DIY eGPU experiences

friend of mine, who bought ViDock4+ from me, is able to run PCI-E 2.0 with GTX560ti. Latitude manner ("safely remove ...") works for ViDock4+ (Lenovo T420).

 

So today i gave another try excuses for my inexperiences. When powered up or just hotplug i end up with a 3rd led this time red for few seonds before it dissappears. Should still have eyes to see the tiny little switch to extend delay to 7-15 sec, but still doesn't get detected and the setup, 500w psu couldn't change a bit. Might be a defect pe4h or hdmi cable or the ec? I will try with my workplace laptop e6520 dell to see what it gives...... here is the diag
btw did anyone had this and how it got solved?

 

my diy egpu is up and running

GTX 460 from Gigabyte on the PE4H 2.4a powered by a Cougar 350W PSU.
All set up with my Lenovo T410 with i5-520 CPU, 8GB RAM, Intel HD GFX, SSD,...

Only problem is the bulky cable on the PE4H imo, since I put everything into an old shuttle case and I don't want to cut a peace out of the outercase :q

Is there an angled cable or a more flexible one out there? And a longer one...

Here some pics:

 

Hey Sonny

Great work you did there
Tell me can you plz put the connector pin assignment into a pdf-file....that would help alot.
And one lst thing does it have to be a esata Express card or can any PCMIA card work to do the connection?

THX again
MisT911

 

burt i was wondering if it is the same box? i found it on polish website.
ALUMINIOWA OBUDOWA 1246 GSS08 [1] (2192933487) - Allegro.pl - Wi?cej ni? aukcje. Najlepsze oferty na najwi?kszej platformie handlowej.
could you write what size was the original box ?

 

I did not use the box, since I don't have the right equipment to cut the metal pieces like I'd like to. So I used an old Shuttle XPC for it.
If you're interested I can send you my casing, since I won't use it!

 

thanks for answer but there is no point in sending it to poland

 

@kizwan
Thanks for respond,
I'll check that when i get home even though I guess I already did it. I'll post the result later
also... I think the problems is that my lap have TOLUD of 3.5
I could activate optimus using 2gb Ram but with 8GB i just can't.

 

Check Distrelec, Farnell and RS Online. They have tons of enclosures ^^ (including mine)

 

I see. I don't know your notebook have TOLUD 3.5GB. Here you are, the edited DSDT. You can compile it now.
dsdt_VAIO_edit.dsl

There are two illegal If-else statements at line 3766 & 3808. They should be in control method codes. I moved them to \_SB.PCI0._INI.

 

thx tell me only how it is possible to get x2.0 with ViDock4+ ??? I wasn't aware that ViDock supports x2.0

 

Here are the benchmarks I promised:

Lenovo X220T i5-2520M, GTX 460, 8GB RAM, PE4H+E2C2 x1.1Opt:

( Optimus Activated)

Pics: Full Setup, eGPU 1, eGPU 2

3DMark06: 16567
3DMarkVantage: 11436
RE5 Var: 126.2 FPS
RE5 Fixed: 71.1

Based on the i7 X220 + GTX 560 Ti, x1.1Opt results of others, my results seem to be consistent considering the less powerful graphics card and processor used.

Update:

I just made an enclosure out of a box because I was tired of all the wires. It's cheap and stupid looking, and the first words out of my fiancee's mouth when she saw it were "You're an idiot...", but lo and behold! My masterpiece!

Enclosure 1
Enclosure 2
Enclosure 3
Enclosure 4
Enclosure 5
Enclosure 6

Sorry about the blur in some of them. Everything fits snugly after adding in the cardboard pieces, too. Took me about 1.5 hours to complete, embarrassingly, but I am happy with it.

 

3dmark 06 16567? Thats not much different from the other i5 users in here with 500 dollar video cards. Im starting to think that benchmark is becoming mostly CPU dependent these days.

 

I got a little less than fatpolomanjr.

3DMark06: 16434

I have a GTX550Ti running at x1 2.0 Optimus on my Internal LCD.

