ViDock w/ Sandy Bridge or L1502x/L1702x

Hi,
Has anyone tried ViDock yet or soon? Here's the link for more info:

Thanks all,

Is anyone planning to try this soon so we can use the best desktop GPUs available and might not need to upgrade laptops for years?

History: Got HD5870 working w/ Setup 1.x 3DMark06 = 18024

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences-350.html

I'm hoping more users can help test and improve since many newer laptops could be similar to mine.

Now I'm using only 2GB RAM,
Device Manager recognizes GTX460 fine but using Nvidia Property says:
"Nvidia Display settings are not available"
"You are not currently using a display attached to an NVIDIA GPU"

W7-64-Ult sometimes can output 1080p from GTX460 but cause BSOD.

W7-64-Home Prem (shipped w/ system) doesn't ever output 1080p from GTX460 and no BSOD. However, using new 270.61 from laptop2go Nvidia Property recognizes GTX460 only as PhysX. I tried all 4 previous versions of drivers notebook, desktop, and Nando modded inf. I can use MSI Afterburner to control GTX460 fanspeed.

I appreciate any ideas.

Much thanks again.
__________________
XPS 15 L502x | i7 2720QM | 1080p 15" | GT 525M oc 780/980 | SSD 280M R/W .5W + RAMDISK + USB3.0 1.5T 2.5" 7.2k 9750420AS | 6GB| N6230 + BT | BL KB | TV Tuner HD QAM & ATSC | W7-64U| ViDock HD5870 3DMark06 = 18024

i7 2720QM faster than i7 975 (Quad 3.3G / X5677 3.5G $1660) ?!! http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html


I also got gt240 working w/ Dell E6400 and Dell M65.

Much thanks for any help.

 

If i can ask you -> how you connect it to your L502x/L702x ? (Can I get photo please ?) Do you have to make hole/gap for cable ?

About your problem -> http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...51-diy-vidock-experiences-63.html#post6295529

 

I just remove the bottom RAM/WWAN cover and use the flat mini hdmi cable w/ the WWAN slot. It also fit the WLAN slot for x4 or mpcie 2.0 x2. It's kind of nice this way so I can quickly change the TV tuner antenna input from ATSC to QAM. It can also help reduce the heat since the heat pipes are exposed. I'm thinking of how to use something like metal clips to attach external heat sink/heat pipe during high CPU usage. Or use small AC power fan in a plastic basket/bin with laptop on top.

BTW, I got gt240 to work w/ the new Setup 1.x. Thanks to Nando4. using 32bitA compact igp and gt240. It didn't work w/ 460gtx or 5870. But still very promising that newer/faster GPU can be use w/ these powerful 5.x lb laptops.

 

Nando,

Attached is the Diag from L1502x. How do I modify the Setup 1.x Startup to compact 32bitA igp (vid 0) and gt240 (vid 2) and ignore vid 1 (540m).

I can already imagine 570gtx and much faster future generations GPU w/ most laptops.

Thanks so much again.

 

Do I get it right -> this dell have pciex x2/x4 not x1 ? So if gtx460 on x1 can get 11k in vantage, on x2 or x4 it'll be fast as hell isn't it ? God damn it, I'm gonna order it right now, and I'll even consider 560ti ...
Edit: Nevermind.

 

It's unconfirmed atm. See my first post screenshots that it's pcie 2.0 x2 = pcie x4. Physically, I can connect to both WLAN & WWAN mpcie port 1 & port 2. I've got gt240 working so far. Nando4 is helping to get the gtx460 to work. It does look very promising to be able to use many fastest GPU in the future.

 

Cool. I wish you the best I can only imagine 20k in 3dmar06 on notebook

On screenshot I can only see 5 pci-e x1 ports. I know it's faster than pci-e 1.0, and that you can connect more than one x1 port, but you're suggesting that one of ports is actually x2.
Tell us when you guys figure out how to make gtx460 or faster graphics work.

 

Ok. I got 3dmark06 score of 17,010 w/ my 5870 (c900/memory 1285).
Result

I'm not sure if it's running at mpcie 1.0 or 2.0. Maybe we need to wait for newer version of software / drivers / or Setup 1.x and more users to help test and improve.

