DIY eGPU experiences

Glad to help. Your PEL4+GTS450+free ATX PSU setup costing only $160AR. That's a lot of bang-per-buck.

I'd like to include your system in the first post so others can benefit from. Can you provide some DX9 benchmarks? Ie:3dmark06 and perhaps RE5/dx9@1280x800. An Everest port layout screenshot would be handy too to see if x1E/x2 is possible on your system.

 

Further update on my HP 2540P:

- First off, I realized that I had not used setup 1.x correctly the first time. I thought I had as the sound worked again, but I realized it worked again only because WLAN had stopped working instead

- Driver Sweep did not help with my directx 9/10 issue on the external monitor

- So in an attempt at correcting this directx issue, I tried to use setup 1.x properly this time. Thinking this might be the key, even though I never get a code 12 error on my GTX 460 when not using Setup 1.x. Here I encountered several issues/questions:

* Are you supposed to generate the devcon file when the vidock is plugged to the computer, or when it's unplugged? (I tried both ways)

* I used RW 1.4.7 (noting docusync's problems with the latest version) and loaded the bin file. Nvflash did not read "unconfigured" anymore, but it listed SEVEN GTX 460 adapters instead. Is that normal? It did not read "configured" anywhere.

* Bridging and most 32 and 36 methods did not work (message "no solution..."). 2 solutions looked good under Setup 1.x (all indicators "ok" and 256mb free) but resulted in Win 7 freezing while loading.
One solution resulted in win 7 listing and installing drivers for all seven GTX 460 adapters, which all got code 12 error. Am I supposed to uninstall/disable 6 of them to make one work?



Another solution resulted in the following situation: no more GTX 460 listed in the device manager, but a code 12 error for the express port itself:



* I might have messed the ports up in Setup 1.x (although it does look like I've restored the situation)




- Something you probably knew already, but just to confirm: o/c a GTX 460 when playing on the internal LCD is useless. Actually, you can probably underclock it significantly without seeing a decrease in performance on an internal LCD setup.

 

So since we are only powering a video card and nothing else. Is it better to buy a power supply with a single 12v rail at say 30amps
vs
a power supply with 2-3 12v rails at 15 amps each?

 

I believe so, but I am not an expert. Read Ithildin's detailed post here for more information

 

Nando4, do you already know any specific laptop that has Sandy bridge inside? I'm about to change my laptop sometime in the near future, and if there was any cheaper one, I would go for that...

 

Sure, I'll post that stuff when I get a chance. I've been enjoying the improved performance on games so far!

 

After looking for a while for a solution to "add" a HDMI port to my laptop, I ran into this topic.

From the posts I've read (haven't gone through the entire topic) most people seem to use the solution in the startpost for gaming, but what about HTPC purposes? Use this solution to send 1080p video material through a PE4L-EC2C and then through the HDMI port of a graphicscard.

If I look at the bandwith of the expresscard interface, I think it won't work. To much data. But I've never seen a solution like this so could be wrong

As for hardware, I've got a Toshiba Satellite A100-683, PSAA9E-09V018DU with some upgrades.
The T2250 CPU has been replaced by a T7600, the 120GB/5400rpm HDD has been replaced by a 250GB/7200rpm drive and I upgraded the RAM to 4GB.
OS: Tripleboot XP, 7 and Kubuntu 10.04.
As for PCIe slots:

The 1st is empty (no clue where it's located), 2nd is a Gb NIC expresscard, 3rd is wireless (that I rarely use, too slow) mini PCIe card.

 

Read blurb in the NVidia Optimus section about 1080p with the x1.Opt tweak can handle. Unfortunately your system cannot run x1.Opt. It can use the x1E tweak via the mPCIe port. Still not enough bandwidth for 1080p. Unless you use 16-bit color or run 30FPS.

SB DV7-4290US is already in the shelves in the US. No expresscard slot though. Means many more systems will be available soon.

 

nothing beat XGP for bandwidth (essentially External PCI-E X16.. like ESATA)

 

Are you saying if you have a e-sata port on your laptop. You can do the same vi-dock type thing...but with pretty much full x16 potential?

