DIY eGPU experiences

Well, all my stuff is finally here, and I just set it up. Heres what I have:

Gigabyte 460GTX SOC Edition (Dual fans, overclocked) $100
PE4H 2.4
i5-2520M
4GB RAM

I'll be benching soon, as well as uploading pics, stay tuned!

 

i have next problem with my "assome" notebook. i try DIYeGPU-Setup with only 2 gb ram. eGPU start without problem. but i cant relocate eGPU. i cant put in 512Mb contiguous space!!! stupid hp elitebook 8540p.

starting location for dGPU and eGPU is same:
set dGPU=10de:0a2c
set eGPU=10de:1200

omg how i hate HP now!

 

Okay, bit of a problem. I'll describe my procedure first.

Plugged in the ExpressCard and turned on the SWEX. It installed the base drivers for the card. I then hooked it up to a monitor and ran 3DMark06 to see the initial score, got like 6500. So, then I went in here and got the latest 285.62 modded drivers, put the nvam.inf in the directory and installed. It installed and said to reboot. So, I did. Didn't unlug the eGPU on reboot. Now I can't get it to display on the internal, external or even to recognize its there. The card's fans spool up when I turn on the SWEX when not plugged in to the computer. once plugged in, the fans turn competely off, and the GPU does nothing.

Any ideas? I think I'm going to remove the drivers and see if I can go from there.

 

I assume you would want it set to 0 right?

 

An hour of driver headaches and updates later...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2520M Processor,Dell Inc. 0D1CTR score: 14089 3DMarks

External at 1080p. I'll hvae Vantage and 11 up, along with internal, along with a full write up, later, probobly saturday. Need some sleep now...

 

Does anyone know when the release date for the usb 3 support? or is that still unknown? I do know there will be driver issues to work out, but it would be REALLY awesome to be able to use one of these with my sager

 

fully functional thunderbolt egpu

Sonnet - News & Media

product already available and can be bought through RED website.
It's implemented with a graphic card for real-time 4K RGB video playback and real-time transcoding of R3D files. costs like $5k.

 

Woot ! It only costs 4750 dollars

Kidding. I know it's scpecific gpu tech.

 

If your problem is the delay for corrected card recognition, then yes ^^

 

Trying to purchase DIYeGPU-Setup-110, but when click the link to add to cart it says 'Sorry, but the Product you've requested wasn't found!'

 

Yes Randy (HIT) replied me saying there were problems on the cart. It will update me once the things come back normal

 

Cart finally fixed

 

Selling mine cheap, UK Seller!

(HARDLY USED) PE4H v2.4 + EC2C + ExpressCard to PCI-E Adapter + 2x Mini HDMI | eBay

Make an offer for £50 and it'll automatically accept it. (y)

 

I have an HP dv7-4285dx notebook computer with an intel Core i5-460M, 6 GB RAM, and a mobility Radeon 6370. I am looking at an eGPU solution to add performance for gaming and the Unreal Development Kit (which is painful to use at 6 fps).

My laptop doesn't have an Expresscard port, and from my understanding, the mPCIe in the HM55 chipset supports only PCIe 1x bandwidth, which is a slight disappointment.

For gaming, I am looking to achieve good framerates at moderate to high settings (Battlefield 3). Will the GeForce GTX 460 perform well at 1x bandwidth, or would I need to look at the extreme high end cards (in which case, I'd be better off with a desktop)?

 

dv7-4285dx would be able to do x1.Opt link giving a good upgrade over the HD6370. Specifically, SimoxTA rates BF3 on a x1.1Opt link using a i5-2520M+GTX560Ti at 720p as smooth at http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...y-egpu-game-video-benchmarks.html#post8267588 .
Still, it will be cumbersome attaching a mHDMI cable via the underside covers. You can achieve significantly better performance, less inconvience and still have a dGPU if you upgraded to a 17" Sandy Bridge notebook with an expresscard 2.0 slot like a Dell Vostro 3750/Precision M6600, which have a GT525M/FXx000M option as well.

