DIY eGPU experiences

Okay!
All my parts are ordered. Flaunt, I have a very similar setup to you, so I may need your help next week if you'd be willing

Dell Latitude D630
gigabyte gtx 460 (ordered and on the way)
PEAH-PM3N (ordered and on the way)
4 GB ram
Intel Centrino Duo @ 2.5GHz
x2 link capable

so excited. . .

 

Well honestly i don't know. I tried to check it but without result. I inserted one of those modem 3g but even if it recognize and work perfectly it keeps saying empty. But just to know x2 means connecting the video card using the pci-e where the wi-fi card is connected plus the express card?

 

Recent remarks regarding DIY ViDock. I shall refer to the "DIY ViDock" from this point forward herein as the Radock.

While Ive had a chance to use the Radock among many semi to very demanding games, I've noticed something a bit odd. Games seem to "flatline" in the sense of performance, regardless of resolution or settings applied. In other words, if I set my resolution to 1920x1200, with 4xAA, Settings on HIGH, FPS will be either identical or slightly higher if settings changed to let's say 1280 x 800 or 960, (with same settings). I really have no idea how to explain this observation other than the way data is routed thru expressport.

Actually, I've noticed the higher I set the settings the better FPS (performance) I seem to achieve. Very strange but true.. This is especially noticeable with res. evil 5 variable and fixed benchmarks, and overall gameplay with Gears of War.

Also noticed that while we all love FRAPS, I think for whatever reason it could be a severe performance hit if its running in the background while playing games. While using AVS System Info 3D benchmarking test, while FRAPS ON, FPS drops to under 100, while normal FPS range should be 580-620 range. Once FRAPS is quit FPS shoot back up immediately. This leads me to believe that perhaps this is just a bad reaction with this particular program, but on some level it MAY be affectingg performance on some or all games/apps.

 

3G modem is a usb device. Try to swap wifi card with 3G modem (no need to connect antennas).

 

the one that i used is a express card 3g modem

 

yes x2 means using both the express card and mini pcie together. Try checking you device manager to see which port is being used when you plug in the 36 modem. Maybe everest is not detecting it.

 

Both, miniPCIe and ExpressCard, have USB pins too. Still, do what I said and compare two configurations, with swaped WiFi card and without.

 

Oh thanks, so i do believe that x2 is not made for me. I'm a software eng. so i do work with my laptop and i love being free and have life as easiest as possible. Now the big question is does it worth?

 

Hi !

Ok, I'm news and french (My english is to bad )
I've read lot of page in this thread but I'm always lost
My laptop is an DELL Latitude E5500 with:
C2D P8500 @ 2.4ghz
2go RAM @ 667Mhz
GMA4500mhd
Acer 22" 1920x1080
two mPCIe bus 1x 1.0 (p1 and p2)
Windows 7 ultimate 32bits

I want a external graphics card because I'm a "serious" gamer (Borderlands, Crysis, Blur, Split second, etc...) and my GMA4500mhd is very bad for this.
So I've buy an XFX HD5850 and OCZ 500watts (40$) PSU and I go to make an external graphics solution (EGS, for the licence) with this componant.
But before buy the PE4H and the PM3N, I have lot of question !


1: Apparently I can make a 2x 1.0 mPCIe bus, but I'm lost, waht is best and easly solution ?
2: In 2x mode, how many PM3N will plug ?
3: Does must use DIY ViDock Setup v1.x or an other solution for create 2x bus ?
4: Who can me explain step per step how to create 2x bus ? (I don't really know the tutorial..)


Thanks guys !

 

if you are sure that your port 1 and 2 are both mini pcie then it is possible to do a x2 connection by using 2 PM3N and i think you would definitely require the DIY Vidock Setup to create the x2 connection. It is best to ask Nando4 regarding the DIY Vidock set up as he is the expert on that part.

@WillianG83 Well even just using the express card slot alone at x1 you would see significant improvement on your gaming performance. Just check some of the benchmark that have been done in this thread. Most of it is vastly better then their built in graphic card

 

Not the answer your looking for mate but you might want to consider also adding a couple 2GBx2 SODIMM sticks in lappy...Oh but wait you said you had x86 system, so I suppose you're maxed out already, eh?

