DIY eGPU experiences

3Dmark06 is highly dependent on the cpu so it's not a good indicator of how much an increase of graphics power you are going to see. I can get 18k on a stock 5850 and i5 but if I only overclock the cpu, my score can increase to 23k+. It is best to run a benchmark on the game you are playing and compare it that way.

 

So could i do this with my Acer 6930G? it has a ExpressCard/54 Slot?

like this:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/d51076f635.jpg

 

awesome news nando, i really regret buying an xbox now

ah well, hello ebay!

 

Nando, Looks awesome!


I need some more help though (I feel like a broken record... LOL!)

I tried following your steps for running x2 and I have a couple of questions...

1. Enable port1, disable port2-4
2. Switch port1 to x4 mode
3. Enable lane reversal against port1 [since using port3+port4]
4. Hardset x2 link mode
5. prompt to power on/power off video card. Powered on will re-negotiate the link at x2 1.0
6. Configure PCI Bridge port 1 (0/1c/0) to have resources to host video card.
7. chainload into the OS with 'grub --config_file="menu.w7"'

Here is the script that I wrote,
First off I disabled ports 2-4 with PT.exe

Code:

pt MEM write 4 0xFED1F418 0x03070001

Then I switched port 1 to x4 mode

Code:

pt MEM write 4 0xFED1C224 0x00000003

Next in your list is lane reversal. Here is my first question, is now the time where call the new script for reversing the ATI card (your x2-p3p4.bat)?

I tried running the x2-p3p4.bat script now but with ports 2-4 disabled previously, it never finds the video card, and I get errors, b400 is out of range, and b100 is out of range.

I skipped that step and then tried to hardset x2 mode

Code:

setpci -s 0:1C.0 52.b=20:70

This is my second question, I get an error saying slot not found at 52.b=20:70, I think my math is wrong, in trying to figure out what setpci needs. I looked at your image here but I am having a hard time translating that to the setpci syntax.

The next step says to power on / off the card (and my last question) Unfortunately, my card usually isn't plugged in now, the only way I was reliably able to get the video card to work, is to first boot fully into win7 and then plug in the express card, this would then load the drivers and the video card would work. Do you know if there is a way to set the lane reversal and setup x2 with the card not plugged in?

Thanks again, for the help, I'm almost there, I think another couple of tweaks and I'll have x2 up and running..


Mike

 

Okay so I got everything so far. I need a longer mini HDMI cable for sure, but I don't believe I've figured it out. I'm sorta scared of frying something. Do I need to supply power to the PE4H? I'm using an ATX power supply. I have one power cable hooked up to my video card and that's it. Do I need to supply a another (4 pin) to the PE4H for this to work?

If this is all correct, all I need to do is, suspend my computer, plug in the Express card adapter, resume my computer and wait?

Thanks.

 

Yes - need to supply 75W to the PE4H via the white floppy molex connector. Your PE4H was supplied with a male molex to floppy molex cable to allow it to connect to your ATX PSU, and the SWEX (switched board) allows you to on/off the ATX PSU without needing a paperclip. Once all hooked up, suspend Win7, switch SWEX into "on", resume win7. It should detect the video card, and you'll need to load your drivers. Upon reboot need to do same suspend/resume and if get an error 12 then need to use the DIY VIDock bootdisk to setup the underlying PCI Bridge and/or do PCI Reallocation if have no 256MB window as per the first post.

pyro515 has been PMed regarding his last message.

 

Well this is my documenting post about my experience. I got the 5770 working with my PE4H.
My installation process included setting up the video card + ATX power supply + PE4H. I suspended my laptop and powered on the video card and plugged it in. Resuming the system had a driver installation failure. I downloaded the ATI drivers and installed them anyways. I restarted the computer with the PE4H still plugged in and on reboot, it used the external screen. Everything worked smoothly. I can power off my computer and plug in the video card and simply boot for it to work. No allocation scripts needed.

My system:
Dell Studio XPS 13
Intel C2D P9600 - 2.66
6 GB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit


3Dmark06
In order: original score - 3482 , after first installation score - 11650 , after driver update score- 11491, after disabling of HDMI score - 11548


RE5 Benchmarks:
Before
DX-9c


After
DX-9c

DX-10


Devil May Cry 4 Benchmark
Before
DX-9c


After
DX-10


I've also benchmarked on World in Conflict, Mass Effect 2, Dead Space and HAWX. They all ran perfectly maxed out at 1280x1024

However, I was unable to get the PCI-E link working at 2.0 speeds. I'm currently looking into reallocating resources to unlock 2.0 since it is shown to be present on my chipset.

