DIY eGPU experiences

A 300W PSU should be fine for that radeon card... check ur connector settings again and make sure everything is tightly connected..then well go from there..

BTW, what kind of setup do u have? PE4H w/ SWEX adapter? please elaborate on ur hardware a bit..

 

300W should be more than enough to drive a 4850. What are the conditions when you are turning the dock on?

 

@Panzer

haha why is it that someone always beats me to a reply. Oh well.

Hey panzer I have a question for you. You were finally able to get a gtx 4xx running right? I'm having troubles with the pci allocation .

 

@xbrick:

PM me with ur OS configuration (win7 x64, or whatever, etc) and well talk more.. i was thinking of PMing u bc I noticed and u and I both were having similar problems. and yes I got my GTX to work with no issues.. got a GTX470 now actually, have had 3 different cards so far, and they all work, dont even need to use the sleep/resume setting... Nor did i need the DiY setup 1.x... So let me know whats up.

PS. let me know how u got it hooked up with ur hardware specs (pe4h, etc) and what it is saying in Device manager when u click on Display Adapters.

My solution was quite simple...Ill let u know when u PM me.

 

Since your GTX460 isn't been detected after hotplugging in Setup 1.x, compact can't allocate for it. In which case you'd need to modify the following to pre-allocate space for it prior to chainloading Win7. This is what my 2510P uses, but I've changed the port to be port1 (0:1c.0). You'll need to ID in Device Manager a free range in place of the fc000000-feb00000 I have below (fc00, feb0):

\config\pci.bat

Code:

setpci -s 0:1c.0 20.w=fc00 22.w=feb0 24.w=401 28.l=3 26.w=ff1 2c.l=3 1c.b=30 1d.b=30

 

@Brick I'm a poor college student so the extra money and the desktop space is very limited. I think i'm going to end up doing the laptop adapter hack to save on space and possibly money, I may have a spare sitting around here.

I'm still confused though, I thought for sure that expresscard pulled at least 75W from the mobo, can someone confirm me being wrong?

 

Hi Nando4 and all other contributers!

I was wondering if you guys could help me with getting the diy vidock to work on my system.
I have a DELL E6400 with 4GB of ram and Win7 64bit.
I have a crappy ati HD3400 card I am using to make sure this works before going out and buying a better video card.

Once I do the PCI config space -> 36bit, when I get into windows, I cannot see my external gfx card. Here is what I am doing:

1. Start laptop with diy vidock off (power on, but pci-e card unplugged)
2. boot into diy vidock setup
3. while the timer is counting down, put in the pci-e card.
4. get into the set up program, I can see:

Using devcon file: yes
pci_alloc_valid: no
pci_written: no
vid_0=8086:2a43 (intel) <-- onboard
vid_2=1002:95c5 (ATi) <-- external 3400 card
------
p1@x1
p2@x1 8086:4235@1x (Intel)
p3@x1
p4@x1 1002:95c5@1x (ATi)

5. OK, now I try to compact the pci space
method: 36-bit
6. perform 36-bit compaction on?
this is where I get confused, not quite sure what to select here, the intel or the ati card? anyway, I select Vid_2 (external ATi)
7. force which gfx to 32-bit?
I select the Intel internal

Everything seems to go OK, and afterwards I see:

pci_alloc_valid: yes
pci_written: yes
free@f0000000 (64MB)

After that, I chainload into win7, sleep/resume- but the ATI card never shows up, even if I rescan hardware etc.

If do things the other way around (compact onboard intel and move ati to 32bit):

free@e0000000 (256MB)

Then I chainload to windows and I can see both cards, but the the graphics are like 16 colours, and the intel controller fails to start with error 12 as well as my wifi adapter. I dont have any options to resume etc.

If I select to compact all video cards, the (onboard) screen goes black and I cant see anything.

Another thing, I have a dock for my latop, but as soon as I compact anything, the keyboard onboard and external no longer works. So I have been doing all this stuff off the dock.
what am I doing wrong? :-(

 

Thanks for your suggestion!

