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Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

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Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#71

Post by senorprogrammer »

wcfields wrote: post #53
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #47

Let's be honest: The Thunderbolt ecosystem is tragic. - We're only now seeing the first docks come available. It only took Belkin an extra year to develop it. - The hopes and dreams of internal buses being used outside the standard case is still only a dream unless you are willing to pay extreme premiums. Even then there is still no native solution for video. - I still need a special cord from Apple to run Dual-link.…

Ugh, don't get me started on the $300 Belkin Docks. ($250 for the Matrox DS1 / $400 for the Sonnet Echo 15!) I feel like I'm living in the early days of VHS (USB3) vs. BetaMax (ThunderBolt) right now: Expensive, and while BetaMax is technically better, VHS will win on price & availability.

Could you expand on this? I've been eyeing the Belkin.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#72

Post by voltagex_ »

imissmyjuno wrote: post #67
aroch wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run 2 x 30" (2560x1440) and 1 21"(1920x1200) IPS monitors (all DVI). I have 3 Samsung 540 256GB SSD, 2 WD RED 7200RPM 3TB drives (with lifetime warranty!) in the slots. 1. You should probably jump up to 750W PSU (Which is what I did in the end) just for a little more wiggle room. I also moved to small footprint RAM to fit under my cooler -- 4 x 8GB sticks. 2. Use Clover not Chameleon as your bootloader. It's EFI em…

> Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung Why?

I suspect this is a hangover from when drive firmware/chipsets were terrible - Samsung and Intel have been ahead of the curve.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#73

Post by wcfields »

senorprogrammer wrote: post #71
wcfields wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh, don't get me started on the $300 Belkin Docks. ($250 for the Matrox DS1 / $400 for the Sonnet Echo 15!) I feel like I'm living in the early days of VHS (USB3) vs. BetaMax (ThunderBolt) right now: Expensive, and while BetaMax is technically better, VHS will win on price & availability.

Could you expand on this? I've been eyeing the Belkin.

Nothing personal/technological; the reviews of it have been very positive.

It's the $300 MSRP is a just a little ridiculous. (Though I know it takes a lot of R&D.. etc..., but this is just how Firewire devices were: full of promise, but are few and far between plus priced too high)

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#74

Post by gilgoomesh »

baddox wrote: post #52
schappim wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A vendor can create their own drivers. This happens all the time for hardware made for the existing Mac Pro.

The existing Mac Pro is quite old. Are graphics cards still being made that support it?

The current Mac Pro is only 1 year old (although that was just a minor CPU bump). Similarly, graphics cards you can get for the Mac Pro are typically a year or so old. You can buy GTX 680s from NVidia or Radeon HD 7950s from ATI.

The newest cards need to be flashed to Mac firmware. For example, you can buy pre-flashed GTX 770s like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GTX-770-2-GB-for-Apple-Mac-Pr...

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#75

Post by wcfields »

imissmyjuno wrote: post #67
aroch wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run 2 x 30" (2560x1440) and 1 21"(1920x1200) IPS monitors (all DVI). I have 3 Samsung 540 256GB SSD, 2 WD RED 7200RPM 3TB drives (with lifetime warranty!) in the slots. 1. You should probably jump up to 750W PSU (Which is what I did in the end) just for a little more wiggle room. I also moved to small footprint RAM to fit under my cooler -- 4 x 8GB sticks. 2. Use Clover not Chameleon as your bootloader. It's EFI em…

> Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung Why?

Something Awful's Hardware/Software forum has a huge thread on SSDs. The thread name is pretty explicit of what NOT to use:

"The SSD Megathread - Don't buy OCZ or Crucial drives, read the OP!"

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=345...

To summarize if you don't have an account:

I don't want to read anything just tell me what SSD to buy! (last updated: 07/25/2013)

The Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe is consistently the best value, get a 240GB or larger drive if you can for best results. The non-Deluxe version uses slightly slower memory, but the Deluxe is usually only ~$5 more expensive so get that unless the non-Deluxe is on sale. See the lists below for more options:

Great, rock-solid drives: * Samsung 840 Pro

* Intel SSD 520 (probably not worth the price premium, discontinued)

* SanDisk Extreme

* Intel SSD 330 (3K-endurance memory)

Good value drives: * Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe (best value, the non-Deluxe version is only a bit slower, but also usually not much cheaper)

* Intel SSD 335 (1.5K-endurance memory, 240GB+ only)

* Samsung 840 non-Pro (1K-endurance memory, 250GB+ only, 120GB version may only last ~3.5 years)

BAD drives to avoid: * OCZ drives have very poor reliability, probably due to insufficient memory validation.

