Let's figure out how to make a DIY eGPU (previously DIY ViDock)

Now, back to the topic on using the laptop's lcd: is it possible to read the external videocard's framebuffer (right after the frame is completely rendered) and copy it to the laptop's card framebuffer? And also make sure the laptop's card doesn't start rendering something so it won't overwrite it.

All of that by using d3d api, etc...

 

Even if it could be done in software, you are talking about moving more data over the already saturated PCIE bus.

 

it's only 4MB per frame at 1280x800

 

At 30FPS = 120MB/s. Since x1 1.0 pci-e is 2.5MBit/s (approx 200MB/s) there 60% of your pci-e bandwidth just to redisplay the output from the desktop video card.

 

Precisely.

 

Looks good!

Ok, so still though, to connect to Mini PCIe, we still need the $100 extension. Is HWtools still going to make a cheap one?

and another question...
can you use a regular HDMI cable? or is the one they give you special?

 

temp post, please ignore.

 

I don't know if it's been suggested (I'm sure you guys thought of it and I'm sorry for not reading up first) but what about trying it over eSata? Would there be any benefit? Possibly cheaper stuff? Or not even feasible...?

 

---^^^^^^^^^^--------------------

Because esata doesn't have a PCIe lane.

But it's good to see people thinking of other ways to do this, there might be a port nobody has though of using yet so keep trying

 

Too bad too, because if I remember correctly, eSata has a higher data transfer rate. Oh well!

 

eSATA has around 300 MB/s, only a bit more than PCI-e 1.1 1x .

 

I just read that PCI-e 1x bandwidth is 250MB/s bi-directional... 250 from the mobo to the videocard and 250 the other way at the same time. What kind of data does the card send back?

 

Any answer to if youre able to use a regular HDMI cable with the adapters? Or if the one they supply is special?

 

From what I can tell you can use any MINI-hdmi cable.

 

EC2C/PM3N is connected to a PE4L/PE4H using mini-HDMI to mini-HDMI cable. normal HDMI cables are too big and fat. hwtools sell a 30cm/100cm cable for US$10/$US30.

 

GTG
Graphics To Go for X1
QTG
Quadro To Go for X2

 

Why do they not mention on the website that you need an external monitor??? Thats ridiculously important.

 

Awesome job there!!!
I really like what you did with..extra *airflow* is always...a bonus!
I think you should paint it Metallic Red!

(this is better, than what you told me about it)
Cin...

 

Ok, so then, i can use a regular Mini HDMI cable though right? i dont have to buy it through HWtools if i dont want to?

Thanks!

Yeap, i got the paint last week, so ill be painting it red soon.

 

Hi!
I have a quick question to ask. Me and my friends are direly waiting for the PE4H. We will be buying one of the extenders and a graphics card and test it on my laptop.

Can you please tell me which setup I need to buy? I have the Asus F9S. Will I need to get things to make the PE4H compatible with it?
Also, will this kind of graphics card work with this setup?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102843
What other cheap graphics cards (under $75) will work well with this and my laptop for good results in FPS? Thanks!

 

What website? HW tools? They're just selling an adapter, not the video card and adapter combo. Whoever is buying from them should know what they're doing.

 

Hardware required
x1 1.0 mode: PE4L+[EC2C or PM3N]+video card + power supply
x2 2.0 mode: PE4H+[EC2C or PM3N] + PM3N + video card + power supply

If use a low power video card like a HD4650 or HD4670, then can use a 12V/75W power supply. 60W might be OK. PE4H has 12-20W/3A voltage regulation so could use a notebook PSU to drive it if the plug is compatible. Wouldn't recommend Nvidia cards for x1 1.0 mode since they need more pci-e bandwidth.

x2 1.0 mode may require certain ICH I/O port config. See link below.

Setup required
Probably need the PCI Bridge Config script as shown in DIY ViDock - My experiences so far

 

Yeah, since I have the express slot, I will have to use the PM3N option.
My only problem is that there is a dedicated slot for express cards that I can just slip in without needing to open up my laptop. And the way my laptop is structured, it will be difficult (probably impossible) to connect with PM3N since it has that bulky black wire in the middle. Also, I will have to open up a big portion of the laptop (which will uncover the CPU) and leave it uncovered in order to use this. This will make a big part of my laptop vulnerable to damage, and it is a risk I cannot take since this is my only laptop .