See the thin-and-light link in my sig for other cheaper/smaller SB notebook options you may want to consider for a DIY eGPU.

 

If I had the money for another laptop, I'd have put it into a high powered desktop instead. I have a hard limit of $350 unfortunately.

As for the inconvenience, if the performance is there, it will easily outweigh the inconvenience of going into the bottom cover.

So I take it the x1.Opt is superior to standard x1.1. From what I've seen in benchmarks, it looks like performance doubles.

 

HI guys,
I have organized the pictures of my enclosure. It is a duplicate of sprtnbsblplya 's enclosure. I modified it and strengthened the chassis.
]

I also added a speed control for the 120mm case fan to deal with the heat that 560Ti generated.
Really looking forward to get the pcie2.0 capable PE4L and then I will be done with my eGPU~ EDIT:Got PE4L2.1b yesterday, plug & play.
Things used are EVGA GTX 560 TI & PE4L1.5( now PE4L2.1b) & cooler master GX450W PSU.

Material need for the enclosure are acrylic sheets, bolts, nuts and L aluminum angles.


The case fan is $5.99 120mm cooler master case fan and a speed control got from Amazon.

Here is the paper model for testing case fans.

Finish the measuring,cutting,gluing and painted in white

finished prodcut, I messed up with the paint a bit....first time painter...


inside

120mm case fan and speed control on the right panel

Here are some GPU temperature comparisons with and without the case fan extracting air from the case. Playing BF3, same mission.
without my enclosure the highest GPU temperature is 69C.


With my enclosure but turn off the fan, the highest GPU temperature is 72C which is expected.


With my enclosure and turn on the fan, the highest GPU temperature is 67C. Even 2 degrees cooler than "naked".


Here are some videos I took when I first assembly the eGPU:
eGPU setup
Playing dirt2

 

i am using a laptop :
lenovo B470
core i5 2430m 2.4 ghz
4gb ram
geforce 410m(optimus)

i am looking for the cheapest DIY eGPU with internal LCD which can run good shogun 2 total war (1366x768,high setting).Can anyone give me a recommend ?
thanks

 

Nice work +rep.

B470 doesn't have an expresscard slot. See port pics below:



You'd need to go a mPCIe solution, if have an accessible mPCIe slot, of which only pcie 1.1 is available at the moment. Please refer to First steps for a list of parts required and recommendations for performance. A highly overclockable s/h GTX460-1MB (336 cores) is the best bang-per-buck card to use with your system. SimoxTA's Game Video Benchmarks show's shogun 2's performance with a [email protected].

 

<<edited>>

 

Please revert Villagetronic queries to the ViDock facebook page for the community/support team there to help resolve your issue or seek a refund if not solved in a timely fashion.

 

The GTX 460 will not even take advantage of pcie 2.0's higher bandwidth. I run a GTX 560 in my pcie 1.0 and the only thing holding me back is my 2.1ghz Core 2 Duo. I played BF3 on max graphics at 1080p and my framerate dropped to 12-15fps in the large map areas. Your setup should get you at least 30fps

 

Please, please, please can someone help me?
i buy DIY eGPU Setup 1.x .try all what i find buy without success. uninstall 2GB ram and then i have free 512mb but i cant alocate my expensive msi gtx560ti 2gb. when i do it with old egpu card its work but now its dont with gtx 560ti 2gb

here is my diag:
JumbossDIAG.zip
diag is with 4gbram but its same as 2gb. i cant alocate it :-(

thank you. please help me someone i beg you

edit: when i start eGPU in windows, card is turned off and powersource too

 

Hi everyone,

I am new here but I have been reading this forum for a while now. I have recently ordered Vidock4+ as I want enclosure. But i then stumbled on to this forum and started reading about PCIe ports and how much performance I am likely to get. The further I was reading the more unclear it was getting. I have to yet decided on gpu its self but I guess choosing it will be a walk in the park.

However I do have quiet a few questions.

