DIY eGPU experiences

Yes, i'm using verde driver.
I try to run 3d mark 11.
How to confirm running eGPU? my device manager show up two video adapter.
Yes. i connect eGPU before windows loading.

 

Thanks for explaining. I really didn't know that the mxm interface was exclusively controlled by NVIDIA. I guess this means that AMD has to go by the standard set by NVIDIA also? That really has to suck for them.

ANYWAY... I can't get sued if I'm the only one using an mxm egpu and am not trying to sell it ;-)

anyway... looks like a little snag with my cash, so ill have to wait to order my hardware for my acer until next week. Can't wait!

 

Hi everyone, I'm really new to the eGPU idea and really don't know much about computers. I basically need to know if it would be worth the time learning about this and investing (budget is around $300) into my laptop, or if I should start saving for a new computer.

System-Gateway P6860FX
Chipset-PM965
Southbridge-ICH8-M
Current GPU-Geforce 8800m GTX
Ram- 4GB
CPU- Intel Core 2 Duo X7900 2.8 ghz 4mb cache

From my understanding, I have PCI-E 1.0 and while I was replacing the cpu, I recall seeing another mPCIe next to my wifi card, so I think I would be able to do the x2 link using my expresscard slot and the other mPCIe slot?

1. Does it sound like I could benefit from doing this?
2. I know... this is a stupid question, but how do I find my dGPU? and what does iGPU stand for?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Oh just this little black thing that's on one prong that can slide off and be put over the two prongs? Just to the left of the floppy? I did that, and I have crashes in games still so I must just need a new power source. My modded one doesn't seem to good enough.

Any reccomendations? I want to stay under $100 at least.

 

Open Nvidia control panel & check whether yours have similar entry like shown in this screenshot:-

You also can enabled Nvidia Optimus tray icon which you can use to see whether eGPU (Nvidia) is currently being use or not. Just need to left-click the tray icon.

Yes, that is true.

1. It is unlikely you can utilized eGPU on your notebook due to limited bandwidth. 8800m GTX will outperform eGPU.
   
2. dGPU stands for discrete GPU, e.g. 8800m GTX, ATI HD4570, etc. iGPU stands for integrated GPU, e.g. Intel GMA 4500MHD, Intel HD Graphics, & also the integrated GPU in AMD APU. The iGPU that useful for eGPU are Intel GMA x3150 (Pine View), Intel GMA 4500MHD, Intel HD Graphics & Intel HD 3000 because they can support Nvidia Optimus setup with Nvidia Fermi desktop graphic card.

I don't think x2 can outperform your 8800m GTX too. But you can see my x2 games benchmark by clicking the link in my signature (look for "5870").

 

Did you test it using your friend PSU? If you can borrow PSU that have 19A or 20A on +12V or +12V1, please try it first before buying new PSU.

I don't know other PSU but Corsair Builder series are cheap. These are single-rail PSU.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

When you use new PSU, you might still need to set fuse bypass jumper since GTX570 power requirement exceed 200W.

 

macbook air & sonnet thunderbolt with nvidia 560GTX.

it works i'll post pics when i take this through it's paces.

 

Dang thats a sigh of relief. I will be testing my macbook pro with the sonnet adapter and 560 tomorrow and was worried about it not working. I am guessing that you have only tried it under windows?

 

I've successfully paired an EVGA SC GTX560 with my Lenovo Z570 i7 series 6 + HD3000 using PE4H + PM3N and removing my Intel wifi mPCIe card.

So far I've been able to play Battlefield 3, Dirt 3, Mass Effect 3 demo all with high detail and no stuttering. However when I play GTA IV I experience frequent stuttering when using the ICEnhancer mod. I noticed minimal stuttering before I added the mod. I'm using the latest Nvidia desktop graphics driver, which seems to have enabled Optimus since I'm able to use the internal display and or external display.

My question is then will Setup 1.x provide any additional performance by freeing up bandwidth? I haven't yet tried the utility. I do not have an expresscard slot nor do I have additional mPCIe slots. Is there a theoretical way to utilize the eSATA port or even add an internal expresscard to achieve x2?

 

No, you can not ganged up two PCIe ports because:-
1. you'll loose Optimus
2. due to hardware/BIOS limitation setting x2 is not possible on Intel 6 series chipset

Look like GTA IV really require a lot of bandwidth. I think it will run better with PCIe 2.0 kit; PE4L v2.1 or PE4H v3.0.

