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

hi Nando!

seems like your the expert here!

however, i do believe you might have more experience than me. So do you think you could give me some pointers!!!!

on 20-05-2012
I have just bought the PC4H EC2C kit (which comes with v2.4a of the PCI express expansion board).
today 25-05-2012 i just bought the NVidia GTX570 card, and a 600W power supply.
I have a HP6560b laptop, 16GB RAM, with the ATI Radeon 6470M GPU, Intel CORE -5 2420M processor.
-Windows Pro 64bit N
- HP 2211x LED monitor


I did the following steps:
1. booted up normally
2. put lappy in sleep mode
3. turned on eGPU with the switch mechanism that came with KIT
4. computer does a few beeps, and registers the device as STANDARD VGA
5. i followed the normally nvidia installation guide
6. asked to reboot, so i did
7. black screen - does nothing? didnt even get BIOS boot screen?

so i :
- turned off eGPU
- rebooted (hard reset)
- and it said couldnt install grahpics drivers. please re=install


im completely lost now - what to do............. got any advice ?cheers dude!

Richie

 

Hi guys,

sorry if i missed it but i was wondering if anyone could link me to places (UK prices in pounds) where i could get the stuff to make one.

cheers

 

Thank you for all this info. Thinking about selling my SG05 and doing this instead

 

One question:

What is the difference between these two? Pros and Cons of getting one over the other?

PE4L ( PCIe Adapter ver2.1 )
PE4L ( PCIe Adapter ver2.1 )

PE4L ( PCIe passive adapter Ver1.5 )
PE4L ( PCIe passive adapter ver1.5 )

Ver 1.5 is much cheaper as well.. Thoughts?

ALSO: What is their typical turnaround Shipping/ Delivery time after placing the order?

 

2.1 = no detachable cable, but able to negotiate PCI 2.0/3.0 speed

1.5 = detachable cable, but able to negotiate only PCI 1.0/1.1 speed

If you have a Sandybridge notebook or a newer one, PE4L 2.1 is the way you have to go to maximize the performances, otherwise PE4L 1.5 is more than enough because express card slot and mPCIe are connected on the 1.0 bus.

 

I am using an X61T and for another year or so might end up using this. I am guessing the X61T cant use the higher speed? Or Can it?

Also, I am guessing Thunderbolt based solutions within an year or so will take over from this?

ALSO - Whats been the delivery time frames by HWTools / HI to send this out after order? Typical time frame?

 

could you use an e sata port possibly for an egpu? or a sata 2 or three port?

 

Hey guys,

I've got a pretty specific question about vidocks. In short, I am a 3d sculpter and I need to be mobile a lot. Carrying around a Wacom Cintiq+ a 3d powerhouse laptop just to be able to sculp on the screen is a pain and expensive.

So, I have a Fujitsu Stylistic st5112 (specs here: Fujitsu Stylistic ST5112 Specs (12.1" - Core 2 Duo U7600 - Win XP Tablet PC 2005 - 1 GB RAM - 60 GB HDD) - Tablets - CNET Reviews) It is an older wacom enabled tablet, works great for 2d art, and is a computer/monitor all in one. I can get minimal 3d done but once you start getting into the mid/high polygon range it just crashes, no true hd card.

It's got a CardBus slot that looks like it would fit the one's vidock is using ( Village Instruments : ViDock ) but I'm not experienced with these slots or external gfx solutions so I need to know a couple things before picking that up or a attempting a DIY.

1.) Most importantly, would hooking this up allow me to feed the graphics back through so I can draw on my tablet screen using the new external gfx card's power instead of using an external monitor? I not it's going to defeat the purpose of being mobile

2.) If so, would that card work with the bus slot on an st5112? Like I said it looks like it'd fit but it might be old enough that it's a different type, doesn't support pci-e interaction or other problems.

I really really appreciate the help in advance.

 

nope. There is a way, but It reduces bandwidth too much. Which, along with your machine not being able to use expresscard slot, makes vidock have graphic processing ability not very much diffrent from your current gpu, I think.

Yeah, It's a diffrent type, and It does not fit. It requires cardbus to expresscard connecter to connect to vidock, which reduces the bandwidth, and ultimately makes it pointless. Sorry to say this.

 

I have a inspiron 1720 whose nvidia video card went out (like everyone else), leaving me with the general graphics chip on the motherboard which will give me basic visual with my laptop screen but won't do games or run an external moniter.
I'm no big techie, but I do know how to disassemble my laptop to get at the video card, but I don't really want to buy another one from some third party seller that may or may not work.

So I looked on the computer documentation and saw I have PCIE x16 graphics bus, intel ICH8M express card controller and an express card slot. I don't really want to do crazy games, but playing rome total war which I already have and can't play anymore would be nice. Am I better off buying IOGEARs USB VGA/DVI external video card for 40/70 bucks or going the route of ViDOCK 3 or 4 and an external video card to actually play shogun total war 2 or better games.

Will an external video card actually work on my computer to run both the LCD and an external monitor given my graphics card (8400) has quit working? I have read that Vista users can only have one graphics card controller.