 

Yes, but the problem is getting manufacturer uptake of XGP. So far we see only a handful of previous-gen AMD-based implementions. Onboard dedicated graphics ensures built in gpu redundancy forcing users to upgrade every 2 yrs to run the latest games. External graphics does not.

The closest to external x16 we've see is the retrofit in http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...nal-mxm-connector-external-pci-e-x16-box.html of which there is no practical result as yet.

DIY ViDock's x1 has only 6.3% the bandwidth of x16. Yet we find that x1.Opt implementations outperform your XGP <strike>HD3650</strike> HD3870 in benchmarks, so is not too shabby at all. Sandy Bridge chipsets double bandwidth to 5GT/s speed, which with the x1.Opt tweak will give some pretty impressive results.

 

One: That is HD 3870
Two: It is severely limited by AMD 1.2Ghz CPU (equivalent to 0.9Ghz Core 2 btw), a GTX 460 on desktop (Phanom II X4) could net you similar FPS @ 1920X1080 8XAA/16XAF ULTRA HIGH scene 4 of DMC 4 (107fps), vs 1280X720 with no AA/AF on X2, this just show how much the graphic card are starving for bandwidth, now imagine SB notebook paired with GTX580 running full X16 XGP...


But I think you pretty much summed why notebook makers were reluctant to put XGP on, less incentive to upgrade notebook consider the profit goes to graphic card companies rather then notebook companies, so by limiting the upgrade option it would force us to buy new notebooks, that goes the Capitalism..

Beside XGP can pretty much used for external south bridge and connect a whole lot of stuff and won't see the limit on bandwidth unlike current solutions.

 

Wow, so doing a diy vidock, we only get about 6.3% of the actual performance of the card if we were to put it in an actual computer? With optimus, what's that percentage?

Okay, if we were to compare a 460 gtx optimus vidock vs the latest most powerful mobile gpu...how would it compare?

Can you describe what a 460 gtx optimus would be compared to....an actual video card running at it's best(eg. geforce 2mx, 8800gt) I know it's all very technical and there are so many factors..but would just like a brief/general answer.

 

Alienware M17x with QX9300 + GTX280M SLI (equivalent to single GTX480M) bench )with DMC4, Vantage and 3DM06
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread230091.html

 

hello everyone!:smile:


my name is jason and i am new to this forum and want to learn more stuff about my computer


i recently bought a computer from a friend and its name was Acer Extensa 5620z

i also bought a processor from ebay and upgraded from T2390 1.86Ghz 533FSB to a Pentium Dual T4400 2.2Ghz 800FSB

i can now play 1080p video's without lagging but the problem is my video card is called GMA X3100 and it wont let me play any games


then i came across this thread about using a desktop video card to use on laptop and have a massive performance improvement on games


unfortunately my english isn't very good and there is like gazillion options to chose from


my computer has usb 2.0, an express card and a pc card slot


i can't understand all the technical stuff so please bear with me:cry:

jason is a college student and have very little funds so i need a cheap but functional and easy to understand that will work on my computer



this is the things i want to understand
-will this work/compatible for my computer?

-i can't afford to buy an external monitor, can i make this thing work for my internal lcd?

-jason has very litte funds, how much would it cost(the vga, the powerbrick, the board, etc) for the cheapest stuff

-if possible, i want to use my express port for the vga


i also took some screenshot of the specs of my computer





if more info is needed, i would love to provide it


any help would be greatly appreciated
-jason:smile:

 

i search through newegg and this is the cards that i can afford or could possibly afford and ladies and gentlemen, here are the candidates

1-highest appeal 10-lowest appeal

1. PNY RVCG98GTEE1XXB GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
-this card seems to be the fastest but bandwidth and power constrains make me worry about this card

2. Palit NE5T2400FHD01 GeForce GT 240 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
-this card is fast and power efficient but at the price tag of $94.99, it is almost out of reach for me (yes i know it has mail in rebate, but i don't have the resources to wait for my money to comeback)

3. ASUS EAH5670/DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
-this card is fast and everyone seems to be recommending this card, but the texturefiltering bug and inferior drivers( flickering Z-fighting) makes me want to stay away from this card

4. Galaxy 43GGS8HX3SPZ GeForce GT 430 1GB 128-bit DDR3
-the slowest and the most affordable on the list, the performance results makes me worry


right now i am biased toward nvidia but any suggestion would be greatly appreciated
-jason:smile:

 

Guys, if you were in my shoes, what would you pick for a 1x optimus, 2gb ram, T3200 2ghz dual core, 1280x800 setup.

evga 460 gtx slow edition at 650mhz and fewer cuda cores, but 1gb ram.
or
msi cyclone 460 gtx OC 768mhz ram for $10 more???

