Mac + eGPU

[DigitalOven]

Great to hear about the Akitio ... I love Octane on my 6GB 780 but would be great to add a few more cards.

Seems like everyone talking about the Akitio box is hooking it up to laptop .. anyone used this box with an older Mac Pro desktop (mine is 2009 but the GPU render has really put new life into it). I realize that the akitio is thunderbolt but don't know if there is a way to convert that to slot into PCIE similar to the Cubix box (which runs about $2300).

[everything]

@DigitalOven I was thinking exactly the same
I was thinking that maybe a bridge extender, a long one, could do the work to ad a third card to the system.

[glimpse]

Great to hear about the Akitio ... I love Octane on my 6GB 780 but would be great to add a few more cards.

Seems like everyone talking about the Akitio box is hooking it up to laptop .. anyone used this box with an older Mac Pro desktop (mine is 2009 but the GPU render has really put new life into it). I realize that the akitio is thunderbolt but don't know if there is a way to convert that to slot into PCIE similar to the Cubix box (which runs about $2300).

Check Netstor, Magma - those Guys have some boxes, but their stuff do cost (1-2k$),
If You would like to get cheaper Amfeltec sells GPU cluster ~400-500$ a piece to connect 4x GPUs + You need PSU depending on chosen GPUs.

If You have old mac, don't try to convert Thindervolt to PCIe, get PCIe solution out of the box =)

[DigitalOven]

Thanks Glimpse!

I had completely missed the Amfeltec cluster in my research and it's much cheaper than Cubix/Netstor ... just got a quote back for 412 USD (plus shipping) for a 4 GPU cluster setup. Need to research quiet power supply next but hopefully can add a couple Titan's to this old Mac and make it roar again.

http://amfeltec.com/products/gpu-oriented-cluster/

and for the connection they have 5 foot cable standard and 10 foot cable for $12 more ... great that it doesn't have to sit right next to the mac.

Hopefully it won't be a driver pain but looks promising.

-m

[jagger]

But How to connect that Amfeltec to a Imac 27 for example? Seems that the conection is with a pcie card...

[pegot]

That Amfeltec product looks really promising - I may be interested in getting one myself. DigitalOven please do report back on your experience with it if you order.

How does one cool those cards though? Is air cooling out in the open sufficient? Would you just position a bunch of fans around them, or are there some more advanced types of free form cooling solutions?

[mclaird]

Been following this post and others on techinferno for a while, and I must say Im pretty exited about the things to come on the eGPU ecosystem.

I have a couple of questions tough, first off, will the Akitio molex to barrel cable mod eliminate the need of a powered riser?

second question, Is it easy to run these configurations on windows? being bootcamp or native OS? these eGPU configurations via thunderbolt are the main reason why im considering the new Dell precision m3800 laptop as a possible upgrade, due the inclusion of a TB2 port and its portability.

Thank you for your time.

[garytyler]

I can't help with the PC related stuff but yes, the molex to barrel of plug mod eliminates the need for a powered riser.

[philliplakis]

But How to connect that Amfeltec to a Imac 27 for example? Seems that the conection is with a pcie card...

Yes its possible had one connected to my mac mini through a sonnet express
http://render.otoy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=44582


Also selling my Amfeltec if anyone wants it..

[dotcommer]

Reviving this thread.

Has anyone had any experience with either of these two eGPU chassis?


http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpressse2.html

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpress3d.html

Would either of these work out well for adding a titan black or two to them without needing external power beyond what the chassis already has?