DIY eGPU experiences

I took apart a very useless old satellite receiver that I had lying around the house.
It measures 12" wide, 2" high, 9-10" long depending on what you measure.

So far I've been able to retrofit the video card inside with the PE4L board. I still have to wait for the power supply I ordered....

But this receiver is a really nice enclosure since the pe4l is exactly 2 inches high and the theres just enough room for the video card and power supply. The only thing I'm worried is if there is too much wires too squish into the small place. The power supply is normally 3.4" high, so I will have to trim off the top...but it will be the only thing sticking out and eveything else is 2 inches high....

It could also be a good thing or a bad thing but the thing has all these small holes for ventilation already.

I'd like to have an hdmi mini adapter. The pe4l board is inside close to the center of the enclosure. With 1ft. It'll be just enough to be routed outside. With a 1.5m It's long enough, but I would have to secure it so no one accidently trips on it or something then damages it. It'd be nice if I could go 1ft mini hdmi cable - adapter - 1.5m mini hdmi cable....that way I can plug/unplug when I want.

 

Benchmarks' results on my HP 2540P (core i7 640LM, not quite the same as Docusync's 640M actually)
+ GTX 460 oc@850mhz (from 765mhz factory oc)

Tested on external hdmi projector
3dMark06 (1280x1024x32b): 14114
DMCscene4 Directx 10 (default settings 1280*1024): 101,36
RE5 Directx 9 (Fixed bench, default settings): 59,4
3DMark11 (performance settings, 1280x720x32b): 3171

- The RE5 results seem significantly lower than most of you guys; not sure what went wrong (this was repeated several times, topped at 82,2 on lower settings, always Fixed Benchmark option)

- This time, the various drivers (258.96; 260.99; 266) showed very little differences. 260.99 was very slightly better than the rest. On internal LCD however, 258.96 is very significantly better than its followers (again, not sure why).

 

Skiddy was there a big gain in benchmarks when you OC the video card despite being limited to the expresscard bandwidth? Do u have 3dmark06 benchmarks OC vs Factory?

 

Hmm...

See one of my earlier posts on OC and 3DMark11:

It seems to show that OC does have an impact.

However, after the clean re-install of win 7, I managed 3171@850mhz, ie better than before @866.

Another result was when OC from 765 to 850mhz brought me from 13978 to 14114 under 3DMark06, i.e. "only" 136 points.

Conclusion? It is hard to see a real pattern here.
If OC improves results on a Vidock, it does so marginally and not linearily.

Now, things might be different with a more powerful CPU (i.e. a "proper" "M" CPU; not an "LM").
Also, I read that OCing a GTX 460's memory has tricky effects: if you push it real high, it might still respond and appear to work, but it will actually slow your graphics a lot too as it reprocesses all the mistakes it did. In other words, it's not just about pushing it higher and higher, but also about balancing core speed, memory speed and voltage carefully and fine-tuning. Where other cards would start failing at some point and send the straightforward message that you have reached the limits of OC, that one will not send you such a straightforward message immediately but it will instead "cope in silence" first . This might explain the non-linearity of the results in my quote.

 

That's a good idea to have an enclosure set up so that cable isn't always hanging out. Except I think you need a Mini HDMI Female to Mini HDMI Female adapter, since your 1.5M Mini HDMI cable is going to have Male ends, so you wouldn't be able to attach that cable to that adapter. No?

I use an old Shuttlebox case as my enclosure. Still waiting for the longer Mini HDMI cable I ordered from Meritline. The 1 foot cable that came with the P4HL is definitely too short to be convenient.

 

Ok, ran some benchmarks with 3dmark06, devilmaycry dx9 and unigine heaven.

3d mark06 came out at 4862
devilmaycry was A
and the unigine heaven for dx9, 10 and 11 were all between 15-17 fps, which seems to be about 30-40% of desktop gtx 460 performance.

compaq cq60-418dx gtx 460 @ 1 x1.0

 

Hello,

DIY Vidock is very interesting, 3 hours ago I didn't know it was possible to plug a desktop graphic card to our laptop and get much better performance

I feel a bit lost though I try to read and understand before posting.

without considering price, what is the difference between ViDock 4 plus and a DIY ViDock with PE4H + EC2C ? Is there any performance difference ?

