DIY eGPU experiences

I just purchased a HP DV6t (i7-2630QM & 6770M) and interested to get eGPU, can anyone guide me how to do that and how many % of performance boost i can expected from eGPU?

 

PCI-e bandwidth

HD6770M: x16 2.0
GTX4/5xx: x1 1.0 Optimus (pci-e compression) ~= x1 2.0

So the eGPU offers 6.75% the bandwidth of your HD6770M

Computing power

A HD6770M is about 696 Gigaflops, A GTX560Ti/GTX570=1262/1405.4 Gigaflops, so two times more powerful.

So if your game/application isn't taxing the pci-e bus you'd see up to two two times faster performance. If you were doing just pci-e transfers (no app does that) then the eGPU would be a lot slower. So any question of "how will a eGPU perform with xx app" is really a question of "how much pci-e bandwidth does that app require?"

Installation Guide?

See Getting Started section on main page. DV6T doesn't have a expresscard slot, so it would be a mPCIe implementation. HP tend to also whitelist their mPCIe slots, so it would require DIY eGPU Setup 1.x to unwhitelist.

 

Thanks nando for your prompt reply, appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Could i also clock the HD6670(not M) at lets say 60% of its original frequency?

The floppy-plug needs only 12V right? So in the future could i get a poweer supply like this, switch it to 12V, solder a floppy-plug to it and use the 8.5A it provides?

EDIT:
Oh no, i think i got something confused.
Only PE4L can use 12V psu, right? PE4H needs ATX-psu or 15-19Vdc for gpu which consume little power. Right?

The floppy molex has 12V and 5V lanes. Could i combine a 12v psu and a 5v psu soldering to a floppy molex?

 

What is a mPCIe slot? I had a dv6t (returned it) and I never saw any such slot on the notebook.

I have an HP Envy 17 3D - is there anything on this notebook to do an external GPU?

 

Inside laptops mPCIe-Slots usually contain WLAN PCI Express Mini Cards.
Sometimes laptops have several of these slots which can be used for dial-up cards or bluetooth cards as well.

Electrically mPCIe-slots equal express-card-slots.


PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I am pretty sure you have such a slot inde your laptop

Correct me if i'm wrong


EDIT: Yes u have, but i think it is only suitable for half-sized cards.

It contains the WLAN-card connected with a grey and a black antenna cable.

Unfortunately the HP ENVY 17 doesn't have a expresscard slot, so for you it would be a little more complicated to use external grphics. You need to replace your wireless card, but still there may be too little space for fitting the PM3N-mPCIe-adaptor.

 

any good reviews with people using express card slot on the x220? Tempted to get a ViDock 4 Plus, but this looks fun .

 

RE: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-461.html#post7740887

After seeing some more BSOD's (code 113 for anyone who cares) a few days ago, I set out today to find out what the hell was going on. It was clear from the error code something GPU related was failing, I assumed this to be related to my eGPU since I hadn't managed to BSOD this install of windows before setting it up.

[Anyone who wants I simple way to BSOD windows give this a try. Disconnect your eGPU without "safely removing" it using windows, then scan for hardware changes using device manager.]

First I pulled out an old CRT I have kicking around (still need to replace my dead external LCD). I hooked it up to my internal GPU as a secondary monitor. I put afterburner and task manager (performance tab) on the CRT for monitoring.

Then I pulled out the RE5 benchmark, Mark06, and Kombustor to try and BSOD my setup.

In the end I found the cause of my BSODs and a solution. First though I'd like to outline two other things I found.

First, the RE5 benchmark is a poor test of GPU power. For every stage of the test after the first, my dual core processor was pinned (both cores) and my (e)GPU was at ~60% load. Effectively the test was testing my 2.17GHz C2D NOT my GTX 550.

Second, PhysX should be done on the (e)GPU not the CPU - at least in my case. Switching from CPU to GPU PhysX my frame rates in PhysiX based tests in Kombustor increased 5 fold.

As for the BSODs, Kombustor was able to create them quite reliably. The next time I do stability testing, it will be the first thing I use.

The BSODs always came after the temperature sensor(s?) failed. The chip would be at sub 50 degree C temperature, then climb to over 100 C, then flip between 200+ C and 0 C a few times, then BSOD.

