eGPUs - Thoughts? - Skull Canyon NUC with Thunder3 PCIe Box.

[MrNintend0]

Placing a NUC into an eGPU chassis with an MXM card is a novel idea. But, a proper eGPU needs to have it's own power source. If you tied that GPU together with the CPU via a single PSU, well... then... you'd no longer have an eGPU chassis, would you? You'd have a PC. As Aibo pointed out, Mini STX is really the better candidate there.

No, let's not strip the eGPU of its major advantage. One GPU for many machines. Sure, the device you're describing would be incredibly small and efficient, but it's also incredibly niche. I'm concerned a device like that would run the real risk of embracing all of the compromises that NUC and MXM boards represent for the sake of size: High price, low availability, and capped performance (soldered CPUs and GPUs limited to 100W).

TB3 technology is spreading fast. Most of the big players are taking GPUs forward by thinking "Outside the box." Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Acer, Dell, and Razer are all releasing eGPU products this year. While those products are for full-size cards, all of the most popular cards have a mini variant. Until we have a Mini-STX board with TB3, I think Mini eGPU over TB3 makes a lot of sense for quite a few folks. At least until PCIe 4.0 and OCuLink take hold.

Sorry this response is late. Thanks for your criticism and your views on that idea, I hadn't thought about it from those angles; it was just a neat thought I had.

Also forgive me for not giving more info. I do realize what the purpose of the eGPU is (hadn't thought about using it for multiple machines though, I'll give you that), however at least half of the users of an NUC don't necessarily move them around either (this is just speculation on my part, could be more or less) and most likely won't be moving an eGPU around either, so why not enclose them both in a case and, just as you said, build a single PC with them?

Frankly that would only be for those who couldn't/wouldn't sacrifice a little more space for a proper ITX or STX PC, but the idea is out there for anyone who wants to play with it. Neat idea sure, but not practical for the most of us.

 

[Runamok81]

@GuilleAcoustic looks like Gigabyte is releasing the Thunderbolt 3 add in card you were looking for earlier. TechReport has the news.
The new TB3 add-in card is called GC-ALPINE RIDGE.

@MrNintend0, Sure... most NUCs aren't mobile, but most eGPUs aren't limited to NUCs. The card above also enables a̶l̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ more PCs to use an eGPU. Update: Looks like these cards are vendor specific? Asus is calling their card the ThunderboltEX 3. It's over here.

Additionally, beyond NUCs and PCs, there are several premium TB3 laptops firmly in the "mobile GPU" camp. Those folks find practicality in not having to own a gaming PC and a gaming laptop. Instead, they have a single GPU service several machines. They save money, and by offloading the GPU, all of their devices now shed the thermal, acoustic, electric, and spatial challenges that come with housing a GPU alongside the CPU. They end up with less spent, and more efficient hardware.

So, eGPUs may not be practical for the majority, but it is certainly practical for some. And, I feel like vendors such as Gigabyte are responding to this. Even if it's not for you, the steady release of products shows that there is demand from somewhere. I don't see the eGPU as an impracticality, I see it as an interesting development that could spark some truly unique designs from the folks on SFF Forum. But maybe, I'm a dreamer.

 

[ChainedHope]

This thread in addition to the STX160.0 build log just gave me a wierd idea... *insert lightbulb here* Guys I might be on to my idea of my dream UCFF machine....

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

@GuilleAcoustic looks like Gigabyte is releasing the Thunderbolt 3 add in card you were looking for earlier. TechReport has the news.
The new TB3 add-in card is called GC-ALPINE RIDGE

Thanks, sadly only compatible with a few Gigabyte motherboards after a Bios update.

I think I'll just split workstation and cad station. Programming, drawing and arduino doesn't need a GPU. But an ultra small thin ITX i7 would be handy in a very small desk.

 

[Runamok81]

Well, I tried. But no joy. The Gigabyte GTX 1070 Mini and HDPLEX 160W AC-DC are both just a bit too large for the AKiTiO Thunder3. Shucks.

I do think that a GTX 1060 would fit, but not with the HDPLEX 160W. I wasn't willing to hackup the chassis too much to make everything fit. However, I did let the chassis go to a fellow modder who has some plans. I'm excited to see what they might cook up.