I have got a Sony VAIO VPC-Z11 - Quite the same than VPC-Z12 and Z13
I'd like to play on an external monitor and sometimes with the sony Z11 monitor.
What would you advise me ? ( I would mainly want good performance in recent games )

it features and HM57 chipset Express
CPU = i7 620M
1*2048Mb + 1*4096Mb DDR3
nVidia GT 330M + Intel HD graphic

I would like best performance, but I wonder if getting a very high end graphic card make a difference. Since it looks like the GTX 460 and 470 get the same performance level with a Sony VAIO VPC-Z, does that mean a GTX 570 wouldn't do better, or just slightly ?

13" Sony_VPC-Z12 i7-620M 2.66 8.0 [email protected] 11842
13" Sony_VPC-Z13 i7-640M 2.80 8.0 [email protected] 11686

 

DIY ViDock x1 using PE4H v2.4 (Jumper: bypass 12V fuse), NVIDIA GTX 260 896MB and 900W ATX PSU on the HP Dragon HDX 9300 series - X9000 @ 3.4 - 4GB RAM








Above 3DMark06 figure has been repeated with PhysX off, PhysX on GTX 260 and PhysX on internal 8800MGTS and has in the three cases been almost the same ~4294
3DMark06 with x2 setup is ~6000
Quite disappointing if you are only looking for raw power (the internal 8800M GTS scores 10500 in 3DMark06 on the same notebook). However, if you want to enable stereoscopic 3D Vision on external 120Hz LCD monitors, it works perfectly well and you can play Blu-ray 3D and display stereo JPS and MPO images, among other things... The internal 8800M GTS CANNOT drive external 3D Vision 120Hz LCD displays as it is limited to 59 and 60Hz modes only!

 

nando4, i've been running my Macbook Pro 17" rig for two months now & it's been an absolute joy! however, i am still searching for an elusive cable. to aid others in their quest, i've detailed both my progress & my question below (so anyone who searches before posting may review it).

the plan was to take my ATI RADEON HD 4870's mini-displayport & dual-dvi outputs & use them to run two displays from each socket. i gather that both the dual-dvi & the mini-displayport outputs each have sufficient power to run two screens at 1600x1200px. theoretically then, this set-up could drive four external displays (albeit at x1, because the MBP17" isn't x16; so it would be a huge desktop array with a fairly slow refresh-rate & thus ideal for everything except gaming).

the nearest two adapters i have located so far are these:
ACCELL Cables - Audio, Video, Speaker, Computer Cables and Interconnects
DVI to VGA Splitter Cable, 2 Way | Video Splitters & Extenders | Sharing, Converting, Extending | LINDY UK

as ever, both have limitations: the first will simply mirror the same signal to two screens & the second is limited to a lousy 1024px screen height. furthermore, the second one costs hundreds of dollars & would still need four additional adapters: one for the input & three for the outputs! the adapters are around $30 each, so it would be an extremely expensive option & still be unable to run a large screen at full resolution.

how/have you (or anyone else), solved/approached this? i had a look at the specifications for mini-displayport, DVI & VGA... it appears that it is possible to combine the signals & have a '2-headed' adapter. the thing is, does anyone sell one?

the only other options i have found so far, are these:
Multiple Monitors for Laptops | Multi-monitors
Do More with A Multi Monitor Adapter

once again, these are really expensive, also limited to 1024px height & it appears that because it's tricking the GPU into thinking it has one wide-screen, rather than three separate screens; all three screens have to display at an identical resolution. in my case, i have my biggest/best monitor in the centre & two smaller ones at each side: 21", 23" & 21", 17" below (there'll always be room for a 30" in-between, right?).

with a bit of luck, someone out there knows of a solution? otherwise, does anyone know a firm who'd be prepared to make one for me/others? i can imagine that they would sell a lot of them to owners of Macbook Pro's, who could run two regular DVI screens & not require an external GPU to do it - as well as the hardcore who'll run it as well; a 7-screen laptop would be pretty tough to beat!

thank you in advance (& also for reading one of the longest posts ever?). pic below: is that us lot?

 

( http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...1-diy-vidock-experiences-254.html#post7048587 )

lingo124, buy an old computer tower off ebay! my rig is based on a 2001 Mac case, so all the relevant mounting points are already there & as an added bonus, it came with a power supply. it's perfect for the job, well vented & it's almost completely silent too. price: $50

example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-G4-/280612659270?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item4155d16046#ht_500wt_1156

 

just found this 'either/or' adapter whilst looking for an 'MDP to DVI+DVI':
A77 Mini DisplayPort to HDMI-DVI-DisplayPort 3-in-1 Adapter

unfortunately it won't run both outputs together, however it does have all the necessary connectors if someone know's how to rewire it? anyone feel like a challenge? seems to me that this is just the sort of box that could be hacked for magic!