Posted for Nando:
GPU-Z for 9500 (9400 + 9200) and HD 5770


Everest screenshot

 

Posting this from my Dell Inspiron E1505. I just did a completely fresh installation of Windows 7 Pro x86 (32 bit). I installed ATI CCC 10.2 drivers and rebooted the computer. Suspended the system, plugged in the vidock + 5770 and turned it on, resumed the computer and it installed correctly after locating the drivers manually.

Set up:
Dell E1505
Intel Core Duo T2300 @ 1.66 GHz
2.00 GB RAM
Mobile Intel 945 Express

Vidock - PE4H + Sapphire Vapor-X 5770 + Express Card 34.

Edit: 3DMark06 Score:

 

wow. Can't believe how much different the score is when u use a slower cpu and less ram. Also the score for the first system is identical to the score my friend got with the same card but only he was using a destop

 

+1. Interesting also when we compare the 3dmark06 performance on the two T2300 Dell E1505 examples with a HD5770 and HD5750:

HD5770/W7/2GB=6948
HD5750/XP/2GB=6716

In my own testing when I overclocked the HD5750 by 20% gpu+vram (840/1380), stable for long enough to get a 3dmark06 run, I got only 100 more points. I've also got prelim results from Pyro515 below.

Dell Studio 1555: T6500-2.1/HD5870 x1 1.0/4GB/W7.64

3DMark06 Score - 9297
SM 2.0 Score - 4077
SM 3.0 Score - 4991
CPU Score - 1842

 

wonder how well the 5870 will do on the x2. will determine which card to get depending on the x2 results of the 5870 (hopefully)

 

What 13"-15" laptops today got PCIe 2.0 lanes/ExpressCard 2.0? I'm planning to replace my current laptop to one when the time comes, with an external graphic card as the gaming solution.

 

The "Sony Vaio Z" series ( http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...=10551&langId=-1&cmsId=zseries#specifications ) seems to be ideal for being both mobile and gaming with DIY ViDock. It's 13", HM57 chipset ( http://www.intel.com/products/notebook/chipsets/hm57/hm57-overview.htm ), PCIE 2.0 and Expresscard/34. Although, it seems this series are pretty expensive - for some reason.

Sony's site says it's maximum of CPU is "i7-620M" but I'm convinced it supports more high-end models.

 

nice i wanted to get the vidock thing but i didnt want to be the first xps 13 user to try it. owell.

 

Can anyone tell me if I can use this on my Dell Inspiron 1525?

Dell Inspiron 1525 - System specifications

It says it has 1 Express Card slot...

I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks!

 

Hi may I know can this be done on Sony VAIO SZ75? It has a Express card slot, but I am ok with opening up my laptop to access the PCIe mini slot.

My Vaio SZ came with Geforce 8400m. Will it complement the external graphic card? Or am I in a "either this or that" situation?

Lastly, can I buy the equipments from the author of this post? Thank you.

 

Well use the ExpressCard slot since it's more convenient, but i suppose since you're OK with opening the mPCIe slot the ExpressCard slot is already used for something else.

The equipment can only be purchased at www.hwtools.net, as for enclosure i believe you'll have to make your own. PE4L+PM3N or PE4L+EC2C and follow the proper solutions to the problems you might encounter on software basis.

 

Thanks for the reply! I am thinking of using PCIe mini slot "buried" deep inside my old Vaio SZ because I thought the transfer speed is faster than the Express Card slot.. haha. Please correct me if I am wrong because I would LOVE to use Express Card slot for its convienence as you mentioned...

So I just build the PE4L + EC2C shown here?
http://img525.imageshack.us/i/pe4l.png/

I am going to build one real soon, so I just follow strictly the instructions and hardwares given in the 1st page ?

 

If you have a expresscard slot you'd want to use that in preference to the mPCIe slot. Either one runs at x1 1.0 speed (2.5Gbps), with expresscard far more convenient to use.

The only reason you may want to use the mPCIe slot is if you are using an ICH8M or newer chipset and the expresscard and mPCIe slots are port1+port2, in which case it is possible to gang them together to make a x2 1.0 link (5Gbps).