______________________
Watch Piranha 3-D Movie Online for Free

 

The great thing about being a poor college student is there are plenty of people upgrading their desktops. I got my psu from a college friend who was doing just this. Sometimes when campuses upgrade their computers they either donate or toss all the old ones. Maybe a nice tech would let you scavenge for parts? Basically I think finding a used psu would be your best bet.

About your question, I'm not sure of the answer but I hope you find one soon!

 

Ensure you have the latest 4500MHD and Catalyst drivers. Use 36-bit compaction choosing vid_0 and vid_2. First try force32=none. Then try vid_0, finally try vid_2. Also ensure in Win7 you uninstall existing 4500MHD and HD3400 drivers as they appear to keep 'remnants' of previous PCI Config space details.

Finally try with a newer HD5xxx or GTX4xxx video card. The Dell Inspiron 1440, also with 4500MHD, has Win7 automatically do 36-bit PCI allocation for either of my HD5750 or GTX470 with latest Catalyst/Forceware drivers.

 

Ok, I have a power supply that works, everything is on. I'm using the PE4H to EC2C adapter. My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L305D running on Vista 32 bit. My computer is detecting that the graphics card is connected, but the Catalyst Control Center doesn't detect the other display. In windows device manager, it says that the HD4850 is working correctly, but it isn't using any resources because "it has a problem". Here are some images that show the problems:

 

Try Catalyst 10.2 as described here which should have one driver for both the X1200 and the HD4850. It looks like you have a very recent Catalyst driving the HD4850 and an older driver for the x1200, which won't work.

Actually, Catalyst 10.2 tells you here to use Catalyst 9.3 when combining X1200+HD4850.

 

I've had a working setup for over a couple weeks now, but just today when I tried to plug in my card it's refusing to detect any external displays. Funny symptom is the card itself is detected and visible in my device manager, but when I try to extend or switch to my external display Windows complains that no external display is found. Has anyone come across a similar issue? I may try ordering a new mini-hdmi cable to see if that's the cause.

 

Will give it a go now. Thanks for your help.

 

I tried using both 10.2 and 9.3 and nothing was different. Could there be any other reasons why the card isn't using any resources? I just don't get why it says it has the proper drivers, but won't give the card control of the display. Catalyst still won't detect it. Also, when I try to do a devcon dry run, command prompt says that devcon is an invalid command. Because of that, I can't use a devcon file.

Actually, I just came across something strange. I have a 400 watt ATX power supply attached to the card. It is attached to the graphics card itself and the adapter. I don't have a 12v PSU with enough watts to use on the adapter itself. My computer recognizes the graphics card in the same manner, regardless of whether it has the power turned on or not. Could it be that the adapter isn't getting enough power? Do I need to have a 12v PSU on the PE4H and an ATX PSU on the graphics card?

 

Little question: If i got a nVidia card on my PC, will it be Ok if i get an ATI card for the ViDock? I mean wont there be any problems with drivers?

 

@Max399 If you are using windows 7 then there should be no problem.

 

Try using the 10.1 drivers, they where the only ones that worked for my friend with a x1600

 

@Rorschach: I'll give that a shot when I can. I can't right now because I was borrowing that power supply. Thanks for the info.

UPDATE: I tried the driver, and it didn't work. I have yet to figure out what the issue is here. Also, I just tried using driver 9.2 and my computer blue screens every time I try to put the EC2C in.

 

Guys, could i have a little suggestion, would the folowing video card be good for the ViDock:

MSI HD 5450 PCIE 1GB GDDR3 VGA/DVI/HDMI

And would its performance be good enough to run for example GTA IV and Gaming in total?
I dont really like its Memory Interface value, which is 64.. But if i get 128 will it be much better, or i dont really need it?

P.S: Can i have x1E setup? ( -Screenshot-, and i got PE4L)

 

No. This card is for low-end, HTPC. You should buy 57xx or wait for new Fermi cards.

