DIY eGPU experiences

It'd probably be easier to take 5V from a molex connector. Nice big wires.

I'm worried that the ICs are actually working, but since we are using different signals than HDMI that it sees our whole signal as noise and blocks it.

 

Speaking of the PE3A setup, I am moving into my college dorm in a few days, when I get my new address I'll be ordering a PE3A right away. My plan is to use molex connectors wired to the PE3A to make it a bit more...tidy than that guy's alligator clips and what not. I was going to sell my 500W Antec NeoHE for a 235W Dell RM112 90% efficiency PSU since the Antec is way too big, but I couldn't find anyone who wanted to buy it so I'll be using it. It, very conveniently, is SLI certified (for 2006 lol) and has 2 PCI-e 6 pin cables which is handy. I hope my molex connector doesn't fry...

By the way, I just read up on molex connectors and apparently they are 18 gauge and have 11A rated pins, but I still think people using molex to PCI-e adapters should be wary as the connectors seem to have somewhat significant resistance, given the 11A figure (compared with 14A for just 18 gauge wire).

So in due time, we'll see if the PE3A can do a 2.0 link (with Lenovo X220).

 

Vostro 3350 does not have an expresscard slot. I researched this laptop for someone and found out that it doesn't come with one. What is annoying is that Dell shows pictures of their other Vostro laptops with an expresscard slot in their 3350 gallery.

 

5V can be accessed from the RED floppy molex pin. You'd want to isolate pin18 on both ends so that neither the PE4L/PE4H or the EC2C/PM3N receives the 5V signal because if they did you could most certainly cause damage. So the pin18 line needs to be fished out, 5V applied to it and the endpoints isolated to prevent damage.

The 5V would drive the ICs in your active HDMI cable. Khenglish makes a good point. We don't know what active ICs are being used so can't look up a datasheet to find out. I'd assume they would be a transmitter/receiver pair that applies some additional modulation or filtering for better signal transmission.

Worth noting serialk11r will be volunteering to test a modded PE3A, which doesn't require a cable, so consider waiting for those results before you get stuck into your NXG active cable.

Thank you for volunteering to do this. An important test to give more clues. Might even be able to negotiate a x1 2.0 link

You describe perfectly how I came to believe the 3350 had an expresscard slot. Oh well.. in that case, the HP Probook 4330s is the budget 13" with an expresscard slot to go for. I've updated the thin-and-light link indicating the Vosto 3350 has no expresscard slot. Thank you for pointing this out.

 

Took me ages to find that out. Afaik the 3350 won't get produced much more anyways (correct me if im wrong) but it got replaced with the Vostro v130 series. Which also does not come with an express card. :|

HP is producing 13" laptops with express cards but those are quite expensive(which is why i went for the 14" vostro instead).


On a sidenote, does anyone know why my 3dmark06 score with the internal hd3000 is so low? 2,5k? I did the same test 2 days ago and achieved 3,5k (which is what it should be about).

http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15975119;js...6/15975119?key=wMwJpE8TrsBaXt8KKrXBu03AxPQAM4


edit: win7 is too stupid to go from energy saving to max performance automatically if you reconnect power.... score is 3,6k now... http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15975192;js...6/15975192?key=46ZSh2ZmURQuEy6qjdtck0UAvb2zaV

 

Yesterday i noted something interesting.
In Warcraft 3 the egpu(HD6670) shows less fps than the dgpu(8600mgt). The interesting thing is that this is independent from the resolution.

E.g. in one scene the egpu shows about 25fps at all resolutions from 800x600 up to 1800x1440 where the dgpu shows 60fps at all resolutions up to 1400x1050.


Another thing i noticed is that the playback of flash-video(only 360 lines) in full-screen-mode at 2560x1440 is stuttering a lot. I would guess there are only 10fps at 100% cpu and 100% egpu usage.

Lowering the resolution during playback solves this problem.

 

I've reviewed some of your posts, but it's not clear if you did a mPCIe or EC implementation, and what your Vostro 1500's port layout is. If you've got an EC2C for an expresscard slot AND your port layout matches Inspiron 1520's (ie: port2=wifi, port3=expresscard, port4=mPCIe), then you could do a x1E or x2 link to give noticably improved performance. You'd give up concurrent wifi for each and need to install and configure Setup 1.x to do it.

