DIY eGPU experiences

No-Box: HD5750 with 12V/80W AC Adapter. PE4L+HD5750+12V/80W PSU, laying on cardboard sheet.

- 12V/80W supplied by AC adapter is going in via the PE4L's DC jack - the PE4L then has up to 80W it can deliver from it's 12V rail - power is split off via the floppy molex to the 6-pin pci-e plug - total power needed by Gigabyte HD5750 is 80W at full load - this setup applies only to *some* HD5750 models requiring < 80W at full load. - cards such as a HD5670 have no 6-pin pci-e connector, so require < 75W. - A HD5770 has peak power of 112W, so could not be powered this way.

 

hi, every one,
hey, nando4.

now i'm posting here for the first time. mostly i've been learnning about my laptop from the endless threads of yours .
though a little too late, i wanna say thank you for the good postings.

by the way, i'm in some trouble with "vidock boot usb" by this time.

i've follwed the order of making the "vidock boot usb" so much time, but always it's been resulted in observing pre-boot message "FreeDOS FAT KERNEL", boot-stopping... and repeat again.


how do i break off this infinite loop?

 

The DIY ViDock bootdisk uses FreeDOS. Hit F8 during boot will give you an option to process autoexec.bat or not. It's odd since autoexec.bat just prints a msg and then goes to DOS prompt. If doesn't work for you suggest trying a MS DOS 6.22 USB Bootdisk until can boot one up OK. Then just copy across the required files from the DIY ViDock bootdisk rar file: setpci.exe, lspci.exe, pt.exe, csdmpi.exe, grub.exe, atiflash.exe, pcitool.exe, 2510p.bat, dv2000.bat

 

Hi,

I have an ancient HP dv8000.
Recently I have failed to play Stalker COP, and had to trigger some kind of graphical error on newly purchased Borderlands by alt-tabbing(this somehow increases unplayable frame rate to barely playable level).

I was so excited when I found this forum, but I have several questions as I am a near computer illiterate.

1. Using EC2C means that I can just insert pci express card instead of having to open up the laptop's bottom cover, right? If my understanding is correct, what are the possible cons of using EC2C compared to PM3M? My house tend to collect dusts quite easily, so I would rather prefer keeping the cover closed.

2. I am planning to buy Sapphire HD5750(one such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102859), which seems like it may need a PSU because of its 85W power consumption. Does this mean I can buy any PSU that can provide at least 85W(or I guess ~100W) of power? It looks like most PSUs can supply lot more than that, which seems excessive, and I would like to spend as little money as possible at buying a PSU.

Thank you!

 

Answered in the more appropriate DIY ViDock discussions thread here.

 

thank you for the reply, nando4.

i tried again USB BOOT of DOS 6.22 by hp_usb_tool, and failed again.
not booted. only flickering cursor was in the left-top corner of black screen.

now i think it must be problems with UBS mem( 4GB, 2GB ,each of MLC type) & SD card mem(4GB, MLC type), formatted in FAT32.

for the reason that the cd-rom attached to my laptop has been out of order for the last few monthes, it's impossible to burn the cd ,but reading only.

so, the idea of using the virtual floppy disc driver(VFDD) occured to me.
and i tried with DIY VDOCK BOOT DISK rar files again in FreeDOS version, which resulted in "type the name of the command interpreter (e.i. c:\windows\command.com)" message ... and stopping boot.


therefore, the next step was that i tried with MS-DOS boot image of winXP. and then, copied the necessary files of DIYVDOCK to VFDD.

so, booting in DOS was performed well at last and register value modifying batch file has executed very well. i performed debugging the batch file in method of insertion of command "pause" s to batch file's several lines.

register's value was successfully changed.

and rebooting in XP, or win7 (my laptop is in multibooting mode)

.. not changed ???

on checking the registry value by BAR-Edit, chages was appeared neither in XP nor in win7.

what happens..??

how do i fix it for x2 performance?

and i'm operating x1 mode by MagmaExpress's Full_Function_2.6.exe.

is it compatible with DIYVDOCK' files??

 

t5500-1.66, ICH7M/GMA950, PE4H +EC2C +PM3N + HD5670.

Can you get your post count up so I can PM you to get this working? What is your system model, RAM, OS? A HD5670 gets a 3dmark06 here of 11.2k on a x16 2.0 link, so would be interesting to see how close you'd get to that.

