DIY eGPU experiences

Kuz you'll get to have a neat-looking setup like me (see above) and impress all ur buddies

Nando, Ill leave this one to u...

 

Thanks Nando!

Cool, so supposing I am willing to pop open my laptop how do I find out how many PCI ports I have open? I have QM57 so I have 8 ports (am I doing this right?) so I'm bound to have at least two open to use for the 2x 1.0? (I don't want to have to remove anything to open one up) Is there a program to check this or should i just pop it open, take a picture, and post? Lastly, if I have more than 2 PCI ports open can I do even more links for more performance? Thanks again for all your hard work and willingness to help others Nando. =D

Regards,
Joe

EDIT: Ideally I want the most performance while still keeping all current functionality of my laptop when not plugged in to DIY Vidock.

 

Well, you could check using Everest to see what ports are free or being used up. In theory you can connect up to 4 connection to the pe4h. However no one has had any success with more than 2 connections though

 

Anyone has experience with the real Vidock ? with comes with a PSU and Case ..
with Vidock 4 plus, can i setup optimus driver ?

ViDock4 Plus Specifications :
Enclosure material - Black anodized aluminum
Card slot connector x16 PCI Express

Power to PCI Express slot - 75 W maximum
6 pin power connector 1 - 75 W maximum
6 pin power connector 2 - 75 W maximum
Total power - 225 W maximum

This with gtx460 maybe can run the same PE4h perfomance ?!

 

New Benchmark data with the GTX460 768MB OC'd Res. Evil 5 Variable...
Keep in mind this is 1920 x 1200 res, motion blur set on, with C16xQ AA...

 

Thanks!

I attached what Everest read, where are the other numbered slots? Also it says PCI-E 2.0 does that mean I can naturally get 1x 2.0 speed? Sorry for my ignorance.


P.S. Are the slots 1 and 4 enough to get 2x 1 speed or am I going to have to reconfigure some things? If I have to reconfigure say the placement of the wireless card or something else will this negatively effect the system? Thanks for all the help!

Regards,
Joe

 

First post of this thread goes into detail on requirements for a x2 link.

The Optimus enhancements require a 4500MHD or Intel HD Intel IGP. Without them the driver reverts to non-Optimus mode.

No vidock4 experiences since it was just released. ViDock4+ has only enough power to drive a GTX460/GTX465. A GTX470 requires 232W and a GTX480 even more.

If budget minded but want some protection for your graphics card, consider a PE4H+400W miniITX PSU+GTX470+backplate as described here. Comes out to US$430 total. A Vidock4 starts at US$295 so likely ViDock4+ will be $395(??), then add your graphics card costs.

FYI: GTX470 available for < US$270, backplate for US$20

Eg: here. There have been GTX470 deals for as low as US$230. A GTX470 is a larger card than a GTX460 and consumes more power but it can be overclocked to beyond GTX480 levels, an area which an air-cooled overclocked GTX460 can't reach.

In a non-optimus setup, the difference in performance between a GTX460 and a GTX470 will be minor. In an Optimus-enhancements setup the extra bandwidth gives a GTX470 room to outperform a GTX460.

Another important benefit a GTX470 offers is a US$20 backplate option. Provides extra protection and gives a great look to an exposed card. There are no backplates available for a GTX460 as yet.

 

PanzerHauptmann, are you using x1 optimus configuration?

 

Which of these external cards would work well with OSX Snow Leopard?

 

Probably, my Mac OSX detected it but doesn't use as main screen and no idea how to do this.

 

Nope, can't with my laptop. Don't have intel HD chipset or IPG thingy-maggiger, a pre-requisite for Optimus to work.

 

New benchmark with Just Cause 2. Not bad!

 

just out of curiosity which scenario did u use for this benchmark? was it concrete jungle or the other 2?

 

The Dark Tower. Seems to be a pretty strenuous test when compared to the others I thought.

 

could you also do one on concrete jungle.

 

I just sent this message to nando, but then im thinkin I could also use anyones input on the issue... Anyone else with a DIY ViDock GTX 470 (EVGA) having the same issues as below??

"Nando... hey there buddy...

Went to compusa and returned 460 for the EVGA 470 1.2GB.. Got home, installed, no issues...