I'm guessing since the 5870 GPU usage is at 100% most of the time, it's not pcie bandwidth limited during benchmark.

I still can't get the gtx460 to work...might be drivers issues or conflict with the gt525m.

I'm using Setup 1.x 36 bit compact vid0 vid2, ignore vid1.
Many thanks again to Nando4 for this great work and the community for this best tech so far.

Thanks.

 

Nice!

I guess you're using external lcd (internal only possible with optimus right?)
Will you keep trying to get 460gtx/newer working ?
Are there any lags when loading textures (I've read about it in youtube's videos description) ?

I'm 99% sure it's working on pci-e 2.0 - 5870 with desktop cpu is getting around 19k, but since 3dmark06 is cpu dependent and desktop cpus are faster - it's almost same performance!
Can you post GPU score from Vantage ?

rep +1

 

Can you test some games also?? It would be great to see how it works in real world test.

Also, if you can try to desable the GT525m and put the gtx460 with opt x1.

Nice to see the first Sandy vidock!!

 

This cant be the 2.0 speed.. Since ur still using the 2.5g HDMI cable transfer rate and not the 5.0g that is supposed to be catered to the pcie 2.0... Or did hwtools already came up with the 5g cable?

 

The cable from HWtool don't support 5GT/s, but can run over 2.5GT/s. When they will offer the new cable, you will see a little up in performance (like 18-19k in 3dmark 06 with a HD6950).

I hope to see ingame performance of expresscard 2.0 vidock soon!!

 

So, what kind of system are you running ? L502x with SB?
With Pcie slot did you plug everything into?
Did you take pics?
Are you using Optimus somehow or are you displaying everything on an external monitor?

 

Thanks.
I will try to look for mini hdmi 5GT/s cables. Any suggestions and where we can find performance vs length of these hdmi cables? Thanks.

 

Shame that ExpressCard isn't used in multimedia laptops any longer. Only business ones.

I can get new Vostro with EC 2.0 but I don't want giving up sound system of l502x...

 

Business class notebook are just way better than consumer. Also, A lot of 14'' business notebook have better speaker than consumer. The new line like Lenovo T420, HP 8460p and Dell E6420 are well build notebook with a good 1600*900 matte screen and big sound. The difference between plastic vs plastic/magnesium/aluminium combo is notable and I would pay 500$ more for that. Sure the screen and sound of the XPS are better, but that's it.

 

So you are suggesting me to take new vostro with worse graphic card and speakers instead l502x? Same price.

 

wicked20,do you connect your vidock with a external lcd ,or the inside one

 

For now, I'm using external 60" 1080p DLP 3d as primary using Desktop Extend, laptop 1080p lcd to monitor cpu, gpu usage, temp. I haven't turn on Intel CPU Turbo yet.

I'd like to find out how many 1080p/1600p screens we can have at the same time. L502x by itself I tried 2 1080p external and 1 1080p laptop screen. There's an ATI card that has 6 external monitors.

Thanks.

 

Thanks Tj69.

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

shows that i7 2720QM faster than desktop i7 975 Quad @ 3.33GHz ($1040) ?!!. Pretty nice for a 15" 5.x lb 5+ hr battery $1k laptop.

I will try to get gtx460 working and improve speed more for future GPUs whenever I have time.

Thanks.

 

Enabled Intel Turbo Boost Monitor software:
3dmark06 score = 18405

SM2.0 = 8158

HDR/SM3.0 = 7558

CPU = 5423

3dmark Vantage = P14725


old:
Result

 

wicked20,can you get the DIY vidock work on the inside screen?that is whether you can run a 3dmark only with the inside screen?
thanks

 

EDIT: I was wrong it is possible to run it on internal screen, my bad.

 

Can u take some pics of your rig? Which PciE slot did u connect to?

 

I'm using the WWAN / TV tuner full mpcie slot. With the WLAN half slot, I got the GT240 to output 1080p external. I'd like to get both x2 slots working to get 10 Gb/s.

Thanks.

