DIY eGPU experiences

Do you have the NVS4000 + Intel GPU ?
Do you want to have image on internal screen or do you want to use a external monitor ?

 

I do. And i am going to use preferable the internal screen, as far i own a FullHD modell.
Oh, you have same laptop, beside the CPU (I should update my profile, you dont mind, if i take yours as sample, do you?)...so you had problems with disabling the dGPU? Khenglish and other don`t have this problem because of 8Gb and Win7 64bit?

I don`t have much fun in reinstalling Win7 64bit, and i should buy additional 4Gb, or better same 4Gb+4Gb, to ensure no problems with dual channel, but if it will solve (or prevent ) the problem, why not?

 

Hi Nando,

Thanks. The gtx 560ti was definately easier to manage.
Did a pci compaction and it detected egpu upon chain loading mbr.

But i face 2 problems now.

1.) Do i have to do a 32 bit compaction every time i turned on my notebook?
2.) I got a couple of BSOD so far, i realized this happens when i launch certain application. It hangs for a sec or so and screen goes blank and reboots itself. Upon booting back into windows, it prompts bsod error.

Application like, 3dmark6, hwinfo

Any idea why?

 

Since aodioxp (and maybe others) has performance issues when going from PE4L 1.5 to 2.1, I've done some tests of my own (by forcing 1.0 speed in the X220 BIOS, since I don't have the PE4L 1.5). Here are the results :

3DMark 11 (Graphics score) :

1.1opt (external screen) : 4066
1.2opt (external screen) : 4211
Gain : 3.55%

1.1opt (internal screen) : 3879
1.2opt (internal screen) : 4228
Gain : 9%

DMC4 Scene 4

1.1opt (external screen) : 117.25
1.2opt (external screen) : 157.36
Gain : 34.2%

1.1opt (internal screen) : 49.14
1.2opt (internal screen) : 96.45
Gain : 96.27%

Heaven

1.1opt (external screen) : 1195
1.2opt (external screen) : 1324
Gain : 9.74%

1.1opt (internal screen) : 859
1.2opt (internal screen) : 1182
Gain : 37.6%

 

Finally I made it, had to use windows+p and set to projector to use it correctly.
Anyway, after all steps I have PCI_alloc_valid 128MB. is it ok? I though that it should be 250MB minimum... check screen.

 

You mean this: "7cm Flexible Dual PCI 32bit to PCIe Riser Card"?
Somehow they are talking about a PCI 32bit, not PCIe.
In comparison:"9cm Flexible PCIe X1 to mPCIe Riser Card"
Here is clearly "pCIe".

Here is the section about PCIe raisers: http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pdtlist.asp?cat=PCIe_Riser
No raiser from mPCIe to 2xPCIe.

OK, i see, you mean this one: http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/viewpdt.asp?absp=58&cat=RISER_CARD
Its a raiser from PCIe to 2xPCI 32bit, not a raiser from mPCIe to 2xPCI 32bit

 

I hadn't read it carefully enough, the double riser is plain PCI.
However there is a PCIe to mini PCIe adapter here:
Ably-Tech Corp. == View Products
might be useful to someone, I can't find any pricing details though

 

Seems like Blackett took his raisers for the DIY PE4L from them:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8403047-post9220.html
Bild: egpu3cub65.jpg - abload.de

We could ask him for the source and prices for the raiser

 

And now to overclock and pump out some benches for some modern games like Battlefield 3 at 1920xwhatever or even 2560xwhatever

Please

 

Village Tronic seems serious about a new connector standard:

Update on... | Facebook

Ambitious I would call it...

 

Interesting, i'm curious how it's gonna look like and how over(under? )priced it will be?

 

It's more than ambitious. A PCIe 16x link including power in a sub-hdmi sized connector? Wohoo! That means 16 differential pairs of each receiver and transmitter pins = 16x2x2 = 64 shielded wires (plus clock signals, power and ground wires) in the cable. HDMI has 19, SATA has 7 wires. That cable must be ultra-thick or wide.

In addition to that, they claim it ( 4 GHz PCIe 3.0 signals !!!) will be daisy-chainable up to 28 meters (5m is claimed that was tested and is working).

I am curious to see if they can keep up with their own requirements. I believe that will be a still born product, though. Thunderbolt/Lightpeak is the way to go and Intel is pushing it to OEMs. I don't think that a small enterprise like VT (that is known for bad customer service and Setup 1.x license violations) can make OEMs use their "standard".

Nothing more than hot air if you ask me.