I'm wanting to put this into an enclosure 2 inches high. I know I have to do some trimming for the power supply. Likely, I will also have to do some trimming to make the video card fit too. The thing with the evga is the external exhaust and how it's simple it is to just cut a rectangle off the top and side and then I can fit the video card in. It will look a lot neater since most of the heatsink exhaust will be protection from all the electronics if u try poking at it.

With the cyclone, it's heatsink is like a sphere so I might have to cut a square. But then not mot much would be protecting the heatsink that's fragile if u were to poke at it since I am cutting the enclosure top to make it fit.

Am I planning to OC? Well I'm going to do benchmarks and see if it makes that much of a benefit since we are limited to 1x and the expresscard 1.0 bandwidth. If a stock 460 gtx runs at 175w max load then overclocking it runs
at 300w and I only get a 5% performance boost when everything is already 60fps. Then I would probrably not leave it overclocked as I don't think it's worth the extra heat and energy. Also I am quite picky about sound. I want it to be silent. I know the cyclone is...but I hear the evga shouldn't be bad as well.

 

I'd only consider the GT430/HD5670 from your shortlisted cards and only if I wanted to run them with a 12V/72W adapter. Otherwise cards below offer a lot more performance for not much more $$

Your system has expresscard=port3. If prepared to remove the wifi card to allow the x1E tweak to work, then consider the HD5770 below. If want to keep wifi then suggest the GTS450. Review the NVidia/ATI back-to-back benchmarks, particularly by ithildin on the first post to decide which one is better for you.

US$90AR Zotac GTS450-1GB
US$100AR HIS HD5770-1GB

If strapped for cash then consider a dumpster dive in a business/education district near you to find a basic ATX PSU to drive the HD5770 or GTS450. A HIT US$65-shipped PE4L + US$90AR GTS450, total of US$155, is a great value solution that can provide x1.Opt if upgrade your notebook later down the track.

More VRAM has a bandwidth sparing effect. Plus the 1GB card is cheaper. I'd go the evga card and put savings towards a faster T6600/T8100/T8300/T9300 CPU for your GL40 chipset.

 

wow tnx for the response:smile:

as much as i would like to get a faster card, it is out of the stuff that i can't afford it right now , i would also need to get an atx psu to power these big boys


please pardon me but i don't understand how these piece of technology works

what does x1, x1E, x2 and x4 means in physical world?

is x1 or x1E using expressport or m-pcie?

is x2 or x2E a combination of expressport and m-pcie?

what is x4




what is the difference between
x1 and x1E
or
x2 and x2E


also i don't have any external monitor nor i could afford one

is there any possibility that i could make this thing work without any external lcd?


if so how much total performance penalty should i expect(for 9800 GT?)


i would also want to know if there is any drawbacks/compromise aside from performance penalty that i am not aware of(some software don't work"flash player,etc"?_


i really want to get an nvidia card because i am planning to use the cuda(for transcoding and video editing and stuff)


i also found out that the 9800 GT is a Green Edition which has lower clocks
normal edition (core:600mhz, shader:1500mhz, memory:3600mhz)
green edition (core:550mhz, shader:1375mhz, memory:3600mhz)

it has lower TDP (normal 105 vs green 75)
it also doesn't require external power




please enlighten me:cry:
-jason

 

With the arrival of Nvidia's GTX 580 eBay has had some great deals on GTX 460 1GB cards recently. A month ago I purchased a brand new EVGA 1GB SC GTX460 for $162 shipped. Keep your eyes peeled for deals.

 

Thank you so much Nautis, I can't wait! I've been trying to play BFBC2 but the punkbuster bug is preventing me.