My first thought was faulty sensor on the GPU. Not liking the thought of having to RMA the card, I tried something else. I dropped the core voltage even further, to 0.950V. I can no longer create the (false) temperature spikes or the BSODs. I believe that the card was trying to pull too much wattage and that was mess up the temperature sensor (and who knows what else.)

The joys of running off a 120W adapter.

 

I gave that a try, but I was still having the same BSOD issue. Not happy with having the dual-4-pin molex to 6-pin pci-e adapter and floppy connector on a single cable, I bought a Corsair CX500: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Now, this supply has two separate pci-e cables and a separate floppy cable, so every port on the eGPU is powered by a completely separate cable. Not to mention this new PSU has 34A on the +12V rail. So the PSU definitely cannot be the cause of the problem, yet I'm still seeing the BSOD.

edit: apparently ismschism was having the same exact problem as me (never followed up with a final outcome, though): http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-371.html#post7487249

 

PSU sounds fine to me. If you can take and post a picture of the cabling, we can quickly confirm that is all OK too.

You managed to install the drivers, so windows detected the card without BSODing at some point. Can you connect the card without connecting a monitor and not get a blu screen?

What version of the drivers are you using (desktop/mobile + version #)? Have you tried a clean install of the drivers?

 

How does one get started on this? Lots of info, would love to get one for my x220....maybe run a 6950 in it, is that doable?

How much, what's needed really?

 

The x220t has been used successfully a few times.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences.html#implementations

If you want to use an AMD card, you will typically need an external monitor. With an nVidia card you can use optimus to feed the image back to the internal LCD.

See "2. Can I make this work using just my notebook's LCD display?" for other possible ways of skipping the external LCD.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam.../418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html#prepurchase

For hardware, you need the graphics card, this, a power supply and possibly an external LCD.

 

Sweet, sounds pretty simple. Is there a lot of performance lost with feeding back to the laptop's monitor?

Is the express 2.0 slot pretty quick still? Will it fully utilize a pcie2.0 card like a 6950?

Is there any modding I need to do to that card? Any dummy walk through's?

 

I've posted my benchmarks for internal (via optimus) vs external LCD. There is a loss.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...851-diy-egpu-experiences-461.html#post7740887

I don't think express 2.0 solutions are fully working/performing yet (update/clarification Nando?). There is a performance hit, take a look at "4. (Performance) What affects the performance of a eGPU/ViDock?"
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam.../418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html#prepurchase

Shouldn't need to mod the card.

This is a decent starting place for a dummy walk through.
How to Upgrade Your Notebook Graphics Card Using DIY ViDOCK

 

WHile a GTX460 should require it, you can try setting the fuse bypass jumper on the PE4H 2.4 near the floppy molex jack. If you still have issues then I'd advise I had an intermittently faulty mini HDMI cable that gave the symptoms you describe. After much frustration, changing the cable solved the issue.

The expresscard 2.0/pcie 2.0 compliance is a common query so have the eGPU PCIe 2.0 and Thunderbolt update link with all the info I know atm. That will remain indefinitely on the NEWS section of the first page until pci-e 2.0 compliant and TB products are released.

 

Sandy Bridge Dell Latitudes and Vostros: good to go a DIY eGPU

The Device Manager screenshots of the pci-e bus for a Latitude 6220/6520 and Vostro 3450 indicate Dell are now setting TOLUD=3GB as shown in http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ostro-latitude-egpu-friendly.html#post7633189 .

Means these new Dells are no longer problematic with 4GB+ implementations as was the case of the C2D and 1st gen i-core series.

A trio of budget eGPU-capable systems from Dell, HP and Lenovo

The Dell Vostro 3x50 series along with the HP Probook 4x30s and Lenovo Ex20 all provide a budget, expresscard equipped systems suitable for DIY eGPU implementations. The Vostro being readily available with HD6630M switchable graphics in most markets and offers a backlit keyboard option. They all have low-spec 48Whr 6-cell batteries and no USB 3.0. Though Probooks made prior to March 2011 did come with USB 3.0 as well.

 

Hi,
I want to try this out for my M17X R2 i have two monitors both Samsung and i want to have the best bang for my buck graphics card this is so much easier than having to upgrade to a newer machine! Can you suggest those few things for me please?

 

Well I did get a response from the reseller (three even) and although I don't think he even understands that the product is defective as I've written three times now (language barrier it seems) I did get this reply

So I just told him to mail me the address as I will be returning it.