 

Great stuff. Can you please do a detailed writeup and add benchmarks in your above post so I can include you on the first post? See Pre-purchase FAQ's 5. (Performance) What affects the performance of a eGPU? for ideas on how to maximize performance. Best way would be to wait for pci-e 2.0 compliant PE4/PE4L-PM3N (mPCIe) scheduled for April release per the update.

Intel locked down the Series-6 chipset preventing multi-lane DIY eGPU implementations. Only Series-5 and older chipsets are x2/x4 capable with the right port layout.

 

bandwidth i think is lower than true pcie 1x because the throughput of the thunderbolt converter. you probably want to run optimus drivers on this.

 

Guys, I'm getting my PE4L v2.1 today, so I will make the benchmark tests this evening. Just want to confirm by you that I don't need to change anything with my Setup, only need to change the adapter itself, right? I didn't force gen1...

Thanks!
D

 

Strange as I needed to force the expresscard to gen1 in the bios or Setup 1.x when using a PE4L 1.5 or PE4H 2.4, as did others, so as to prevent freezes/BSODs.

I wonder if your system's bios sets it to gen1 as standard?

Latest Setup 1.x can tell you, eg: On a Series-6 chipset, [email protected] means port4 can negotiate x1 2.0 link speed and [email protected] means it's been set to x1 1.0 speed only. NOTE: previous Setup 1.0x versions had buggy pci-e 1.0/2.0 reporting against the port listing.

 

It showed [email protected]. Well if you remember I had some issue when tried Heaven at full clock speed of my gtx560ti, so I tried then to force gen1, but I had the same issue. So now I use it with a little bit downclocked.
But anyway, basically I had no issue even if I didn't force gen1

 

Hey guys, I'm contemplating on purchasing the XPS L502, and in conjuction, use it with an eGPU. On the hypothesis of me using, say, a GTX460, how considerable is the performance increase over the GT540, factoring it's probably limitations due to the expresscard slot not being available?
I'm rather enticed by the prospects of not having to spend insane amounts to get a powerful laptop and sacrifice portability :3

 

GTX460 with Optimus setup will definitely give better performance than GT540M. However, I recommend you to get a notebook with ExpressCard slot. It's more convenient using eGPU with ExpressCard than mPCIe.

 

Any idea if I should get the PE4L on ebay or wait for official release and preorder it on the website?

 

Yeah, I've heard. Though, what are the downfalls compared to using an Expresscard slot? Right now I'm somewhat willing to disregard the inconvenience (if it isnt too substantial) since the XPS has basically everything I want (bar the expresscard slot) at a really good price >.<

 

No downfall at all in term of performance & functionality.

@felinoter, If you have Intel 6 Series a.k.a. Sandy Bridge notebook, then yes, better wait for official release of PE4L v2.1.

 

Oh, so it's just merely an inconvenience with accessing it from the back?

 

Thank you, that is EXACTLY the answer I needed

 

I emailed Masaharu concerning the additional cable lengths for PE4L 2.1 listed on the product page:

> Cable Length:
> PE4L-EC150A Lenght 150cm (OEM)
> PE4L-EC200A Lenght 200cm (OEM)
> When will these be available? Specifically the longer lengths (150 and 200cm)?

At present, we are struggling for back order of 60cm product for releasing on Mar 6th.
We hope other options can be available on April.

Best Regards,


So it looks like they are going to be developing the additional cable lengths. If anyone requires the extra length like myself, I recommend you wait for the future releases coming in April.

 

So I plugged in the new adapter and forced G2 on port4, but I'm not sure if it goes on x1.2. How can I check it in Win7? I made screenshot with setup, but I don't know where it saves it on my HDD...

 

problems with macbook air.

I can get windows 7 to natively recognize the 560gtx, the problem is i have to jump through hoops to do this by deactivating some devices, enabling the card, then reenabling them so that windows can remap the MMIO range for them. Currently it seems hit or miss, I'm trying to figure out a consistent formula.

The most deterministic way to get it to work all the time is to use the DIYegpu setup, which I purchased for $25 and downloaded.

I installed it, but it seems to hang whenever it tries to write to the disk. When I do 32bit compaction, it'll try to copy over the pci batch file, then it hangs. If I try to edit startup.bat, it hangs. I tried booting from a usb drive, and still the same issues. ALT-ENTER will not save screenshots.

Ideas?

 

kizwan, my PSU is indeed the problem, as I tried it on a friends 750w PSU and it worked perfectly. I should have the 600w supply you reccomended by the end of the week.