 

We need some pics of this please.
Are you using Vidock or the DIY vidock.
Which parts did you order
Please pics sir

 

Thanks tj69. I didn't know that HD5870 can output to laptop LCD. I will try later. Do have links to others successful cases?

Much thanks.

 

Can anyone confirm how they are doing this. What they bought and how they set it up. Thank you

 

Pls see post #1 DIY ViDock Experiences

I'm using PE4H and PM3N. There are plenty of pix there. I will post when I have more time and want to improve and get GTX460 working. Hopefully, there will be usb3.0 versions also so we can have more than 10-20 Gb/s.

Thanks.

 

I just wonder: usb3.0 controller is plugged into mPCI-E port so it should be somehow possible. This would be breakthrough.

Try there. I linked post where is descrition how to do that.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...51-diy-vidock-experiences-51.html#post6193337

 

Thanks all,

Is anyone planning to try this soon so we can use the best desktop GPUs available and might not need to upgrade laptops for years?

I'm hoping more users can help test and improve since many newer laptops could be similar to mine.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...1-diy-vidock-experiences-350.html#post7402640

I appreciate any ideas.

Much thanks again.

 

Intel's Series-6 chipset has the link width set in the flash descriptor, so would need sophisticated bios hacking to get it to work. Series-5 and earlier could do this in Setup 1.x but they are x1 1.0.

Would also mean then the two ports would remain x2 until a subsequent flash made them x1 again.

This might be Intel's way of preventing high-performance DIY ViDock solutions OR their way of getting users to buy Thunderbolt-equipped products instead, which appear to be x2 2.0.

 

Thanks Nando.
More info updated at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences-370.html

Soon we all can have 460gtx or gtx580 and newer GPUs within our reach.

Much thanks all

 

i want to try this is everything working good? what do i need to buy.

 

Hi all,

Sorry to revive an old thread like this, but I'm interested in trying out a DIY eGPU solution. I've come to the realisation that for me the only upgrades worthwhile are a SSD and a better GPU. As we all know most notebooks have their GPUs soldered onto the mobo, so it's impossible to upgrade without a eGPU mod - otherwise I'm waiting for SSDs to drop to less than $1 / GB

I've read the threads in the eGPU section, and have come to the (perhaps daft) conclusion that for a proper DIY eGPU solution, all you need is the following:

• PE4H+PM3N set (likely from HWtools)
• any desktop class GPU (kepler/fermi is recommended for 1.2Opt)
• a good PSU, preferably one with single-rail 12V and at least 30A

And then the rest is simply assembly of the components?

I've read that it's largely Plug 'n Play in that you put your computer to sleep, plug in the eGPU, then resume from sleep and Windows 7 will detect as new hardware and basically do the rest.

Thanks to wicked20's tests, below, I know that it's possible. I just wanted to make sure that I'm not missing anything. It seems almost too easy to be true.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-g...851-diy-egpu-experiences.html#implementations

 

Recommend PE4L-PM060A 2.1b to extract full pci-e 2.0 performance on your Sandy Bridge notebook. PE4H 2.4 or PE4L 1.5 can only operate at pci-e 1.1 speed.

One negative of the PE4L-PM060A 2.1 version is it's all soldered together. Meaning you'd need to plug the whole mPCIe end into your wifi slot whenever you want to use it. The PE4L-PM3N 1.5 had a mHDMI socket so the PM3N (mPCIe) could just remain in the wifi slot and you'd just plug in the mHDMI cable.

Now unless your bios has a facility to disable the dGPU, you'll also need to add Setup 1.x to your inventory. We've found the NVidia driver must have any NVidia dGPUs disabled so that the x1.Opt pci-e compression can engage. Setup 1.x can disable the dGPU for you.

If you are in the US then recommend enquire with HIT to see if they have the PE4L-PM060A 2.1. They certainly keep the expresscard version but not sure on the mPCIe version. The benefit with HIT is they provide Setup 1.x as a freebie with purchase of the hardware from them. Otherwise it's an additional $15 (with coupon) or $25 to access the restricted donationware.

 

Thanks for the very quick response!

