Hi, Some people have reported success in attaching an external GPU to Macbook Pro (and Air), via ExpressCard. I've been told it's also possible to attach an external GPU to a 2012 Mac Mini, although not as easy as with a Macbook because the Mini doesn't have ExpressCard, and there's no OSX driver for Thunderbolt external GPUs. Do you know of anybody who is trying to achieve this with the 2012 Mac Mini, or who already achieved it? If you know any pointer to a web or blog explaining such experiences, please share it, as I'm very interested about this! There is some yes and no here. At least in the case of 2011 Minis, some of the new Thunderbolt-PCI-X card boxes can nearly fully support any PCI-X video card, if running Windows7 via Bootcamp. In OSX however, a Thunderbolt aware driver for the video card is required.
So, this would also be true for the 2012 as it is an OSX limitation and not hardware. There are Thunderbolt-Express Card adapters (Sonnet is main source). They seem to be limitied as to which Express Cards are usable. Again, it seems to be a driver issue. So as yet, external GPUs seem to be accessible only via these pricey Thunderbolt-PCI-X boxes with Windows (using Bootcamp install) and not OSX. You can make the drivers Thunderbolt-aware for the current nVidia drivers. I have a 2012 Mac Mini that I'll be using.
Based on this blog post I have ordered the following: Thunderbolt cable (bought from Newegg) CoolerMaster Elite 130 mini ITX case (also from Newegg) Corsair CX430M modular 80+ power supply (again from Newegg) PNY GeForce GTX650 2GB (same) Sonnet EchoPro Express Card to Thunderbolt adapter (cheapest at B&H, paid $135) B-Plus PE4L-EC2C (bought from M-Factors Storage) Hopefully everything will be here by the end of the week. I was too cheap to pay for expedited shipping at all those places. It's an expensive-enough proposition to buy all the hardware (total of $465). Maybe a year ago when I got the Mini I should have opted for a 21.5' iMac, but too late to worry about that. Cheaper than building a separate PC and shoehorning Mavericks onto it.
I've done so-called Hackintoshes before, but they've always been weird in the Power Management department. Not waking on sleep, not fully using SpeedStep and so on.
I think it's better just to have a Mac, and down the road if I want a faster GPU I can get one unlike a MacBook Pro or an iMac. So once everything is here, I'll give it a go. I've already done the kext edits. П˜€ It's too bad nobody made a native Thunderbolt chassis like the ViDock that would work - chassis exist but nobody wants to say that a video card will work. Plus they're way more expensive - $500 on up for just the enclosure, without the video card. Apple Footer.
This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums.
Bizonbox 2 (external Graphics Card For Mac Free
Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the.