Z1 + ViDock + GTX 570 > FTW (the Z2/PMD killer)

As some of you may know I got a ViDock4Plus, a GeForce GTX570, and a DELL WQXGA monitor this week. At first I had a few issues with the ViDock, but I am happy to say I have resolved them all and I now have an unbelievably awesome setup.

The biggest issue was that the VAIO would not boot with the ViDock attached, I had to plug it in during post to get it to work. I seems that the guys at Village had already built in a workaround for this issue. I contacted their tech and they told me about delayed start jumpers. I removed both jumpers for an eight second delayed start, now the VAIO boots perfectly with the ViDock attached.

The second issue was performance. Initially the performace went down considerably. My WEI graphics score dropped from 6.4 (330M) down to 6.1 with the GTX 570. The solution to this is quite simple, boot the machine in stamina mode so that only the Intel card is enabled. I have the BIOS hack with static VGA mode enabled, so when my tri selector switch is on stamina the 330M is completely disabled.

I know that WEI is a crap benchmark but for what it is worth I now get 7.9 on the graphics part. This is the best possible score. Here are the results.


Here is the Windows Experience Index for the Z2+PMD


Check out the dispairity in 3DMark06 14949 vs. 7970 (a rather large difference)
My Score NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7 Mobile,Sony Corporation VAIO score: 14949 3DMarks
Z2 Score


Once I upgrade my SSD RAID to some Intel SSDs the only thing better on the Z2 will be the processor and memory. (although I am getting a better SSD score than that Z2)

It goes without saying that the EVGA 570 HD has what it takes to drive the U3011 @ 2560x1600. The 570 HD has DisplayPort, HDMI, and 2x Dual Link DVI. I can see a second U3011 in my future.

I have almost completely lost interest in the new Z2 now. I can recommend the ViDock for Z1 owners 100% my only regret is that I didn't jump on this ages ago.

If you want massive resolution and massive performance when docked and you have a Z1... you have to get this thing!

EDIT: Just tried hot plugging and unplugging and it works perfectly! Just like it says on the Village site!

EDIT 2: As requested... here are some pictures of my stuff

 

Congrats ComputerCowboy, I knew there was a way to make this work with our current Z's but didn't know how to go about it. Those are really nice scores.

Can you post photos of your setup please? Thanks

mokeiko

 

Very nice config you got there ComputerCowboy and I like your ideeas they are so...constructive .Too bad that for the CPU you can't do nothing if it's soldered but for the dock i will take a look of them maybe with the next salary i'll get one to

 

Thanks mokeiko

My desk is a little messy at the moment. When I get a chance to clean up a bit I'll take some pictures. The other plus with the ViDock and the U3011 is more USB ports. The ViDock has two more ports and the U3011 is a four port hub. So between the Z1 Dock and the ViDock I have six native ports, then I have the U3011 and the VGP-UPR1 which are both four port hubs. I have a total of twelve usable USB ports without having to plug any USB devices directly into the computer. Also the VGP-UPR1 does analog audio out... so I don't have to plug speakers directly into the computer either.

The only downside of this setup is that I have to plug in the ViDock then cold boot, before I could just drop the Z1 into the dock at anytime. I'd say that is a pretty small sacrifice to make when I get WQXGA awesomeness!

Now that I have the GTX 570 I almost feel bad that I don't play games.

Thanks Profy
Yea the ViDock4+ and the GTX 570HD cost over $600, but I think it was worth it. Better than spending $3K+ on the Z2 and not getting WQXGA or anywhere near the performance I am getting with this!

 

I just tooked a look at the site but didn't understand too much of what is there the prices are just for the dock no videocard?You can change with whatever graphic card it feets and which you want? By the way you have 1+ reputation for the ideea

 

Now, that's a monster! Like the others have stated, it would be nice to see the entire setup; the Z is a real beast powering the whole rig.

Next to that, the Z2 pales in comparison.

 

Is it still choppy when playing HD video?

 

Z1 with eGPU can also drive at least 3 displays (notebook lcd + 2 others) as seen in the eGPU thread.

Edited to include nando4s post:

 

Not at all. Seems like it doesn't like running the 330M and the GTX570, I just disabled the 330M with the Tri-Switch and everything is super fast and smooth.

I may be able to do better than that, the card I have has HDMI, DP, and 2x DVI-DL
If all those can work at once I could maybe drive three WQXGA displays, an HDTV and the laptop LCD.

 

@CC what's left to do is to paint your Z1 gold

 

I have better plans than that! I bought the palmrest and lid stickers from ebay to use as templates to cut crocodile skin and glue on to the Z.