 

Hey i was testing out PCIScope in W7/x64 but received an error about loading a driver, is there another program i could use for detecting the PCIe adress(?) and i also wonder WHAT exact lines should be edited in 2510p.bat.

 

For ATI cards you'd only need to define the underlying PCI bridge in a free 256MB window if you get an error 12, plus an additional 4KB I/O space. You can see free places to do this using Device Manager->View Resources By Connection ->Memory. Example:

Code:

:: 0:1C.0 = port1, 0:1C.1 = port2
:: 0:1C.2 = port3, 0:1C.3 = port4
set port=0:1C.0

:: Bridge 4KB I/O Window
setpci -s %port% 1c.w=2020
        
:: Bridge 256MB Memory Window at D0000000-DFFFFFFF
setpci -s %port% 24.l=DFF1D001

 

What I'm not sure about is, what am I exactly looking for? I'm trying to learn this due to future replacement of the current laptop so I want the process to go smooth throughout and so far the PCI Reallocation is one thing I haven't been able to grasp quite - I don't really know what "PCI Device" I should point my eyes to. The point 4 and 5 here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5797441 doesn't really tell me much what device, column, row and the Bootdisk instructions that are on page 16 and 21 could migrate/combine into one.

 

Dear Nando 4:

I send you the updated RE5 Benchmarks of my Vidock 2:

[ http://www.mediafire.com/i/?etz4yntmtmm

Is there any news about new improvements or software for Vidock2?

 

So my question-questions

I have a acer 4315 (sameish as the 5315) have upgraded many aspects of it thanks to these forums, and am quite happy with it.

However I do miss gaming as I used to be a bit of a desktop upgrade and enjoyed the many wonders that PC gaming used to offer. Seeing as this laptop is sporting the infamous x3100 im lacking in the ploygon pushing prowess needed to play the recent latest and greatest titles.

So after quite a bit of reaserch im thinking I should get a desktop 5750 (presubaly with as much RAM as poss) with a PE4L and a PSU im pretty sure im not going to get a x1 2.0 due the fact I only have 3 mPCIe ports and 1 and 2 are taken by NIC and WiFi. I do however have a express card slot

Is this setup worth a shot would like to be playing games like BS 2 and BF bad company at good settings, should also mention im on a GM965 MB with 2G RAM and a C2D 7250

Thanks

 

Does your PE4H's amp fuse has the marking of "P 150-24"?

I bought my PE4H around 22 Feb 2010.
Update: "P 150-24" = 2 AMP fuse. I need to remove 2 AMP fuse and connect the pads.

 

If, any one interested: PE4L will be avalible about 19-03-2010

 

Dell E4300 port layout request

Avlan, how many mPCIe slots does your E4300 have? If more than one, can you swap over the mPCIe wifi and see what ports the mPCIe slot comes up as in Everest, like shown here? Better yet, if you have an expresscard (e-sata, usb 3.0) could you install it to identify what port the expresscard is?

The reason for this request is I'm wondering if the E4300 can do x2 1.0 which would require a combo of expresscard+mPCIe or mPCIe+mPCIe to be port1+port2 or port3+port4.

 

It has 3 ports: 2 mPCIe onboard and ExpressCard and I don't have (for now) any card to test which port it is.

@EDIT
I've swaped WiFi to find out layout of PCIe ports:

http://avalan.rootnode.net/notebook/everest_pcie_config_original.png
This is original layout (WiFi card in half-sized mPCIe port)

http://avalan.rootnode.net/notebook/everest_pcie_config_swap.png
This is swaped layout (WiFi card in WAN full-sized mPCIe port)

It looks like:
- Port #1: empty onboard PCIe (full-sized)
- Port #2: empty onboard PCIe (half-sized)
- Port #4: empty ExpressCard PCIe

So it looks, eventuatlly, there is possibility to have x2 1.0, when I take out WiFi card.

 

ICH9M-equipped 13.3" Dell_E4300 can do a x2 1.0 link using mPCIe port1+port2

Yes - Dell E4300 could do a x2 1.0 link by purchasing a PE4H-PM3N plus an additional PM3N if you swapped out the wifi card. Appears here the E4300 would need the whole bottom cover taken off to access both the mPCIe ports unless a small cutout was made near the the mPCIe slots to allow the mini HDMI cable to be able to be attached.

