 PRO#
Run the Thunderbolt cable from the ExpressCard Pro converter to the laptop, hook the GPU up to a power supply, and the hardware side of the equation is good to go. Next came an Express Card to Thunderbolt chassis courtesy of Sonnet ExpressCard Pro. The PE4L-C060A from Bplus Technology is capable of handling this task. On the hardware side of the equation, that meant buying an adapter for converting PCIe video cards to ExpressCard slots. While we’ve seen several manufacturers demo such products, no one has shipped an external GPU chassis yet.įed up with this state of affairs, forum member Kloper decided to build his own. In practice, however, Intel has refused to certify any direct GPU solutions. In theory, Thunderbolt is capable of fixing this the standard offers direct GPU attach capability via the PCI-Express bus and connects to the motherboard on an x4 PCIe 2.0 link. The only available graphics option is the Intel HD 5000, and while that core is decent enough for the casual gamer, it’s still weak compared to other solutions for any modern title. Apple’s MacBook Air is a great piece of kit in a number of scenarios, but if you’re a gamer, it’s not a great system.