DIY eGPU experiences

Hi Khenglish,

Here's my computer manager... Not sure what I'm looking for:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wR6YkenLhiHqTZrlZ4p1pQ?feat=directlink

Thanks,
Ryan

 

The link doesn't work.

 

Sorry, it should work now.

I've embedded it here as well:

 

Bad news. Your TOLUD is 3.5GB, meaning you can only use 3GB or less ram.

 

Thanks. And I assume there's no fix for that? BIOS updates etc? Does that mean I can't boot the system with more than 3 gb memory or will it disable all but 3 gb when the egpu is inserted?

 

I believe the C2D/1st gen i-core Latitudes will boot with the eGPU as the active primary video card. Then you could use 4GB+. Problem there is if you want to use the pci-e compression offered by the Optimus driver, then the Intel HD needs to be active, meaning the eGPU must be powered off on bootup and there isn't enough pci-e space to accomodate the iGPU+eGPU if have 4GB+ installed. You could only do a x1.Opt installation with 3GB or less installed. This is covered in http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ostro-latitude-egpu-friendly.html#post7633189

I'd suggest initiate a process with Dell to fix this issue in their bios like the Lenovo Thinkpad T/X-series users have at Re: Request to fix TOLUD in newer BIOS files - Page 5 - Lenovo Community . They too have TOLUD=3.5GB in their newer bios. The best arguments to get movement from Dell are:

1) The expresscard slot is pretty much useless when have 4GB+ installed. It can't host a device that needs 256MB of pci-e space.

2) Dell have lowered TOLUD in their newer E6520 series to 3.25GB, giving 256MB extra space over their older cousins. This would tend to indicate they are aware of (1).

Maybe Dell can give you a free upgrade to a E6520 as a fix?

 

frmrpreztaft, which BIOS are you using on the x220? BIOS version 1.11 has been confirmed to work. Later BIOS versions had a TOLUD of 3.5 GB, which makes it not possible to run an eGPU with > 3 GB RAM. Supposedly the most recent BIOS 1.23 has fixed this, though we're still awaiting confirmation.

 

That seems too low. Please monitor GPU clocks using GPU-Z ("Log to file"). See if GPU use higher clocks when running the benchmark.

 

1.23. As i said in other responses, i was able to make another card work as EGPU, just not the GTX560. Pretty sure it is/was a power issue.

 

Another question... what part of my computer management screenshot indicated my TOLUD?

 

For those who are looking for a WLAN card that can works on your WWAN usb port this might be interesting :

It looks like it is the perfect USB / mini-PCI-e WLAN A/B/G/N + bluetooth 3.0 card!

Check it out here : E-ITX - AzureWave AW-NB037 802.11b/g/n WiFi plus Bluetooth Mini PCIe Card

 

Alright re-ran 3dmark06 and here is a log file as well:

Version: 1.2.0
SystemInfo Version: 3.21
11/6/11 9:25:20 PM
Id: 16201738
Score:
12362 3DMarks
Score Histogram of Similar Systems

PC Health Check BETA

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 video card 3DMark06 benchmark test score
Name

Description

Processor
Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600
Processor clock1520 MHz
Physical / logical processors1 / 4
# of cores4
Graphics Card
Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
VendorAsustek Computer, Inc.
# of cards1
SLI / CrossFire Off
Memory1024 MB
Core clock0 MHz
Memory clock0 MHz
Driver name
Driver version8.17.12.8538
Driver statusNot FM Approved
General
Operating system32-bit Windows 7 (6.1.7600)
Motherboardhttp://www.abit.com.tw/ IP35-E (Intel P35+ICH9/R)
Memory4096 MB
Module 1
1024 MB Corsair DDR2 @ 400 MHz
Module 2
1024 MB Corsair DDR2 @ 400 MHz
Module 3
1024 MB Corsair DDR2 @ 400 MHz
Module 4
1024 MB Corsair DDR2 @ 400 MHz
Detailed scores
3DMark Score12362 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score4380
HDR/SM3.0 Score6429
CPU Score3336
GT1 - Return To Proxycon36.22 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest36.78 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley1.11 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley1.61 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight79.39 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze49.19 FPS
Settings
Default settings used Yes
Width1280
Height1024
Anti-AliasingNone
Texture FilteringOptimal
VS Profile3_0
PS Profile3_0

And attached Sensor Log file, I sadly won't have my desktop for long so please help out quickly if you can!

Also pic showing it is running at x16...

 

Could you please share more information?
What combinations BIOS version + amount of RAM + eGPU did you try with what result?
What are the 3dmark results?

 

DELL Latitude E4300 TO 36bit ALLOC (at last!)