 

im currently trying to set up my egpu;
had an error 12 but thats solved as far as i can tell;
The problem is now, if i plug in an external screen into the card my screen of my laptop automatically turns black, however the external screen also stays black (no signal). So I can only unplug it again. My Nvidia control panel (used the driver from the forum here) doesnt have a lot of options and i cant enable advanced settings for some reason.the button seems to be missing. any ideas? Also how can i choose to use the 560gtx for example in 3dmark06? In the nvidia control panel i can choose to use either the external gpu or internal gpu, but even if i force 3dmark06 to use the external gpu it will use the internal hd. :|

 

Have you made the monitor that is hosted off your GTX560 be the main display?

Also, what system are you running? If it's a HD6630M Vostro 3450 then you are treading on new territory. It might have the AMD muxless switchable graphics that works like Optimus so consider deleting the Intel + AMD driver and loading a stock Intel HD3000 driver, then the Optimus driver if the system doesn't behave as you'd expect.

 

cant install normal intel driver (only accepts dell drivers i think).

win 64 bit professional is the OS. I attached a screen here: the pci gadget with the expression mark is (afaik) the mobile broadband which i havnt installed since im not using it anyways.

what i find strange is how i got no options and also no option to enable advanced settings.

I cant set the external screen as the main screen since everything turns black immediatly as soon as i connect it (and without connection i cant see it)

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

edit: oh i can actually set the screen up without the auto detection by detecting the outputs before i connect devices. However, if i for example set the screen to my extended screen the external screen still stays black and if i set it as a main screen it also stays black (internal screen works normally as expected). whats strange is that the screen actually gets recognized: It says E22-W-1ISA as the screenname which is the name of the monitor.

edit2: oh wow that also seemed to have enabled the advanced settings in the nvidia control panel

 

If you dont get picture on both screens after connecting the eGPU, try manual switching of screens via Built-in FN shortcuts or Windows Button + P. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the answer.

The layout seems to be similar.

Vostro 1500 layout:
port1: mpcie(WWAN, atm contains PM3N)
port2: mpcie(WLAN, in use)
port3: mpcie(WPAN, empty)
port4: expresscard

I got EC2C and PM3N(tested in port1 and 3) which are both functional on their own. When i got the cables i will try pcie-x2 on port3/4. DX shipped today, 9 days after ordering

Still there is no other way than rebooting getting the egpu to work. And still it does not work in all the cases.

When removing the cable from PM3N it is very likely to pull the PM3N out of the slot. But it still seems to be stuck in the slot. Then the egpu doesn't work nexttime. But i noticed the same behaviour while using EC2C. So there must be another additional reason.

Anyway i found out that all gets detected and works if the (egpu)monitor blinks/leaves standby-mode for a moment shortly before the log-on-screen of winXP appears.

EDIT:
Why would i give up wifi in port 2 if i use port 3 and 4 for egpu?

 

pyr0 since i set the screen up via windows options rather than nvida (since that didnt work) i basically already used that to set up the screen. i also cant seem to get the egpu to work whe ni start it with windows, only standby -> switch on -> activate ; seems to work.

edit: i connected my tv to the card over hdmi which seems to work, i get an image and rund 3dmark06 too:

http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15975981;js...6/15975981?key=P8tQQeh89u78k7p88MLv2XFmQPYMX5 15k points.


i dont know how to set it tho that i dont need to conneect an external screen and just let the 560gtx render on the internal one...

edit2: after trying to hotplug the gpu bout 2-3x at startup optimus finally engaged and i was able to render internally, 10k:
http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15976087;js...6/15976087?key=kt5JfZWXTCcQz7DvkuhrVtnEkbpEku

im gonna write the setup up neatly in the next few days so you can put a link to the post on the mainpage.

 

I do this, then the error 12 goes away, but I try to extend my display to my external monitor, and the windows says that the drivers fail and it doesn't connect...

Could this be due to my graphics card? I'm using the GTX 465

 

You are using COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RS600-PCARE3-US 600W is a dual 12V rail which have max current of 18A on the 12V: 12V * 18A = 216W. GTX465 have max TDP 200W.

PSU (12V * 18A = 216W) vs. GTX465 (200W)
Conclusion:-

• That is too close. I doubt your PSU able to provide stable 200W power to run the GPU. This is the reason why it unable to connect to external monitor.

 

kizwan, if he connects to the graphicscard from different cables coming from the psu that should be 2x 12vx18A tho, shouldnt it?