I decided to fire up MSI Afterburner to overclock it a bit, nothing too strenuous, about 100 Mhz over factory.. The card sits right next to my mouse pad and I can feel the heat being let out thru the vents in the front bracket... on the radeon and 460 that never happened, but im like OK no big deal this one runs a bit warmer than the others...

suddenly, during whatever game I was playing, I hear a slight "tick" sound from the card, and immediately my monitor goes black... I cant get the laptop display to come up so I reboot... I figured "wow, I guess you cant OC this sucker like u can the 460", so after the reboot I left the factory specs on the card and fired up Gears of War... about 15 mins into playing the game the same thing happens, a tick and then blank screen..

After this time now I am seriously worrying is going on, so I inspect and feel the card itself and it is extremely hot.. the metal front bracket is just barely touchable, if it was any warmer it would've burnt me. So now Im thinkin its definitely a heat issue.. but then i was thinking more, and one hypothesis was that perhaps the card is SO powerful that it's trying to send so much information into the Expresscard bus and the data is literally being "sent back" in a sense, thus causing it to freeze up and crash..

Any ideas??? Just using my desktop normally and web browser I can feel slight heat being emitted from the vents, something I never experienced with the other two cards... "

 

I don't quite understand where is explains in the first post, I've reread it a couple times. I understand that I need to "link" two of the sequential PCI ports but I don't understand how?

From reading elsewhere I've seen you recommending or suggesting it has to be the slot adjacent to the wireless card, so in my case it'd be slots 5 and 6? Sorry for my lack of understanding but I'm having trouble grasping how to link the ports, can someone help clarify or point me exactly to where it explains? Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Joe

 

The GF100 on the GTX470 has 3 billion transistors. The GF104 on the GTX460 has 1.95 billion transistors. Meaning the GTX460 consumes less power and runs cooler.

The click noise is your PSU cutting out. Get the Corsair CX400 PSU and the click will go away. The GTX470 needs a very good PSU to drive it, moreso if overclocking. I burnt up two cheap PSUs figuring that out. ATM running 2xcheap ATX PSUs in parallel to drive my GTX470. I also needed to solder a wire across the fuse on the PE4H 2.0 to get it to work without cutting out. PE4H 2.1 will correct that. The PE4L doesn't have a fuse so my GTX470 worked without any problems on it.

1. Identify what ports your mPCIe and expresscard slots map out. Then consider if they can be combined to be a x2 link. Ie: p1+2, p3+4, p5+6. You may need an e-sata card and/or swapping out your wifi card into other slots to do that, observing what the device comes up in Everest as. You can't do x2 using other intermediate combinations, eg: p1+3, p2+4.

2. If have the right port layout, proceed to purchase a PE4H-EC2C+PM3N (combines expresscard + mPCIe slot) or PE4H-PM3M+PM3N (combines mPCIe + mPCIe). You'd be attaching 2 mini HDMI cables from these ports running to lane1 and lane2 mini HDMI connector on the PE4H.

3. You'll need DIY ViDock Setup 1.x to switch the required port into x2 mode prior to chainloading your OS.

 

Not quite as impressive lol... I can see that this scenario was MUCH more graphically demanding than Dark Tower.. Looks like any card would have a tough time with that one... AND this is with my new GTX470...

 

gtx 470 eats 230W max The Truth About Graphics Power Requirements V2 - Atomic 3.0 no wonder it'll be hot. Does it have a plastic cover with tiny vents?
also somebody fried their pe4h with a 480 b/c of too much current going through it

 

I've been looking at this thread and based on what I've seen, I'll only be able to run the DIY ViDock in x1 mode. Can someone confirm this? My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L305D.

 

Can some one post results on how games like Mass Effect 2, Just Cause 2, Gears of War and The Last Remnant will run on similar system to mine 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo (T8300) 2gb ram stock Nvidia 8600m GT with 460gtx or 465gtx diy vidock win7?

 

Hello everyone, i have been watching on this thread, and considered i should also build a ViDock.

But i have some questions.