 

Don't get too excited, considering how long it will take to reach the market with their new solution we'll have these first:

PCI Express cables could take us to 32Gbps speeds by 2013 -- Engadget

PCIe cables will come to consumer market on 2013, this move from VillageDock sounds more like a failure in the roadmap to achieve a working Thunderbolt solution in time, than a powerful evolution to lead the market. Considering how much the current PCIe bandwidth is used, i don't see the need to have an improvement on that side because the bottleneck will always be provided by the choice of notebook manufacturers (controllers, ports availability, electrical connections and so on). As stated before, notebook manufacturers are worried by the potential of an eGPU solution, that's why the know how is deeply kept between few players. Otherwise the notebook gaming market would be shattered and with that their profits.
Don't forget that starting from 2013 Intel will provide all their motherboard with a TB port. That will be the date IMHO.

 

Thanks for this thread!
You can boost the graphics power of an Intel netbook by the factor 20. An ASUS EEE-PC X101 with an ATI Radeon 4850 (PE4L 1.5 with PM3N) is working flawlessly in Windows 8, I scored 2047 points in 3DMark06 over an External LCD and 1280x1024 resolution. The Atom N435 was overclocked to 1561Mhz.

 

The cable sounds amazing, but VT needs to release their Thunderbolt Vidock before anything. They said it would decrease licensing fees, but I would rather have thunderbolt now and pay a little bit more than some other cable that probably won't be ready for a long time. Wish the best for VT.

 

I feel VT doesn't really care about their potential/current customers. It took them this long to simply update us, and even then, it wasn't the update we were expecting.

on another note, MSI said they are in a phase where they are deciding whether or not to market the product as a enclosure (with no gpu) or one with a you built in.

 

Hi guys,

selling my PE4H 2.4 kit, check it out!
PE4H v2.4a + 150cm mini-HDMI + EC2C eGPU Graphics card to Expresscard connector | eBay

 

So, no problem to take sample from my profile
If you want to do x1.2optimus on internal screen, you will need setup1.x to disable the NVS4200 video card, to be able to activate optimus working with your eGPU.
Normaly you would not have any error12, but if you'll have, setup1.x will correct that.
If you buy more ram, it will be preferable to reinstall a x64 OS !

 

Yes, Nando already answered my PM about that.
Of course >4Gb does`n make any sense with 32bit OS.

Why are you waiting for setup 1.x? Didn`t you got it with the PE4L 2.1b?

 

you need to buy it separately.

 

i edited my signature !
as bjorm said, i bought setup 1.x after buying my pe4l because hit don't sell this package yet !
But you'll get a $10 coupon if you pm hitrc (nbr forum user).

 

does your setup work fine already?

 

yes but i just tested launch the nvidia control panel and it works great (if i do not disable the nvs, i could not)
gpu-z told me that a 2.0 link was engaged. I don't have any time to continue test but holidays are coming here
I'll make a complete post with my specs and procedure i used to make it work.

 

it's interesting if setup1.x would solve problem with E6320... his chance already gone (not sold yet) but it's been still interesting

 

This message goes out to anyone willing to put up with me and help, so thanks in advance. Ive been tinkering trying to get my laptop and egpu to work for sometime but to no avail. Im running a radeon 6970 with a 700watt psu and using the pe4h connected via mpcie in a whitelisted wlan card slot. My laptop is a compaq presario cq62 with a p960 quadcore processor 5gigs of ram integrated 4250 graphics and running win. 7 prof. 64bit. I believe I have all the necesary software to make this work such as setup 1.x but lack the knowhow to move forward. I believe that I could get everything to work if someone can just succesfully guide me through the antiwhitelisting proccess. Im not sure if my 1.x is different than everyone elses (mines 1.10b3)but I am unable to follow their thoughts. So please guide me through the antiwhitlisting of my port.

 

^^^ need of help too :[.. 1000 pages of posts is just wayyyy too much lol. t420 is what im going for. if anyone could personally help with parts or atleast direct me to a specific page, i will love you forever.

 

You firstly boot with your wifi card, hotplug the PM3N and confirm the eGPU is seen. If so, then reboot again with the wifi card save it using PCIe ports->anti-whitelist.!Save. Reboot the system without the wifi card, then use PCIe ports->anti-whitelist.Restore. If the anti-whitelisting is overcome then hotplugging the wifi or eGPU will show it listed in Status (eGPU) or PCI compaction->Reporting.PCI device tree

That's why it's summarized on the first page. Please refer to the First steps for all the details that you require. Also search "x1.2Opt" on the first page for examples systems which would give similar performance levels to yours. Ie: GTX680 > GTX580 > GTX570 > GTX560Ti-448 cores > GTX560Ti > GTX560 > GTX460 > GTX550Ti > GTS450 > GT520 > GT430 > GT240. A s/h highly overclockable s/h GTX460-1GB (336 cores) is recommended as the best bang-per-buck solution.