 

Yes I'm sure, I tested with an mPCIe wireless card


@PanzerHauptmann: I can't buy 2go sodimm because it's over my budget Hum, I' dont understand, were I'm maxed out ?

 

@omega91. then i would suggest you do an x2 with a nvidia card. The optimus technology would give you great fps boost

 

I've already an HD5850
I noticed, my laptop have an carbus port, if I use this or this adaptator, can I plug the PE4H with EC2C ?

Thanks !

 

As far as I understand 32 bit mobo is only capable of handling 2 GB of RAM. 64-bit MOBO is 8+

 

@Omega91 nope. The speeds for the converter reduces the bandwidth to usb size. You will get a lot of performance lose.

 

Hi, i was thinking about this ...
This notebook will work with diy vidock ?
Sony Vaio VPCF1290x ?
corei7 - 6gb ddr3 - gt330m !

Witch card is better than gt330 to plays 1920x1080 games ?
5770 ? gtx 460 ? or more any ?
I want a better card than gt330m that works with this notebook and
performs GOOD with 1080p gaming !
Thanks

 

@PanzerHauptmann: Oh ok thanks !

@jamesbond007: Ok so I stay on the PM3N !

Question: I try the tutorial but does I need the PE4H to apply ?

Thanks !

 

@donis,

People have found that the gtx 4xx series works best with DIY Vidock. The most popular on this forum is the 460 due to its high performance at a reasonable cost.

Yes, the gtx 460 has a mini-hdmi output

 

This is cool !!
but, What recommended notebook will do it better ?
Vaio VPCF x Envy 17 ?

 

DIY:
3. Setup makes it easy to do a x2 install.
4. Download Setup 1.x, set port to x2, power up DIY ViDock, perform PCI compaction if needed, chainload to Win7. Once all works, add commands to startup.bat to automate the process.

GTX460 is the overall better performer in games. THE VPCF1290 has hybrid graphics so can disable the GT330M and use the GTX460 in an Optimus setup for excellent performance.

Envy series don't have expresscard slots so VPCF would be the choice for DIY ViDock.

 

The main rule of thumb is, does it have an expresscard (34mm) port. Currently that is the fastest interface between the DIY ViDock and your laptop. mini-PCI-express slots work as well, but that involves opening up your laptop which many people are uncomfortable to do, (though its not a big deal). So to answer your question.

Right away you can rule out the Envy 17 because this computer doesn't have the expresscard slot while the Vaio VPCF does.

The compatibility with the DIY ViDock depends on many things including
Operating System - (windows 64bit etc.)
Chipset
Computers RAM
etc.

----------------------------PLEASE READ---------------------------

Now, I am curious why you would consider the DIY ViDock with those laptops because they already offer very powerful videocards with them. For the cost you wouldn't be benefiting very much from making a ViDock for those laptops. (my personal opinion)

 

I just discovered all of this yesterday, so this may seem like a stupid question. I was wondering if it would be possible to run a gtx460 (or other Nvidia card) in Optimus with the integrated graphics chip found on the core i5 CPUs (the "GMA HD") on a laptop that has switchable ATI graphics (the Lenovo Y460 with a mobility 5650 card). Is it possible to run both Optimus and the ATI switchable graphics on the same computer? Also, would a gtx460 or gtx 470 provide a significant increase in performance over the 5650 (assuming this is possible), even with the limitations of the x1 bandwidth?

 

Yes, the envy17 has 5850 ! Great video Card .... but
The sony vaio VPCF12KFX has one GT330m ( thats not a good card for gaming, he cant handle 1080 resolution gaming ... )

The fact is, the vidock gtx460 will be better than gt330m notebook's card ?
For gaming ... Much improvement ?

 

nando4, before I go on to ask some questions, I really need to thank you for the immense amount of work you have done to help people get external graphics on their notebooks. Not only are you assisting people with setup of a method that you helped develop, but you are pushing graphics card developers to support this system even further. Everyone reading this thread owes you a lot.