Price overview for those that are interested (european shipping costs):

Code:

       PE4L
--------------------
PRICE  SHIP   TOT
$65    $22    $87    http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4L.html
$55    $25    $80    * http://www.harmonicinversion.com/products/manufacturer/hit.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=193&category_id=25
$49.90 $16.90 $61.80 http://cgi.ebay.com/PE4L-EC2C-SWEX-ExpressCard-1X-PCI-E-Adapter-/170669285289?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27bcae9fa9

* Unlike hwtools and ebay the harmonicinversion offer does not include an ATX power switch, it does however sell it for $6.00

[edit]
btw for people from the Netherlands, looks like there are mini-hdmi cables sold at a decent price (€7,95 +€2.95 shipping) after all. They also ship to Belgium and Germany but at a far less attractive price, €7.75.[/edit]

 

As far as I can tell, the m17xR2 has a HD5870 graphics and the Clarkfield i7 has no iGPU. Meaning then that it's not optimus capable. You could go an AMD card, example ronvalencia or Kizwan on first page. Benchmarks will be impressive but Kizwan's HD5870@x1 game benchmarks noted choppiness due to limited bandwidth. Better results can be had if the system has the right port layout to do a x2 link by ganging the expresscard + mPCIe slot or mPCIe + mPCIe slot.

So I'd only advise doing an eGPU on your system if you need more monitors being attached or want to perhaps try hybrid PhysX. The HD5870 you have is not going to come close to be outperformed by an eGPU. From a performance perspective, it would make more sense to get SB gen i5/i7 with iGPU or iGPU+dGPU and then do a eGPU implementation. Moreso when the hardware can transmit at pci-e 2.0.

There's two unique GTX460 and GTX560Ti products tha supports 4 and 5 LCDs respectively:

Zotac GTX460 3DP
KFA2 GTX560Ti MDT X5

 

Hi, I am trying to set up a egpu through a ViDock4+ on a T420 and from what I've read I need the 1.15 bios for it. Another user with the T420 said they were able to obtain the 1.15 bios from ThinkRob but for some reason the forum won't let me message either of them. If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it!

Edit: Nevermind, I was able to find it hidden within a post.

 

It's here : T420 115 BIOS.rar

Worth checking if your VD4+ can do expresscard 2.0

Can you also confirm if your T420 and VD4+ can run expresscard 2.0 (pci-e 2.0) link speed. It has previously been discovered that a Lenovo X220 + VD4+ + GTX570 can't do pci-e 2.0 here which means that either the Lenovo X220 or the VD4+ is not pci-e 2.0 compliant. VT claim their VD4+ is expresscard 2.0 capable here.

 

I installed a GTX 460 with the 275.33 drivers in the ViDock4+. How should I go about checking to see if it can run expresscard 2.0? Sorry, I'm new to all this and that X220 post you linked made no sense to me.

Edit: For what it's worth I followed the steps the other user used to install their DIY egpu, they said they had to set the PCI-Express setting in their T420's BIOS to generation 1 rather than automatic because it would freeze otherwise. Well I just went into BIOS and set it to automatic and it works just fine for me.

Edit2: Post I am referring to is here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/7573832-post4025.html

 

hi, I want to know if adding eGPU will significantly improve photoshopping experience on my Thinkpad X200T, or will my CPU be bottlenecking?

 

I ran that eGPU 1.0f and it said 1.2 just like the guy with the X220. I took a screenshot but I can't find where it saved to. I'm assuming the 1.2 stuff means it can't run expresscard 2.0, correct? If not, please tell me what exactly what I should do.

 

See Photoshop CS5: CUDA : Adobe CS5: 64-bit, CUDA-Accelerated, And Threaded Performance .

Boot windows then run \eGPU\egpu-setup-mount. A V: drive will then appear which is your disk image. In V:\diag is where your screenshots are saved as scnxxx.bmp.

Please post a screenshot showing clearly your GTX460 eGPU in the status window. A GTX460-1MB has the PCI-ID of 1de:0e22. I want to confirm 100% that your system has negotiated a Gen1 (pci-e 1.0, 2.5GT/s) link even if the port itself is set to allow Gen2 (pci-e 2.0, 5GT/s) speed via the bios option.

 

so for photoshop, lightroom and premiere, it is best to use CUDA based GPU? ie, Nvidia?

