DIY eGPU experiences

Hi, Ima post this in here since the other topic seems to be a bit unused;

1)
i also havnt been using desktop cpus for ages; regarding the powersupply. How many cables do actually need to be connected? I thought only 1 to the Graphics card and 1 to the PCI adapter;
Imageshack - mafiaiiint.jpg
on that pic there seems to be a third black one above another one (or are they one plug?). And he also seems to wire all the cables from the powersupply to one hub before he wires them into the card/pci adapter again. What does he do that for?

2) Is it not possible to get a PCI 2.0 to Usb 3.0 adapter and just buy a cheap notebook with a few usb3.0 ports and use those to get as much PCI 2.0 speed as you got usb ports?

As in; if you got 2 usb 3.0 ports, get 2 PCi 2.0 to usb3.0 adapters to get 2x 2.0 speed?? That'd only work of course if those adapters even exist, I found plenty of Express cards with built in usb 3.0 ports but no pci 2.0 express slots which can be pluged into an usb 3.0 port... I found this on a german site but it seems to be an usb 2.0 adapter and not a 3.0 which would be needed.... DeLOCK Adapter USB 2.0 zu Express Card 34/54mm | ELV-Elektronik

 

OK

But you said here:

That x1.Opt (x1 Optimus) with the GTX 460 will work for me.
And i reed that if the x1.Opt (x1 Optimus) works so i will can play on the laptop screen ...
That's not true?

 

@ Gil3,

Please ignore this:-

You can use internal screen with x1.Opt setup. The external monitor is not required but can be useful for troubleshooting if things didn't goes smoothly.

 

OK

Thanks for your help ..

I can not wait for it ..
I hope to get a high score in 3dmark2006

 

How many PCIe connector needed depend on what graphic card you use. 6-pin PCIe connector provide power up to 75W while 8-pin PCIe connector provide power up to 150W. High-end graphic card usually required 2 x 6-pin PCIe connectors. Factory-overclocked graphic card usually required a 6-pin & 8-pin PCIe connectors OR 2 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors. One floppy connector also connected to PE4H/PE4L board, delivering power up to 75W to graphic card.

PCI-Express 1x Connector Pin-Out (Source: PCI Express 1x, 4x, 8x, 16x bus connector pinout)

Pin	Side B Connector		Side A Connector
#	Name	Description	Name	Description
1	+12v	+12 volt power	PRSNT#1	Hot plug presence detect
2	+12v	+12 volt power	+12v	+12 volt power
3	RSVD	Reserved	+12v	+12 volt power
4	GND	Ground	GND	Ground
5	SMCLK	SMBus clock	JTAG2	TCK
6	SMDAT	SMBus data	JTAG3	TDI
7	GND	Ground	JTAG4	TDO
8	+3.3v	+3.3 volt power	JTAG5	TMS
9	JTAG1	+TRST#	+3.3v	+3.3 volt power
10	3.3Vaux	3.3v volt power	+3.3v	+3.3 volt power
11	WAKE#	Link Reactivation	PWRGD	Power Good
Mechanical Key
12	RSVD	Reserved	GND	Ground
13	GND	Ground	REFCLK+	Reference Clock Differential pair
14	HSOp(0)	Transmitter Lane 0, Differential pair	REFCLK-
15	HSOn(0)		GND	Ground
16	GND	Ground	HSIp(0)	Receiver Lane 0, Differential pair
17	PRSNT#2	Hotplug detect	HSIn(0)
18	GND	Ground	GND	Ground

USB 3.0 Pin-Out (Source: Universal Serial Bus (USB))

Connectors are backwards compatible with USB 1.1/2.0. The original 4 pins are still there. Expected transfer rate 4.7Gb/s.

Pin	Name	Description
1	VBUS	+5 VDC
2	D-	Data -
3	D+	Data +
4	GND	Ground
5	USB3_RX	USB 3.0 Data Receive (differential)
6	USB3_RX	USB 3.0 Data Receive (differential)
7	GND	Ground
8	USB3_TX	USB 3.0 Data Transmit (differential)
9	USB3_TX	USB 3.0 Data Transmit (differential)

Based on the pinout, I doubt eGPU can work with USB 3.0. (If nando4 or anyone can give better technical explanation, I will put this in FAQ page.)