 

ah, of course its updated *facepalm. thank you

 

ok. so the equipment list would be...

T420 + PE4L v2.1b + GTX 560ti + PSU (i dont know which psu.. still looking)

does that all look good?

 

Yes it should be good because :
you have sandy bridge proco and a igpu intel hd3000 + an express card slot(34)

 

you got a psu you could recommend :]

 

Good. Maybe you are lucky~I got T420+ PE4L v2.1b + GTX 560ti + PSU and is experiencing performance issues (performance under pci-e2.0 < pci-e 1.0)
Just reinstalled Win7 64bit Pro and nvidia desktop 296.10, issue remains. internal screen performance : 3Dmark11=2980 with pci-e 2.0. Optimus set to eGPU only.
Do you guys have red light(PERST of PE4L2.1b) on when plug in a shut-down laptop with eGPU powered on?

 

will Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS be compatible with GTX 560ti + PE4L v2.1b or could i reduce the wattage? last piece before i go on a buying frenzy -_-

 

all PSU are normally OK. Just have to check the max peak of your graphic card. 350Watts min is ok for average all eGPU.

 

As I have been recheiving more and more pmessages concerning my (more or less) selfmade egpu-adapter,e.g. how I did the wiring, which pcie board I used, whether it migth support pcie 2.0 transmission, ...
I decided to post a (public) response. I hope it comes up to your expectations
-Schematic wiring diagram is attached below (alternatively get the earlier revision from bplus' hp)
-Capacitors which can be seen on some of my linked pictures are neccessary in this case, however, I found some spec sheets on pci sig (Pcie authority) suggesting to apply the following capacitors to each supply voltage (they are listed in blpus' schematic as well, but they use different holding capacities):

"Capacitive load rules:
+12V rail: 300μF @ 10W; 1000μF @ 25W; 2000μF @ 75W
+3.3V rail: 1000μF
+3.3Vaux rail: 150μF"
(PCI ExpressTM Form Factors: Card, Mini Card and ExpressCard*, Chuck Stancil Hewlett-Packard Company Chair, PCI Express Electromechanical WG, 2004, PCI SIG)​

(These capacitors should be placed as close as possible to slot connectors)
-I have never achieved a successful pcie 2.0 connection with my experimental setup (dell 1340@ati 3870), as I was told earlier, at least one of them (the former one in this case) doesn't support expresscard 2.0 and therefore I won't establish a faster connection speed,
but this selfmade adapter should generally support it though.
(apparently each hdmi wire has to be soldered directly to the adapter neat and clean for best result)
-adapter: DELOCK 41305 :: Delock Riser card Mini PCI Express > PCI Express x1 left insertion
Altough this selfmade adapter can be made quite cheap I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, since it requires enhanced soldering skills and patience (yes, these flimsy hdmi wires can be nerve-shattering ) - so in some cases the 20 € savings over the finished product are probablly not worth the hassle.

 

Many thanks!
So we have to solider
2000μF parallel to all +12V rail and ground
1000μF parallel to all +3.3V rail and ground
150μF parallel to +3.3Vaux rail and ground

As far I understand, they serve to stabilize the power, right?

 

They answered through that marketing email ?

 

How is the EGPU implementation going for the Z2?
I have the oppurtunity to buy one, but i only want to buy if i can use a egpu.. So i really want to know if it is possible

 

the cable is ready since at least 2008.
<----- just check my avatar.
even external pci-e 2.0 16x. way better then thunderbolt.
and in the sig you have some specifications.

 

There is a sligthly error in my first post today:

I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this mistake.
Further information regarding the PCie standard: PCI-SIG - Home
Specific pdf-sheet I cited before: Form Factors: Card, Mini Card and ExpressCard
All their documents listed: http://www.pcisig.com/developers/main/training_materials

 

Series-6 chipset Flash Descriptor modification Tool

ME Firmware 7.1.20.1119.zip

This tool appears to be able to modify various parameters of the Series-6 chipset including x2/x4 link width of pci-e ports, PLL settings, perhaps even lock/unlock extreme CPUs. Not 100% sure. Putting it out there for others to see what's possible.