UPDATE: Didn't take @BenjaminLSR very long. He's got an AKiTiO Thunder3 up and running with a GTX 1060. See his project over on TechInferno, here.

 

[jeshikat]

So you let the whole thing go or just the chassis?

 

[Runamok81]

So you let the whole thing go or just the chassis?

Just the chassis. Still have the GTX 1070 Mini and HDPlex 160W.

 

[jeshikat]

Oops, wasn't clear. I meant the whole Akitio box or just the metal housing.

I was curious if you were going to cobble something together with just the PCB while the fellow modder worked with the metal chassis. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what they come up with

 

[Runamok81]

Oops, wasn't clear. I meant the whole Akitio box or just the metal housing.

I was curious if you were going to cobble something together with just the PCB while the fellow modder worked with the metal chassis. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what they come up with

Gave the whole Akitio away. Looks like we'll have to wait and see how the Wolfe Project makes out.

Their team has raised $300K! So, I expect it to launch.

 

[jeshikat]

I wish them luck but manufacturing by December seems very optimistic to me. Plus it's kinda lame that in the pictures it looks like it's made of machined aluminum, Apple-style, but it's actually just plastic.

 

[Runamok81]

Agreed, on all counts.

 

[Kmpkt]

I wonder how many people funding the Kickstarter don't realize that you need to hook one of these bad boys up to the enclosure to make it work:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFGVWXG/?tag=theminutiae-20

While the enclosure is a relatively svelte 2.75L, the 1L power brick is pretty massive in comparison, not to mention that it weighs in a 3kg (twice the weight of a Retina MBP 13").

 

[Runamok81]

I wonder how many people funding the Kickstarter don't realize that you need to hook one of these bad boys up to the enclosure to make it work:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFGVWXG/?tag=theminutiae-20

While the enclosure is a relatively svelte 2.75L, the 1L power brick is pretty massive in comparison, not to mention that it weighs in a 3kg (twice the weight of a Retina MBP 13").

Agreed. I wonder which manufacturer - if any - will take the half chassis eGPU a step further and integrate the PSU. The AKiTiO idea was close, but the enclosure was just a bit too small. I see the Wolfe is bigger. Will have to see if anyone makes an attempt.

 

[jeshikat]

I wonder which manufacturer - if any - will take the half chassis eGPU a step further and integrate the PSU.

I'm sure we'll see Razer Core clones that are more space efficient eventually. The main question is price.

 

[Runamok81]

Didn't take benjaminlsr to mod the AKiTiO Thunder3 I sent his way. Good man.

He is using an external power brick, his thread is over here. I've asked him to stop by here and give his impressions.

 

[jeshikat]

Yeah, now that I how it looks assembled, I don't see a way to get an internal PSU in there without heavily modifying the chassis.

 

[BenjaminLSR]

Hey Guys,

Well it was a 2h work to mod the Thunderbolt 3 chassis but it's worth it. This one is way more chic than the Thunder2.

I followed the same process than for any of the chassis I own:

• Scavenge a 6/8 pins PCIe cable. I use my dremel and cut the plastic until I reach the metal pin to release it gently.
• Solder together 4x 12v wires, 4x GROUND wires.
• Use isolation tape (6000v) to ensure 12v and GROUND aren't touching !
• Isolate the top of them with thermal gain to avoid any bad contacts.
• Drill a 110mm hole in the chassis.
• Fixed a 120mm grid to cover the hole.

Thunderbolt 3 gain using a GPU over Thunberbolt 2 should be around 3 to 4%.
Benchmark: Battlefield 1 with GTX 1060 over TB3 : 2560x1080, ULTRA ~60fps.

The only way I see to install a PSU within a Akitio Chassis is actually, changing the chassis.
I do own a prototype of the TB3 chassis from Akitio that I might be able to tweak to get a PSU in it (here you can see it next to a NUC "Skull Canyon"

 

[jeshikat]

I do own a prototype of the TB3 chassis from Akitio that I might be able to tweak to get a PSU in it

So is Akitio planning to release a box designed for GPUs then?

 

[BenjaminLSR]

Yes, they are

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Gosh, you could house a full system inside this chassis oO