In the meantime, my mPCIe adapter is finally in (since when was presidents day a big enough deal to close the post?!) so I'm going to start working on my x2 setup. My motherboard has an extra mPCIe slot, but it doesn't seem to be connected or powered. When I run the card 1x through the mPCIe where my wireless card is, it works fine.

I would really like to keep using my wireless card though, so if I can, I'd like to make that extra slot work.

Please let me know if there is a way. If not, will 2x simply take care of itself if I have my card plugged in through both express card and wifi slot?

 

Ok so I plugged in the gtx 560 via sonnet adapter to my macbook pro. The card appears, but I have error 12 (even though my TOLUD is low enough -.-). Does anyone have the link for the necessary BIOS?

 

I checked it with Aida64, and I gues eventhough I forced G2 on port4, it is still x1 speed. What shall I do?

 

hey kizwan,

nvidia has just released a new driver r295, and I would like to have a modded one. Can you do it?

 

My TOLUD is fine, but I get code 12 error too unless I have the eGPU on when I boot windows. If I just plug in, I get code 12, but if I have in from boot time (and I mean before boot time, literally plug in and turn on eGPU, and then turn on laptop) then there is no code 12. If you aren't starting with it on from boot this is probably your problem. If you are then may god (or kizwan and nando) help you.

 

It's funny cause in my case i get the error 12 if i plug the Gpu before i boot windows and don't get it if i plug it in sleep mode

 

I had a different experience on my mba. If i powered on the system with the egpu plugged in, it wouldn't boot windows. i did have to have the sonnet adapter hooked up from boot. when windows came up, i plugged in the expresscard and the egpu powered on immediately. i went to "scan for hardware changes" in device manager and it found it right away.

if you are getting code 12, look at your MMIO allocation in device manager. i think you need at least 512MB free contiguous. i disabled my iGPU and the next few devices listed at consecutive memory locations, disabled then reenabled my 560 gtx, then rescanned for changes. windows detected it again and then started outputting to the secondary monitor via egpu. skyrim and everything else worked fine. problem is this is a very non-deterministic way of getting windows to remap MMIO resources for each device, and it can change. i think the diy egpu setup is the way to go and am working on that right now.

 

Same issue with my macbook pro. Do you know were I can find the MMIO resources? And good to know that it's working. What settings are you able to play skyrim on? Even on 1.1 with a 560, should be able to get ultra

 

It appears that nVidia may have changed something in the latest 295.73 WHQL drivers that is preventing me to update the drivers for my GTX 560 TI.
It was working perfectly via expresscard with my W520 before I attempted to update the drivers.

 

In device manager, you can view resources by type, i think. there should be 4 categories, one of them being memory range. expand that in the tree and it'll show you which devices map to which MMIO addresses. the iGPU takes up 256MB, so i figured if i disabled that and disabled a few to get to the next 512MB boundary, it would work, and it did. the problem is i didn't verify that it mapped into this space. i should've captured the MMIO mapping when it was running.

 

also, this was at pure 1x speeds. over the sonnet connector, this is probably less than true 1x speeds because my envy 15 runs faster, probably 15% or so. that's hooked up to a 1x wifi expansion slot.

i want to try to get optimus enabled for this, but right now i'm having problems with just getting it to consistently work. one step at a time.

skyrim ran at high settings with AA and AF set to 4x, shadows at medium, 13xx by 7xx.

 

I reverted back to 295.51 beta drivers now.

 

I'm at a bit of a loss trying to understand how to correctly use Setup 1.x. I'm not able to enable the eGPU after waking from sleep like those with the expresscard slots. With PM3N it stays at a black screen after the sequence. It's my understanding that Setup 1.x will remedy this somehow? I read the tutorial but I'm still a bit confused.

 

I'll do a detailed write-up as soon as I work out the kinks! I'm surprised at how well it works at x1 speed. What about the USB port on the PE4H 2.4a? What is it's purpose if not to increase bandwidth, only for a keyboard/mouse? How can I tell if I'm using x1 1.0 or x1 2.0? Would you recommend leaving my current setup with Optimus or do you think I might gain some performance by disabling the iGPU?

Thank you kindly for your help!

 

Where do you find the MMIO in device manager? Sorry, new to windows

 

x2 only possible with any of these combinations:-
PCIe port #1 & #2
or
PCIe port #3 & #4
or
PCIe port #5 & #6

Use AIDA64 to identify (Motherboard > Chipset > South Bridge):-
1. PCIe port number for the ExpressCard. When you connect eGPU to ExpressCard, it will show up in AIDA64. So, you'll know PCIe port number for ExpressCard.