NOTE: For DIY eGPU users, there's really not much value trying x2/x4 as x2 2.0 gives the same sort of performance as x1 2.0 Opt (pci-e compressed). Only real value would be for those that want to run ATiAMD cards instead. x4 2.0 is going to be possible on like 2% of systems with 4 accessible ports. Plus we have no x4 2.0 capable pci-e adapter.

If you want to try it out on your system, open up the location of fptw64.exe in command line with administrator rights and type "fptw64 -d -desc" to try to create a dumpfile with your flash descriptor data. If it does work and you edit it be very careful when you go and try to flash since you can EASILY accidentally erase your BIOS since it is stored on the same chip.

Acknowledgement: thank you to Secret Santa's delivery service for this one

 

Hi Nando,

Any help on the above?

Thanks

 

Alrighty, so after hours of attempting and failing to get the 560ti drivers installed (due to my system mistaking it for a 460), I finally managed to boot the system and have it recognize the card (checking with AIDA64) as a 560. I clicked on the setup.exe in the most recent Nvidia driver (desktop) folder, and lo and behold, it installed them. Then it needed a restart. This part screws me over every time, because when the computer tries to restart, it hangs on shutdown and never turns off. When i started it back up, I had the Nvidia control panel in the bottom right, and when I do get the card to connect as a 560, device manager indicates I do have the latest drivers. BUT, now I'm getting Error 43 instead of the Error 10 I was getting (and still do get) when the system boots the card as a 460. So my two questions are:
What causes the system to recognize the card incorrectly? Does it do a check of the card on boot, so that any fluctuation in me hitting the SWEX causes an incomplete card check?
What is error 43 in relation with Egpu setup? I think I saw something to do with RAM somewhere else in this thread, but I thought my computer had no TOLUD issues.

 

Hey guys I have a question on power adapters for the eGPU

I already read this part about power adapters

Examples based on power consumption requirements
12V/75W adapter: HD5670, unplugged HD5750, NVIDIA GT430.
12v/80w: specific HD5750 units. See comment here, implemented here.
12V/120W: GTS450 described here using DC adapter that is shared between notebook and eGPU
12V/203W xbox360 PSU: GTX460
ATX PSU: AMD HD68xx, NVIDIA GTX4xx/GTX5xx

-------However my main question is, is it okay to use a regular high wattage/voltage power adapter for this too? Like this one?

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

Would this overcharge the GPU and damage it? I already have this power supply lying around so I don't really want to go out and buy a weak one for my external graphic card setup.

 

Check your power supply is rated to supply the required GTX560Ti power (eg: 12V/18A might be OK, 12V/20A would be great) as well as try underclocking/overvolting the GTX560Ti using say MSI Afterburner. We've found some factory overclocked models are unable to hold those overclocks so need be set to run at a lower frequency.

It's got 12V/53A(636W) so at it's max it has enough power for any current video card on the market. What will happen is the GPU will just draw as much as it needs. It's quite a capable PSU.

Hackintosh discussion is now allowed

NBR have lifted the ban on Hackintosh discussion. Means we can get some more know-how on the Mac side of eGPU implementations. See http://forum.notebookreview.com/sit...ts/657029-you-can-now-discuss-hackintosh.html .

 

My question:

1.) Do i have to do a 32 bit compaction every time i turned on my notebook?
2.) I got a couple of BSOD so far, i realized this happens when i launch certain application. It hangs for a sec or so and screen goes blank and reboots itself. Upon booting back into windows, it prompts bsod error.

Application like, 3dmark6, hwinfo

Thanks

 

Yes, I answered (2) above - it's likely a power or clock issue causing the BSOD. For (1) you'll need to check if your eGPU works with no error12/10/42 when booted without PCI compaction. If not, then boot Setup 1.x and select the first 'automated startup via startup.bat option' item (or allow the 10s countdown to do it for you) which will run the results of your last PCI compaction. So there's no need to navigate the menu-based system at all. This is covered in the Setup 1.x htmlhelp as a FAQ item: F4. What is the DIY eGPU Setup 1.x configuration process?

 

Hi Nando,

Im currently using this PSU: GIGABYTE - PC Components - Power Supply - ODIN Pro series - ODIN Pro 550W

Looks like a 12V/18A.

Will try the MIS afterburner, any ideal range of values that i can follow ?
Or a random range will do.

Thanks

 

Its a 42 when booted without PCI compaction.

 

Thanks for the tip, this is going to open a whole new world for me