Thanks,

 

Thanks very much for the reply. Would ViDock be able to work with the ep121 eee Slate by Asus perhaps in a similar way, routing the graphics back to the screen without an external monitor? I've been thinking of picking one of those up and I suspect it would have more modern capability, just again, no true 3d card like I need.

 

Have you checked prices of notebooks recently, then checked what a ViDock3/4 costs? Those guys are dreaming if they think their enclosure is worth the asking price. The DIY eGPU components are much more reasonable. It would be entirely possible to get all the gear for a DIY eGPU for $150.

If your 8400 is no longer working then the only solution is to use XP drivers, whether that is in XP or Win7. The reason is the XP drivers do not depend on the primary video card working. The Win7 ones do. As for Vista I'd skip it altogether. It doesn't support video cards from different vendors. It too might work with XP drivers but I've never tried it so you are welcome to prove/disprove it.

Only other issue for you is your system can't do x1.Opt, so you'd need an external LCD to extract best performance.

If it was my system, I'd try to back the 1720's 8400 back to life and offload the system, getting a cheap Sandy Bridge notebook with an expresscard slot (Vostro 3550/3750, Probook 4530s/4730s, Lenovo E520) and implementation a x1.2Opt [email protected] DIY eGPU.

 

imo for that kind of work an external digitalizer is a LOT better. you really should get a powerfull notebook with an external wacom digitalizer. somethign like a clevo P150EM.

 

I prefer on screen. :3 Just looking to find out if it's possible with the ep121.

 

get a fujitsu t902

 

I suppose I should be more clear. I'm dealing with 30 million polygons on screen at once sometimes., Moreover using Mudbox 2012, which requires an nvidia or radeon card to operate.

What you've suggested costs $2000 and uses intel hd graphics 4000

 

prices can be much lower if you search around.
get a T901(2) + egpu setup. there's already several working examples here on the forum.

 

I'm not sure if I'm interested in building an egpu from scratch because if I understand right it would take hauling a big power-supply around whereas a vidock powers itself with an ac adapter, no?

Still, if it works I'll consider it!

But the question I still need answered is: "Can external gfx card solutions (vidock/egpu) be used without an external monitor? More bluntly put, will plugging a geforce/radeon card into a tablet/slate (t901 or ep121) via vidock/egpu make that standalone device use said geforce/radeon card as its new graphics device, display drivers and all, yes or no?

I'd like to know that for t901 and the ep121. If they made a pressure sensitive tablet/slate with a mobile nvidia/radeon 3d card I wouldn't be researching this.

 

So I finally read this thread through (yeah I actually read all 182 pages...), and most of it is just an offtopic. There are only 10 pages or so about actually building DIY eGPU adapter.
I am building one on my own an I have few questions. I want to build it as simple as possible, so can I just use V3.3 rail directly from ATX PSU? Can it feed graphics card directly?
Also - here is picture of pe4l 2.1b
http://www.hwtools.net/jpg/PE4L-EC060A V2.1b.jpg
What is the jumper in right bottom corner for?
In case I decide to add USB connector, what is the "F1" element just above USB? There was just a capacitor in previous versions, but since 2.1b it is F1 - what it is?

Thank you all for this great stuff.

 

hello all. Just joined because i am having a problem with my eGPU setup. I am on a Compaq Presario CQ62-219WM using PM3N in my wireless card port connected to a PE4H. The graphics card I am using is a GeForce 650 Ti and the power supply is a 200 watt power supply. My graphics card is not displayed in my device manager and I cannot Install the drivers untill my computer recognizes my card. will i need to use a setup 1.x? if so how would I go about setting it up? BTW, I have tried pugging my mini-HDMI cable into all four connectors on the PE4H. Please help!

 

You know what's interesting, I have the same problem as you have (I also have the PE4H + PM3N) but I'm using a different notebook and also a desktop ati 4850.

Anyway I haven't figured out the problem, but I have no real need to figure it out since I have a 7970M in my notebook. But if you want to find the fix, please read the first post of this thread again and follow the link to the updated thread and ask there.

 

Im not that good with computers but, are you saying that if i want to use the PCI-E way, how does it work (sorry it probably is in the post i just dont understand), and if i don't own a PCi-E can i use a usb3.0 to PCIE convertor then from that pcie to the vidock? (also do i need that adaptor for the PCIE?

 

I don't quite see who you are replying to here (if anyone) and this is your first post so it's not part of an ongoing conversation. I'll assume you are rather confused by what's being discussed here.

The PCI-e bridge allows us to plug in a normal desktop GPU/video card externally. This allows the use of an external GPU in quite a few places we wouldn't be able to use one previously (mainly a laptop).
I wouldn't want to try and use a USB3 to PCIe adapter if one existed, the bandwidth available wouldn't be very good at all.

If you simply want to plug in a display via USB3 there's a few adapters around for that (though don't expect anything beyond basic 2D/windows display). If you want to add a decent GPU to your PC/laptop forget USB3, it's too much of a bottleneck.

The ideas being put around on the thread aren't really all that "plug and play". If thunderbolt or external PCIe takes off it will make things a lot simpler so it might be worth keeping an eye on developments in that direction. Have a read of the earlier posts in the thread, it explains the setup(s) fairly well and what can/can't be done.