I play Just Cause 2 A LOT and I get exactly what I get in this game when this GPU is in a desktop.. 1920x1080 with everything High except for AA, which is disabled. I get 55-65FPS. I need to barrow a more powerful card from a friend and run some more tests... One Thing I noticed is my 550TI's fan never ramps up when I have it attached to my laptop.. I have to manually set the Speed in EVGA Precision if I don't want it to reach 70C+ sometimes I forget

Edit: My Sig never showed.. Anyways, I have a T420 with a 2720QM w/ Optimus. 16GB Corsair Ram. Speed is set to "auto" on the express card slot. I use it in any mode, I usually use it with Optimus enabled and with the eGPU so I have access to 3 GPUs for all my screens at work.

 

Hi, I am newbie to this forum.

I just purchased a Thinkpad T420s with NVIDIA Quadro NVS4200M Optimus technology and like to setup a DIY eGPU.

After viewing a few posts, my question is does T420s have the problem of 4G+ ram? From the FAQs, my understanding is that there will be no issue with T420s or no Bios version restrictions?

Can you please recommend some eGPU setups?

Many thanks!

 

ViDock4+ does support PCIe x1 2.0. It have the same story like PE4L v2.1 where on some notebooks like e6420 & e6520, you need to replugged the eGPU in windows to get it negotiate PCIe x1 2.0 link.

3dMark06 does CPU dependent but the "not much different" score is because of the limited PCIe bandwidth. If use with PE4L v2.1 which is compliant to PCIe rev 2.0 spec, the score will be higher.

I believe fatpolomanjr is running the benchmark on external monitor. If you run benchmark on external monitor too, you will get higher score. The difference of you two is fatpolomanjr use PE4H (PCIe 1.1 compliant, 5Gb/s concurrent) & you use PE4L v2.1 (PCIe 2.0 compliant, 10Gb/s concurrent).

 

If the user has Setup 1.x then can add the following to their \config\startup.bat to switch the port + eGPU into pci-e 2.0 mode without needing to replug in Windows:

Code:

:: Set port to gen2 speed
call iport g2 [port]

:: Send a hot reset to port renegotiate link speed with underlying devices
call iport reset [port]

 

I was connected to my external monitor when I ran the benchmarks; in fact, the reason I didn't run any internal LCD benchmarks was because I was having trouble setting it up.

 

Hello everyone,

What can you tell me about running Lenovo X220 with eGPU. I already saw some running setups but why most of them are 1.1opt not 1.2opt? Is it possible to run eGPU in 1.2Opt on this laptop?

What would you recommend for smoother setup and better performance of eGPU: Lenovo X220 or HP ELITEBOOK 2560P?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

This worked well. Thank you for the help.

 

Hi, everybody,

I have a thinkpad r500, and I am thinking about using an external GPU to improve the game performance.
I found PE4H, so-called DIY ViDock, and I hope I can set up x2 1.0 link if I buy a lenovo 2503 docking station which has a mini PCI port on it.

Could you help me? Thanks in advance.

 

Most of the first page results are x1.1Opt because we are only now just seeing PE4L 2.1 pci-e 2.0 compliant adapters getting to the DIY eGPU users. So expect more x1.2Opt results to appear.

As for a X220 vs HP 2560P, they perform the same when using the same CPU. The 2560P however can be user upgraded to a i7-quad. A i7-2860QM's (quad) cpumark is twice that of a i7-2620M. If you want a lighter chassis like a X220 but have i7-quad upgradability, then consider a 12.5" Asus B23E. The 2560P is the best bang-per-buck ultraportable - I've seen them go for ~$600 on ebay-US in i5/i7 form, some even with a SSD.

See 6. (Performance) Can my system do a PE4H x2 or x4 link as shown in PCIe Scaling Analysis? in the Pre-purchase FAQ.

The other way to get x1 2.0 bandwidth, same as x2 1.0, is to upgrade to a Series-6 Sandy Bridge notebook and use a PE4L 2.1 instead. The budget business ones being a Lenovo E420/E520, Dell Vostro 3450/3550 or HP Probook 4530s. The premium Elitebook, Latitude/Precision and Thinkpads even better.

 

Khenglish has a good summary of PCIe 1.1 vs 2.0 here. He concluded it to be a worthy upgrade. For sure you can do x1.2Opt on <strike>a 2560p, but I am not sure for an X220/T. Xav's guide for X220/T seems to imply it works, but I haven't done enough research to know.</strike>...any Sandybridge laptop. ;p

The main reason I went with x1.1Opt is because of the guide Xav wrote for X220/T laptops here. Another reason is because I bought a PE4H (I fried my PE4L...), and it doesn't support x1.2.