PCI Scripts updated with a modular layout

2. What software setup do I need to make this work? section on the first page has been updated separating the example 2510P.bat and DV2000.bat into modules (menu.bat, bridge.bat, igp_disb.bat, igp_blnk.bat) to make it easier to understand. There are also direct links to the top level 2510P/DV2000 files off the first page to show how it all integrates. The DIY VIDock bootdisk rar file has been refreshed to version 2 with these updated modular examples.

 

Hey this is awesome! I am not interested in 3D but I am very, very interested in driving a lot of monitors at 1920x1200 (I am at three at this point but you know, adding a 4th would create me a 44" LCD with 3840*2400 and that's just cool).

I have a T400s which can only drive two and I was eyeing the P4L without knowing of this thread. It's surprising that you dont need to hunt for rare x1 video cards however! Good stuff.

The only question is, enclosures...? I have read the summary post, tried to skim the whole 33 pages but can't really find enclosure ideas aside from the name of a generic box manufacturer in the summary post.

As Nando have asked, while I do not have Everest, I can run lspci and lspci -tv

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection


+-1c.0-[0000:02]--
+-1c.1-[0000:03]----00.0 Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
+-1c.3-[0000:05-0c]--

the WiFi card as shipped is clearly in Port 2. There is a WWAN slot but I am not too inclined to tear apart the poor notebook to move the card there to figure out whether it's Port 1 or Port 4, sorry. Once I can put my paws on an Expresscard I will let you know what port is that.

However! http://www.2xlc.de/t400s.html if you look there, that guy has an SD card reader on 05:00.0. Compare that to the above and you will immediately see that the ExpressCard is on Port 4. So combining is fairly out unless you want to use both mPCI slots.

 

You can just swap wifi card between two ports, like I did.

 

Hi guys,

Just as a side note, not really the right place to post this but I thought that someone might actually be interested in this: I am selling my PE4H-PM3N adapter with all cables and everything. I have only used it for a few weeks and it is in perfect condition. The reason being that I just bought an Alienware laptop.

I am from the UK and if someone is interested in buying I can do it via paypal - even put it on ebay.

Should anyone be interested in this, please email me to [email protected] and I'll be happy to find a new owner for the module. It's a shame to just throw it away when this little piece has generated all of this discussions.

Many thanks.

 

Hi everyone,

I've been following this thread with quite some interest and recently decided to pull the trigger and get myself a PE4L + Sapphire Vapor-X HD5750 for my aging Asus F8SA/P (Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, hacked in Mob Radeon HD3650 1 GB). The laptop has an expresscard slot for a 1x link but I am going to try x2 1.0 by replacing the Wifi card with a PM3N. I'm looking for a flat mini HDMI cable to connect the PM3N through an opening on the laptop casing without much luck. Any tips on where I can order one from? I'm in the UK btw.

I'll post some details and benchmarks as soon as I get it running.

Cheers!

 

http://www.amfeltec.com/products/minipcie-to-pcie-riser.php found this. Flat cable looks promising. Also there is a PCI-E x1 to 3 or 4 PCI-E x1 which is heaven in case you are interested in driving your monitor farm from your laptop

 

Recently received a PE4H + EC2C from hwtools.net and trying it out on my Lenovo X200 running Windows 7 32-bit using an NVIDIA GeForce 210 16x card. Unfortunately I have not had any luck getting the PC to recognize the card, or acknowledge the presence of the PE4H at all.

I have not tried any of the chain loading tools as the instructions above imply they are only required if you get errors (which I don't since nothing appears to happen when the device is plugged in). The device doesn't appear in the device manager or in lspci when booting from a Ubuntu boot disk.

I have tried soldering TP1 to no avail. Could the mini-HDMI lead be broken? Any other suggestions for good tests to debug this?

Many Thanks,
Tim

 

Try:
- suspend system when running Win7, powerup PE4H + G210, resume system. Does it detect the card?
- if not, try PE4H on another system to confirm expresscard functionality.
- if still no go, try another mini HDMI cable, eg US$6-shipped DX cable.

Can you also swap the wifi card over into the other two mini PCIe cards so we can map out what the port layout is? Here is what we know of the X200.

 

It looks like the PE4L is still not available. Should I just get the PE4H? a $30 difference is not too bad for me, I guess.