 

Hello to all,

Currently I have one of the "newer" models of x220 tablet (Model 4294-CTO to be exact) and I am stuck with the newest 1.19 BIOS because everytime I tried to flash to 1.11 I get "Embedded Controller image file does not match this system. The utility process has not completed." I have been through with lenovo phone tech support and basically got a "tough luck" reply from them. Despite lenovo's lack of support here, I would still like to continue with the vidock setup. Is this a lost cause or are there still other ways to get 1.0opt? Reason why I want to continue with this notebook is because first its a convertible tablet and second its still in the top ten performers in the eGPU setups. Would "compact" via 1.x work here and would I still be able to use optimus with it? Will 1.x affect my system(meaning should I choose to go to my job without my eGPU setup will I still be forced to boot with the USB drive attached)?

*Hopes for the best*

Thank you in advance,
Jin

 

From what I read, due to the TOLUD issue, you can't accomodate an eGPU with more than 3GB of RAM installed and the newer BIOS versions for the X220. In the case you ultimately can't downgrade the BIOS (as it is obvious in your post here: Request to fix TOLUD in newer BIOS files - Page 6 - Lenovo Community) and Lenovo does NOT provide a fixed BIOS as requested in the future, you will need to downgrade your RAM to 3GB or less in order to make the eGPU work.

More info here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-403.html#post7574088

 

I've noted your message at Re: Request to fix TOLUD in newer BIOS files - Page 5 - Lenovo Community where your X220T's newer EC firmware prevents downgrading the bios to 1.11.

Setup 1.x's compact can defrag the 32-bit pci-e space to make 256MB available if there's room to play with. No good for you since any X220 bios after 1.11 sets TOLUD=3.5GB giving no such room. So then the only remaining alternative left to run a X220T x1.1Opt eGPU is to physically remove RAM so you'd be running 3GB or less.

It's been 2 months since Lenovo were alerted of this problem. I'm hopeful Lenovo engineering get this sorted with an official fix. It would be a shame to lose sales for what would be a relatively simple fix for them. If Lenovo's slow response gives little confidence then perhaps consider a 12.1" HP 2760P tablet? Some folks at TPCR say is a better unit than the X220T. Probably costs more.

 

I have been trying to make this thing works for several days...

I have ATi HD6790 and MSI 460GTX OC
I Have 2 PSUs: Blue Storm II 500w and a random cheap 500w PSU

460gtx + blue storm = BSOD when trying to switch external display
460gtx + random PSU = no video signal on external display then flash back to internal display... FAQ says the cause may be faulty hdmi cable or "Optimus drivers newer than 258.96 will cause this if using a DVI-to-VGA adapter." but my m1330 has not optimus function. :S

hd 6790 + blue storm = GPU stop working, both psu and gpu fans stoped when trying to switch display
hd 6790 + random PSU = working solution for around 15 min and then the external display turns blank and nothing could do... (also tried using jumper to bypass, and still happening)

conclusions:
- a random 18usd Random PSU better than my previous 90 usd PSU?
- hdmi cable works, maybe I need a nvidia driver older than 258.96 to make things work? (ps: 258.96 seems do not support 460gtx)

any suggestions?
thanks

 

Hi Kossel,

The Blue Storm II 500W PSU (+12V1@18A = 12V * 18A = 216W) should be able to power HD6790 (150W) <strike>or GTX460 (160W)</strike>. However, what you experience here is a classic insufficient power to drive the eGPU. I believe PSU efficiency can reduced if the temperature is too high. It's known that PSU with dual 12V rail is inferior than PSU with single 12V rail.

It could be bad hdmi cable. To put this to test, you can use both PSU at the same time to power the eGPU. For example, GTX460 required 2 x 6-pin PCIe connector. Connect one 6-pin PCIe connector from Blue Storm & connect another 6-pin PCIe connector from your other PSU. Don't forget to connect the floppy connector to your PE4H/PE4L. If the problem still persist, it means the hdmi cable is bad & need to be replaced.

EDIT: I missed the GTX460 OC at first read. Overclocking version of GTX460 is known a power hungry GPU. Most likely your PSU unable to deliver continuous peak power to drive GTX460. Using both PSUs at the same time might be able to drive GTX460 OC eGPU.

 

No, that calculation is incorrect. Dual 12V rail doesn't mean it double the power. To be exact it split the 12V current to two rail. It's actually a safety feature but was marketed as performance feature by manufacturer. Anyway, dual 12V rail is known inferior than single 12V rail.