 

Here you go:

 

Series-6 Lenovo T420 + ViDock4+ + GTX460 = no pci-e 2.0 link speed

Thank you for taking the time to take that screenshot. You are now the second user confirming that ViDock4 + Series-6 Lenovo's don't want to play at pci-e 2.0 speed. The first is a X220+GTX570 here. This is clearly shown in the Status window line:

Code:

[B]p4@x1.[COLOR="Red"]2[/COLOR] 10de:0e22@x1.[COLOR="Red"]1[/COLOR][/B]

The [email protected] indicates that port4 is set to allow a x1 2.0 link. The 10de:[email protected] indicates the T420 and GTX460 negotiated a x1 1.0 link due to the link b/w the two being unable to maintain x1 2.0 link speed.

Where to go next? VT would be the first place. If they canot demonstrate a pci-e 2.0 link is capable with their gear, then the product has been misadvertised. You would be entitled to obtain a replacement that can operate at pci-e 2.0 / expresscard 2.0 speed OR a refund.

FYI: BPlus are currently developing an active transmitter/receiver pair to get successful pci-e 2.0 link negotiation with their PE4L/PE4H. A refund from VT would mean you could acquire the significantly cheaper and less restrictive DIY eGPU's PE4H-EC2C instead.

 

Thank you!
I have been concentrating more on the audio side currently. But i have been thinking about that a lot lately just limited funds. I will see what i can do.

 

I'm not sure if I could get a refund from VT since I bought it from sewelldirect.com because I'm in the US and didn't want to pay the ridiculous $25 shipping charge on the VT site. I am happy with its performance right now though, I haven't played PC games in the longest time so just being able to play them period makes me happy.

 

You'd be able to make a request for a refund from Sewelldirect due to misadvertising on VT's part. As a reseller, they'd get compensation from VT.

A DIY eGPU would give you identical performance but would cost you b/w $65 (PE4L-EC2C + salvaged ATX PSU + paperclip) to $130 (PE4H-EC2C + $35 PSU). Significantly less than the $300 a VD4+ costs.

Considering that for $200 can get you a 80GB Intel 310 mSATA SSD to give your T420 super fast bootup times, is it worth going through the hassle of requesting a refund to fund it? [rhetorical question].

 

Sorry for being lazy but after reading for a while is the bios 1.15 later on working for x220s?
And I have configured a i7 processor for the x220 and buying 8gb of ram soon. How do I get started in this egpu stuff? I just want enough to run sc2 on medium or highish with good fps. I would love anyone would links me to the products needed to buy. I'm not sure what stuff to buy and what software to use for x220.

 

I just came across this idea couple of days back.. Have been reading since then.. But i did find out that very few offer a express card slot in laptops with SB i7 quad. if only they did offer i would have been sold this idea(at a reasonable rate )

 

Can use my HP [email protected] DIY eGPU implementation as a reference. Just imagine a X220 in it's place running bios 1.12 or older. There's also several X220 implementations and the Getting Started section on the first page as additional references.

I just did a search and can confirm your findings. Best bet to get an expresscard slot is the business notebooks.

Our resident eGPU guru Khenglish ordered a Dell E6520 here. That would be my pick as well from the standard Dell Latitide, Lenovo Thinkpad, HP Probooks/Elitebooks business range.

If you don't mind doing a mPCIe implementation, then there's the bargain quad-core HP DV6 and Lenovo Y470. They have a HD6770m and GT550M dGPU respectively and are often available in i7-2630QM form for < $900. A mPCIe implementation where a spare bottom cover was purchased, an access hole cut and velcro-covered could be almost as easy to use as an expresscard slot.

 

I just did a search for Core i7 SB laptops as well (threw together Intels Sandybridge listing and the filter options in the pricewatch) which gives a listing of Core i7 SB laptops with expresscard slot. 26 laptops, and the cheapest starts at a whopping €929,53. second-cheapest is €500 more.
The cheapest is a Dell Vostro 3550, but it seems to be some custom config as on the Dell site it can only be configured with a Core i3.

 

double post..

 

Thanks for replying.. Some how I find the E6520 not so appealing. So more keen on thinkpad edge(i5) or the HP probook 4530s(i7).

