mPci-e power draw

I am sure that this topic has been covered, I just didn't manage to find a clear answer, so feel free to direct me to the proper thread

I have been running an Asus GT430 in my Advaced docking station alongside my T61.
Yesterday, the PSU in the dock popped (without the gfx installed) and rather than buying a new dock, I thought I might as well give one of the eGpu solutions a go.

Here is the question:
Does the Mpci-e deliver any power at all?
The GT430 is powered by the interface only and thus has no way of getting external power.
Does this - as I fear - make my GT430 unusable for an eGpu solution?

 

Most adapters i've seen require an external power source. For example. the PE4L/PE4H requires either a desktop power supply with 4pin power slot or a laptop power supply. Whichever one you use it must be able to supply at least 80W to the adapter.

I have a lenovo dock as well and use it with a GTX 580 but powered externally.
The PE4H/PE4L does not draw power from the mini PCIe slot but uses it only for data transfer. If you do choose to get one than you'll need to find a compatible 80W laptop power supply (the slot is slightly smaller). You'll need a desktop PSU if the GPU uses more than 75W

You dont have to worry about powering it from the miniPCIe slot. You only need to make sure that the power supplied to the adapter is sufficient. Seeing as the GT 430 uses 50W you could just get the adapter and a compatible laptop power supply to power the adapter and GPU to avoid a big mess of cables and add some portability.

If you still dont understand what i said it means you dont have to worry about an unstable GPU. The adapter which you use to plug in the GPU has to provide the power but not through the miniPCIe or expresscard slot. As long as the power provided to the adapter with the GPU plugged in is sufficient the card will work well. The miniPCIe slot provides no power at all in the case of egpu solutions

What setup are you using? If its a pe4H/pe4L than you are supposed to provide power to the board with the PCIex16 slot and not to the miniPCIe/expresscard card unless you want to short it.

If you want to set up an egpu solution most T61 laptops have an expresscard slot and i would strongly discourage using the miniPCIe for egpu since they are located above so you would have to remove the keyboard permanently to use it for this. However if you dont mind disassembling your laptop in the case it came with a PCMCIA+smard card you could purchase a broken T61/T61p that has an expresscard slot and swap the slots. external expresscard slots through USB doesnt support PCIe connections required by the adapters. You could also purchase the slot itself to be swapped.

In your case it is portable enough to get a PE4H/PE4L, a compatible 80W laptop power supply and set it up using the expresscard.

 

Thanks alot for your comprehensive reply, I understand your points to the detail
I had hoped to be able to build a very slim version of the Pcie solution so as to perhaps remove the pcmcia slot and somehow run the cable through there and thus retain the keyboard, but I gather that this would be timeconsuming and with a slim chance of succes...
I'd love to swap to an expresscard, but the only ones I've found on ebay have been a little to pricey for this whole operation to make sense, as it would bring the total cost of the mod above that of a used Advanced dock.
You seem highly proficient at mods and fixes, any chance that you have a tip for me regarding a possible fix of my dock PSU ?
I am not sure why or how it popped, but it happened after a trip through customs and after being connected to an outlet that possibly has problems with grounding as I am able to meassure a 20v current on the water pipes in the house (not sure what that means, but it SURE is unplessant to whash my face after shaving )
When the PSU died it gave out a "thudish" sound but not as much smell as I am used to from electrical fire
I took the dock appart again (does NOT get more fun the more times you do it) and I noticed that the previous owner had installed a small resistor on the PSU fan to make it more silent as suggested in some modding guides. It has always run cool to the touch and I have even blocked the fan from spinning on occasions where I needed total silence for audio recording. I have always kept a close watch on it and never done this after installing the gfx and upping the power draw.
Regards
RUne