 

Awesome piece of work and great service to members! Small correction: the Sony Z21 has a non-standard "Thunderbolt" (which they call "Lightpeak," the Intel term, I believe, but even at that, it apparently will not work with the [presently only 2!] TB/LP peripherals, being apparently a proprietary implementation of the technology. I believe some labs are testing it to see if it is modifiable to be used as a "standard" TB.

 

thanks a lot. I'm currently looking at some laptops to buy (since i gotta make the purchase in the next few weeks).

If I want to use Optimus under 1x Express 2.0 the only thing i gotta watch out for is that the laptop comes with

- Express Slot
- Sandy Bridge CPU (2nd gen i3/i5/i7)
- Comes with an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or x3150

right?


Also, has anyone got any idea what the performance loss with Optimus + 2.0 is? 2.0 or 2x 1.0 is supposed to have -20% performance loss but i suspect with optimus under 2.0 this should be a lot lower?
I thought of getting a 560 GTX or maybe a 470 GTX (no money for 580 atm if i buy a new laptop too) with a 150W powersupply unit? good choice?

 

Why does using an external display make it run better?

 

because the PCIe link to the CPU is so limited, that it's already suffering (congested, saturated) without adding the extra frame copy data that the GPU needs to punch back to the IGP.

 

I would disagree, while thunderbolt indeed would only be adopted next year, since there is a closure agreement between intel, sony and apple. There is no licensing fee for it, only the cost of the chip

Where did you saw that the thunderbolt controller is divided between the port and the HDMI?

current available controllers:

Light ridge - 4 bidirectional 10gbps per channel (so 20gbps per channel) - models that use it are: mbp, imac, mac mini

Eagle ridge - 2 bidirectional 10gpbs per channel (so 20gbps per channel) - models that use it are: mba

Warning!

The imac shares the same controller for the 2 thunderbolt ports that it has, thus crippling the bandwidth

Im waiting eagerly for the sonnet or other solutions for thunderbolt.

 

Basically notebook with Sandy Bridge CPU & Intel HD is needed for Optimus setup.

GTX 560 Ti required maximum power 170W while GTX 470 required maximum power 215W. When buying PSU, pay attention to 12V rail max current.

 

12v just means that i cant use a lets say 16v psu, right? Would something like this work fine? Although it is an ATX and i read ATX can cause problems?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FSP-250W-...omputing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item4aaa070e4c




This picture was posted by a member on the last page here; In the box where you see the PE4H, what is that thing in the top right corner for? It looks to me a bit like its for the powersupply of the PE4H?

 

if you refering the thing on the top right corner within the lower red frame, it's simply a switch to turn on the PSU which you can also do with a paper clip.

from the old PSU it reads 12v at 15A if I'm not wrong so maximum 180w off the 12v which is sufficient to drive the gtx460. For more powerful cards a more powerful PSU will be neccessary.

 

I can't find the specification of this PSU. I highly doubt this PSU able to power GTX470 or GTX560 Ti.

What kind of problem?

 

Thats what I ment, as i just found out on the website. It is the ATX power supply power switch (since its not connected to a motherboard). What i dont understand is that it has got 24 pins to drive it, rather than 20, which i thought is the standard connector which comes with the psus?


edit: why do you doubt it? It got 12V at 250Watts, so I asume about 20A which should be enough to drive the card?

Dunno what problem, i think i read something here ages ago but maybe i was wrong

 

Can I get a link on eBay to PSU in the picture:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6663/gtx460pe4hatx.jpg
?

I want to see another option ..
This PSU is safe?