I'm quite familiar with hardware, but my knowledge doesn't extend this far... what is the primary difference between the PCI-e 1.1 and 2.0 for the GPU's performance? I assume it's a limitation of the data bandwidth between video card and computer. Otherwise, I assume there's no other limitation?

My L502x has an empty/spare mPCIe slot intended for WWAN/TV tuners. This is what I would plug the eGPU mPCIe card into.

The fact that the mPCIe end is soldered together (mPCIe card + mini-HDMI) doesn't bother me, but will it still be plug'n'play? That is, if I want to use the eGPU I can still put my machine to sleep, plug it in, and resume from sleep? I assume the soldered components wouldn't affect this.

The Dell XPS15 BIOS doesn't allow you to disable the dGPU as far as I know - I've not seen the option to do so. As such, I'll definitely need the Setup 1.x software.

I was thinking of going through HIT (I saw others refer to them as HWTools, so I used that name in my previous post). Their website is quite complete and I like that you can purchase the entire "kit", leaving just the GPU and PSU. The fact that they also basically throw in Setup 1.x is great.

 

Apologies. The links got mangled in my previous post. I've summarized them below:

PE4L-PM060A (BPlus): PE4L-PM060A 2.1b.
Setup 1.x (via Harmonic Inversion Technology US - HIT)
PE4L-EC060A 2.1 via HIT US.

So I'd suggest ask HIT if they can supply you a PE4L-PM060A so you could get the freebie Setup 1.x from them.

 

Hey Daver - Let me know how it goes for you. I have an XPS 17 L702x and am thinking of doing the same setup. I'm not sure what gfx card to go with though; a radeon or a geforce; I read through this stuff and someone said that with the geforces you can get better performance with optimus, but it also looked like wicked20 was having some issues with the gtx460...

 

Sorry, but I don't think I will be doing this any time soon. I was about ready to pull the trigger, after doing research and following the thread to learn what is required, but some things have come up and my finances will be spent elsewhere for the next while.

From the advise of nando4, and the other threads, the majority of the work is in purchasing the PE4L-PM060A assembly, a power supply, and the graphics card. Of course, acquire the Setup 1.X software from HIT for free (or pay the nominal $15-25 for it, but free is always more fun ).

I am summarizing a lot there, but that is basically the 4 step process: buy the parts, install the Setup 1.x, plug in the hardware, and start playing.

 

Yes. That is all that's required.

We've just had our first mPCIe 2.0 DIY eGPU implementation. Means double bandwidth and better results than seen by the OP in this post. See http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-g...51-diy-egpu-experiences-1067.html#post8647092 for a comparison of x1.1Opt vs x1.2Opt using mPCIe.

 

Sweet, does that require combining 2 connections (2x mini pcie/1 mini pcie/1 expresscard) or is there a way of doing that over a single mini pcie?

 

I have Dell Xps 15 L502x

Specs:

XPS 15 L502x i7-2630QM | 8GB RAM | 576GB HDD @7200 | 2GB Nvidia GT540M | 15.6" B+RGLED 1080 | 9 Cell

and a free TV Tuner slot.


I read the Thread so I only have to stick

the gpu into the PE4H

ans stick the PM3N in the Tv Tuner slot





without any significant loss of speed (botleneck) ?

 

So that's my understanding, EXCEPT that you'll only be getting PCIEx1 bandwidth and not PCIEx16. I believe that is a significant performance hit.

 

PE4L-PM060A will get your two times more bandwidth than PE4H 2.4

After this thread was written, BPlus released a pci-e 2.0 capable PE4L-PM060A 2.1b. That will get double the bandwidth of the pci-e 1.0 capable PE4H 2.4. Your L1502x has a pci-e 2.0 mPCIe slot and a HD3000 iGPU so could be configured to run x1.2Opt. See benchmark results for x1.2Opt at http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-gpu-external-graphics-discussion/418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html . http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/619904-sony-vpc-z2-svz-convenient-egpu-setup.html shows a PE4L-PM060A 2.1b in action.

 

hey what is the performance of Your games with pe4h on dell xps l502x .And was the wwan is less faster than wifi pci slot