I have purchased the PE4H v2.0a and have successfully gotten it working on my ThinkPad T61 with a VisionTek Radeon HD 4850 512MB. The performance is much better than my stock Quadro NVS 140M with 869MB of dedicated vRAM, but much worse than on my desktop, as expected. Here are my system specs and some benchmarks I have run, which I am providing both to get good advice and to contribute to the knowledge base of external notebook graphics.

Dektop System:
CPU: Intel Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Reaper DDR2 @ 800MHz
GFX: Radeon HD 4850 512MB

ThinkPad T61:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz
RAM: 2GB of whatever they put in it
GFX: Quadro NVS 140M with 869MB of vRAM (this number fluctuates slightly in Everest, though it is supposedly dedicated).


Here are the results of the tests I performed:

===Stock T61===

3DMark Score 1692 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 667
SM 3.0 Score 559
CPU Score 1667

RE5 var DX9: 11.5 - C
RE5 var DX10: 11 - C

DMC4s4 DX9: 14.08
DMC4s4 DX10: 13.56


===HD 4850 T61 at x1===

3DMark Score 6908 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3208
SM 3.0 Score 3060
CPU Score 1655

RE5 var DX9: 37.5 - B
RE5 var DX10: 31.1 - B

DMC4s4 DX9: 33.77
DMC4s4 DX10: 30.94


===HD 4850 Desktop===

3DMark Score 10589 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 3845
SM 3.0 Score 5291
CPU Score 2999

RE5 var DX9: 100.5 - S
RE5 var DX10: 86.9 - A

DMC4s4 DX9: 126.67
DMC4s4 DX10: 98.21


As you can see, linking my HD 4850 to my ThinkPad resulted in a huge performance boost, but it is still very far short of my desktop's performance (only about 35%). I would like to see how much I can increase my performance by moving to x1E, but I'm having trouble following the directions for Setup 1.x. I have downloaded 1.0e2 and have the image extracted to C:\ and it's all in one contiguous block, but the steps after that lose me. Am I supposed to decide if I want a boot item or a bootable USB drive and then follow the directions corresponding to the one I have selected?

I also have a few questions about Optimus performance. I saw in one of your posts, nando4, that you almost got the same 3dmark score on your laptop that a low-end desktop gets. You also mentioned that the RE5 benchmark was CPU limited, since there was no change moving from non-Optimus to Optimus in your test. I have an X201 tablet on the way with an i7 640LM, so if I were to get a GTX 460, do you think I could achieve near-desktop performance due to the lack of a limiting CPU? I've been reading diligently for the past two weeks, but I can't remember if I saw a comparison of Optimus at x1 and at x2 (x1E doesn't exist for Optimus, right?). Is there still a nice boost moving from x1 to x2 with Optimus? Thank you very much.

I'm about to run the DMC4 scene 4 benchmarks on my laptop and I'll edit this post with the results.

EDIT: Added scores for DMC4s4 on T61 with integrated graphics and attached HD 4850 at x1

 

WE don't have a mobility HD5650 versus GTX460/470@x1 comparison. I would guestimate that a GTX460/470 would outperform the HD5650.

The Y460 can be made to work with Optimus. Worst case scenario would be disabling the x16 port using DIY ViDock Setup 1.0e2 prior to bootup to ensure no contention issues.

Or you could save yourself some money and avoid the HD5650 option altogether. I believe some Y460 come with Intel graphics only OR consider a 14" Toshiba M645, either of which has an expresscard slot and would do a Optimus setup.

No x2+Optimus benchmarks as yet because no one has set it up. It would definitely be the highest performance setup to date if someone did.

Your tablet's i7-640LM is a ULV CPU which passmark says is equivalent to a T9600 or i3-350M. You'd want a full power i5 or i7 to get higher gaming performance graphics, eg: i5-540M or i7-620M.

 

I still haven't had luck getting x1E to work with my T60 ICH7M laptop. Just wondering if there are T60/61 users out there who got it to work?

 

Hi !

Ok I've apply the tutorial: Before and After

I don't thinks it's good, can you confirm ?

Thanks !