Would it be possible to create a second option for users who have an express card slot? Possibly one that is shaped and connects like the PCI card, so that all we have to do is just slip in the card?

Thanks.

 

What? Why will you have to use the PM3N option? There's the EC2C option that fulfills everything you're describing.

 

I think the Asus system being referred to hasn't got an expresscard slot, he may have meant mPCIe slot. The notebook's mini pci-e likely accessed like this Asus V6J's underside.

Might consider modding the plastic underside cover plate so you can easily attach/detach the HDMI cable to the PM3N in the mini pci-e slot. If that slot is occupied by a wifi card also consider perhaps buying USB wifi if want less inconvenience in swapping them in/out. Otherwise would need to remove the back covers to do it everytime you want to attach your external graphics card or swap in/out your wifi card. On my 2510P I just have the mini pci-e cover off when I need to swap in/out the PM3N as shown in the DIY ViDock - My experiences so far thread. Expressport equipped systems have it a lot easier.

Making the mini hdmi to mini hdmi cable more low profile

Consider buying say US$9 3ft mini hdmi to mini hdmi cable and dremel the plastic mould on the connector end that plugs into the PM3N be smaller.

 

so using the PE4H u needed a to power the adapter with a notebook power cable and plus a power supply to power the bigger graphics card or could it all be powered from a power supply?

 

Depends on your graphics card. A HD4670 has less than 75W power draw, so a notebook power adapter can drive it. It doesn't have additional 6/8 pin pci-e power plugs on it.

A HD4770/HD48xx requires more than 75W, so does have additional 6/8 pin pci-e plugs. For those cards an external ATX style PSU would be best to drive it. The same PSU can then provide power for the base 75W required via the floppy molex connector on the PE4L/PE4H. hwtools provide an 12V power supply cable to do that too.

pci-e's base requirement of 75W may also be a bit high. I've read the HD4670 can work with 50W. So a bit touch and go. . many notebook power adapters are 60W so we'll need to do testing to confirm if the PE4H+HD46xx+60W all work together. That would be the cheapest way to go if you have 2x notebook power adapters (or want another to be able to provide a backup for your notebook).

 

I haven't seen the PE4H engineering samples. Do you know if they've released them for sale?

 

They've been released and discontinued as well.

 

What do you mean? They were supposed to be released two days ago.

 

The PE4 was discontinued.

The PE4H, has not. It is going to be available soon.


OK, i found this: http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pe-mini-flex-ff--base--p-8290.html?ref=base
I plan to buy this, connect it to my laptop, and then i could plug in the PM3N into this.

How much will the PM3N alone be?

 

Cool. thanks.

So i guess problems with this part have been delaying the release...

 

Out of stock, surprised there was no post here, $85 a pop

 

Thanks for letting us know

That's pretty bad about the price though

 

YAY! theyre released!

but ? 85 bucks??? what happened to 50? and out of stock?

 

Hey guys.
Im new and sorry if I ask something that has already been answered.
I noticed most of you were doing this for PC laptops.
What about a Macbook Pro?
I was thinking about purchasing the ViDock 2 for my Macbook Pro and putting a GT 120 in it. However, id love to make my own because im into that kind of thing.
I would also like to have the option of upgrading the graphics card I use. Currently the ViDock 2 Mac is only capable of using a GT 120 as its highest card. I would love to be able to use the new Radeon HD 4870. This of course would require an external power supply used.
Have you guys figured out how to make this work reliably yet?
Also, I noticed a few pages back that you used a PCIe x16 adapter that went into the USB port. Wouldnt that be much slower than using an express 34 slot?
Is there an adapter that goes from PCIe x16 to express 34? Would there be a bottle neck with the Radeon HD 4870?

Thanks for any help. Would love to start on this project soon.