 

What is the difference between PE4H ver 2.0a and PE4H ver 2.4 ?

 

lol i actually have a couple of mac G4s. Already have an ac adapter. Also, my setup is the portable version, so the box itself measures about 5.5 x 5.5 x 10. Don't want to be carrying around a G4 case . Thanks for the info though.

 

can i use DIY ViDock to DISable intel HD graphics on an nVidia/intel HD hybrid dell laptop (vostro 3400) before winXP starts?

there's no XP drivers that'd work with the hybrid, but i suspect that generic nVidia drivers will work if the intel one is taken out before it confuses things.

i'm a noob on this - please point me to the right direction.

 

Sorry if this was answered but why seemingly do none of the new huron river platforms utilize expresscard slot, i've been waiting to buy a laptop with the gma 3000 HD and expresscard for DIY 1x2.0 opt.

Also I saw Nando say to someone that they could run 1xopt. w/ Vaio VPCF1290 cuz it had Hybrid graphics, I have a VPCF1390X with a GT 425m, so can I do a 1xopt.? It would then be worth it if I could go 15k+ 3dmark06 like that Z in the postings

 

My kit has arrived, but I can't quite get it working. I feel so close.

I have a VAIO Z21 with hybrid Intel & nVidia 9300M graphics. I boot from a USB stick into the ViDock setup 1.x thing. I have created a startup script which disables both onboard IGP and dedicated graphics.

I have a Radeon HD6870 in the ViDock which windows does now see properly and I have installed drivers for, but I'm getting a code 12 error on the High Definition Audio Controller associated with it now.

Please let me know what info you need in order to assist.

Thanks in advance.

 

Guys, FYI most of your questions have been answered in post 1 of this topic.

 

lingo124, do they still work? i picked the G4 case because it has a couple of handles on it, proper earthing, decent vents & so on. it's not as heavy as it was before i stripped it, but it's no lightweight either... it lives under my desk, so there's no real problem with weight, although i haven't had to drag it anywhere - yet!

originally i planned to stuff it full of a load of desktop gear. the idea was to add a desktop Blu-Ray recorder etc. because they're cheaper than a mobile one & of course, it already has all the correct mounting points in there (then connect those to the laptop over firewire 800, using the adapter from an old lacie drive). it's really to nice to be able to leave all the heavy stuff behind whenever i take the laptop out & only have to remove one cable! in the longer term, it will be absolutely stuffed full of hard disks, adapters etc., still look like a regular case from the outside & not have any messy wires on display (three only: power, mini-hdmi & firewire).

it wasn't my first choice though. i had possible the wildest looking, heat-radiating device available... but the GPU's too big to fit! it's a stainless steel, 'dualit toaster' case:
http://demo.opensourcecms.com/eclime/images/dualit_toaster.jpg

 

cabling update:
i was sent this link yesterday & would like to share it:
http://www.cinemaview.com/product/cinemaview-duo

it's a 1x mini-displayport to 2x mini-displayport adapter. essentially, it tricks the computer into thinking that it has one screen, whilst dividing the signal between two screens. it's fairly inexpensive & they claim to support the apple 24" cinema displays too.

on the plus side, it's the dream connector if you have a new(ish) computer & two new/identical screens with mini-displayport. however, it isn't compatible with any secondary adapters, so you can't plug it into a pair of dvi cinema displays (or vga's, which is what i'm hunting for...).

also, if you were to use it an a three screen array, then it's two screens must be side by side. so if you wanted to stick a pair of 24" cinema displays either side of a 30" screen, you wont be able to.

 

is it possible to combine port 2 and port 3 to achieve x2 1.0 using PE4H expresscard and m-pcie?


also will these powerbrick work well with PE4H?
AC-DC 12V 80W 6.6A Switching Power Adapter (110/220V)


i am also planning to do the Ultramon/Chung-Gun method


is this transistors good for the dummy mod?
6 Resistors 1/4 Watt 75 ohms metal film 1%
and this
Rosewill RCW-700 DVI-I ( 24+5 ) Male to VGA HD15 Female Adapter

i have one more day before i pull the trigger

 

Interesting technology!Might be the possibility of Gaming laptops with long battery life.Post some pics for those who have completed their setup.