 

I recently bought a PE4H to EC2C and PM3N. I am trying to do a dual x2 link but doesn't boot from both. If both are inserted at the same time, it boots from the expresscard. I have made sure that my mini-pci-e is a pci e port #1 and the expresscard is in port #2. (in the chipset - south bridge using everest) I have checked that it works in both of the slots but it doesn't use them both at the same time. I also havent installed the drivers yet, should I install them?
please help me thx

 

Please refer to the first post. It answers your questions and more.

Every notebook I've looked at defaults the ports to expresscard/mPCIe ports to x1 width. To set a x2 link will require you boot with the DIY ViDock switched off, then use Setup 1.x to create the x2 link which you can do via the menus. '!Edit startup.bat' shows an example DV4-2000+GTX470@x2 automated setup.

 

Nando and others> Implementation finally successful on my HP 2540p! Thanks a lot for your dedication. A clean re-install of win 7 64 did the trick for my directx issues. I will post detailed benchs later.
Do you know how to use 3DMark Vantage more than once without having to pay for their basic edition??

From what I noticed so far, I seem to obtain equal or slightly better results than Docusync on 3Dmark Vantage and 11, but he gets like 1200 points more in 3DMark06. Surprising eh? Yet, we have the same CPU and pretty much the same GPU (o/c GTX 460).
Besides, he reports that the 260.99 drivers get him better results, while I get my best results under 258.96. See where that could be coming from?

 

yes, but im having problems creating the DIY Vidock bootdisk. When I run the setup-disk-image.bat file it shows an error saysing it can't copy from system32 and please copy manually. Then when I try again it says cyclic error cannot copy files.. Is there an easier way?

 

Great news. Looking forward to adding the 12" HP 2540P to the first post If you run the RE5 and dmcv4 benchmarks that would help too. Currently they only go up to a i5-430M+GTX470. Your i7 would indicate how much performance improves with a more powerful CPU. Which then poses the question, how would the DIY ViDock perform on a new SB Quad-Core i7 + x1.2Opt (x1 2.0 ports)?

Perform manual steps as outlined.

 

yep, ive got all the files ready now. but it wont boot into the diy vidock from the boot menu?

 

Actually, this chart seems to say that the i5 430M is more powerfull than an i7 640LM. The LM versions really aren't that powerful (they have other advantages, though). But let's see what the actual benchs say.

 

I'm going to get a 460 gtx se..I hear I need to download the se drivers from nvidia for it to work. Does nvidia have optimus drivers for the se as well?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...tel-mobile-processor-compatibility-guide.html

So my chipset is the 4500mhd, I read that this chipset should be able to work at 1066 fsb? By default I have

Pentium Dual-Core T3200 2000 1024 667

Can I upgrade to the T9400? Would I also have to change the ram? Or is it just plug and play and it should work?

 

The GTX 460 SE comes with 1GB but has had cores neutered as shown. With the deal on non-neutered GTX460-1GB below, why bother?

$125AR Zotac GTX460-768MB
$145AR Asus GTX460 SE 1GB
$160AR Palit GTX460-1GB

The T9400 is a 1066Mhz FSB CPU which will not work on your GL40 chipset as discussed. Consider then the 800Mhz FSB CPUs as outlined in my previous post. Maybe you could do a PLL pinmod overclock to get more performance out of a 800Mhz FSB CPU?

 

Hello everyone, I'm interesting to make my own ViDock...

But I don't understand (belgian) what about the x1, x2 etc...

Could you help me for the beginning?

I have an acer 6935g with ich9-m (Kilimandjaro (montevina))

Here what I found

I was thinking to a 460 gtx or hd 5830...

thanks

ps: I have no "tv or robson"

 

A couple of options for your Acer 6935G listed in order of performance:

1. swap your 9600GT-equipped systemboard for one with 4500MHD graphics and do a x1.Opt NVidia Optimus single-cable setup using the expresscard slot.

2. x2 via mPCIe+mPCIe slots (port3+port4). Means 2 cables under your system. Ensure you have a second mPCIe socket in your system accessible via underside covers.

3. x1E via mPCIe wifi slot (port3, ATI cards only)
3. x1 via expresscard slot (port2, suggest NVidia Fermi card)

Please refer to back-to-back ATI/NVidia Performance comparisons on the first post to determine what link speed and video card you'd like to use.