 

Hi, thanks for your help. I just did what you said, powering the egpu using 2 PSUs, but still happening the same, I mean, when trying to switch to external display just nothing happens and then revert to internal display, do you think the cause is the hdmi cable? how when It works with 6790(for 15-20) min. I m using dvi - vga adapter does it affect?

thanks

 

Can you post the specification of your other PSU?

According to eGPU FAQ#11 the Optimus drivers newer than 258.96 & DVI-to-VGA adapter are known to cause the problem you're experiencing. Rizzett also use GTX460.

Please try driver 258.96 first. The other solution is you might need to spent at most USD60 for single 12V rail PSU (e.g. Corsair CX500). If the hdmi cable is bad, you should have problem with internal monitor too.

 

I tried 258.96, installed both desktop and laptop version using "have disk" method using both PSUs and it worked! but when I open a game, blue storm ii just stoped and black screen of dead

so I disconnect blue storm and using the single rail cheap PSUs and everything works fine! looks like the issue definitely is the vga-dvi adapter with driver newer than 258.96...

for somehow I can't run 3dmark 06, it keep showing msg of "d3dx9_28.dll" is either not designed to run on windows or it contains an error...

but I managed to run 3d mark vantage, here's the result : P5537

thanks to nando of course and kizwan !!

 

To solved the "d3dx9_28.dll" error, just need to reinstall DirectX. In this case DirectX 9.

 

Could you suggest a power supply that would be able to run this? I'm not very savvy when it comes to this sort of thing. Preferably something that is on the more affordable side

Thanks for that explanation!

 

I recommend Corsair CX500 V2. It's 80Plus rated PSU (at least 80% efficiency). Price around USD60. It have max current 34A on 12V rail. 12V * 34A = 408W. With 408W, it can support your GTX465.

 

yeah I know, that's what I did at first, downloaded a 95mb package one and the microsoft web installer one, and still happen the same

 

Well I took your advice and took a 2gig stick from my old HP notebook and put it into the x220. I used Verde 275.33 + nando's nvam.inf (64-bit). Updated 6-28 with more Fermis like GTX550Ti. AND IT WORKS!!! Only ran one test with 3dmark 06 with everything on default (same with GPU settings) and here are the results:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2520M Processor,LENOVO 4294CTO score: 17076 3DMarks

I guess I have 2 options right now. Live with 2gig until lenovo decides to not be so stubborn and change the TULOD or return the system. I actually do like the notebook and I got the outdoor version too so its extra bright. Its a shame that such a small change in the BIOS could cause them to lose business

 

cant you just take the vostro 3x50 bios and install that?

 

Does anyone know if an ATI HD 2600 Pro 256mb would work with a Lenovo T400?

Or is it so old that it isn't even worth considering?

2.53Ghz
4GB Ram
windows 7 64bit

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question but I'm kinda new to this

Thanks

 

For some reason the mPCI-E ports on my E6520 will not run either of my PM3Ns. The laptop will detect a GPU on startup and shut down the HD3000, but I'll have a black screen and hear the windows startup sound. All I can think of is that the PM3Ns are even worse at pci-e 2.0 than the expresscard, and can't run at all.

 

I just tried the "maximum performance" power setting and got a TREMENDOUS increase in RE5 and a slight increase in Vantage. All other tests remained the same.

141.3fps:


13233:
Vantage

I updated my original post to try to keep things together.

 

What PSU are you using?

 

Ah, ignore my last post asking what PSU, this is likely the issue.

 

Please keep in mind that it takes large companies a long, long, long, long time to qualify and release new BIOS versions. It would be catastrophic for business if they released a bad BIOS image, so, in general, those things take a long time. I used to work for Cisco and upgrades like this could easily take 6+ months.

That said, the first step is to get the Lenovo engineering teams on your side. Based on the Lenovo response so far, I would bet that no one is even looking at the issue right now.

 

Hi. Can somebody explain.
1. Why can we use ac adapter with barrel end of 12V, as PE4H is noticed to be 15to20V with max4.5A ?
2. Why can we use 12V-120W so 10A as the entry power plug is 4.5A ?
3. Why the Floppy input can be used as exit power when ac adapter is connected on "12V" entry ?
4. Finally what is max ac adapter Volts and amperes, we can use ?
5. And what can support max the floppy plug as an exit power ? in Volt and Amp.
Thanks.