 

See DIY ViDock - My experiences so far. Only issue on the tested HP 2510P and DV2000 was the addition of an intermediate stage b/w the bios and the Win OS to define the pci-e bridge I/O and memory window for the attached HD4670 video card. This was because neither the OS or the bios did that. Hopefully your bios and/or os can do that for you. Also if have 3GB of RAM it could be problematic fitting existing graphics memory window and HD4670's in the < 4GB space for 32-bit operating systems. 64-bit OS=no problem. There shouldn't be any reason why this can not work with the Mac Os so long as it supports additional pci-e display adapters.

hwtool's connectivity options to make this happen are as noted below. The USB port provided acts as an external dock to attach an external USB device, eg: hub + keyboard + mouse.

• US$55 PE4L: x1 open-ended pci-e slot, USB, 12V via DC jack OR floppy molex connector
• US$85 PE4H: x16 pci-e slot, USB, x2 capable, 12V from regulated 16~20V/4.5A power adapter OR floppy molex

These are connected using either one for x1 mode, or two for 2x mode, of the following

• EC2C: expressport adapter
• PM3N: mini pci-e adapter

 

Sorry for not reading the 59 pages of posts, but with the PE4H what is the fastest ATI Video Card it will support ?? Is it dependant on the PSU ?? Will the new ATI HD5870 work ?? Does anyone know the current draw for the new ATI HD5870 ??? Thanks for any info. God Bless

 

hwtools needs to put up a PE4H with both expressport card and minipci adapters and 2 cables

 

There will be a bottleneck with every card. Although the amount of bottleneck depends on the speed you choose...
An X1 Connection looses 47%-60% Performance.
An X2 Connection looses 14%-22% Performance.
...Compared to a regular graphics cards X16 connection.

So basically, you want to get the best card you can. because any cards performance will be reduced.

 

The PE4H can handle any X16 graphics card.

But yes, it is dependant on the PSU, because you need one powerful enough to power the card your using.

 

Thanks for the info. So researching this, I *think* I found somewhere that the new ATI HD5870 draws a peak of about 188watts. So assuming 80% effeciency, a 250watt PSU would be the most we would need for now for a powerful card like the ATI HD5870.


So anyone know if a nice case that can fit the PE4H and a 250watt PSU ??? Again thanks for any info. God Bless

 

There was nothing i could think of that was a good case really. Although i did consider some "wiring enclosures". The boxes that hold wires outside your house.

in the end i built one. So, you could do something simmilar to me.
see here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5234498&postcount=399

 

you should email them and ask for both cables.

 

The DIY ViDock is seriously making me consider getting rid of my desktop and just have a laptop. I can't wait to see PE4H pcie x2 benchmarks with the 5000 series Radeons.

 

Two questions:

If the GPU has a 6 pin power port, do I still need the 12V power supply?

And any idea if I could mod the PE3 so that I can attach a 12V power supply to that (Is it easy to find the pins on the PCB so I can solder on a 12V power supply)?

(I have a ATi Radeon HD 2400 that I would like to use, I don't think this card is power hungry, so I'll probably be using a 12V 3A power supply that I have laying around)

Thanks!

 

i'm not sure i understand the point of doing all this if the card you are going to use is an hd2400

 

You need to use either the PE4L or PE4H.

As for power. Regardless of the card's extra required power connectors, you need to plug in a 12V DC adapter or 4pin molex into the PE4L/H. Then, aside from that, if the card needs more power from, say a 4 or 6 pin PCIe power plug, then the PSU you use will need to have that as well.

basically... you need to power the PE4L/H no matter what. And then also the cards extra power connectors (if any)

 

I think I am confused on how to make x2 work with the PE4H.
Does this require 2 express card slots on my Macbook? Or can I still get x2 set up with one express 34 slot?

 

To get X2, you need to get both the EC2C and PM3N with the PE4H. Which means you will need one Expresscard slot, and one Mini-PCIe (internal) slot. And plug in both of them.

They are both X1 Connections, so they can be grouped together to get an X2.

At this time, theres no way to only plug in one and get X2. in the future, when Expresscard 2.0 is released, then that will have X2 speeds with only plugging in that. But AFAIK, thats still a little ways off.