My Specs:
Asus G72gx
Core2Quad Q9000 @2.00 GHz
6GB RAM
GTX 260M
South Bridge Controller - Intel 82801JB ICH10

A powerhouse but I am getting awfully irritated by the fact that gpu GTX260M can't handle smoke without loosing fps and so I am hoping eGPU would solve this issue and allow me to bump game setting higher. I also have extra screen connected to this laptop and sometimes run 2 copies of a game at once.
I have installed EVEREST to check if I have 2.0 PCIe port but unfortunately not. But what I saw actually pleased me. It looks like I have port 3 and 4 assigned to ExpressCard slot.

Question 1 - Would I be able to achieve x2 on ExpressCard slot?

But I didn't stop there. Hunger for faster, more performance drove me to see if I can go further that x2 and I saw x4. But here got even more unclear. I saw that in order to achieve x4 I would need to physically connect to it.

Question 2 - Really? For x4, do I need physical connections to all 4 PCIe ports and connect them to ViDock?

Further reading about how x2 is achieved on single port got me really interested if x4 is actually possible. I googled around to get more info on my South bridge controller and just guess what official docs said on Intel website. Controller has 6 PCI-E Root ports. But that is not all. Ports 1-4 can be statically configured and ganged together to form 1 x4 port.

Question 3 - Will I be able to run ExpressCard slot to ViDock at such speed? Or would I need extra physical connections to go with such speed?

Currently port 2 is housing my Wifi card but that wont be a problem as I can just remove it and use USB type. Also, If ViDock's adapter can't handle such speeds I will just replace it with PE4H and see what I can do with a housing.

Question 4 - What GPU would go good with x4 speed if its achievable?

Looking for some really constructive answers. Thanks in advance guys.

Wolf

 

Do you mean you ordered it on the HIT page? The Setup-110 binary has not yet been provided to HIT. Hence I can see your diags still show you are running the 1.0f-pre28 release removed from distribution due to Microsoft MSDOS licensing issues.

Please refer to the pre-purchase FAQ points:

5. (Performance) What affects the performance of a eGPU?

6. (Performance) Can my system do a PE4H x2 or x4 link as shown in PCIe Scaling Analysis?

8. (Performance) What recommended candidate notebooks should I buy for best performance?

x2 requires electrically connecting [port1+2], [port3+4] or [port5+6]. x4 requires electrically connecting [port1+2+3+4]. That means a mPCIe or expresscard port for each connection. A small number of systems can do x2, and only a couple can do x4. Both are highlighted in RED/ORANGE on the systems listed on the first page.

You may well find you can on-sell your notebook for a decent sum, purchase a i5 x1.2Opt (x1 2.0 ~ x4 1.0 with pci-e compression) capable SB notebook that will deliver more cpu and gpu performance in a much smaller package with little changeover costs with a single-cable DIY eGPU solution. See the thin-and-light link in my sig for some candidates to consider.

FYI: Your GTX260M would outperform even a GTX580@x1 on your current Asus G72gx simply because the latter has not enough bandwidth to get decent performance. x2, x4 or a SB x1.2Opt implementation would be needed to see improved performance.

 

Then, how would x4 link work on my chipset. And my chipset is the reason I posted here. I will probably disassemble my laptop tomorrow to see if i can achieve 4 physical connections and see if i need to solder any extra ports.

Wolf

 

sorry i ordered it but i use old free becouse HIT page say same code 1.0f. i dont download it now. its newer version? HITRC write me about new release in next days when i ask discout coupon. page says i can download it only 10 times and only for 7 days after 1 download. if future after this 7 days can i download next update or i must pay again?

this:
the maximum number of downloads for each file is: 10
Download until 7 days after the first download

thank you

 

OK - yes, you now have a donated. Well you diag shows that it can allocate successfully your two GPUs. So not sure what the problem is. You should (1) set up the chainloader - either MBR or Win7. Confirm you can chainload to Win7 FIRST before doing any PCI compaction. Then (2) perform a 32-bit eGPU compaction and try chainloading.. if no go do a dGPU + eGPU compaction, if no go do a ALL compaction.