 

The 6-pin/8-pin/6+2-pin PCIe connector cable is used to provide extra 12 volt power to PCI Express expansion cards. So, to know whether the PSU able to provide enough power or not to the graphic card is by looking to the 12V current. This is an example of 500W PSU specification (PSU specification can be found on the PSU casing):-

Voltage	+3.3V	+5V	+12V	-12V	+5Vsb
Max. Current	25A	20A	34A	0.8A	3A
Max Combined Wattage	130W		408W	9.6W	15W

As you can see the +12V can provide max current of 34A. So, to know the power:-

Code:

Power = 12V * 34A = 408W

This is the maximum power this PSU can provide to the graphic card. Check it against the graphic card maximum power requirement.

 

i see. Another question, I read that Sandy Bridge processors got the integrated intel 3000HD GPU already... well... "integrated". Does that mean that every sandy bridge processor already comes with optimus technology?

 

That is an old PSU. Can you find any of these PSU in your country?
FSP or Corsair or Seasonic???

Your earlier choice of PSU (Hec Cougar RS 400 80PLUS RS-400) can support GTX460. But, better get PSU with single 12V rail. Corsair CX series are cheap & can provide enough power to run GTX460.

 

To be exact Sandy Bridge with integrated Intel HD & Intel HD 3000 can support Nvidia Optimus setup. Nvidia Optimus does not come from Sandy Bridge processors.

 

Thats what I ment; but does this mean that all Sandy Bridge processors support optimus since all sandy bridge processors come with an integrated intel hd chip?

 

yes, its in the cpu die now

 

might seem kind of stupid, but does that mean i can also get optimus drivers if i get a sandy bridge laptop which comes with an ATI card? (if i just uninstall the ati drivers and connect and install the drivers for the external nvidia card)

edit: also; i still dont know why the ATX power switch has got 24 pins whereas most PSUs seem to come with a 20 pin plug which i dont really understand...

 

Most PSUs actually come with 24, the extra 4 are just for extra juice to the motherboard. 20 pin ones will fit a 24 pin slot, and vice versa, the extra just hang off the side. Usually the 4 extra pins are separated on their own cable or detachable in some way.

The only thing you need to know is that a turquoise colored wire switches the PSU on, as long as the switch bridges it and a black wire (ground) your PSU will turn on. You don't even have to buy the switch thing if it doesn't come with it, you can use any switch and just stick some wires into the slots.

And yes I think a Sandybridge laptop with an ATI card can work. You might want to wait one more day before buying anything though, because hwtools said PCI-e 2.0 compatible adapters will be available 7/30 Then you can potentially get near Thunderbolt performance or better with Optimus drivers.

EDIT: About Thunderbolt being x2 or x4, I am finding conflicting information on the internet, so maybe someone else can find out what it actually is.

 

yeah i read about this, so if id buy one of the old hwtools old pci 1.0 adapters does it mean my pci 2.0 card slot will be just as fast as a pci 1.0 slot because the diyvidock is still on pci 1.0 speed?

Reason why I'm asking about the ATI/intel/optimus thing is, that in this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/6542661-post1222.html nando says you got to install your normal nvidia laptop driver FIRST before you overwrite it with the desktop driver which doesnt quite work like that with an ati gpu... unless he just means unpacking by installing (similar how lv2go.com does it)`?

 

in my country Corsair CX series are More expensive than the PSU - Hec Cougar RS 400 80PLUS RS-400.
It's important to have a single 12V rail?

And maybe the PSU is the picture is in my country or similar PSU ..
Give me the name of the PSU in the picture or similars PSUs and I'll try to find it

 

Hello, I am the owner of a Gateway p7805u.

I noticed on the first page that I would be the first to implement the eGPU system into their laptop. I am currently running on Win7, x9100 CPU, with the stock 9800m GTS integrated video card. A GPU upgrade to the 460 GTX would increase my gaming limits drastically, as I can reach 3.7 Ghz on my extreme CPU, but am bottlenecked by my GPU in achieving greater fps, especially in stereo 3d.
I would gladly post my benchmarks and results on my system after performing this upgrade but am in need of some guidance.

If I understand correctly I need this: ExpressCard External Graphics x16

All of the items listed there correct?

and a power supply and GPU of my choice to get this to work, correct? Would a more powerful card like the GTX 580 give me more benefits on a setup like this, or would the result be the same because of the Optimus limit (I don't really understand this part, if someone would be so kind as to explain this).