 

[Sorry, double message]

 

@donis

A DIY ViDock would yield better performance than the GT330m.

Here is a link with some benchmarks of the GT330m
Notebookcheck: NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M

The benchmarks of what others have tested can be found on page 1 of this thread. So as you can see, depending on the card you buy, (I would say gtx 460 or better) you will be able to do what you want with your computer, especially if its x2 capable.

 

Assuming I got the Y460, I would have to install nvidia drivers on it for optimus to work, right? Would these conflict with the ATI drivers in some way? In other words, would I have to completely uninstall the ATI drivers in addition to disabling the card for an external nvidia card to work using optimus? Wouldn't I need nvidia drivers either way (whether I was using optimus or not)? I'm not sure I completely understand how this all works yet...

 

Jeez, and the GT330 is one of the top of the line mobile GPU's nividia has out there currently... the ViDock or RaDock (Radeon+PE4H) surpasses them all... Definitely worthwhile investment if it suits your configuration...

 

Well, that's a bummer. I don't mind, though. The i7 it comes with is twice as powerful as the CPU in my current T61 and about 2/3 as powerful as my desktop's Q6600, so it should be alright.

I just tried out CoD 4 using my integrated 140M and my external HD 4850. The integrated 140M performed much better than the HD 4850 at x1. I am going to try to figure out x1E and see if that helps out a bit.

EDIT: Ah, bad news. The ExpressCard slot of my T61 is port 4, according to Everest:

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #4 In Use @ x1 (ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Video Adapter, ATI RV770/790 - High Definition Audio Controller)

I think that means x1E is not possible on my T61.

 

I am wondering what is the practical data transfer rate used by DIY ViDock? Is there a better work around for the laptops that do not have Express Card slot using upcoming converter for USB 3.0 ?

 

Even USB 3.0 can't touch internal PCIe 2.0 speeds... we're talking about mutil-GIGABYTE bandwidths here with PCIe 2, where they're saying USB 3.0 will be acheiving real-life numbers of 3.2Gbits/sec or 0.4 GBytes/sec. To answer your question, Expresscard delivers 2.5 GigaBITS persec, thats less than .3 GBytes/sec... And thats listed specs, not real-world, including overhead.

I believe no external device will ever come close (in the near future) to an internal PCIe configuration bandwidth allocation speeds. Theres just too much of a disparity given the current technology. This is due to the routing of information. Cords, adapters,etc. all reduce bandwidth. When you have an on-board device, bandwidths are seemingly limitless.

 

Damn... then laptops without built-in express card have no chance enjoying this, then.

 

Thanks to all of you, I have successfully set up a GTX460 on a PE4L, connected to a Thinkpad T510 (model 4314-2PU, with integrated NVS 3100, 4 GB RAM, Windows 7 64 bit) via expresscard. Works beautifully - plug and play (once you know what to plug, anyway).

I used a Sparkle Power Int'l ATX PSU (ATX-350PN), which seems to do the trick for now. It's not the cleanest setup, but it will do until I tinker with it some more.

I'll try to get some benchmarks done, try out the Optimus drivers, and take a few pictures, but for now I at least wanted to report success and thank everybody.

 

Zack, did you get the 768MB or 1GB version of the GTX? Can you please post or explain how gfx-intense games perform with it? Such as Dirt 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, etc..??

 

Not anymore i.e. NVIDIA Geforce GT 425M directly replaced GT330.

ASUS N53JQ-A1 - XOTIC PC - ASUS Custom Laptop

 

I got the MSI 1GB Cyclone version of the GTX460. The power connections to the PSU were a little tricky to figure out - the GTX460 needs two 6-pin power connections from the PSU, so it's important to take a good look at the power output from the PSU to see how the power comes out and which molex connectors to use. I guess anyone with experience knows that already, though.

So far, I got it all set up, fired up Dirt 2 at 1900x1080, set up most graphics levels at high, and started gaming. My eyes were getting tired in the wee hours of the morning, but it seemed fantastic. I'll keep bumping them up until the frame rates go down, but I can't test at higher resolutions just yet. That card is quiet to begin with, but I don't think it was even working up much of a sweat with Dirt 2.