Also, it seems like you can still go through with an order for the PE4L, what's up with that?

Edit: Looks like the PE4L will be back in stock ~first week of April, according to the guy from hwtools who answered my email.

I'm still confused about the power supply thing with this though; is there any way to use the PE4L/PE4H without any external power, or do I always have to have either a separate laptop adapter or ATX power supply?

 

Thanks nando, ran out of time this weekend to sort it out. I don't have a second laptop to test out the Express Card with, but I'll do some continuity testing on the cable. If you PM me some detailed instructions on the command-lines you'd like run for determining the mPCIe ports, I'll try and give that a go too.
Cheers,
Tim

 

Pongle - not enough posts to PM. The easiest way to map out the mPCIe physical ports to port numbers is:

1. Run Everest. Select Motherboard->Chipset->Southbridge, note port listed against the wifi card as shown here.
2. Shutdown system, move wifi card into next slot.
3. Repeat 1-2 for all mPCIe slots available. There are 3 mPCIe slots in a Lenovo X200.

You must supply 12V to power the pci-e slot either using a DC adapter or an ATX PSU.

PE4L v1.4 and PE4H v2.0 are on sale now. Differences from previous versions shown in linked table.

 

Has anyone found out if there's a driver or any way to make the graphics card + PE4x show video on the laptop display?

Oh and also, would the Alienware m11x be able to use a high performance x2 1.0, x1 2.0 or x4 connection?

 

Short version, no.

If you want the long version, you can read the previous posts in this thread, this has been discussed already.

 

Updated drivers for e1505 and made a nicer shoebox case for everything.
Waiting for USB hub to come in to make the shoebox a usb hub as well =)

e1505 has new 3dmark06 score, went up to 6848
see:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5975536&postcount=318

 

Update: while I was excited the following could be applied to Intel IGPs, I could only get it to work on a 4500MHD equipped Inspiron 1440. Neither the X3100 2510P nor the GMA950 DV2000 would allow me to locate their IGP's 256MB windows in PAE space. Thankfully those systems allowed PCI Reallocation, whereas the Inspiron 1440 would not, due to bios setting it's TOLUD too high. Good to have another option to try.

IGP Reallocation: Easy > 3GB Win7 setup for Intel 4500MHD notebooks

It was thought that Win7/64 would not require a 256MB window in < 4GB space, making PCI Reallocation redundant. However testing found the ATI 64-bit driver still needs a 256MB window in < 4GB space. Testing finding too that PAE (36-bit) addressing of Win7/32 works with the Intel IGP drivers. This gave a new solution where (1) the Intel IGP 256MB window could be relocated into 36-bit space (2) The ATI card could be allocated to use the 256MB window assigned by the bios for use by the Intel IGP. A simple solution demonstrated to work below for systems with a PAE-compatible CPU, which is pretty much any system since Pentium Pro. The main requirement now being the onboard graphics driver must support being relocated in > 4GB 36-bit PAE space which I only know 4500MHD does. ATI doesn't. Not sure on Nvidia.

Solution

1. Create USB DIY VIDock bootdisk
2. Save igpreloc.bat below onto your USB bootdisk.
3. Set the system-specific parameters.
4. Boot DIY ViDock bootdisk and run 'igpreloc.bat'. It will chainload into Win7.

igpreloc.bat

Code:

@echo off
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Relocate IGP to 36-bit space (PAE). Designed for Intel chipset systems
:: User defined system-specific parameters
::
:: port:    where 0=p1, 1=p2, 2=p3, 3=p4, 4=p5, 5=p6
:: mem_win: the bios defined 256MB window used by IGP.
::          Check it by running 'lspci -v -s 0:2.0' or in Device Manager.
:: Inspiron 1440: expresscard slot is port5 (0/1c/4), IGP 256MB window@E0000000
set port=4
set mem_win=EFF1E001
set io_win=2020
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Reallocate IGP at 300000000-30FFFFFFF (36-bit window - PAE compatible)
:: That's at the > 12GB boundary, so is OK unless you have > 12GB of RAM
:: Appears Win7 will do that upon detecting a conflict anyway, or DIY:
echo [igpreloc.bat] Relocating Intel IGP...
setpci -s 0:2.0 18.l=0C
setpci -s 0:2.0 1C.l=3

echo [igpreloc.bat] Configuring underlying bridge's 256MB window..
setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 1c.w=%io_win%
setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 24.l=%mem_win%