Maybe I'll sell my PE4H for a new PE4L v2.1 after the "engineering samples" at hwtools.net are approved for consumer use, but only if I really want the x1.2Opt performance increase. <strike>Or I can keep the PE4H and go for x2 link if possible.</strike> (x1.2Opt is 2 times faster than x2 over PCIe 1.1!...dang I might actually buy a new PE4L...) These options are unlikely for me though because as of now FFXII emulated on PCSX2 runs perfectly at 2x Native Res (and very good at 4x Native Res! :O... ) and all I really want to play on my X220T is Diablo III, which will run fine with x1.1Opt.

 

Nando thanks you.
Well as I said in my previous posts, probably I won't upgrade the CPU ever. So x220 and 2560P will perform same. But now I don't know if 12,5" will not be too small for everyday office work so I also consider Lenovo ThinkPad T420s with 14,1" display and Intel Core i7 2640M CPU. All i7 configurations available for me have unfortunatelly dGPU nVidia Quadro NVS 4200M but I just can't find if it also have Intel 3000 or 4000 integrated...but I also read that all i7 2640M have already built-in intel 3000 graphic card. Can you confirm that and I can use Optimus? Also will eGPU work good in such laptop - with disabled dGPU in Setup 1.x and Bios version 1.15 for Tolud=3GB? Which adapter I should buy for this laptop so it will work without any soldering work? New PE4L 2.1a will be good?

Cheers,
Nedro

 

All SB notebooks, including x220 does support PCIe rev 2.0. x2 link setup is not possible on SB notebooks due to BIOS/hardware design. x1.2Opt is two times better than x2 (PCIe 1.1) anyway.

Intel HD Graphics/3000 does integrated in the processor but whether you can use it or not depend on the notebook design. If the notebook come with Intel HD Graphics/3000 disabled, you can't enabled it without modifying the motherboard.

 

hello, some news from bplus, they send me a PE4L-EC060A V2.1b for replace my pe4l v2.1a.

 

A T420s has Optimus, ie: HD3000 + NVS4200M so can run a x1.1Opt/x1.2Opt configuration. We have a DSDT override strategy now it is now possible to have three GPUs work even if restricted by TOLUD. Though it appears the dGPU needs to be disabled via Setup 1.x for the NVidia internal LCD mode driven by the eGPU to work.

You may want to also consider a iGPU-only 14" Toshiba R840 as well. It has a 900P LCD, weights around the same as a T420s but has significantly longer battery life due to it's 66Whr 6-cell. The T420s' battery is only 66% the capacity of the R840 at 44Whr so you need a optical bay module battery to extend battery life. The R840 has a 93Whr 9-cell option as well. The heavier/cheaper T420 (not T420s) has a 60Whr 6-cell.

You want a PE4L 2.1 for maximum bandwidth. Pls ask BPlus when placing your order if the batch after 22nd of March require soldering rework to detect the eGPU or not.

EDIT: See what Joss27 above has to say about his PE4L 2.1b.

 

Well I can only buy Lenovo/dell/HP laptop because my company have some trade agreement with them Since Latitude have too hight price in my country even with discount (dunno why) I am left with only Lenovo/HP option. T420s looks better than 2560P (I don't consider changing CPU) and X220 because it can have 2 HDDs (SSD for OS + conventional HDD for data), it has bigger screen (but not too big).
Thank for your help. Probably I'll return to you for help when I'll have the laptop in my hands

 

People people careful who you order from and where you buy your egpu
Neither it does work on my e6520 same results not detected, no sign of the device. Plus noticed it had a default of concept on the chip itself ......i can't believe they shipped me all the way something like this. those were my two cents with egpu i give up

 

Thanks Nando4,

You have answered some of my questions.

I have purchased T420s with Optimus, so I will need a DSDT override strategy if I need to upgrade Ram to 8G? Any requriment for BIOS version?

So I will need PE4L 2.1 for maximum bandwidth, then any video card to recommend please?

Thanks again.

 

You can consider 8460p.

I made my order for PE4L 2.1a before 22March, but redtrontech informed that they will send PE4L from new stock, probably 2.1b where is no need to soldering.