There is a lot of HELP text with Setup 1.x. Please hit F1 and refer to it as well for guidance.

 

Can someone explain to me how Optimus increase performance of eGPU ? And does it work for internal or external screen only ? Will it work with Kepler and IB ?

By the way, I don't know if this is helpful or not, but AW X51 is the first desktop to have Optimus Alienware X51 review | The Verge

 

Optimus compress the data flow through the pcie bus, so it helps to have some more "gas" during speed task. A powerful CPU is suggested to make the task of compressing and uncompressing efficient. It works for both internal and external. It will work for Bepler and IB at least if the iGPU on IB will be enabled and the bus will be 1x (so the standard config).

P.S. I didn't forgot your request about BF3, I had only no time but i promise u'll have the report before the end of the weekend

 

Well, I wasn't expecting on maxing out the game to begin with. I simply needed playable framerates at a resolution that doesn't hurt my eyes (800 x 600 anyone?). Splurging on a new system while mine is still in one piece just for gaming I don't consider really practical, hence why I'm looking toward an eGPU solution.

I'll see what parts I can get at Fry's (GPU and PSU) and w/e I can't find, i'll look for online. Just reading this thread gave me some measure of confidence that I can get this to work. In addition, this will really help when using the UDK. My Radeon 6370 chokes when I use 2+ point lights.

Thanks for the help to OP and Journeyman.

 

Hehe take your time and ty for response. So if I get a laptop with iGPU only that should work out well right

 

lol re-reading my reply, i saw the howlers i wrote XD

Anyway right, as long as you have an iGPU the optimus task is doable

 

Alrighty, so I finally got everything together, soldered, removed, shaved down, etc. A bit had to be done to make all the components work together, but all the physical stuff is done. I'm running an HP 6460b with the PE3A and riser mpcie extension to an EVGA GTX560 Ti. IC's L2 an U3 have been removed, I have a 12v line in to the posts as in Nando's setup. To test for power, I tried NOT plugging in the 6pin's to see if the GPU fan would come on under only the 12v line through the PE3A, and it did. Power PSU off, and fan stops - which did NOT happen when the IC's were in place - meaning I have the IC's out the way they should be. Similarly, the GPU will run solely on 6pin power, so all power is go. I'm not, however, getting any detection. I tried sleep-resuming the system and also starting up froma full shut down, neither detects the card. Am I doing something wrong? It should still detect without optimus or EVGA's drivers installed right?
Oh yeah, The system didn't hang on BIOS with the card powered on and connected before starting the computer, which Nando's setup did do. Dunno if that helps.

 

I am thinking about getting a egpu but im not sure if it would work on my pc. Here is my DIAG, but im not sure if i did it right. Pe4h Config Test.rar

 

So I did some testing with internal LCD mode. The results? If you want higher FPS, run 16bit color!. This cuts the frame buffer in half resulting in a huge performance increase in most cases.

	RE5dx9	DMC4s4dx10	Heaven
32bit	89.0	77.5	1263
16bit	153.2	97.1	1753
% improvement	72.1%	25.3%	38.8%

I also ran FF14. It did not benefit from going to 16 bit for some reason.

Since pretty much every game supports windowed mode, you can run 16 bit color by setting 16 bit in the monitor options in windows. The downside is the obvious color quality loss, which varies in how noticeable it is from game to game. In some games you'll barely notice, in others it stands out.

I think that 24 bit color would be ideal. This would have the same color spectrum of 32bit, but knock off the rarely used transparency bits that 32bit has, which really just waste bandwidth.

Does anyone have any ideas on forcing 24bit color, or running 16bit in fullscreen mode?

 

Correct. Drivers are not needed to detect the card. Try setting the port to PCI-E 1.1 and see if that gets the card detected. My 460 refused to run PCI-E 2.0 and had detection problems with a PE3A. It would only be detected around 1 out of every 5 tries when hotplugging.

Do you also have a PE4H or PE4L to try?

 

wait, so optimus compression only engages in x1 link right ?