 

The problem with the 57xx and Fermix-GTX ones is that theyre too pricy.
I dont have that much money.
The max-one i can afford myself would be this one: -Link-
I cant go over that limit of money..

P.S: I still didnt get my question about x1E anwsered..

 

mPCIe (wifi) is port1. expresscard=port2. So can do x1E using a PM3N on port1. If you had a PE4H+EC2C+PM3N then could do x2E by combining port1+port2. From your shortlisted cards, a HD4670@x2 would be a faster card than the HD5570.

Since you probably have a PE4L+EC2C then can only do x1 on port2. In which case I'd highly recommend you buy a GTX460 to get good gaming performance.

 

Well, im not really into always pluging/unpluging the mPCIe, so il stick with the x1. Anyway a already ordered PE4L with EC2C..

You are confusing me on which card i should take, i cant come to a final solution
Which one should i get for the best Game performance on x1, the 5570 or 4670 and why? To me the 5570 is way better, it supports DX11, Pixel Shader Model 5.0, OpenGL 3.2.. The price of those two is the same here..

 

The relative performance shows a HD4670 is faster. Since you can't do a x1E link I'd still highly recommend you save up and get the cheapest GTX460 OR wait for a GTS4xx to be released. The real-world gaming performance a Fermi provides over a HD4xxx/5xxx well worth it. I don't think you'd be satisfied with the HD4670/HD5570 performance on a crippled Intel x1 1.0 link.

 

Thank you for that performance link, very interesting.
So i decided, il get a HD4670 1GB.
Wanted to get a HD5670, but it only had 512MB, so i went fo the HD4670, it was cheaper and had more VRAM.
My last quetion (I hope), since the HD4670 doesent have an aditional power connector, will i actually need a PSU? I've seen that PE4L provides 12v from the adapter, so i can dont need a PSU right?

 

V ram quantity isn't important, speed is. Even at ful 1980x1080 reso with everything set to max in Crysis in dx 10 mode the game won't utilise any more vram memory than 512MB. Ultra high reso's might but I doubt you will game at such high reso's and the 4670 1GB wouldn't be able to cope at those reso's at high settings anyways.

 

4670 1GB is 80$
5670 512MB is 95$
I think in this situation it would be better to take the 4670, because i still wont see the diffrance bettween those two on x1. And the VRAM will make some diffrance.

 

You probably won't see a huge difference however the 5xxx series card are 40nm vs 55nm of the 4xxx series therefore much more efficient and cool plus clock for clock will be faster ie 600mhz 5xxx will be more like 650mhz 4xxx series for same power. Also the 5xxx should have more shaders processors and also dx11 support for extra future proofing. I think those $15 extra are probably worth it. The 512mb extra on the 4670 will give you 0 extra power or performance especially as you are already bandwidth limited. Even on x16 link 1GB GDDR3 memory on a mid-range card is a complete marketing gimick. Always go for less and faster a solid and never changing rule.

Don't get me wrong the 4670 is a great card I went to great trouble getting mine and I love it but the 5xxx series card here is the better choice or the 46xx fermi cards are suggested above if you can wait for them.

KOI

 

The HD4870.2GB versus HD5750.1GB benchmark results show the HD5xxx series is more pci-e bandwidth efficient so it's the better card. You will need a 12V/75W adapter to power the PE4L slot.

 

Ok, il see what they have in the shop and take it.
Thank you.

 

Honestly, unleses you have an ultra-crappy onboard GPU, with that Radeon low-end card I doubt you're gonna see considerable performance increases to make all this setup worth your while... I already tried the 5750 and performance was near my GT 130M w/ 1GB vRAM... Like nando said, GTX4xx series tends to work the best with this configuration, and persoanlly, I would never want to go to all this trouble if I couldnt at LEAST play all games in 1920 x 1200 with full settings and achieve a minimum of 30-40 FPS.. you're not gonna get that with the 4500 or 46xx series Radeons, due to the way the chipsets handshake with each other, as Im told.. trust me, I have first hand experience, even with a much more powerful (and expensive) card (HD5750 1GB GDDR5 vRAM) Good luck max. oh and also, im crippled just like u with the 1x only capability, so you might as well maximize it as best you can...