 

14" Vostro 3450 with egpu
I5 2410m processor
Integrated intel hd 3000 graphics card
64 bit win 7
4gb ram
_
Sparkle Geforce 560 GTX
Corsair 430W PSU
PE4H


Setup
1. Plug everything in, power GPU
2. Start Windows as normal
3. Install modified nvidia driver
4. Restart
5. Error 12
6. Run PCI Compaction with DiYVidock Setup
7. Good to go

Internal LCD
I need to power off the GPU, boot, press F8, then power the GPU, then start as normal. First time I did that the optimus software started as well, but in subsequent starts the optimus software will not launch anymore. Optimus internal LCD rendering works fine nevertheless. If the gpu gets disconnected with the Standby-Disconnect method it leads to a bluescreen. Overclocking the GPU does not really seem to do anything.

I wonder if Optimus + PCI 2.0 would lead to a maximum internal score since optimus seems to do so well at 1.0 + external LCD configuration...

External LCD
Start Windows, Standby, power GPU,resume windows as normal. Overclocking not tested.
I got 1 VGA screen here which would not get an image over GPU -> DVI -> DVI TO VGA adapter -> Screen
The screen would get recognizes by windows, but no image. HDMI worked fine however...

Benchmarks

3dmark06 Intel Graphics Chip : ~3600
3d mark06 Internal 560GTX: 10547
3d mark06 External 560GTX: 15540

As far as I can tell the external score is actually a little bit higher than the mean score from futuremarks website (despite that sparke underclocks their 560gtxes). Seems like Optimus seems to almost, if not completly, negate the PCI scaling issue in external mode.

 

Just out of curiosity why are there virtually no 3dmark11 results? 3dmark06 is a 5 year old benchmark, and I bet a lot of the people who run this setup are not going to be playing 5 year old games.

 

The main reason is this thread started 2 years ago now, and there wasn't any dx11 back then. I do think it and the Haven benchmark should be added to the benchmark results so we have dx11 tests if Nando has the time for it.

I ran the test anyway and got 3891

 

Can the HP4A from HWtools.net run multiple PE4H adapters? Or what purpose do the (4) PCIe outputs on the card provide?

 

FYI the office depot E420 Core i5 deal is back, and even better. $429 + tax with a student ID.

Lenovo ThinkPad E420 Laptop with 14" LED-Backlit / 2nd Gen Intel® Core? i5-2410M / 4GB Ram / 500GB Hard drive / Webcam $429 after $100 VISA gift card @OD (Student ID required) - Slickdeals.net

 

HD2600 won't do much good with egpu setup.
With egpu's limited speed, it will probably work just a little better than the integrated graphics.
I've personally tried HD3850, but didn't do much good even with x2E setup.
Now I've got GTX 460 with Optimus setup, I see a good improvement.

 

Good deal, but since this doesn't have Express card slot, probably not worth mentioning here? It might get some people who want egpu setup confused.

 

E420s has no expresscard slot. E420 does have one. Can see apac's E420 DIY eGPU implementation details here.

3dmark06 is still a great indicator of console-ported games (DX9). I've added a DX11 section with 3dmark11 and heaven fields so can get an indicator of PC-specific/optimized game performance.

 

Just ordered my PE3A, I'll keep everyone updated when it comes. I have a GT240 512mb sitting around before I get my GTX460, does anyone have any idea if this can use the Optimus tweak?

 

Lots of interest in your findings with the modded PE3A. I'm all for the pioneering spirit.

GT240 is an odd one. It's not an official Fermi, but is built on the series' 40nm tech. Hallucinate's Lenovo X220 P8600-2.4 + GT240 3dmark06 result here of 7496 would suggest it does engage the x1.Opt tweak. If it didn't the 3dmark06 result would be less than 5000.

 

Thanks Nando & Khenglish. Could someone confirm that the 3.3V is supplied on the PE4H board is separate from the 3.3V supplied by the PM3N (mini PCIe) such that fishing out (or cutting PIN 18 hdmi) won't impair either one. In other words, neither one of the boards are relying on PIN 18 hdmi to feed the 3.3V for its IC VCC for functionality.

On hdmi wiki it says Pin 18: +5 V Power (max 50 mA). Wonder if higher amp, even usb 500mA or how much higher it can take without damage.

I'm also wondering if modding pin 18 of the hmdi to mini hmdi adapter might be easier since I'm not very good at fishing normal size ones let alone mini/micro ones ;-)

Much thanks,

 

What is TOLUD and why does it have to be 3GB to support egpu?

What's lenovo's reasoning for keeping it at 3.5 and how does that benefit 32-bit os users?

Is it an acronym for something?