:: Chainload your OS, using whichever line works below
grub
:: grub --config-file="menu.xp"
:: grub --config-file="menu.w7"

Test Results

System	RAM	CPU	GPU	Comments	Relocated memmap
Inspiron 1440	4GB	T6600-2.2	4500MHD	3GB requires no PCIscript. 4GB gives error 12: against the HD5750. The TOLUD of 3.5GB is too high to free 256MB using PCI Reallocation. After running igpreloc.bat on Win7/32 the 4500MHD will use resources in > 4GB space, even in Win7/32 by using PAE's 36-bit space. I can switch the internal LCD attached to the 4500MHD on no problem, AND use the desktop video card, so both the Intel and ATI drivers are active and work.	here
HP 2510P	2GB	U7600-1.2	X3100	IGP Relocation doesn't work. Might require the newer a series-4 (4500MHD) or newer gpu to do it. PCI Reallocation does however work OK	-
DV2000	3GB	T2050-1.6	GMA950

So for systems which use a 64-bit CPU and chipset with Intel IGP graphics, this is a very easy solution to implement to allow a 4GB or more system configuration to work with ATI video cards.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The technical description of what is being done in this solution and why is below.

Microsoft's Win7 PCI enumerator isn't working to the ATI driver's requirements

The Win7 PCI enumerator doesn't help clear things up either. It allocates the ATI card a 256MB window in > 4GB space when using a 64-bit CPU+chipset combo if there is no space to accomodate it in the < 4GB region. It does this even for Win7/32 since it supports PAE (36-bit addressing). So we have an ATI driver expecting a 256MB window in < 4GB space, with a Microsoft driver allocating the Window in > 4GB space.

Symptoms

When this occurs, the ATI desktop video card will have no errors against it in Device Manager. Checking Screen Resolution will even list the LCD attached to the desktop video card. The only way to know this is not a valid setup is by trying to extend the display to the LCD attached to the desktop video card. It will result in no image on the external LCD, and will simply revert back to the internal LCD. I would have liked to see the ATI driver flag an error here.

Constraints based on test results

* ATI's Win7 32-bit AND 64-bit driver require a 256MB window in 32-bit space (< 4GB).
* Meaning ATI's 32-bit driver is not PAE compliant nor is the 64-bit driver fully 64-bit compliant
* Win7 requiring the primary video card (IGP) to be active for the ATI card to work.
* Intel IGP (x3100/4500MHD) drives are PAE/64-bit compatible.

Within these constraints, can do the following as a workaround:
* configure the underlying PCI bridge to use the IGP's bios defined 256MB window in 32-bit space
* set the IGP to use a 256MB window in > 4GB space (PAE used for Win7/32-bit)

 

Hi again,

I've finally received my PEAH to connect my brand new Sapphire HD 5750 to my aging Asus F8SA/P. First bit of bad news is that my system has 5 enabled PCIe x1 ports (yay!) and the expresscard slot is port 5 (doh!). By tearing most of the laptop apart, I have only found a single mPCIe slot (2, taken by the WiFi card) so even though there are two slots free, my chances of getting a x2 link are looking slim... It looks like there might be another slot underneath the left palm rest (bluetooth? LAN?) but I couldn't reach it...will look into it further.

The second bit of bad news is that I got the dreaded error 12 "cannot allocate resources". My laptop has 4GB RAM and runs Win7 x64. I've swapped a 2GB SODIMM with a 1GB one to get 3GB but didn't help. I can't follow nando4's latest recommendation since the laptop comes with a Mobility HD 3650, not an Intel IGP so I guess the PAE non-compliant driver issue remains.

PCI address space editing is a bit out of my reach for now so perhaps someone would be so kind to have a look at my config and help me out with a possible reallocation bridge script?



Here's my PCITOOL snapshot: http://www.mediafire.com/file/qrmzzzninzj/SNAPSHOT.BPD

Any help would be appreciated

 

Based on your snapshot and Device Manager memory map, your system needs only a minimal PCI Reallocation to free up 256MB as shown below. Can then use that freed window to host the HD5750.