 

So I'm looking at possible new laptops, and one in particular has me quite interested. It's the clevo b5100m, or sager np5125. The problem is, it doesn't have an expresscard slot, which is disastrous for my decision as I was thinking it'd be perfect if I could get that and use the 330m and optimus as a sort of perfect portable setup, then later on when I want more juice I could make a diy vidock (or buy one?) and do some plugged in gaming when I want.

So in regards to that laptop, first of all how much extra power would a gtx 460 + vidock get me over the 330m if the expresscard was actually IN the laptop?

Plus, is it at all feasible that the vidock stuff could in the future actually work over a usb 3.0 port? I'm curious as to why or why not but please let me know whether or not getting a laptop without an expresscard slot will demolish all future possibilities of getting a vidock setup.

Also, I'm looking at the last-gen clevo m860etu that has a matte 1920x1200 screen and also an expresscard slot, and a vidock might be interesting since the gpu is basically maxed at 260m or maybe even 280m, so in regards to that would a vidock with a 460 outperform a 260m or a 280m? Would using optimus make it outperform those cards? Would optimus still show the watermark on the internal lcd (until further notice)?

What is the deal with expresscard 2.0 if/when those become available? Would using an expresscard 2.0 vidock go faster in any expresscard slot, or do we have to wait for expresscard 2.0-enabled laptops?

If I were to get an official vidock, that i'm assuming is a box with the power supply built in and expresscard 2.0 support, which one is the right one to get for a gtx 460? Do the official vidocks support the whole optimus stuff you guys are experimenting with in here?

Finally, is the mini-pcie solution not very feasible because of the way you have to set it up? How do you all with a mini-pcie setup use your laptops while the bottom is open with a cord coming out of it? Case modding? I'm very curious for non-expresscard laptops.

 

Hi there,

I have a notebook with an expresscard slot, pcie 2.0, and am not wary of opening up my laptop, what is the fastest set up I could do? (I have read through a number of these pages but am still unclear.)

 

Well, i went to shop and got an HD5750 1GB today. Grr, it was 3 times more than i wanted to spend on it..
Waiting for the PE4L to come now..

P.S: Would a 175w BP be enough to power it?

 

Holy crap! I can't believe how well this thing works!

Right now I am working on a review of the 16x DIY ViDock paired up with a Lenovo ThinkPad T410s with Intel Graphics. Trial run was a cheap ATI 4350 card to see if it worked, and it was instantly recognized and drivers installed without a hitch. Boots flawlessly too.

Can't wait to move up to better graphics card

 

Tell us how the t410s goes with a new card!

I'm planning on getting a gtx460 1gb with the t410s and see how it goes

 

I wanna see a 16x diy vidock

 

Well initial stuff has it working great. This weekend I might be able to grab a GTS250 for some benchmarks, but the review will center around a GTX460.

Boots without any whitelist error, Windows 7 recognized the ATI card in seconds, automatically installing video and audio drivers (HDMI), and I was running in single display mode to an external monitor in probably 3 minutes. 100% painless!

http://www.harmonicinversion.com/pr...gory_id=1&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=191

Bought that kit.

 

You've splashed out for a HD5750 so why not add spend another 20-25% for a GTX460 768MB? The GTX460 will give you far better real gaming performance. Eg: NFS Shift on HD5750@x1 sees a jarring single digit FPS with multiple cars. GTX470@1920x1080 renders with incredible smoothness. Game looks great and is very playable. Ref too Panzer's and ithildin's GTX460 comments.

Looking forward to seeing your T410' i5+GTX460 DIY ViDock review. I hope you can benchmark some current games' performance like techpowerup does. The T410s' Intel HD primary gfx means you should get the Optimus performance tweaks.

 

Does anyone have an extra pm3n they want to sell me from the US?

 

Thanks for the info! Look forward to reading your review.