Will it work on a HP DV9690en (DV9000 Series)?
Some of its specs:

Intel Core2Duo T7500 2.2Ghz
3GB RAM
GeForce 8600M GS
Southbridge - ICH8-ME
Chipset - PM965

Im tihnking of getting PE4L, its cheaper and i dont think i need 2x link. (Dont know about x1E thought) And some cheap video card, like 9600GS, will it be a good setup?
Maybe some suggestions?

Thank you, KeNNy.

 

@Manic_Relapse yes it seems that you can only do a x1 but why is your port labeled 247

@Max399 what is your primary purpose for the vidock. If it is for gaming then i suggest a better card such as the gtx 4xx. Also does your laptops have an express card slot? If it does then you are mostly good to go.

 

Im thinking of it as for gaming, just that i got the budget of 150-200$ for all and i cant get a GTX4xx. So im searching for some alternitives that will be better tham my card and will let me play if not on high but on normal for sure.

P.S: I've go the second ove of this image: -image-, i think it will be enough.

 

why don't you go for a 5750 or 5670 then. It gives quite a good performance compared to the 9600 gs. If i am not mistaken you could get a 5670 together with the pe4l for less then 200$ based on the numbers in the first page under the pros section

 

@jamesbond007 I really don't know why the port is #247. I'll just have to live with x1 until I get a different computer. Thanks for the info.

 

So I just figured my wifi card is port 5 and expresscard slot is 4, do I have any other options for a 2x 1.0 or does that mean I'm out of luck? Is there a way to find out what's on port 3 or 6 (they don't show in Everest?) and use those one of those pairs or is that imposssible? btw Thanks to nando and everyone else that's been helping me.

Regards,
Joe

 

I've managed to free port 1+2 on my Studio 1749 (HM55), so i'm just about ready to try for a 2x setup..

However Everest reports them as PCI-E 2.0 x1 sockets... so does this mean i'll get a 2.0 x2 setup? Is there any benchmarks for 2.0 x2 vs 1.0 x2??

 

@nando anyone else with this issue with PE4H:

I've noticed that, due to the weight of my GTX470 and the way it's designed, (not to sit upright for one) tends to lean to one side a bit in the PE4H when in-place. I know this seems a bit trivial but Im thinking over time perhaps this may dislodge or put stresses on the connectors.

Is there anything that anyone uses as a counter-balance of sorts or a type of config where it doesn't lean and sits upright completely? I currently am using some wood shims to give it a little resistance but it's not working very well as the slightest movement of my desk causes it to fall. =( any ideaS?

 

@idevbettergames Unfortunately you can't do x2 with a combination of port 4 and 5. Does it show empty in everest or is the port number not shown at all. If it does not show the port number on everest then it is possible that those ports do not exist or there is no connection for them for your laptop. The manufacturer does not necessarily use all the supported ports.

@Conan257 In theory you should get x2 2.0 speeds but the express card does not seem to have the bandwidth that express card 2.0 should have. There are indications that intel have not fully implemented the express card 2.0 speed yet so the speed might only be a v1.0

 

@jamesbond007 Thanks, It only shows 1, 4(expresscard slot), 5(wifi), So even though the chipset is capable of having the other ports the mfg doesn't need to use them? Is there a way to utilize them regardless (I have QM57 chipset so I should have 8)?

 

Hi,
I just want to know did someone had make a benchemark of gtx 460
768mb vs 1gb vs 2 gb.
did in 1x setup the 2gb will give a big difference vs 1 gb ?
Is the price difference worth it ??

 

@idevbettergames I am afraid you can't. Although it can support up to 8 ports it really depends on the manufacturer. If they only require say 2 mini pcie slot and 1 for express card and lan then they will only use 4 port of the available 8. There rest can't be used as there is no physical connection to it. You might be able to enable it but there is no port on the motherboard to connect too.

@kevenp I am not sure about the 1gb vs 2 gb but if am not mistaken there is comparison between the 768mb and the 1gb and i believe the premium you pay for the 1 gb is not worth it for the performance improvement you get.

 

I'm still eagerly awaiting the day a Radeon 5870 can be used on the laptop screen without the 25 FPS cap.

Apparently hwtools didn't get my invoice, so I have to send it again.

 

Trying to order from Harmonic Inversion, their site has been down the past 4 days or so and now their cart isn't working, anyone confirm issues? Considering purchasing from hwtools if HI doesn't get up soon.