 

Same analysis i did with Nando
Great Job
Sadly no idea yet on how to force 24bpp


Let's check it

 

I searched google on how forcing 24bit color and i found Khenglish

Forcing 16bit/24bit Color in fullscreen? - NVIDIA Forums

 

I do not, and I'm kinda hoping I can get this to work somehow, otherwise I'm gonna have to spend another $100 to make my egpu work. How do I go about switching to pcie 1.0? I don't have setup1.1x by the way. I'm looking at the "PCI express root port"s in device manager right now.

 

Are you hotplugging the PE3A with the eGPU on *after* boot? Ie: halt the Win7 bootup with F8, hotplug the PE3A, select Win7 to continue the boot. That's the only way I could get my video card detected (though I used Setup 1.x to confirm). The PE4L/PE4H has the 0/7/15s PCI Reset Delay to in effect do the same thing for you.

The Probooks/Elitebooks have a Gen1/Gen2 expresscard option in the bios. Set it to Gen1 to force pci-e 1.1.

 

Wow, you are the best. Thanks for the reply, I was not halting boot, I meant to try that and forgot. Gonna give it a go, and thank you for the bios EC tidbit. Let's see how this goes.

Tried once, didn't work. Before I go and set the pcie to 1.0, I want to make sure I'm hotplugging right. Power laptop on, halt, paperclip trick the psu, select "start windows normally", right? Or do I need the PE3A to be completely unplugged to begin with? I booted with it already in the port, halted, and simply turned it on then resumed.

 

Power off notebook. Unplug the PE3A from the expresscard slot, poweron the eGPU, power on the notebook, hit F8 to halt Win7 load, plug in the PE3A (with powered eGPU) into the expresscard slot, select Win7 to load it. That process resulted in my GTX560Ti being on the pci-e bus and working in Win7. Powering on the eGPU alone at the F8 screen with the PE3A plugged in did not have it detected.

 

I know it's been a while since this post, but I haven't ordered them yet... I just wanted to ask if I should keep or remove the expresscard adapter since I'm doing it via mPCIe.

 

I have no "win7" select option. I have the different types of safe boots available, start windows normally and that kind of stuff, and at the top it says something something "Windows 7", but not "win7". Also, turns out my pcie bus was originally set to 1.0 speed, so I tried setting it to 2.0, but I'm not getting anything with either. Sigh. looks like im out of luck

 

Yeah, start windows normally is what should be selected after hotplugging the PE3A. Also make sure the expresscard slot itself is enabled in the bios. There is an enable/disable expresscard option to do that in the bios.

 

Yeah I saw that. It's enabled. When I halt the boot, if I hit esc it takes me to a screen that lets me select what to boot, in this case "Windows 7", so I tried that but it must just be "start windows normally". I wonder what could be causing it not to work. Our notebooks use the same BIOS right? So that shouldn't be it. I'm guessing the most likely culprit is the PE3A itself, not that it matters now that I've thoroughly hacked it. My friend has another PE3A, I could try that one but it's probably a better idea to return it...if that's even an option. I wonder if the new PE4L would work with my HP, or if I have some more major underlying compatibility issue.

Oh one last thing. I just realized the GPU's fan will turn off if I unplug it from the pcie slot. Does this mean it's not getting any power from the 6 pins, or is the fan only powered through the slot?

 

Ok..

Today I took my Asus G72GX apart to see whats under the hood. I have 2 mPCI-e slots which in one of them sits Wifi. I glanced around to see if anything resembles a possible location for a possible third mPCI-e slot but I couldn't find a full mPCI-e width solder location. Although the memory card adapter resembles the size of such port which in turn on EVEREST isn't hosted on PCI port. Do you guys think I will be able to at least get x2 running? One more question, since my laptop's gpu is cuda, will the eGPU work in pair with it if I also get cuda desktop gpu?

Wolf

 

What do you mean by "...the GPU will run solely on 6pin power..."? Are you plug-in only one or both 6-pin PCIe power connector?

If you want to use mPCIe, then just need to buy mPCIe card (PM3N) & PE4L/PE4H.