I've managed, through hacking DSDT table, how to enable 36bit memory allocation my Latitude E4300

Device manager:

Spoiler

Nando4 was right about, that Windows "uses the ACPI bios entry PNP0A03 or PNP0A08 to determines the root bridge address range with these systems having an entry that is limited only to 32-bit space." I compared both Inspiron 1440 and Latitude E4300 DSDT tables and noticed that both PNP0A03 entries are almost similar, except part on the left:

Inspiron (left)/Latitude (right) DSDT comparison:

Spoiler

So I added this to Latitude's table, compiled with iasl and made sure, that Windows will load modified table on start (using Microsoft ASL Compiler; asl /loadtable dsdt.aml).

I've attached modified DSDT table (also removed some errors from it).

I'm almost sure, that this hack (not DSDT table ) applies to whole C2D Latitude Exx00 family.

 

GPU-Z log show the graphic card did use the highest clock. I don't have any idea why the score is low except I think your GTX560 is faulty, considering it also failed to run Metro 2033 benchmark when connected to notebook.

 

Is there any way to confirm this? If clocks seems okay, temps seem okay, and is running at x16 speed, what on earth could it be?

 

Result from testing on desktop is not conclusive. Probably just a driver glitch. I have seen this kind of issue before. On your desktop, try uninstall the drivers (use Driver Sweeper) & reinstall again using the latest driver from Nvidia. Then run the benchmark again. Also run Furmark to test the graphic card.

On your notebook, PE4H cutoff power to eGPU for unknown reason. The " IDirect3D9::CreateDevice failed: Device lost (D3DERR_DEVICELOST)" error show at that point when error occured graphic card is disconnected. Your PE4H is an old version. Probably got bug or something.

 

I couldn't get vantage to run, but 3dmark06 ran with the same results. Vantage would hang on the last CPU test for some reason. Hmm, maybe I will wait for PE4H that uses 2.0 technology, or try to test the graphics card in a friends system.

 

Hi Everyone,

I received all my eGPU parts last week. I have made a few attempts at getting it to fire up but so far without success.

My attempted setup:

Asus Eee 1015PEM Netbook
- iGPU: Intel Atom/3150 (Pine View)
- Chipset: NM10 (Pine Trail)
- Win 7 Starter (to be changed for Home Premium later)

eGPU: Leadtek GT430, 2GB (connected via VGA out to LCD TV as external monitor)

From HIT: PM3N (plugged in where wifi normally goes) & PE4H

Problem:

My main problem is 'Error 43'. My card is correctly recognised but Device Manager tells me it has stopped the eGPU because it "has problems".

The PE4H is showing three green LED's. The PM3N is showing one green and one orange LED.

I have tried an alternative video card (older Geforce) with the same result.

I have tried 270.61 32-bit drivers. I have also tried 258.96 32-bit drivers.

I have made some attempts at using eGPU Setup but am at a bit of a loss as to the proper procedure to use with 'Error 43'.

At this stage I only want to see output of my eGPU via external monitor as I realise that internal LCD only setup will require Optimus and therefore Win 7 Home Premium or better.

Any help you guys can give would be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Mark

 

I'll re-visit this tomorrow and share results.

 

Does the thinkpad x220 with 1.23 support eGPU with >4GB RAM now?

 

Hello everybody,

I have a Acer as4830tg and i want to get a eGPU for it to play some games. Im not a computer expert or anything, but from reading this thread and only understanding a bit of it, I have extracted bits of information that I can understand.

So basically all i need is to get is,

PE4H-PM3N ver2.4 Package
PE4H (PCIe passive adapter ver2.4)

GPU

PSU

Software

Hook them all up and install driver and that's it?

 

I also think you should wait for PCIe 2.0 5GT/s (Gen2) kit.

What we know so far it is power issue; PE4H cutoff power to eGPU + GTX560 OC ("black screen"). You're using Corsair TX650M (+12V@54A), so PSU is not an issue. What left are GTX560 OC & PE4H (older version). To eliminate the possibility GTX560 OC is faulty, you need to test it on desktop computer. I know you already done this but result not very satisfying. What you can do uninstall the current driver, use driver sweeper to make sure no leftover. Then install latest driver from Nvidia. Run 3dMark06, Vantage & 3dMark11, then compare them with result from other people. Run also Furmark or OCCT (30 minutes or 1 hour at least). While running these two, if you see artifacts, that means graphic card does faulty.

If everything is OK on desktop computer. Try again on notebook. Try increase the voltage a little bit. Then try vantage again. I did suggest you to do Panzer's fuse bypass but you said yours is older version. If you can take a picture & post it here, might be someone can advice you how to proceed.