I would suggest removing the MagmaBox driver for the time being, doing manual config instead. A 'pcitool /db:snapshot' dump could help the process. To get x2 1.0 working would require:

1. Confirmation that your system has accessible port1 and port2 by grabbing a Everest Southbridge screenshot with wifi attached and HD5650 running. They would need to come up as port1 and port2.

2. Get your HD5670 running in x1 1.0 first using port1 then using port2 to ensure each port works independently.

3. The bios would have setup x1 1.0 port1 and x1 1.0 port2. So need to change that so that port1 (0:1c.0) is a x2 1.0 by creating a custom x2-conf.bat.

4. Run the x2-conf.bat + any other scripts to configure port1, eg: bridge.bat.

5. Chainload into your OS with grub with either Win7/XP/MBR boot:
grub --config-file="menu.w7"
grub --config-file="menu.xp"
grub --config-file="menu.lst"

 

I've small question. I've never used paypal, so do I need send an e-mail with additional infos (postal address, phone) to hwtools, when I'm buying something throught their site?

 

yes,

you'd better immediately send a e-mail to hwtools for the purchasing.
and negotiating another method of the payment, shipment,.etc.

the early bird gets the worm..early.

At the first i wanna say i'm sorry about omitting my lap' data, pics..

my laptop' id name ak14-550t(mainboard- uniwill L51iix), 14.1" lcd, [email protected] cpu, intel 945 chipset series , gma950, 2GB Ram, 500gb HDD
-->> PE4H + EC2C + PM3N + ati HD 5670 (x1 operating,yet still now)

this pic is a cpu spec' screenshot.



here is chippset.


so next is a combination of EC2C + PE4H + HD5670 in win7 (Express Card slot)


and PM3N + PE4H + HD5670 in win7 (WLAN slot)


here are benchmark shots by "Devil May Cry4"
1280x800 resolution.
lower level is in DirectX 10.



and higher in directX 9.

 

I'd recommend using paypal for the security and confirmation of payment. They also use your paypal address to ship to.

I ordered yesterday via paypal and they shipped it out same day. They sent me a tracking number for FedEx. I've had a look and according to FedEx it'll be here on Monday (ordered Wednesday). So considering the weekend I think that's pretty good service. If you ordered Monday/Tuesday you'd get it same week.

Sorry this is to Australia by the way.

 

@chung_gun
It looks like DX10 isn't bad. Please, do tests with 3DMark06.

 

@chung_gun. You have expresscard=port1, wifi=port3. Do you have another mPCIe slot that corresponds to port2? The bios has enabled port2, but unless there is a physical socket to connect to you won't be able to do x2 1.0 as that requires port1+port2 to be combined. The Intel ICH7M chipset will not allow you to combine port1+port3 to do x2 1.0. Please have a look. Maybe it has a WWAN socket? If so, swap the wifi card into it and confirm it appears as port2.

If there is no visible additional mPCIe slot, consider that some systemboards have pads for another socket. That would require you to solder the socket on. Also we found a Asus F8SA had a small connector where an additional ASUS-specific mPCIe board could be attached. Something to consider as well?

 

well, i'm sorry for repeating mistakes.
i'll be back. mm..

by any chance, is there any body knowing the method of deleting the thread of one' own.

 

thanks for the reply,
in my laptop,
port 1 = express card slot (EC2C interfaced)
port 3 = pci-e mini slot for WLAN (PM3N interfaced).

port 2 is still invisible. so only i guess , as you had said previously, it should be combined with port 3 in the pci-e mini slot.

mm.. for root port configuration mode, would you say x2 mode is impossible for my laptop? oh, my goooooood.:cry:

how do i do.mm..? is'nt there any other method for this.

for example, x2 mode operating in x4 mode configuration.
..
is it impossible, x2 operation..???

anyway, thanks for good guidance,nando4. have good day!!!:wink:

 

avlan, i miswrote there, sorry.

benchmark pictures were arranged wrongly to each other .

it was modified just now.

in addition to that DMC4 marks, it marked at 20 fps in RE5... lol

 

Compact setup using 1U 300W PSU



This is my set up. Nvidia 9800gt 1 gig card. 1U 300watt server power supply on aluminum angle from home depot. used steel puddy to stick it together.

full set up here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...51-diy-vidock-experiences-76.html#post6327087

 

Am I right in assuming that a ViDock is an external video card for laptops?

 

.... place holder for pics

 

xbox360 PE4H+HD5770+xbox360 case + xbox360 175W PSU.