 

Any way to get past the 25 fps cap on an internal monitor with a 1GB 5870?

 

But you cant get Dirt 2 in ultra with gtx460 ?
In desktop you can play DIrt2 1920x1080 with ALL MAX settings 60fps
with gtx460 !!
And in vidock you cant ?

 

Hi, I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to make the leap. I've read quite a bit but I'm still foggy on some things. My current system is as follows:

Thinkpad x201
i5-520m
Intel HD
Expresscard 54mm


I have a ATI HD4670 ( Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4670/DI/512MD3 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card) sitting around that I figured I might as well use. A few questions:

1. Without opening up my system it's only capable of 1x speed? Therefore I'd purchase a PE4L and a PSU, right?
2. If I purchase a better graphics card at a later date, can I still use the PE4L and PSU for that setup and toss the HD4670?
3. Is any of this even worth it because the ATI HD4670 is relatively old and the Intel HD is relatively powerful for integrated graphics?

P.S. I ran 3DMark03 and got 3603 with my current setup.

Thanks for the time and consideration guys.

Regards,
Joe

 

dude wut r u talking about? Zack WAS talking about his performance WITH the vidock installed with GTX 460..

 

Yo zak we got kinda the same setup.. I tried to PM you but i guess u have it OFF in ur settings.. anyway, I got the MSI GTX460 768MB version, and games SCREEEAM on it with all settings maxed out...dont be fooled with ridiculous, mis-leading bench marking software, it'll tell ya you comps a POS but trust me, when it comes to real-life gaming, yours will even perform bettern than mine... I ran BF:BC2 today after I installed that puppy and I maxed out ALL settings, Im talking BAIO to HIGH, Ambient Occulsion HIGH, 16xQSAA, AFx12, rez @ 1920 x 1200, and averaging about 50 FPS... couldnt even DREAM of doing that with my dinky onboard GPU 130M..

Games less-graphically intense, such as left for dead 2, FPS bursts into the over 90+mark.. again, with all settings MAXED out.. Sometimes she runs so smooth Ill over-move the position of the mouse when the fighting is intense just because ive been accustomed to such lag over the past year.. It's great, I have a lot more testing to be done with real life gameplay of various games.

but listen, dont pay any attention to 3dmark06 with their wacked-out results... Their result reflect absolutely nothing when it comes to real world gameplay and performance, as I stated before. I benched my GTX the second I installed it and 3dcrap06 gave me a 5000!!! LOL!!! thats about the same as my onboard GPU.. same goes for Vantage and PCMark and whatever elese moneymakers they can think of next... I seriously question their result integrity at this point.

Anyway zak shoot me a PM (when u finally turn urs on lol) and we'll talk more about individual results and specs... good luck bud hope installation went OK..

 

1. Yes. PE4L+PSU is all that's needed.
2. Yes, as long as the PSU is powerful enough to drive your replacement video card.

3. Even with a HD4670 it's worth it. It will boost performance over Intel HD. A NVidia GTX4xx, eg: US$300 GTX460-768MB setup will move that to another level altogether. You have Intel HD IGP so qualify for the Optimus setup, providing seemless internal LCD usage AND tweak performance to low desktop levels.

Great result. Very pleased to hear you got the GTX460 working and can ditch the disappointing HD5750.

 

Nando, is there any solution to get past the internal monitor 25 FPS cap with a radeon 5870?

 

None found as yet. Probably some registry setting somewhere. Only time I've seen > 30FPS using the internal LCD was with the NVidia Optimus setup. THough in your circumstance you'd need to upgrade from your M1330 and require a NVidia GTX4xx card to qualify.

 

Ok, returned on Radeon 5750 due to poor performance and got myself a MSI GTX460 768 MB. Could have gotten the 1 GB but wasnt in stock and I didnt feel like waiting... Anyway, here are some photos of setup.









Will be submitting benchmarks but already performed a few and for some reason they do not in any way reflect true gameplay performance.

 

You can just test the GTX460 with RE deffault settings benchmark !?
I have 45fps with both test without Vidock
Just my vaio !

how gtx460 will be better ?