 

the 9800 is a pretty powerful card, im not sure if its actually really worth upgrade, especially considering that you'll get performance loss due to the PCI bottleneck...

 

I think a GTX460 would give him a bit more power though, seeing how x1 optimus setups are able to play even games like BFBC2 at high resolution. He might be able to get an x2 connection going too.

 

The new macbook pro 15 comes without expresscard slot, does it mean there is no eGPU solution for it beside the sonnet product which hasn't release?

 

his laptop gpu is too old for optimus i think.

 

Sorry forgot that, but he might have integrated as well.

 

If I'm not mistaken Gateway p7805u have Intel GM/PM45 chipset (ICH9M). Your notebook doesn't have compatible Intel GPU to support Optimus. Your notebook is still possible to use eGPU; x1 or x2 link, depend on the PCIe ports availability (all information regarding this available at first post). In the first post you can find several eGPU setup with ICH9M chipset. Unfortunately, except benchmarks score, I can't find any games experience with ICH9M+eGPU setup. If not, I can redirect you to it. You can use (Asus F8SA/P) ICH8+eGPU games experience as reference.

 

+1, Thank you for your help everyone above. According to those results I already get that amount of fps on average on my tweaked and overclocked 9800m gts. If I want a more powerful gaming solution I think I'm just going to build myself a new desktop from scratch and use my tv/projector as the displays.

 

I noticed that the dv6/7 series of hp laptops can come with 1080p screens and i7 processors, also with the integrated graphics option. Would I be able to eGPU the dv6t Select Edition series say with a gtx 460/560 maybe even a gtx 580?

HP Pavilion dv6 and dv6t Select Edition series | HP Official Store

 

comes with a new gen ix processor; so you can use optimus drivers with any new generation card of your choice.

cant believe how cheap the dv6t is in usa ; has that got an express card slot (just to be save?). i thought about a dell vostro but i might import one of these Oo

 

Yeah i was able to find a coupon to take my desired setup from 1100ish down to the 800-900$s. Also Lets say I went ahead and got the setup with the 6770 graphics card, would i still later on down the line if i wanted more graphics performance would i be able to do an eGPU even if i had the 6770 as a graphics card?

The main reason I ask is because im fine with 6770 graphics, but somewhere down the line when gw2 comes out, I'd want to make sure I can play it at high settings so im curious if i'd be able to do the egpu setup with the dv6t series with an integrated card or with a ati 6770

 

yeah. if it causes problems to have 3 graphic cards you can just uninstall one so the pc "forgets" that there is another one.

 

Is the expresscard 2.0 adapter out today yet?

 

Um no that's not it. It has no plug for power, and it most certainly did not come out today. Notice on hwtools homepage they have "new products", and the newest one was released 7/26.

 

wow you answered just as i edited it. I read thru some specs, turns out that was like the first express adapter they released. cant believe i havnt realized that before. wasnt the new one scheduled for today?

 

Yea apparently, but I guess not. Over in Asia it's already the 31st too lol.

 

meh lets hope its out on monday... maybe someone can comment on my setup atm?

Dell Vostro* 17,3 inch (i5 2410 sandy bridge, 7200rpm drive no other fancy stuff) 489 euros
geforce 560 gtx ti 170 euros
Corsair Sx 430w 46 euros
Pe4h placeholder for express2.0 version ~60 euros
____
765 euros
?

*afaik the vostro still comes with an express card slot? any confirmation on this?

 

Successfully got my Lenovo E420 + eGPU setup working today.

Hardware:
i5-2410
8GB mem
P4EL
Zotac GTX 460 stock clocked at 720/1440
Cooler Master GX 620 PSU

3dmark06 - 15.3K
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2410M Processor,LENOVO 1141A24 score: 15385 3DMarks
3dmark vantage - 10.5K
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i5-2410M Processor,LENOVO 1141A24 score: P10553 3DMarks

I wanted to mention a couple pieces of info for others using this setup:

- by default only 128MB of PCIe space is available so 32-bit compaction and chainloading is required. I was able to remove some PCIe devices and get the driver loaded without compaction, however the driver almost always crashed and resulted in a variety of different BSODs. After spending about a day fussing with BSODs I can say that trying to run without compaction is not recommended.