<fieldset class='fieldset'>

</fieldset>

 

Racco AssorterPE4H+HD5850+180W PSU

 

Green Box 5770 + PE4H and ATX power supply

 

I saw that - anyway, it ain't as bad as I thought ;]

 

Hi Nando,

I have uploaded the files you asked to
http://cid-4d198ca99e0416a3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/ViDock/ViDock.rar
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com...p7pfDCxFsKpd2sDb2egB1U7D-IwvUDQXuzFA/pic1.jpg
http://public.bay.livefilestore.com...7IIK0olziyI3s3bFsPTN7-zTUn8VOKbH2V5w/pic2.jpg

Please help me solve the problem

 

Awsome tread!! Does any know when the Express 2.0 would be available for PE4H or PE4L?

 

You have two free windows to accomodate your Nvidia 7900GTO card.

F4000000-F6FFFFFF (48MB)
E0000000-EFFFFFFF (256MB)

Save the following onto your DIY ViDock bootdisk. I'm assuming the Nvidia 7900GTO card it is attached off port 3 (0:1c.2), since port3 shows up in Everest as the empty, but the other two ports already have things attached. If it comes up on another port, then change the port variable below to be whatever Everest shows minus 1.

VPCZ11.bat

Code:

::Sony VPCZ11 with Nvidia 7900GTO attached off pci-e port3 (0:1c.2)
@echo off
set port=2
set io_win=2020
set mem_win=EFF1E001

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

:: Nvidia cards appear to require an additional 48MB window
setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 20.l=F6FFF400

:: Chainload Win7
:: grub --config-file="menu.w7"
:: grub --config-file="menu.lst"

Run it with:

1. call VPCZ11.bat

2. chainload into Win7 with either of the following, whichever one works
grub --config-file="menu.w7"
grub --config-file="menu.lst"

3. When confirmed working, uncomment the appropriate grub entry in VPCZ11.bat and add "call VPZ11.bat" to the start of autoexec.bat to boot and run without the need for any user intervention.

Asus told me late 2010 they will be releasing expresscard 2.0 notebooks.

Can you add Resident Evil 5, DX9 at 1280x800 and 3dmark06 as well? Would like to add your system in the first post.

 

Does the MSI GX640, that has a PM55 mothercard, has a PCIe 2.0 expressport?

Thanks

 

Hi Nano4,

I have tried the batch from you, well under Everest, the port indeed is port 3. However, it does not work.

Upon boot up, if I have the Expresscard plugged in, the system will stay at blank. What I did is to plugin Expresscard after BIOS screen show up.

After applying the batch, if I do

setpci -s 00:1c.%port% 20.l=F6FFF400

the system will stay in the Windows 7 Boot screen with the flag waving without any other things happening, I have waited for like 10 min., nothing.

I also tried an Ati card, same thing. I removed the 48MB window for Ati, it boots into Windows 7, but the screen resolution is at 800x600 with error code on Intel HD and Standard VGA(I think this is Ati card) code 31.

I don't know what to do next. I've uploaded the 4 files you asked before to the following links:

http://cid-4d198ca99e0416a3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/ViDock/ViDock^_Ati.rar

http://cid-4d198ca99e0416a3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/ViDock/ViDock^_Nvid.rar

One for Ati, one for Nvidia. Please help me....

Thanks

 

Big News!!

First of all, big thanks to Nando4, he helped me last night for whole night (literally from 9:30PM to 12:30AM) to make DIY ViDock work on my system. Now I can plug in an Ati card to connect to multiple external screens. I tried to watch New Moon on the testing Ati 5450 card and it plays! Now I can have 3 video cards in my system.

The process is very simple, all what you have to do is to reserve E0000000-EFFFFFFF space for Port 3, then you will have this card working for you. I can see myself plug in a Ati 5890 at home while when mobile, using the on board 330M. WooHoo! Now I am in heaven!

I also tried DIY ViDock with Highpoint Raid 2300, of course it works. Now Ati also works on my system.

One big disappointment is NVidia cards won't work on Z119 as Sony custom made the graphics card driver, that when another NVidia card is plugged, the LCD will turn Black and upon reboot it will revert back to low resolution with graphics cards conflicts in Device Manager even nothing is plugged.

I have test this morning, so I can't post screen shots and video. I'll try to do it this afternoon if I am not too tired.

 

Never mind...

 

Here's the pictures of my Z119 and external screen setting.