 

I just purchased from hwtools and had everything delivered to New York. I couldn't believe how fast it shipped. Came within 4 days of shipping.

 

So I have my dock put together and had to do some creative maneuvering to fit the PM3N in the Dell Latitude d630, (PEAH-PM3N) I was able to run windows 7 with the dock plugged in at the same time by doing sleep/resume method. The card is plugged in port 1 but I cannot get my computer to recognize the card. Everest says port 1 is in use by "unknown" and the device manager shows nothing, just my built in graphics under display adapters. nVidia won't allow me to install desktop drivers because it cannot find the hardware. Can someone point me to a solution? Thanks.

 

If you are running an ATX PSU then put a blob of solder on the TP5 on the PM3N. PM3N schematic tells us will Force +3.3V power ON when short TP5.

Unless can find a spare mPCIe socket or pads for it that correspond to port3 or port6 then you are out of luck unless you have the gear to lift the southbridge chip and wire to it directly [not really feasible]. So instead consider upgrading x2 capable system as listed on the first post of this thread, eg: Dell Studio 1558, preferrably with Intel 4500MHD or HD graphics if want the NVidia Optimus-enhancements. IGP candidate system work well for a DIY ViDock setup as they are cheaper and have better battery life than ones with some form of dedicated graphics.

Nope. Intel have only done pci-e 2.0 power management on these ports. They haven't given up 5Gbps speed as yet. Need to wait for expresscard 2.0 for that.

 

Good news, by doing a simple "Scan for Hardware Changes" in the device manager I was able to get the manager to recognize the card as being "standard vga adapter." From here I could install the latest nVidia drivers. After a reboot and a sleep/resume, I had to tell the device manager to search for hardware changes again, but this time it recognized it as the GTX 460.

@nando, Would soldering prevent me from having to scan for new hardware everytime?


-Now its time for PCI allocation. I'm slightly confused because I'm using setup v1.0e2 beta. I made a USB bootable, (hopefully correctly) and when I boot to it, I get a "starting windows 98" then a c:\. This is very similar to what flaunt described a few weeks ago. I can't make any sort of menu appear by typing cd\setup, cd\core, or cd\config. Having a little trouble with this part

 

Good to hear it works. You could do one of two things to get the GTX460 up and running as quickly as possible:

1. Boot system with PM3N+GTX460 attached. Set PM3N jumper for 7second delay if bios hangs. No need for resume/standby in that case.

2. Place a shortcut on your desktop to run 'devcon rescan', the same thing as the "Scan For New Hardware" item in device manager without clicking so many things to get there. Can be scripted to run automatically after a resume as described here. Devcon is included with the DIY ViDock Setup 1.x in the \devcon directory.

 

- Good suggestions, thank you so much. I will have to play with it some once i get it working. First however, I need to figure out doing the allocation.


Hmmm been fiddling with the USB bootup. I can't seem to get any menus to open up like I've read other people doing. Well off to bed, We'll see what happens tomorrow.

 

I got all those games and they avg about 25-30 FPS on 1920 x 1200 with HIGH settings, and perhaps AA on 2 or 4x. I have a similar setup as yours, i got 2.26 Ghz CPU 4GB ram..

Gears runs GREAT on it... looks utterly amazing honestly. couldnt even think about these settings with laptop GPU

Games with Source engine like L4D2, Counter-Strike, run great... can max out all settings and get bursts up to ~80 FPS.. 16xQsAA, etc...

Only downside is when theres a lot of action on the screen u get occasional slow-down, in the teens FPS... Thats from Expresskard bottleneck =( anyways goodluck hope this helped. if u need PROOF i can probably do a screen capture with FRAPZ but will take me a day or two..

 

Thanks nando, I'm going to buy gear for a x1 setup and report back with benchmarks/more trouble when I run into it.

Edit: HIT just got PE4H's in stock today but are out of stock on PE4L's and won't be back in until Aug 28th.

Out of curiosity has anyone made setups without any external power source? I think I'm going to try one with just the PE4L and a Radeon HD4670 and was just curious what people's experiences were. I know the HD4670 is supposed to stay below 75W even at peak which the PE4L should be able to provide but I'm still semi-worried.