 

Hello,
I've found this DIY ViDock project recently, found it amazing, and now I'm about to get a PE4L + EC2C solution for my laptop.

I have though two questions, if some of you guys have the answer:

1. Is it worth for my setup, in terms of performance? I want to be able to play a few games - nothing too fancy - something like L4D2, and some extra FPS in TF2.
2. Should I expect some trouble with my computer? I've read it is necessary to add a bootloader in some cases - is it possible to guess beforhand if it is my case?

I intend to use a Geforce 8600GT, and my laptop is a Dual Core T6570, 2x2GB RAM (warranty sealed, I woudn't like to touch it by now), MB is Intel Cantiga (PM45) & ICH9M Chipset. Video card is onbard - 4500MHD. My OS is Windows 7 64-bit.

 

ok - need help on this - i'm trying to switch off intelHD using setup v1.x.

the menu toggle for it runs:
[cmd=*setpci -s 0:0.0 54.b=0:8*]

which i guess is the jist behind
iport igp off

however, when it returns to the menu, IGP is still on. what gives?

 

Since you have 4500mhd, You might as well go for a 460 gtx. You'll get the most bang for your buck. But the main benefit is, you can use your laptop lcd only and gain around 20% performance boost. If u went with the 8600gt, you'd have to use an external monitor.

 

I made a DIY ViDock and before I was only able to play L4D2 on minimal settings, now I have all the display settings maxed out and it runs great!
But I am using an external display (1680x1200) instead of my laptop's 1280x800 display.

 

Yep they still work. Although the older one has been retired and replaced by a mac mini. Recently opened up my mirror drive G4 man that thing has a beast heatsink. It's like 4in x 4 x 4? something like that :O.

I only plan to carry around the graphics and my adapter, and I plan to move it around a lot so I thought going with a custom build rather than stripping a full computer case would be more portable.

Your first idea is pretty cool though. Just make sure friends don't accidentally try to stick a slice of bread in there in there

 

Thank you for the new drivers Avlan! Did you confirm working with your GTS450? I encountered an installation error (Win7 x64, GTS450).

Edit: It may just be residual errors from the old driver. I'll do a reformat and try it again.

 

FYI: Got captures from a Sandy Bridge DV7-5000 which confirms it has x1 2.0 pci-e ports. I was able to switch then from 2.5GT/s (x1 1.0) to 5GT/s (x1 2.0). See updated Series-6 mobile chipset supports pci-e 2.0 (5GT/s) for screenshots. No expresscard slot on it though.

 

Hey nando, if I can beg your help for a moment. I feel totally lost and am getting incredibly frustrated to the point of giving up.

I got my whole setup, ATI 5770, PE4l, combined with a 200W ATX power supply and a 12V 6A (72W) adapter. When I first plugged it into my computer (Dell XPS m1530), it took a few tries, and then it recognized it, installed drivers, asked me to restart (while the card was still plugged in) and I was able to play some games online. It was awesome. This is on Windows 7 64-bit.

Then something happened. I don't know what changed - possibly installing official drivers, possibly trying to muck around with Setup 1.x, but it started doing something where once I plugged in the expresscard diy vidock, all USB devices would stop (including webcam, mice) OR the screen would go black and the computer would do anything until I pulled out the card (or the power to the card) and the system would reset.

I can't find a solution to this. I finally got setup 1.e running, but I can't make it boot successfully. I reduced my ram from 3 to 2. I tried compacting, installing different drivers, and every combination and permutation of bridging, 32 bit, 36 bit (while varying which cards were neither, 32 and 36 bit). I tried changing the registry nvidia. Nothing works.

If I booted the system with 32 or 36 bit, the system would actually boot up, but the onboard nvidia card would be less functional. The system would say the ATI card is installed and working properly, but it never gave me the option to use it as a monitor, or extend my desktop.

I've tried following every tuturial you've put up, but I can't get the system to recognize it. When i boot up normally, sleep, wake again (with card in), the USB devices turn off. Device manager recognizes the card, but says there's no driver for it.

I have the original cable plus a different longer 6' Mini C to HDMI a with A->C mini adapter (essentially a Male-male mini C adapter). I'm trying to think of what info can be helpful. JP3 and JP4 are both connected. It seems no matter how I change the memory, chainload, etc I can't get it to work again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: One time (uninstalling and reinstalling) I was able to get the system to reinstall drivers for it, but then ran into error 12- no resources.