Please try Error43 FAQ#1. You also might need to upgrade to Win 7 Home Premium at least. Windows 7 starter is too basic.

Hi,

Yeah, that basically all you need. Aspire 4830TG have Intel HD 3000, so you can do x1.Opt setup with Nvidia Fermi desktop graphic card. Just need to use Setup 1.x to turn off GT 540M dGPU & then eGPU will take over the resources. Please post screenshot of Device Manager (set View to " Resources by connection" & expand the Memory tree).

 

Setup is:

Lenovo x220 (i7)flashed to 1.23,
PE4H + ExpressCard
Sparkle 9800GT (what i had laying around)
8GB RAM

Stock: 4826 3Dmarks
9800GT: 1789 3DMarks.

Just waiting on the PSU from newegg to try out the GTX560.

 

Frmrpreztaft, could you please tell me if you are using Setup1.x to make your system work, or do you simply turn on your computer with everything plugged-in and "it just works" ?

If so, your setup (and Lenovo's new 1.23 BIOS) might be the answer to my search for the perfect light laptop

 

Hello!

Like someones know, I have a Lenovo X220 that I plug a GTX560 Ti in it.

I just tried the new Bios 1.23 to see if the TOLUD problem is solved...and..I can say YES!!

3dMark 06 gave me a great result of 17117pts : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2520M Processor,LENOVO 4286CTO score: 17117 3DMarks

Battlefield 3 runs like Bios 1.11 too, even better.
Also, boot time are quicker! less than 15 seconds with my SSD.

That's it, the Lenovo X220 is the best eGPU solution out there (from me)!

No more fan issue, SSD issue, etc etc.


For those who wants to see my results, see my original post here :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-439.html#post7694162

 

Plug-and-play.

 

How is that express 2.0 coming for the DIY solution? If I could do that, I would sell my desktop and use that.

Any window of XFIRE/SLI?

 

Fantastic ! Thank you, I guess I will follow your lead then

 

Another question with this, is it now possible for my x220 to do 590 at near full capacity? Or is it still pretty bottlenecked because the diy egpu cannot do express 2.0?

Basically is the 2.0 solution out?

 

Nice work! However, since you only load the modified DSDT in registry, does Setup 1.x can see it?

 

Well, that's the real problem. Or not.

If you don't have 36bit memory space available out of the box and then unlock it, system should automatically allocate GPU on 36bit space, without worrying about compaction.

 

I did some testing on my internal LCD, and Source based games refuse to run at over 25fps. The fps just caps out at 25. No more, no less. When running with an external monitor, fps will hit the 300 fps cap.

Has anyone found a workaround for this that does not involve using an external monitor?

 

Hi all, I posted this in the Lets figure out how to make a DIY ViDock thread but think this is prob the right one instead.

I wanted to make sure I was working out my solution correct on the eGPU setup. I have a dell XPS 1640, and according to my research has listed a 1-4, 6 pcie, and a x16 pcie link for the internal graphics card. The ports have WLAN, WWAN, Expresscard, and UWB. The schematic says 1-4 are those, and says 6 is a Lan broadcom. Not sure why it doesn't have a 5 labeled. Its a ICH9 chipset. Out of the 3 mPCIe slots one is a half hight being the wifi card.

I purchased the PE4H ver 2.4a set from HIT for a x1 set up but can I do a x4? If so I want to try. I have a HD 4850 card I want to start out with from my old desktop and go from there. I was also trying to figure out if I can use a 12v 120W AC/DC adapter instead of the PSU atx setup. From what I could find the card pulls up to 110-115 W peak.

Also I'll need to take the whole bottom off my laptop and if i got 3 cords coming out the bottom is that safe or do I need to modify the bottom and put in holes for the mini hdmi cable to run out of. Not sure about shorting out stuff?

Thanks and any help is appreciated. Good work on making this stuff work.

 

From what you're saying it sounds like you can do x4, but to be sure you should verify each mpci-e slot by moving your wireless card around and checking where it pops up with aida64. I got a rude surprise with my system where I found out that my expresscard and mpci-e slots were 1,2,3, and 5, with 4 being the modular bay.

Not sure why you're worried about shorting anything. The only thing you really have to watch out for is the wifi card antenna cables. I once shorted components on my motherboard with a metal connector which killed a battery on my last laptop.

You can't use the AC adapter. The PCI-E slot can only provide 75W. This requires using the 6 pin connector, so you must use an ATX power supply.

 

Here it is.
What should I look for?
Also where can I find those software you mentioned?
Thank you for helping me.