 

Hey guys, I'm planning on getting a Macbook Pro 13" which doesn't have an expresscard slot... is there anyhope for a Firewire solution?

If not, I'll have to wait for a future Macbook Pro that has USB 3.0 support and use ViDock which is supposed to support USB 3.0 in the future....

 

mmmm wouldn't count on it. Firewire and USB 3.0 arn't fast enough to yield good performance with the vidock. Express and mPCIe have much faster data transfer rates

 

The T410s should be Hybrid Graphics (aka. Switchable Graphics) does Windows 7 recognize all 3 GPUs? Makes me wonder if/how Optimus would work in a triple GPU scenario.

 

I used cardboard from my runing shoes and cut some holes. It's never hot and always quiet. And it fells nice as far as I did that "case" by myself =)
Bencmarking

 

I'd like to share my DIY Vidock experience with you. I haven't expect it to be so powerful.
My system:
-Lenovo X201
-Corsair 400W CX-400
-Palit GTX460 Sonic
It never gets hot. It's always quiet and it's extremely powerful.


I boot my laptop this way:
1. Make sure DIY Vidock is on.
2. Make sure express card out of your laptop.
3. Turn on the laptop.
4. Wait for Windows ready till pluging in. (If express card is pluged in with enabled DIY Vidock I'm getting blue screen when windows is trying to load)
5. Done. (In next 10 seconds it's ready to play)

Universal optimus 258.96 drivers 64-bit + PhysX:
3dMark06 - 14530 (1280x1024, every setting is default)
3dMark Vantage - 12192 (1280x1024, every setting is default, performance preset)

Integrated Intel HD:
3dMark06 - 1914 (1280x800)

Desktop 258.96 drivers:
3dMark06 - 5526 (every setting is default except resolution 1280x800)
3dMark Vantage - 8022 (1280x800, performance preset)



Just cause 2 v1.0.1
1280x1024 all high:
Dark Tower - 16.16
Concrete Jungle - 13.49
1280x1024 playable settings:
Dark Tower - 43.27
Concrete Jungle - 29.24
1600x900 settings that I'm using:
Dark Tower - 39.74
Concrete Jungle - 25.79
Resident evil 5 (full game), fixed mode, default settings:
DX9 - 58.9
DX10 - 59.6
Resident evil 5 (full game), variable mode,default:
DX9 - 100.6
DX10 - 90.9


I'd like to thank nando4 for the great thread that helps many people, Nautis for great drivers that provides significant performance improvment, and all of you guys for using, discussing and sharing your experience of using such a wonderful thing as DIY Vidock.
Fell free to ask me any question. Unfortunately my internet connection is quiet limited so I won't be able to do some other benchmarks.

 

Hi all,

I'd like to report a very frustrating issue I've been working on the past week. I had a working setup done a couple weeks ago (X201 + HD5670). Recently, the card would no longer work. The card is shown in the device manager and is running, but no screen output is possible. After trying many different solutions, it turns out the culprit is a new version of the Intel Integrated Graphics Driver which my system automatically updated to. To test this, I installed a fresh version of Windows and the DIY Vidock worked. When I updated the Intel driver, the DIY Vidock failed with the same symptoms as before.

It is working again now (third reinstall now), but if anyone else comes across a similar issue and has Intel Integrated Graphics onboard, hopefully this will be of some help.

 

Thank you for posting your great result. We now have another confirmation that the Optimus tweaks accelerate performance. Can you do the Vantage test with Physx set to the CPU in the NVidia Control Panel? That is the setting used to get accurate numbers to compare performance against other desktop and ATI graphics systems.

Something similar happened with the Inspiron 1440. My solution was to bootup in safe mode, uninstall the 4500MHD Intel device in Device Manager, then reboot and allow Win7 to PNP the 4500MHD. The HD5750 worked fine after that.

 

Here is the result:


I've just did FurMark test. After 10 minutes GPU was 84C. In the iddle it's 33C. I'll maybe cut some more holes in my cardboard box later (right now it isn't optimal cutted)