2. PCIe port number for wireless card.

3. Moved wireless card to the empty mPCIe port. Then check in AIDA64, where the wireless card turned up now.

You need to do PCI compaction to fixed Error Code 12. To do this, you need eGPU Setup 1.x. Since you're using Vidock, you can either contact Villagetronic support to fixed this problem or buy eGPU Setup 1.x from HIT. Please go to first post & click Setup 1.x icon to know more information.

It will always running at x1. The difference is the bandwidth. You should use GPU-Z instead. If GPU-Z report " @ x1 2.0", your eGPU is running at PCIe x1 2.0 (or G2).

Sure, whenever I updated Verde driver on my notebook later.

If you're using PE4H v2.4, eGPU is running at x1 1.0 (5Gb/s concurrent). Disabled iGPU will disabled Optimus too & performance will reduced because it's now running at raw PCIe x1 speed.

 

I could update to 295.73 without any issue. I have the same card as you.

 

Thanks, I'll try that when I'm at home again...

The thing is that I tried some test, and some of them were quite better than before (I'll post the results later), but some of them was the same. That is why I'm not sure if it really goes at x1.2...

 

By the way, when I make a screenshot by setup 1.x, where is it saved then? I don't find it...

 

I hope you guys don't mind when I bring up stuff that CAN'T be done... but I'm just gonna keep shooting questions as they pop into my head till you tell me to knock it off...

Anyway my question right now is: I have been researching hybrid SLI and was wondering if there is a way to tie it in with an egpu? That might be the way to make the older machines use the internal display instead of having to use an external monitor.

yeah... I'm tired and that most likely won't work, so let me know what you think!

 

FPS should almost double.

In V:\DIAG\ folder

 

right click on "computer" in the start menu, go to properties, go to device manager, and you should see it there.

i've managed to get this working without the diy egpu setup. what i do is when the drivers are installed for my 560gtx, but with code 12, i disable the iGPU in device manager. your video should go to a lower resolution immediately. after this, i restart. once it's back up, i uninstall the 560gtx. after that, i unplug it from the sonnet adapter, rescan for new hardware changes, and you should see all the devices (audio included) associated with the nvidia card disappear from the device manager tree. plug it back in. rescan for new hardware changes. while your iGPU is disabled and not taking up any resources, you should see windows start to look for and eventually install the nvidia drivers. after it's done, reboot. after you're in windows again, device manager should still show the iGPU disabled, but the 560gtx is enabled. unfortunately, you cannot output video from the 560gtx while the iGPU is disabled, i don't know why. reenable the iGPU. it should tell you that you need to restart your machine. reboot back into windows. after that, you should have both the 560gtx and the iGPU enabled. if you have an external monitor hooked up to the egpu, i suggest you set that as the default output monitor and not output anything to the internal LCD.

now whenever you shutdown (standby is disabled by the sonnet adapter, which sucks) disable your iGPU. this should kick you back to a lower resolution. if you were outputting to an external monitor via egpu, it should kick you back into the internal LCD. then shutdown. whenever you want to start using your egpu, boot up. after the mac "chime" and the white screen goes black, plug in the egpu, and boot into windows. you should see a lower resolution from previously disabling the igpu. go into device manager and enable the igpu. you should also possibly see code 12 on your egpu. after enabling the igpu, you should require a restart. reboot, unplug, plug the egpu back in before windows comes up (before the splash screen), and when windows comes up, it should be outputting to an external monitor via your egpu.

i know this sounds super cumbersome, and this took me a looonnng time to figure out, but it works 100% of the time for me. after you get the initial drivers installed, disabling the igpu and reenabling only takes about a minute. since the mba is ssd, boot times are pretty fast.

ideally what this gives us is an MMIO resource map that we can use to create a pci.bat file for the diy egpu setup program. i have major stability issues that i'm trying to work out.

attached is the MMIO map from device manager of a working egpu+igpu config for the macbook air.

 

hello i am wondering if this would work on an dell insipiron 1545 with:
4gb of ram
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family
running windows vista home premium
Intel 2.1 ghz dual core processor

 

Dell Inspiron 1545 eGPU implementations:-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8231156-post7619.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7547774-post3914.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7551109-post3929.html

You will need to upgrade to Win 7 because if I'm not mistaken, Vista doesn't support two graphic cards from different vendor.

 

Hi Guys,

I just ordered a PE4H v2.1 in order to use it for my Lenovo X220.

Do you have any recommendation concerning a decent graphics card and power supply? It should have enough performance for playing BF3 at 1920 and for the future!

Thank you!