 

Congratulations on your purchase. Should be relatively easy to get a 3GB M1530 + HD5770 going. Skiddy had some similar issue with his 2540P, resorting to a clean install of Win7 which fixed the problems. Before doing that try:

1. use Driver Sweeper to remove ALL previous video drivers and reinstall. Check if have any error 12 issues.

2. If you get an error 12, remove RAM to 2GB run Setup 1.x, boot with the DIY ViDock switched off and perform 32-bit compaction *only* on the HD5770. That configuration absolutely must work first and should work as long as there as no other issues.

3. Set your Setup 1.x's startup.bat to be as follows. This also sets your expresscard slot port5 into x1E mode for faster performance. There will be no need to make any further changes to startup.bat after this.

Code:

call waitvid 60 1002:68b8
call iport x2 5 noreset
call pci
call grub4dos w7

4. Install the rest of your RAM. Again do a 32-bit compaction only on the HD5770. This will alter the pci.bat called above.

5. Once all working, just boot setup 1.x and choose "Automated startup via startup.bat".

Flaunt had more drastic disabling measures to correct usb issues here with his M1330.

 

found a very interesting article

KFA2 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 WHDI graphics card is first to go wireless -- Engadget

i wonder if this could output to the internal lcd of laptop wirelessly

 

That seems like a gimmick...and it sends chills down my spine how much radio frequencies etc are being sent through the air to send all that data.

 

So, we would have to get a laptop that supports expresscard 2.0 to get that extra bandwidth? Would we also have to get new PE4L boards?

 

the concept has been done before but the problem i can see is latency(delay) seems too high
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n4WFJ6PcavY?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n4WFJ6PcavY?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed></object>

 

Whenever I use my Vidock, if I watch videos in a browser (Both IE and FF) then hi def videos lag. But if I disconnect the vidock and just run the laptop on batteries with its normal screen it dont lag :S

Starcraft 2 runs fine and so does playing 1080p mkv files. Its only running youtube or other vidoes in HD (And fullscreen seem to lag more)

 

at last, i already pull the trigger:smile:

what i ordered was
GIGABYTE GV-N450-1GI GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5(DVI TO VGA IS INCLUDED)

LOGISYS Computer PS575XBK 575W ATX12V SLI Ready Power Supply

HIT PE4L EC2C(Express Card)

ATX Power Switch (SWEX)

6 Resistors 1/4 Watt 75 ohms metal film 1%(for Ultramon/Chung Gun method)

i expect is to arrive next week

i hope this build is compatible to each other and will work

 

Did you see that you can get a Galaxy GTX460-768MB for US$94-shipped.AR from tigerdirect? That's ~the same price as your GTS450. I did a quick trial buy on tigerdirect and the offer is valid.

A GTX460 offers another 50% more performance than a GTS450.The GTS450 would however be my choice if wanting a compact 12V/120W setup. Your LogicSys PSU can deliver 25W on the 12V rail, 300W total, so is certainly capable of powering a GTX460.

Can see the package contents also include a DVI-VGA adapter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162058

 

OMG OMG OMG

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO



i just ordered it FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

is there anyway to cancel my order, i already got the confirmation

T____T


edit: it says on my mail payment charged -.-

 

Omg Omg Omg I Am So Happy That I Managed To Cancel The Order :ddddddddddd

 

btw do you know any good ATX PSU that is below $30 including shipping?

 

Can spend $7 more and get a $37AR for a Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 CMPSU-430CX 430W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply with a single 12V/28A 336W rail. This PSU could even power a 300W GTX480 with some extra power headroom to allow overclocking if you needed it.

Your GTX460 only requires 150W so if wanted the cheapest solution then scout your local business districts for a basic free 12V/15A PSU to drive it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did everything you said, and I was able to at least get it to boot into windows, but it still wouldn't work. When checking my device manager, it would say the device is working properly, but under the resources tab it would just say something like "This device encountered an error with prevents it from working properly" or something like that.

I didn't see any error 12 messages (I have seen one in the past, but not since I last messaged you.