F8SA.bat

Code:

:: Shrink 0/1/0 window from 512mb to 256mb starting at E0000000
:: This will free up a 256MB window at D0000000. No idea why the bios
:: made that window 512MB in size to begin with since it only needs 256MB
setpci -s 0:1.0 24.l=EFF1E001

:: 256MB free window at D0000000-DFFFFFFF, I/O window at 2000-2020.
:: expresscard slot=port5 (0/1c/4)
set port=4
set io_win=2020
set mem_win=DFF1D001

@echo [bridge.bat] Configuring underlying bridge hosting desktop video card...
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 1c.w=%io_win%
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 24.l=%mem_win%

@echo chainloading your OS with grub..
:: Use whichever line works below:
:: grub --config-file="menu.lst"
:: grub --config-file="menu.xp"
grub --config-file="menu.w7"

 

Thanks nando4, that was quick

The BIOS I am using is not exactly standard. My laptop was originally a F8SA with a Mobility Radeon HD 2600 512 MB. I've upgraded it to a Mob HD 3650 1GB but since the F8S chassis is not fully MXM compliant (it's the flipped design Asus tends to use) the VBIOS is actually merged with the main BIOS so I had to mix and match BIOS modules. I got the HD 3650 as a part for the higher specc'd model F8SP and replaced the F8SA VBIOS module with the one from the F8SP BIOS. It actually worked, mostly...! I lost some of the ACPI functions (fan control) probably because the vendor/part references don't match in the DSDT table in the BIOS anymore. The fan is now constantly on but the CPU and GPU are kept cool enough even under load so I chose not to press my luck any further. I am not sure if this has an impact on PCI memory allocation though. Still, your script should fix the issue.

I tried it this morning before coming to work but I ran into trouble chainloading my Windows 7. I still had the recovery partition from my old Vista factory installation and grub kept booting that one instead of the W7 partition. After messing with the menu.w7 I managed to get it to root to the right partition but then I found that my W7 went bust. Between swapping RAM and remaping PCI devices, my W7 gets stuck at loading, even when I boot the machine directly without any bootdisk (so it's not a chainload problem per se). It's not a big loss since I had just made a fresh install last weekend just to mess around with my PEAH. I'll fix the partitions, install W7 on hd0,0 and start the process again.

I'll keep you posted.

 

try to install a win xp driver to see if it'll work, you'll be limited to dx9 though

 

Alright it works!

After fixing the W7 partition, I could boot into Windows and run some tests. The HD 5750 is running just fine, no error 12 in sight! Since my first success in March, I've upgraded the CPU, implemented Nando's x1E tweaks (Everest screenshot here)and ran a series of additional benchmarks. Here are my current specs and benchmark results:

Notebook
Brand/Make: Asus F8SA/P
CPU: Core 2 Duo T9300 2.4 GHz (was Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2 GHz)
RAM: 4 GB DDR2 (667 MHz)
Platform/Chipset: Santa Rosa/Intel PM965, ICH8M
Laptop Graphics card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 1GB
OS: Windows 7 Professional x64
Drivers: Catalyst 10.3 (official)

DIY Vidock
Graphics card: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 5750 1GB
Adapter: PE4H v1.0 + EC2C
Connection: PCI-e 1.0 x1E (see notes here)
Power supply: 90W 19V DC (notebook AC adapter) + 32W 12V DC (external DVD writer caddy)


New results!
3dmark Vantage
Performance test - DirectX 10 - 1280x1024 - Default settings - Feature tests

Setup	Main score	GPU score	Texture fill rate	Color fill rate	Pixel shader	Stream out	GPU particles	Perlin Noise
E5400 + HD5750@x16 2.0 (desktop)	P6898	7440	703.07 GTexels/s	3.67 GPixels/s	23.07 FPS	22.86 FPS	31.19 FPS	58.94 FPS
T9300 HD5750@x1	P4999	4977	23.58 GTexels/s	3.7 GPixels/s	22.72 FPS	15.43 FPS	19.76 FPS	61.62 FPS
T9300 HD5750@x1E	P5318	5436	23.59 GTexels/s	3.71 GPixels/s	22.87 FPS	17.21 FPS	21.33 FPS	61.8 FPS
T9300 HD5750@x1E (after resume)	P4988	4961	23.55 GTexels/s	3.7 GPixels/s	22.77 FPS	15.44 FPS	20.59 FPS	61.56 FPS

Notice the 30-fold difference in Texture fill rates between the desktop HD5750 and my DIY Vidock HD5750. It fits the idea that large texture handling is the major performance bottleneck here caused by the much narrower bandwidth of the Vidock setup (x1 1.0 vs x16 2.0 on the desktop). You can see that the x1E performance boost is lost after suspending+resuming the laptop. Apparently, the F8SA/P BIOS resets the port configuration back to normal x1 (confirmed by Everest).