<STRIKE>I have looking around but i have not able to figure out how the connection of mPCIe works. Is it a plug and play kind like the expresscard, or do i have connect it to some pins and remove the wifi connection or so?</STRIKE> Just saw the pics in the first page. At first glance those pics looked like a advertisement.
(limited knowledge with mPCie is why i am staying away from it) .I was in actual looking to buy dv6t-quad before finding this method.

Still confused with couple of things:-
* is it necessary that the laptop should have switchable graphics or optimus , if the laptop has a discrete graphic card?
* if the laptop has nvida/optimus card , can the eGPU be ATi or vise versa?

Thanks Axeia.. but my main idea of going eGPU was reduce cost(with respect to laptop) and increase portabilty but also have the computing power.
But looks like options a limited for the range i am looking for.

 

While I think it would be the right thing to do to request a refund for the misadvertising I don't think I would simply because I would probably end up just building a desktop instead of making a PE4L DIY setup. I also like the 5 year warranty that the V4+ carries. I actually had both the 80GB and 40GB 310 mSATA SSDs but kept the 40GB because it was good enough for my use. My T420 is setup with that plus two 750GB WD Blacks.

 

Maybe worth your while to keep the existing hardware but seek a partial refund for underdelivering performance?

The highest performance is achieved if the system has an Intel HD3000 iGPU so a NVidia Optimus driver's pci-e compression can engage. The candidate system can have an existing Optimus dGPU as it can be disengaged and/or demoted with the latest DIY eGPU Setup 1.x software [as proven by the XPS 15 L502 implementation on the first page].

A Series-6 system with AMD switchable graphics should work in theory. We need an implementation to prove it.

 

I just want to ask as well of the optimus. My laptop is an Inspiron 1440. I have currently a dGPU which is ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 and a in built Intel GMA 4500MHD

So I was wondering whether if I disable the ATI gpu and then get a nvidia 560gtx to do optimus, would it work?

 

thank you but what is the minimum power I need to run the graphics card? And what graphics card is cheap but also good enough to run on high on sc2?

 

Unfortunately it's not possible.. and I say that after trying to enable dormant iGPUs on multiple systems. Optimus will not engage unless the iGPU is the primary bootup GPU. You'd need to swap in the Intel 4500MHD systemboard to get your Inspiron 1440 doing Optimus. A better bang-per-buck option would be to update to a Intel HD3000-equipped 14" Dell Vostro 3450 during sales for < $500 instead.

I've listed the TDPs of NVidia cards here. A 1GB GTX460 for ~$125

Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-40408-10P GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - MSI N460GTX Hawk GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or a GTS450 for $80AR

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1352-KR GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Would run SCII well, moreso if your candidate system is Optimus capable.

 

I wonder; the pci scaling problem will be less of an issue at lower resolutions, right? Since lower resolution also uses less bandwidth to send stuff across (and recieve) over the pci port?

 

Hi guys. A great topic here eheh. I have read a few pages, but I have a question

I have asus k52jc with nvidia 310 / intel hd graphics

I can get something? I can turn off the intel video card?

 

With Intel HD Graphics, your notebook support x1.Opt setup. Nvidia GTS450 surely will give better performance than Nvidia 310M. Unfortunately, your notebook don't have ExpressCard slot. So, you'll need to use the mini-PCIe port.

No.

 

Ok, thanks for the clarification

 

Resolution only matters for the bandwidth to the graphics card's memory, not across the pci-e. I've found that most settings have no effect on traffic on the pci-e bus. There are a few exceptions such as ambient occlusion in SC2, and ultra shadows in WoW.

 

what about internal lcd optimus mode tho? since the image needs to be sent back less resolution would theoretically use less bandwidth?

 

guys, I finally made the plunge and bought the PE4H and a PSU, however I don't which graphics card to get.

I currently have the Thinkpad X200T and I want to do some photoshopping on a 27 inch external monitor (u2711) and a 24 inch (u2410), which card should I get in order to run both monitors and photoshop effectively?

Thanks for reading and your advice.

 

Yes. Lower resolution gives better performance since it requires less bandwidth to send that info back to the internal LCD.

You'd want an NVidia card to get the Optimus compression so can view fullHD content without hiccups. A $20AR GT520 can do that: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127583 . If youl want more performance then see a $80/$125 GTS450/GTX460 in my previous post.

If looking to drive more than 2 LCDs from a NVidia cards then would require a Zotac GTX460 3DP (up 4 displays) or KFA2 GTX560Ti MDT X5 (up to 5 displays).