 

If you bought it from redtrontech using paypal then you have buyer protection. An item requiring rework is not a functional item, so either a refund or replacement is in order. I'll leave you to sort that out with the vendor. Seems BPlus have been sending replacement units to rectify the fault so those that have reworked their PE4L 2.1a now have two functional units for the price of one.

You want a NVidia Fermi or Keplar eGPU. A s/h GTX460-1GB (336 cores) giving highest bang-per-buck.

Suggest latest T420s bios. Lenovo have a dynamic TOLUD in their X220/T420 which I assume applies to a NVS4200M-equipped T420s as well. If it detects a eGPU on the expresscard slot then it will decrease TOLUD to provide extra 32-bit PCI space for the eGPU.

Still, the DSDT override makes checking TOLUD and using Setup 1.x for PCI compaction redundant. The DSDT override makes it possible to host the iGPU+dGPU+eGPU simultaneously even if you have a high TOLUD=3.5GB.

Only final issue is the NVS4200M dGPU. If you only want to use the eGPU with an external LCD then can skip reading this ... The NVidia Optimus driver needs the dGPU to be disabled so the eGPU can provide the internal LCD mode. If you do want that mode Setup 1.x can disable the dGPU to make it happen. Now given we can now host all GPUs due to the DSDT override, we haven't had anyone just disable the dGPU in Device Manager and tell us if that's sufficient. It may very well be enough.

 

few seconds ago I received a PE4L. I've been thinking what for is this? if it's a EC34/54 adapter so how to use it with Elitebook 8460p?

 

which one did you choose?

@DOWN: huge thx

 

That is useful if you have 54mm ExpressCard slot. The item is called SPB087. Check it in this page how it connect to ExpressCard (EC2C).

 

Started a quick benchmark today, testing my diy egpu... x1.Opt !

Got over 13k in 3DMark06, which is quite good I guess

Lenovo T410 i5-520M, 8GB RAM, GTX460

 

Quick update:

My 560ti HAWK is hooked up to my Elitebook 8460p @ 1.2 Opt

Playing around with the internals/drivers before I post up some benchmarks

I have upgraded my CPU very recently and it is a MASSIVE difference, from a i5 2410M to the i7 2720 QM. Most of my experience in regards to performance has been with BF3. I'm running it at 1980x1080 @ 59 FPS (capped) on low. My goal has been, thus far, to eliminate frame stutters and random fps drops. The upgrade has allowed my frames to hold pretty much at the 59 fps cap. There is still some fps drop when heavy rendering goes on and I'm going to see if I can mess around with the driver/OC to fix that. However, this may be the insurmountable bottleneck of a x2 connection.

BTW: Does anyone know if the 8460p motherboard supports DDR3 1600 RAM?

 

What is the fastest video card that will work with this setup? (x2 link)

Any recommendations?

 

Hello again,
after I tried almost everything it doesn't work yet.

First. When I loaded the dsdt(with ias /loadtable etc) and reboot, I got BSD

Second. I tried to rewrite the bios rom, digging a little bit I found The tolud max memory space. The TOLUD option was "Automatic" by default, I tried setting it to 3.25 and 3 also I change the Integrated Video allocated memory 256mb to 128mb

Result: Still not working

I don't know what else should I try, Maybe I should upgrade my lap.
anyway I'll try something else later ha.

 

Need to extract the DSDT table, compile it and just load it as into the registry without BSDOs as a starting point. From there proceed to modify it per the DSDT override page. I believe your notebook has TOLUD=3.5GB so to use an eGPU will require either (1) a DSDT override for 4GB+ RAM configurations or (2) run with 3GB or less of RAM. If you have a bios setting of TOLUD/TOLM=3.25GB or TOLUD/TOLM=3.0GB, then that would solve the problem also.

 

Many thanks Nando4.

Just placed an order for PE4L 2.1 last night. Not sure how long it will take to ship to Australia.

I will use this eGPU with a external monitor which will be arrived tomorrow from Dell. So there would be no issue if I use the latest BIOS - V1.24, I assume.

Once I set up everything successfully, definitely will post some pics here.

 

Follow my last post, would Corsair CX430 will be good to go with GTX 460 as you recommend?

Thanks again.

 

A 12V/28A CX430 goes US$25, but in Australia you'd be paying $58 at the least from MSY. More than double.

A higher grade/specced 12V/34A Antec Eco 450 starts at $52 (see staticice). Though you'll need to get a power cable for it if don't have one lying around. It's better value for money.