 

Saw this on another forum, 3rd tab down.

USB3380EVB Â( USB3380 Evaluation Board )

Would this not allow for USB3<-PCIe?

 

Yea it would work. I found another one that actually has a casing on it. EC03 (ExpressCard 2.0 to USB 3.0)
But the thing with these adapters is that you still get the same bandwidth of a USB 3.0 which is 5gb/s on 1 lane. (Total 10gb/s) Even so, you wouldn't be able to use it properly like an express card slot. If you're just using it for other purposes other than eGPU, yea sure that works fine.

 

Could anybody explain me exactly how to solder this ribbon into a Mini PCI-e connector?

I want to cut off PCI Express x1 connector plate and solder it exactly to Mini PCI-e connector board.

I would like to ask you about PCI Exprexx x1 Pinout ---- > Mini PCI-e Pinout connection skipping x1 slot.

 

Toolkits from China, Taobao
EXP GDC
EXP GDC

 

Hi,

I want to do a eGPU for my Lenovo X220 laptop (i5 2.3 GHz 8Gb RAM). After reading long time this thread I think that I understood how to do it, but because I am not an expert at all I am going to expose my plan, so please let me know if I am wrong:

Material:

- My laptop, i cores 2nd generation with intel HD3000, express card slot.

- Graphic card nvidia GTS 450, that drains 106 W maximum and require one 6-pin extra connection.

- Module PE4H v3.2-EC060 packed together with two VGA power cable from Htools.
These cables I assume can be pluged on the 6 pin connectors that some graphic cards need.
This module looks to have two docks to connec the 6-pin cables from the module to the card, instead of from the source to the card, am I right?

- 120W 19.5 V AC adapt also from htools, that should provide enough juice for the nvidia GTS 450.

Ensambling:

- I plug the graphic card on the slot.

- I connect one of the VGA power cables from the card to one of the docks of the module. First problem, to wich one? it matters or they supply the same energy both of them?

- I connect the AC adapt to the module.

- I connect the module to my secondary screen. My "screen " it will be a projector, will it works?

- I turn on on my laptop and once on I insert the PCI express card in the slot of my laptop. The optimus technology of the card should allow me to work straight forward.

My main concern is about the 6 pin docks in the module, anyone that had use this module can tell me if I am right thinking that I can conncte the 6pin from the card to the module and just connecte the 120W Ac adaptor to the power up the full system?

Thanks,

Alfonso

 

anybody tried this product?

 

Hi you guys

Sorry if this aleady has been sorted out, but I have to ask: Is the Asus U36S possible to make an e-gpu solution for?

Its the version with i7 2620M cpu, 8gb ram, 520m gpu + 3000HD integrated. I like this little gem, and want to upgrade to both SSD and e-gpu if possible.

It ran the BF4 beta on low settings with the standart setup, but a little more details would be nice

So is this setup usable in a e-gpu setup? I really hope so because its too cold to mess with my motocycle so I need something else to occupy the mind

Niels

 

This will not work.. It does not have PCIe Lanes going to the express-card slot and no USB3.0 to PCIe chipset on board... only works with usb based expresscards such as WWAN cards etc.

expresscard has no USB3.0 connection so the use of USB3.0 interface is interesting particularly since you can see that the only the signals for USB2.0 are actually connected on the board..

 

Just tried it last night. Works well!

 

Hello everyone!

I just stumbled upon this thread and have gotten really excited about the prospect of applying an external gpu to my notebook instead of purchasing a desktop for gaming.

I currently have an ASUS k53e with the i5 Sandybridge processor. I cant seem to figure out if i have an open mPCIe slot....anyone have any experience using one of these machines for the project?

Thanks in advance!

 

Greetings.

Has anyone got this working on a HP Pavilion DV6000 series laptop?

I've had the PE4H & EC2C unit for a few years now but have never managed to get it working.

I recently found a "cracked" BIOS for this laptop, and while it removed the wireless card whitelist, it's still having a problem with resource allocation under Win7 for the external Nvidia 260GTX video card.


The card is detected, but it keeps disappearing/re-appearing in device manager. It seems to be detected under Linux but I haven't tried it with xinerama yet, so no idea if it's actually working.

Thanks .

 

Hey ViciousXUSMC, do you still own your W90?
Do you think this laptop might benefit from an eGPU 5,5 years after that post?

 

I'm looking for some help here. With the recent release of the Intel thunderbolt cable i want to know if I am able to connect my Surface pro 3 to a thunderbolt cable via the mini display port using an adapter and then connect the thunderbolt to a eGPU, will this work?

I understand there will be some bottleneck because of the adapter but I would like to know if this setup will work

Any replies are appreciated and direct messages

 

No, Surface Pro 3 doesn't support thunderbolt.

 

It's been almost 8 years since this thread was started, seems like it hasn't really taken off commercially?

 

Hey guys, I was wondering, if I have a mobo, GPU and PSU laying around could I build myself a eGPU dock from these parts with minimal additional requirements? Like below $10...