Regards,
Joe

 

Hmm.. I'm using setup v1.0e2 beta. I finally figured out how to get to the menu by typing the following at the c:\>
NOTE: (INPUT) signifies what I typed in and (OUTPUT) signifies what was returned. Here we go...

(INPUT) cd core
(OUTPUT) C:\CORE>
(INPUT)grub

This brought me to the startup menu. There are four options. I chose the second option (menu-based)

I made it to the menu. Keep in mind that up to this point the ViDock is off.

1.Tested the chainloader and it successfully starts windows 7 x64bit

2.Now, as advised I powered on the ViDock and hit F5. Normally when my computer recognizes the card the fans on the card slow down. When I hit F5 it appears nothing happens. The fans on the card stay at a fast speed.
Under status menu P1@x1 (which the dock occupies) shows nothing to the right of it. The other ports p2 & p6 show what occupies them. There is a nVidia card, shown as vid_1 in the upperright, but i believe thats my built in graphics. If I try to compact space for that, it gets stuck at the following:

call R:\config\pci.bat,

Are any of you experience with troubleshooting the pci allocation? Thanks everyone.

----------------------------UPDATE----------------------------------
I think the problem is creating the devcon.txt in the config folder,
I just notice the WARNING! that says the devcon.txt doesn't exsist when I boot up
menu from grub.
----------------------------UPDATE 2---------------------------------
I successfully managed to remake a USB bootable thumbdrive with the devcon.txt in the config folder but the problem with allocation still exists.
When I boot into the DIY ViDock Setup 1.0e2 menu, the status menu to the right of the screen reads the following:

STATUS______________
using_devcon_file:yes
pci_alloc_valid: no
pci_written: no
vid_1=10de:042b (NVidia)
____________________
p1@x1
p2@x1 8086:4229@x1 (Intel)
p6@x1 14e4:1673@x1
________________________
[A:\config\startup.bat]
call pci
call grub4dos w7

 

@idevbettergames

Do you not want to buy an external power source? I don't understand why you wouldn't just get a PSU. Don't have the budget? desktop space?

 

Unplug the mini HDMI cable with the GTX460 on, then replug it back in. Fan should make a hiss noise signifying the GTX460 is now visible on the pci bus. F5 to rescan. If the GTX460 isn't detected put a blob of solder on the PM3N TP5. Proceeded then to do only selective compaction on the GTX460 once it appears.

My GTX470 was in an unconfigured state as reported by nvflash when hotplugged in this way in DOS. It was necessary to reboot, run the generated pci.bat (via the automated startup via startup.bat option) which chainloads to Win7 then do a standby, powerup GTX470, resume and it works with no error 12 on the 2510P.

@idevbettergames - you'll need a 12V/75W PSU to power the slot if the card has no pci-e power connectors.

 

I soldered the tp5, started up the USB boot and entered the DIY VidDock Setup 1.0e2. What I noticed is different is that the p1@x1 is the only port shown under status. There is nothing next to it. This is the port the vidock is connected to. I tried unplugging and replugging in the mini HDMI. Fans are at full spin during this time so no "hiss" is present. When the gtx 460 is detected should it appear next to the p1@x1?

Worth mentioning-----------
1.Right now the jp3 of the PM3N is closed.
2.I'm using an ATX power supply with the Vidock, and I'm turning on the dock with the SWEX

-----------------UPDATE----------------------------
After soldering I lost wireless capabilities when I sleep/resume the card in windows. Does this make sense?
Is it because the jp3 is closed?
----------------UPDATE 2----------------------------
I opened the jp3 and I got back my wireless. I accidentally closed it by putting that little part on when I was soldering. I thought it fell off.
--------------------UPDATE 3----------------------
@nando

Ran the same procedure you described. I opened DIY ViDOck Setup 1.0e2, turned on the Vidock, unplugged the mini-hdmi for five seconds, plugged it back in, f5 rescan, and still nothing on the p1@x1.

 

@nando I thought the expresscard drew 12V/75W from the mobo? Hence allowing a HD4670 to run just off of the PE4L?

 

Well, I got my HD 4850 and when I try to power it on, the power supply fan and the card fan turn for a second and then shut off. I'm using a 300 wat ATX power supply. Could it possibly be that the power supply is too weak?