3dmark 06
DirectX 9 - Fullscreen - 1280x1024 - Default settings - Feature tests

Setup	Main score	SM2.0 score	SM3.0 score
E8400 + HD5750@x16 2.0 (desktop)	13439	5774	6642
T7500 + HD5750@x1	8970	4456	4042
T9300 + HD5750@x1	9704	4869	4063
T9300 + HD5750@x1E	10499	5048	4885

More detailed feature tests will follow.

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark - DirectX 9
Fullscreen - 1280x800 - High settings

Setup	Average FPS (variable test)	Avg FPS (fixed test)
T7500 + HD5750@x1	51.3
T9300 + HD5750@x1	53.8	25.9
T9300 + HD5750@x1E	66.1	37.3

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark - DirectX 10
Fullscreen - 1280x800 - High settings

Coming soon...

Crysis Demo Benchmark - DirectX 10 64 bit
Avg of 3 runs - Fullscreen - 1280x1024 - High & medium settings

Coming soon...

Asus F8SA/P x1E Script (F8SAE.bat)

Code:

:: Shrink 0/1/0 window from 512mb to 256mb starting at E0000000
:: This will free up a 256MB window at D0000000. No idea why the bios
:: made that window 512MB in size to begin with since it only needs 256MB
setpci -s 0:1.0 24.l=EFF1E001

:: 256MB free window at D0000000-DFFFFFFF, I/O window at 2000-2020.
:: expresscard slot=port5 (0/1c/4)
set port=4
set io_win=2020
set mem_win=DFF1D001

@echo [bridge.bat] Configuring underlying bridge hosting desktop video card...
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 1c.w=%io_win%
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 24.l=%mem_win%

@echo Configuring port to x2 mode...
:: Asus F8SA expresscard port 5. 'setpci -s0:1f.0 f0.l'=0xFED1C001
pt MEM write 4 0xFED1C224 0xC4

@echo chainloading your OS with grub..
grub --config-file="menu.w7"

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
I've done some tests with BC2 to see if I could improve my fps with the DIY Vidock. Surprisingly, I got lower fps with HD 5750 than with the internal Mob HD 3650! The difference is roughly 30-50% lower performance compared to my OC HD 3650 (3dmark06=4189, less than half of my Vidock's HD5750). On both cases, GPU load is at 90-100% during play but while the HD3650 can manage 30-50 fps at 1280x800 on low settings, the HD5750 is choking at 18-30 fps on same settings. I tried dx10 vs dx9c, different resolutions, render ahead limits, etc.. My guess is that the HD 5750 is being starved for bandwidth, which has a big impact on performance in games like BC2. I will seriously look into upgrading it to a 2x 1.0 since I really want BC2 to run smoother!
UPDATE: The x1E boost plus switching the game to DX9 resulted in impressive performance boosts! The game now plays steadily at 30-70 fps! More details coming soon...

I'll keep this post up-to-date. Let me know if you would like me to run other benchmarks, etc.
Thanks again for your help!

Changelog:
18-04-2010 - Updated specs, first result tables (with respective screeshots), x1E data.

 

BC2: DIY ViDocked HD5750 30-50% slower than mobility HD3650 likely due to hypermemory and 1GB VRAM

+1. A case where 3dmark06 synthetic benchmarks tells only half the story.

The relatively poor HD5750 performance compared to the onboard HD3650 in BC2 is likely due to ATI's hypermemory setup, where system ram is being used as an extension to onboard VRAM to hold texture data. Means the video card needs to do transfers across the already limited PCI-e bus. Haven't found a way as yet to disable hypermemory. BC2 could do with a 1.5/2GB VRAM video card [eg: 1.5GB GTX480, 2GB Sapphire HD5850, 2GB HD4870]

If you find an extra mPCIe socket or pads that is port1 to combine with your wifi port2, then you could do a port1+port2 x2 1.0 link, doubling bandwidth, which would definitely improve BC2 performance. Best performance would be from a 2GB VRAM video card AND a x2 1.0 link.