1. DIY ViDock
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...V7GbTTewivJM2cE3H1mvN1KyKSVBEfrB/_MG_0301.jpg

2. External Screen setups
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...3lLwT2n7VM6ge1QLanhEE3Rk81HEbPBn/_MG_0306.jpg

3. Running 3DMark 06 demo
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...OFsYeKBq8sdVynSSpUd3IpCq-n2sPAcT/_MG_0310.jpg

4. 3DMark06 Result
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...7hcv_LJ6HtxRPxlf1eGFZPL-X_meT/test result.jpg

5. Resident Evil 5 Benchmark
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...TyHidfyz-8bdaS2BT7w5UDPZebsS_8tk/_MG_0311.jpg

6. RE5 Results
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...3j6UWneBIeykGqVhkxod511AkpQ6y3ir/_MG_0312.jpg

I purchase DIY ViDock was planning for attaching External Monitor in portrait, I did not expect the 3DMark06 score will be this high, that is incredible!

My everest screen shot is like what shows below:
http://zwhraq.bay.livefilestore.com...8-HJA2Zgc4C1f8aALrDEkFijz_ig-wXum/Everest.jpg

My system is a Core i7-620M, 6GB RAM and 512GB Raid0 SSD.

Big thanks for Nando4!

And the scripts I use to boot up my system is:
===================================================
set port=2
set mem_win1=EFF1E001
:: set mem_win2=F6FFF400

echo.
echo [bridge.bat] Configuring underlying bridge hosting desktop video card...
@echo on

setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 24.l=%mem_win1%
:: setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 20.l=%mem_win2%
===================================================
where

set mem_win2=F6FFF400
setpci -s 0:1c.%port% 20.l=%mem_win2%

are commented out because they were for nVidia cards, but Sony custom made Z's NVidia driver so when a nVidia card is plugged in, it will conflict the on-board 330M, so it is a no go...

 

The Basics[/B]. PE4H+HD5750+ATX PSU.

<img width=50% src=http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p8jzwIR7b8-6x0UAy_T2R7fAjFbbLGq5bHGAkxbqctNXYRwVI2QBkVlN-RiGRAbRO-BLxtXsdGwbLUBswhx1u0A/_MG_0301.jpg</A

 

Push RE5 game benchmark instead of perforamnce bench.

 

Thanks to Nando's tx2pr script I now have a working DIY VIDOCK with pcie 2.0 x1 enabled.

Final Script is:

tx2nPcie20.bat

Here's the Benchmark from the HP Touchsmart Tx2



The new touchsmarts should perform better since they come with Intel Core i-5s.

I might need to find a Turion Ultrax2 ZM-86 or ZM-88 (if the 88 hasn't sold out).

Running 3dMark03 gave a score 33133 which is 10x faster then my HD 3200 on Board which scored 3187.

Another Bonus: Ntrig Touch and tablet drivers still works with the Laptop display ... which means you can flip around your convertable lid and you have a poor-mans version of a Wacom Cintiq... drawbacks.... 256 Pressure sensitivity levels and they're sent to Windows core events so pressure sensitivity only works with programs like Artrage and Manga Studio and not photoshop... but I'm not complaining.

Resident Evil 5 Benchmark. 42.2fps dx9; 29.6fps dx10
Devil May Cry 4: 90fps(with peaksvariable peaks between 64-421fps) dx9; 59fps dx10
So I will benchmark with those.

UPDATE:

PICS of RE5 Benchmark in 1650 x 1080 Dx9 and Dx10 High Textures no AA...
PICS of Devil MAY CRY 4 and my CoolerMaster Elite 100-KPPP3-GP Enclosure...

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/jazz_renegade/Portfolio1/My DIY Vdock/?albumview=slideshow

 

RE5 has free benchmark tool here.

 

Updates are above: That's it benchmarking complete. Thanks again.

 

Good work. Your post above is now linked off the first page. A couple of observations:

- the 3dmark06/RE5 benchmarks look like x1 1.0 performance. The second part of the script you posted was based on documentation, without any testing. It would require you to play around with to try to get the link into x1 2.0 mode by following the scripts steps and seeing if link has switched into the higher performance mode.

- can you update your post with RE5 1280x800 dx9 variable benchmark? You have 1680x1050 benchmarks.

 

@nando4
maybe add some benchmarking guidelines to the first post.