Also, can I clarify some terminology:
When it says to boot with it off, is that only referring to the AC adapter? Cause I usually boot with the expresscard in the slot, but the 72W power cable is not plugged in. I haven't seen any difference in behavior when the EC is in the system and the ATX power supply is on, but without the AC adapter. It seems nothing works without the AC adapter. I just want to know exactly which part you're referring to when you say "make sure it's powered off"

 

I'm trying to get an idea of the performance this sort of setup will provide before I decide whether or not to do it, but I have a few questions (which have probably been answered somewhere in this huge thread, sorry)...

First, is any card over a GTX 470 not going to provide any higher framerates in most games because of the PCI-E bottleneck? I have a Y460 that can do an optimus setup or probably a X2 setup (it has an expresscard slot and at least 2 internal ports). Is the performance some are getting in their 3dmark vantage scores of over 12K reflected in real life gaming performance as well? I have a desktop that gets about that with 8800GT sli and I am trying to figure out if it would have comparable performance to that for my laptop (which would be fine by me).
Does the lack of bandwidth make an upgrade to a newer card in the future sort of useless? Also, am I correct that there is currently no way to do an x2 setup with optimus enhancements in place? Do you know if this will be changed in the future?
Also, what is the difference in performance between a GTX460 and 470 realistically in most games with a x1 opt setup and X2 setup? Given the same card, which performs better, x1 optimus or x2 normal?
Does anyone know if a GTX 470 along with my i5 520 in a x1 optimus setup be enough to game at 1080P?

 

Hello i have got a problem :
i bought an p4eh-ec3c i got an old gt420 from my friend
i removed 2 gb ram ..
now iam getting error message
the device cannot start code 10

my sys specs are :
2.20 ghz dualcore
intel family chipset 965
windows 7 x64 prof.
normally 4 gb ram but now 2 because error 12
(cannout alloquate ressources (120))

sorry for my bad english &
i hope you can helf me ..

greez
laptop000

 

Whenever I use my Vidock, if I watch videos in a browser (Both IE and FF) then hi def videos lag. But if I disconnect the vidock and just run the laptop on batteries with its normal screen it dont lag :S

Starcraft 2 runs fine and so does playing 1080p mkv files. Its only running youtube or other vidoes in HD (And fullscreen seem to lag more)

 

HP TouchSmart Tx2 (4 GB RAM) + DIY Vidock PE4H 2.4 @x1 / NVIDIA GTX 260 (896 MB - driver v258.96 WHQL Win7 x64):

A significant boost in raw graphics power + now able to use NVIDIA 3D Vision on ext. 120Hz LCD display!
N.B. The internal ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 scores about 1600 in 3DMark06
http://www.touchsmartdevzone.com/fo...upgrade-for-the-TX2-Adding-an-NVIDIA-GTX-260/

 

Isn't that under a third of the score that a gtx260 will get it a desktop? This is what confuses me and makes me wary of doing this. Some people seem to get good performance with their cards, but others get performance that is worse than that of the 5650m in my laptop. Does the lack of bandwidth cripple it that much?

 

You have a HD5770 or HD6850. Yes.. you will not have enough bandwidth to do 1080p@60Hz. Consider a x1.Opt setup instead which will work as explained. If didn't want to swap out video cards then increase bandwidth available by disabling HDMI audio and decrease from 32-bit to 16-bit display to see if it helps.

Quite a few benchmarks available from first post. Worth noting docusyn says COD BO works better with onboard GT330M then the GTX460 @x1.Opt.

x1.Opt appears to deliver similar performance to x2, bettering it in DX9. The best solution would be a x1.2Opt setup (x1 2.0 + Optimus tweak). We require someone to confirm that the driver works OK there AND that the hwtools gear can transmit 2.0 spec 5GT/s signals without any problems.

 

My y460 has an hm55, which i assume means it cant do x1 2.0. You have a gtx470, right? That card is a fair amount more money than a 460 and should be more powerful, but the benchmarks don't seem to show much of an improvement. Is this true in game performance? What games do you play on yours?

I already have a laptop that can play games ok (albeit at a low resolution and not on high settings), but I am looking for performance that is more on par with a desktop, since a gtx460 is a fairly powerful card. However the results honestly seem all over the place with people getting 3dmark06 scores that i could get with my 5 year old desktop with a 7600gt. I would hate to spend over 300 dollars on a setup and then see no improvement.

Would a 5 series nvidia card give a performance increase, or would the bandwidth limit even on an x2 setup nullify any performance gains?

 

the mobility of a laptop yet the gaming power of a desktop i hope it will be possible one day