- I had to take the following steps to get the drivers installed and running stable. I don't know why, but the driver goes crazy (read: BSODs within minutes of booting) if you don't install it with this method.
1. Boot to windows normally with the eGPU plugged in (do NOT run compaction and chainload)
2. Let the standard VGA driver install
3. Restart the machine
4. Again, boot do windows normally. Do NOT chainload.
5. Install the 275.33 drivers
6. Restart the machine. Once again, do NOT chainload.
7. You will see an error code 12 for the GTX 460 in device manager. Now let's do the egpu setup stuff, restart the machine.
8. Break the reboot into egpu setup. Load the eGPU video card, run compaction, set the chainloader to win7. Chainload win7.
9. Everything should work now. With video directed to an external monitor you can remove the expresscard and the video signal correctly drops back to the notebook screen. You must restart the machine and chainload to re-enable the eGPU though - I found that plugging it back in, with or without the sleep trick, did not re-activate the driver.

I can't say why installing the driver AFTER compaction broke everything, but it definitely did. It seemed like the I/O link to the card was failing and trying to read anything from the card would almost instantly hang the machine.

- One more note - use a VERY high quality power supply. My first attempt was with a Corsair CX430 and I found the power was not sufficient for a GTX460. I was able to use the internal LCD, but the card failed to drive my external monitor properly. My thought is that it only had 1 6+2 PCIe adapter, and the GTX 460 needs 2 PCIe connectors, so I had to use a molex adapter. I bought the Cooler Master unit today for 49.99 AR at Microcenter and it has a single 12V rail @50A. No issues with external displays since using the new PSU.

 

I feel like there's something amiss with your PSU evaluation. johnnyguru rates the CX430 pretty well, it seems to have pretty good performance. In my experience molex connectors can have some significant resistance especially with damage, that might have affected it in some way. The GTX460 only draws 160W max load or so so it's very strange that your CX430 with its single rail 28A 12V would have a problem.

 

I find that odd too, 12v x 28A should be more than enough?

thank you for the installation report; what is the 32-bit compaction and chainloading for?



I sent hwtools an email about the 2.0 adapter... lets see when they write back.

 

does anyone know if the hp dv6t series has an express card slot

 

nick i looked it up yesterday, and it doesnt look like it. (neither in the specs, nor in any tests, nor on the pictures if you look at that laptop).

@apac you said you only had 128mb of pci space available, how much do you need for the gpu and how do you know how much you need?

 

Lenovo X220 + ViDock4+ + GTX570 = no pci-e 2.0

I don't usually get involved with Villagetronic (VT) stuff but had hoped that their "expresscard 2.0" compliant product shown here could demonstrate if x1.2Opt would engage and what performance could be achieved on it.

No such luck however. bogatyr PMed me the a screenshot showing the negotiated link on his X220 + ViDock4+ + GTX570 as shown below.



We see the expresscard slot is port4 and is set to do a x1 2.0 link speed but the GTX570 has only negotiate a x1 1.0 link. Neither the pci-e ports->Retrain link menuitem nor unplugging/replugging the expresscard could get a x1 2.0 link negotiated. This means then that either the X220 expresscard slot or the ViDock 4+ is not pci-e 2.0 compliant. You can see NEC USB 3.0 controller hanging off port5 is set to do a x1 2.0 link and the controller has negotiated a x1 2.0 link.

Meaning then anybody interested in the VT solution may wish to hold off purchase until the culprit holding back link performance is identified. If the VT product is the culprit then they may well need a replacement to obtain the advertised expresscard 2.0 performance or refund if that cannot be provided. Stay tuned for further progress updates by bogatyr.

A link to this post has been added to the eGPU PCIe 2.0 and Thunderbolt update.

 

PCI 2x 1.0/ 1x 2.0 is ment to be about -20% performance. Optimus with external LCD apparently narrows this down quite a bit. Does Optimus with INTERNAL Lcd also narrow it down, just not as much?