 

@86b,


According to the screenshot, the first PCI bus with 8 digits memory address is 0x9FA00000 which means TOLUD is 2.5GB. So, you won't have problem with 4GB++ of RAM & eGPU. The link to Setup 1.x software is available at first post.

 

Thank you Kizwan for your help. I appreciate it!!

Do i have to stick with nvidia since my laptop already comes with a nvidia? or can i use radeon card without problems?

 

Your notebook have Intel HD Graphics (3000) iGPU as shown here. So, your notebook can support x1.Opt setup with Nvidia Fermi desktop graphic card.

Performance comparison: x1 < x1E < x2 ~< x1.Opt

x1.Opt have Optimus acceleration which provide PCIe data compression over PCIe x1 link. If you choose ATI desktop graphic card, your notebook can only do x1 link setup which means performance won't be great. You'll experience stuttering when playing games.

 

Does anyone know if it is worth (eGPU wise) to go for [email protected] instead of [email protected]? Manufacturers want load of money for such an upgrade and I don't know if there will be even minor difference while gaming with eGPU.

For everyday use I think the 2.5GHz vs 2.7GHz will be almost the same (and sufficient for me).

 

not worth it for gaming really. imo get an SSD.

 

Ok, I'll work on that, but before I do, I downloaded aida64 and what it's showing me when i click on motherboard shouthbridge under the PCI-e controller is PCI-E ports 1,2,4,6 with wifi on 2 and the braodcom netlink eithernet on 6. So I'm thinking because it's not 1,2,3,4 then I can't do x4 only a x2 or x1E. I was trying to figure out if x2E is available but that is the x1.opti which requires a intel IGP which I don't have?

And just curious but If it can have up to 6 ports where is 3,5? Those are disabled in bios? Not sure but hope to have this figured out. Thanks alot.

 

i am owner of an acer aspire one 110L (a single core atom netbook with intel 945) which has only a mini pci express connnector. this is at the moment occupied by a wlan atheros card, so do you thing it is possible an egpu. which is the max. obtainable pmk/s? what kind of problem would occur for the bandwidth? thx

 

any news on express 2.0? I read mid November, was curious if I should just follow this thread, or elsewhere?

 

Sometimes BIOS will disable a port if nothing is plugged into it. My BIOS does this and I also have a Dell. The ethernet controller is likely soldered onto the motherboard so it is not consuming a mPCI-E slot. If you have 3 mPCI-E slots and an expresscard slot, then it sounds like this is the case. I still recommend moving your wifi card around from slot to slot to determine your port configuration.

If it turns out that port 3 is in fact not wired, then you could do x2E, but remember that you'll have to disable ports 2-4 to do that.

 

Better follow Khenglish suggestion; move the wireless card to another mPCIe ports & check in AIDA64 for the PCIe port number. That way you'll know for sure the PCIe ports number arrangement. X2E is not x1.Opt.

 

Because your notebook only have one mPCIe port, you can only do x1 link. Bandwidth will be an issue though. Lagging & stuttering are what you'll experience when gaming.

 

Ok, and yeh I was thinking that the third port might be the express card slot and when i get it in the mail then I can check to see if 3 pops up after I insert it. And on the x2E when it says that I need to use 1,2 and have something on either 3 or 4. Meaning use a mPCIe for 1,2 and then have my express card inserted which should pop up under 3 or 4 or move my wifi card to either 3 or 4. If that's the case can i still use the wifi even with port 1 x4 using first 2 lanes? I know in aida64 right now it says ports 1 and 4 are empty with 2 being the wifi and nothing showing for port 3 or 5.

I havn't seen alot of bench marks for x2E or x4. is there a big diff. between the 2? If it isn't then going x2E and saving on another mPCIe card and cord might be an option. if it's even poss to do the x4. I just need to figure out if port 3 is available then I could do x4. Once this is figured out then I just need to figure out how to use the Setup 1.x to adjust the ports, lol. I have it set up with the disk image just didn't want to do anything with it till i figure what is possible.

 

The difference between x2E and x4 will be noticeable in some games, but not all. Depends on what you want to play. Even with x2E you still won't be able to use your wifi card in ports 3 or 4.

 

It is easy to figure out whether PCIe port#3 is available or not. Just need to use the wireless card, plug it to another mPCIe port to know their PCIe port number. It's easy.

On Dell SXPS 1645, PCIe port#3 also doesn't show up in AIDA64:-


This is picture show the three mPCIe ports available in Dell SXPS 1645, which means ExpressCard slot is PCIe port#4:-


So, just need to confirm whether Dell SXPS 1640 have the same PCIe ports arrangement or not.