 

Sorry for this stupid question but which one is the most powerful?

3 or 1

thanks for all these hints and help

 

An update to my DIY Vidock status:
Thanks to Nando4, Bplus (Taiwan) are sending me a new PE4H v2.4. The delay seems to have been caused by the Christmas / New Year holidays, and I can now say they are a good company that listens to its customers and provides proper warranty/technical support. Once received, I'll test a number of scenarios and report benchmarking results, starting with a GTX 260 216 Processing Cores (896 MB 448-bit GDDR3) card.

 

1
what the... reply needs at least 10 chars bah!

 

is the EC2C express card adapter compatible with an expresscard 2.0 system (like reach full capability)? (when they get released) or is it better to hold out and wait till they release an adapter for excpresscard 2.0? or is the PE3A the one we should use for expresscard 2.0?

 

also just saw this 260gtx on ebay ending in 3 hrs, potentially ending really cheap
worth having a go bidding for?
Inno3D GF GTX 260+ (216SP) 896mb DDR3 448bit (new) (eBay item 170589124153 end time 11-Jan-11 18:25:03 AEDST) : Computers

i noe its an old card, but would it provide decent enough performance for testing purposes?

 

ok, so if I want on my notebook's display and there is no 4500mhd for my laptop, there is no solution

 

Relying on Nautis modified 265.90 drivers I've made 266.35 (64bit) version.

Packed with 7z SFX, just unpack and hit setup.exe.

 

Hey everyone,

I had this setup going for a bit;

Compaq CQ60-418DX
Win7-64bit
AMD Athlon Dual Core 2100
Nvidia 8200 MG
4gb Ram
MCP77
GTX 460 @ 1.0 x 1 on port 4

I had going after the followin steps; 1. added the registry key as described in the 1st post. 2. Installed the mobile card drivers. 3.Installed the desktop card drivers. As the desktop drivers were installing the external monitor display came on and everything was good. Both moniors were working and I was able to set up the 8200 as a physx card.

Now, though, if I power up with the vidock going the system doesn't see the card, and if I power up with the wi-fi in the mpcie port, sleep and add the vidock I get the error 12 message.

Any suggestions on why it was working before and not now? When it was going both cards were installed with no conflict in resources and no error 12.
I'm guessing it has something to do with the 8200 drivers loading on boot, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

Try to boot your notebook with both DIY ViDock and WiFi on.

 

Avlan> Thanks for the drivers, for which cards have you included support? Do they support optimus?

All> Which settings do you use under dmc4 and R5 when benchmarking? (all settings high? all low? default?)

 

thanks for the quick reply; I can't have them both on I only have the mpcie slot, no expansion card; although everest reports a pcmcia slot, there is no slot present. I'm going to try the setup disk.

 

Nando4!
Thanks! How do you know it is with Sandy Bridge? I mean how can I search on the net for other laptops? Sorry, I guess it is a stupid question, but is there a specific type of CPU or motherboard or anything?

D

 

All, that Nautis' added (so Optimus too) and only 64bit systems, sorry.

 

I'm 64b, will give them a try in the coming days, thanks

 

Ok, it's up and running, I started from a clean install of win7, installed the 8200 drivers, than the chipset drivers hooked up the 460 and then installed those drivers, everything ran on boot. So far so good, I haven't done any benchmarks yet, I'm not really a gamer, but Autodesk Showcase and Twinmotion2 work well now whereas before they weren't really possible. Also, I've been messing around with Quicksilver which is the gpu based renderer in 3ds, and it's impressive. I'll try to post some benchmarks when I can.

 

Okay I bought the 1.5m mini hdmi to mini hdmi cable from dealextreme.

I'm building my enclosure and I believe it would be good if I could set it up so like this.

PE4L, 1ft mini hdmi cable - adapter - 1.5m hdmi cable - expresscard slot.

Reason is so enclosure won't have a string hanging out all the time if I don't want it to.
Will this work? DealExtreme: $3.40 Gold Plated Mini HDMI Male to Mini HDMI Male Adapter/Converter

 

I don't think you need an adapter. The 1.5m mini hdmi cable is mini on both ends is it not?

What are you building your enclosure out of? I am currently in the process of creating a wood box to house all the stuff.