* Kingston drives seem to have reliability issues, perhaps also due to insufficient memory validation?

* ADATA drives also seem to have issues due to memory validation.

* Crucial drives are plagued by firmware issues. The M4 has had a lot of problems but seems to have stabilized (but is a poor value today so shouldn't be purchased), the M500 is brand-new and has known issues, and the V4 is the worst SSD on the market (far slower than an HDD).

* Plextor drives benchmark well but have poorly-tuned firmware.

* SATA300 and other older/last-gen drives are not as reliable as modern drives.

NEW drives to avoid until they mature: * Samsung 840 EVO (potential to be the best SSD)

* SanDisk Extreme II (brand new, lots of potential)

* SanDisk Ultra Plus (would make a decent low-end drive, but isn't usually much cheaper than the other faster drives in the "Good" list above such as the Mushkin Enhanced Chronos)

* Seagate 600 and 600 Pro (new LAMD-based drives, seem to have potential)

* Crucial M500 (960GB model is interesting, but M500 has firmware issues, Crucial has a BAD history resolving those)

* Corsair Neutron (new LAMD-based drive with the same name and better performance, how to tell apart from old slower Corsair Neutron?)

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#77

Post by roc »

barrkel wrote: post #62
roc wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you trying to say Apple wouldn't put GPUs in displays because it might accelerate the display upgrade cycle?

I'm trying to say that customers aren't quite stupid enough to invest in a display that they'll throw out 18 months later.

In a product line-up where a new GPU requires an entire new machine, merely having to replace a display would actually be an improvement.

Not that people with those sorts of interests, even when Apple customers, rely on Apple hardware to serve those interests.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#78

Post by AsymetricCom »

wcfields wrote: post #75
imissmyjuno wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung Why?

Something Awful's Hardware/Software forum has a huge thread on SSDs. The thread name is pretty explicit of what NOT to use: "The SSD Megathread - Don't buy OCZ or Crucial drives, read the OP!" http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=345... To summarize if you don't have an account: I don't want to read anything just tell me what SSD to buy! (last updated: 07/25/2013) The Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Delu…

Funny, my 520 got flaky after 6 months and failed after 2 years.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#79

Post by duaneb »

ckluis wrote: post #8
larsberg wrote: post #6

I've been assuming this is what Apple is going to do with the next MBP retina. Intel graphics when headless + a new Thunderbolt Display with built-in Nvidia or ATI card when "docked."

Partially agree. I assume Apple wants to go down the truly portable route and offer an addon graphics card in the size and shape of either an airport extreme or apple tv/mini. This would allow someone with a mini to stack a graphics card under it and have the graphics card inbetween the mini & any other screen.

> addon graphics card in the size and shape of either an airport extreme or apple tv/mini

Wouldn't the latency remove any substantial merit?

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#80

Post by extra88 »

wcfields wrote: post #53
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #47

Let's be honest: The Thunderbolt ecosystem is tragic. - We're only now seeing the first docks come available. It only took Belkin an extra year to develop it. - The hopes and dreams of internal buses being used outside the standard case is still only a dream unless you are willing to pay extreme premiums. Even then there is still no native solution for video. - I still need a special cord from Apple to run Dual-link.…

Ugh, don't get me started on the $300 Belkin Docks. ($250 for the Matrox DS1 / $400 for the Sonnet Echo 15!) I feel like I'm living in the early days of VHS (USB3) vs. BetaMax (ThunderBolt) right now: Expensive, and while BetaMax is technically better, VHS will win on price & availability.

I'm waiting for the $200 CalDigit Station. No FireWire port but multiple USB3 and you can attach 2 monitors, 1 HDMI & 1 Mini DisplayPort.
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