Third option. I ran a stock-clocked GTX460 with a basic 12V/15A ATX PSU, the sort you can find being turfed out by businesses or found in old PCs being left on ppl's lawns for tip collection. A GTX560/GTX560Ti is slightly more power efficient than a GTX460 so could also to weigh up getting a cheaper (or free) PSU and a pricier video card. The MSI GTX560Ti Twin Frozr I had ran perfectly well with a 12V/16A PSU. Was a cool and quiet card. Those (or the Asus/Gigabyte GTX560/GTX560Ti cards) will be more readily available in the s/h market than a GTX460.

 

Thanks, I will go for a GTX 560ti then.

 

What is the exact error of the BSOD? If your notebook have "Automatic" (a.k.a. dynamic) TOLUD, I can see why your notebook BSOD after loaded the modded DSDT into registry (asl /loadtable). Notebook with dynamic TOLUD have two sets of DSDT:-
1. boot without eGPU connected (let us call this "Set A")
2. boot with eGPU connected (let us call this "Set B")

For example, if you loaded "Set A" DSDT into registry but on the next boot, it boot with eGPU connected, you will get BSOD. If you loaded "Set B" DSDT into registry but on the next boot, it boot without eGPU connected, you also will get BSOD.

Referring to DSDT you gave me, I'm guessing you got it when booting without eGPU connected. So, to prevent BSOD, make sure on next boot only connect or turn ON eGPU after boot (& before windows loading).

If your notebook have dynamic TOLUD, you don't need to use DSDT override, instead you should be able to boot with eGPU connected (from OFF state, turn ON eGPU, turn ON notebook) & BIOS will adjust the TOLUD accordingly.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen (mostly gentlemen cause this is a nerd affair :GEEK: )

I made the first part of the new video library, so these are the videos of the PE4L v2.1 with an OC'd GTX560 (and a i7-2630QM + 8GB of ram)
All the videos were recorded on an internal setup so if you plan to use an external LCD, the results should be even better!

Battlefield 3 (56/64 players map on High Preset)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8uNjJU-Wm3g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8uNjJU-Wm3g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Batman Arkham City (Maxed DX9)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2IQ5sq7mWdI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2IQ5sq7mWdI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Crysis 2 (Maxed DX11 + High Res Textures)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ty--bvJxmz8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ty--bvJxmz8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

The Witcher 2 (Maxed except Ubersampling)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8e4dlnQfX0M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8e4dlnQfX0M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Anno 2070 (Maxed)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h3uc7IpISXQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h3uc7IpISXQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Shift 2 Unleashed (Maxed) - The framerate is dependant on the number of players shown on screen. With 16 players on dusk and night races the framerate is about in the low 20s
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DfdVVoq7V3g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DfdVVoq7V3g?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

CitiesXL 2012 (Maxed)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGpW5mTD7KU?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PGpW5mTD7KU?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Diablo 3 Beta - Maxed (if the AA is enabled there are some stuttering but I prefer anyway to play without it)
<width='640' height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SVkQOIKn5AY?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SVkQOIKn5AY?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Enjoy!

(they will be soon added also on the Video Benchmarks Dedicated Thread)</width='560'>

NOTE: I also tried other games, but the only one that gave me worse performance than before is Settlers 7.
The only differences in my config are the different CPU (i7-2630QM vs i5-2520M) and the newer drivers (285 vs 296 series). Once I finish all the other videos i'll format the PC and try with a fresh install (i currently have 3GB of free space )

 

Hello SimoxTav !

You knew i was waiting for BF3 multiplayer bench !

Great results on internal screen ! That's what i'm looking for !
I'm waiting for my PE4L 2.1 kit (the re-build one) maybe today or tomorrow.

Do you think that with my laptop and a Sparkle gtx560 1Go GDDR5 @ 900/4008 MHz, i'll have same perf ?

Good job for all your benchmark on video games !

 

I think the results will be good as mine (there are only 200mhz in the memory frequencies, but your CPU is better, so the PCI compression should be more efficient).
I plan to make further tests in the near future on other games ^^ stay tuned!

 

Double Post

 

great! I bought 8460p yesterday and I'm going to connect to PE4L 2.1a. Did you established any connection order to achieve x1 2.0 ?

How did You change your CPU ? Is there any manuals?