 

Guide added above the Performance Matrix and added overclocked gpu results as & items. Some observations:

-the XPS M1340 has the highest SM3.0 3dmark06 value of 5618. This is higher than even the HD5870's 4991. Why? Is it a x1 2.0 link? It may explain why it gets a RE5 of 76.1FPS. Overclocking the HD5770 would see it have ~12k 3dmark06 and RE5 of ~79FPS.

-the TX2's RM75-2.2 with HD5770 sees it's DMCV results outperform the T9300-2.5 M1530 with HD5770. This doesn't make much sense. Is it due to it's 8GB of RAM (versus 2GB) or the PCI-E 2.0 port? Newer drivers?

-using the SM3.0 value of 3dmark06: compared to a HD5750 a HD5770 is ~8% faster. A HD5870 is 25% faster. A 800/1430 overclocked HD5750 performs about the same as a stock-clocked HD5770.

 

Hi Nando 4:

First of all I´d like to say that Vidock 2 it´s a great stuff, there is a lot of advantages for old Laptops..But also There is a lot of inconvenients as the famous "error 12:cannot allocate resources" or the instability of games such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (16 fps?? WDF??)..

So my question is: Why Villagetronics doesn´t give us a Simple guide for improving our Vidock2???

By the way..Why everytime that I want to play a game my laptop freezes every 30 minutes aprox? You suggested me replacing my power supply and I´m on my way to do it. But before that I´ve recently overclocked my ati in Ati Catalist Control Pannel/ Ati Overdrive..that was a good idea or that´s the reason why my laptop everytime I launch a game freezes??

Finally I´d like to try switching my Laptop Configuration to x2 1.0 / x1 2.0 so..Could you guide me to get it work?? Do you any guide for "Dummies"??

Thanks in advance for all your help, you´re a great expert on the subject.

 

Question: I thought that I had read somewhere in one of these DIY ViDock threads that hwtools had released a v2.0 of the PE4H that corrected some problems in v1.0. However, when I go to www.hwtools.net, I can only find an order v1.0. Anyone have information on this?

 

Maybe they are still developing it or selling out stock.

 

CoolerMaster Elite 100-KPPP3-GP[/B]. PE4H+HD5770.

 

ATI 4350 works fine after reboot.

BUT using exact same setup with ATI 5670 fails. It's not detected (Standard VGA...) with low res.

I don't understand...

Anyone experienced this? (Before I ask Nando - the expert ;-)

Maybe something to do with onboard 5730?

 

Can you show your memory map from device manager? I am curious about how to move ports around.

 

I have sucessfully tested EC2C+PE4H (I replaced the "P 150-24” 2AMP fuse and directly soldered the pads) with my unused desktop ATI Radeon HD 3870 (320 SPs, 16 ROPs) 512MB GDDR4(256bit) and Sony VGN-FW45GJ with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650(320 SPs, 8 ROPs) 512MB GDDR3 (128bit).

Games tested
1. Street Fighter IV (Stream)
2. Trine (Stream)

I installed
1. Official Mobility Catalyst 10.2(dismantled AMD’s catalyst_mobility_64-bit_util.exe to obtain the embedded download URL). I removed and clean the old Catalyst drivers.
2. Windows 7 X64 Ultimate

From my communications with www .hwtools .net, they plan to redesign PE4H with 5 AMP fused.

 

Hi,
You know the PE4H, does it require any external power?

I ask because I want to connect my Windows 7 laptop externally to a Nividia Quadro FX 1800.

My computer does not have an expresscard slot, but has firewire 800 slot built in.

So my idea is that I get the PE4H, the graphics card, an expresscard to 800 firewire adapter & a 9 pin to 9 pin firewire cable.

Is it likely this set up will work?
My use is as a 3D animation designer using autodesk maya.

kind regards

 

You need ExpressCard, or if you hasn't it, you need connect to mPCIe. There isn't any other connection possible.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply.

The PE4H comes with the expresscard connected to it via the PCIe Male to Male cable 30cm.

My plan is to connect the expresscard to my computer via an expresscard to firewire 800 adapter cable. From there i'd like to connect this adapter to my laptop via a 9 pin to 9 pin firewire cable.

Will this work?

 

ordered PE4H, getting a 5770 do you think my late gateway 12V/120W AC adapter will be able to feed it ? what about the 6-pin connector ? or better just settle for the 5750...

going to play on the corporate Lenovo T400...

 

I am also curious about the pe4h 2.0. Also what is the status for the pe4h that has x4 capabilities.