I am going to do something like this (that is ostrich skin, but you get the idea)

 

What's your opinion of this:
Sewell Minideck USB to DVI, VGA and HDMI Display Adapter - SW-22857, $99.95

Not a high end beast like yours, of course, but

 

^ it is DisplayLink so the performance is not the best, also the resolution is limited to 1920x1200 for DVI, you have to go VGA to go higher. It should run OK with the Z because the Z is very powerful. The only point of getting that is if you want to run two or more external displays. The Z can already run one external display at that resolution.

 

I know lol... although you didn't really have to spend that much on a GTX 570... the performance hit of the expresscard interface makes it probably a GTX 560

 

It was mostly about the ports and such that the EVGA HD version came with. Also I figured I was only going to do it one time so I may as well get the best card that the ViDock4Plus can take. The 580 and 590 won't work due to connector requirements, 6/8 and 8/8 respectively. I decided not to get the "Superclocked" version since it would just run louder and hotter and I don't really need that power anyway. The normal clocked version should last longer.

I also find it interesting that most of the time the ViDock/GTX570 is quieter than the Z1.

 

So if you buy the Vidock + graphics card and plug everything together, it just works? Or are there some drivers to download and other stuff to tinker with before the computer can utilize the external graphics card?

 

^ You have to remove the two jumpers from the board that the GFX card goes in, this will enable a delayed start. Other than that it is just a matter of installing the latest nVidia drivers. I have the BIOS hack with "Static VGA" this is helpful because I can disable the 330M, by setting the triswitch to stamina, for maximum performance of the GTX 570. When the 330M and GTX570 ran at the same time it was choppy/laggy.

Here is what Village support had to say (they are awesome, fast and helpful)

Here is my 3DMark FWIW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7 Mobile,Sony Corporation VAIO score: 14949 3DMarks

 

where can i d/l the bios hack?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/473226-insyde-hacking-new-vaio-z-advanced-menu-bios.html

 

@ComputerCowboy,

That is a killer set up. Great job. Maybe if the price comes down (and I find some time to play some computer games again) I will look into this.

So from your descriptions, I take it that you can't just plug the expresscard adapter in after you're in Windows and expect the Z to register the card in the ViDock? It has to boot with the adapter plugged in (and use that delayed boot method)? Also, can you not just set the selecter to Stamina mode and disable the 330m so that the Z registers the 570? Why is the BIOS hack necessary?

 

Plugging the card in post boot was hit or miss.
The delayed boot method works everytime.
I don't know if the BIOS hack is required or not. I have the hack so that I can run the latest nVidia drivers for the 330M instead of being stuck with dated hybrid drivers. The hack seems to have come in handy here also because I can totally disable the 330M and it resolves the conflict with the GTX 570. I am not saying you need the hack, I am just saying I already have it and it is helpful in this setup. I would highly recommend the hack either way since it allows the best performance of both the Intel and nVidia GPUs. I never liked the way the hybrid drivers worked or performed.

The price of Video cards always comes down, the ViDock is probably not going to change much. You don't have to get the 4Plus, you could get a lesser ViDock and GPU, or you could go the DIY route. I love DIY but I didn't really have time to mess with it. The ViDock is a great product, it is much more compact than a DIY eGPU and it is well supported by the vendor. This is my work machine, I need it to work, no headaches.

 

So if you remove the jumpers to your 330M, does that mean you can't use that graphics card when you don't have the vidock attached?

 

^ no, the jumpers I was talking about have nothing to do with the 330M, the jumpers are part of the ViDock. The point of pulling the jumpers is to delay the start of the ViDock so the VAIO can boot.

The 330M can be enabled or disabled with the Tri-Selector switch on the VAIO.

 

Oh okay gotcha.

And if one were to not have a hacked bios/hacked drivers for the two graphics cards on the Z, will putting the tri-switch to stamina still allow smooth operation of the vidock, or maybe you wouldn't know since you aren't running stock?

 

I know we can't have it all, but I want to use the internal monitor on the Z. Is this is still a no go?

That's the only HUGE + I see for the Z2 and PMD combo.

 

According to Nautis (he sent me this link) you can drive the internal graphics with an eGPU
check it

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6542661-post1222.html

 

Pants tent in FULL effect!

 

I wonder how Crysis 2 will run with it at 1080p. I know your not a big gamer, but anything you can share would be amazing. Digging through the eGPU thread it seemed that most said not to spend the cash on this mod because of the 1x PCIE slot.

So with the express card bottleneck, how would this mod for the Z compare to say a 6750 in my wifes MBP?

 

Well you know what they say: the best way to get over someone (or something in this case) is to find someone new ; )

 

Don't know. I wouldn't mind turning the BIOS setting back to AUTO but I am NOT going to install those crap hybrid drivers just to check... sorry.
In the other thread it looked like the guy was running a DIY eGPU with the hybrid drivers though.

LOL TMI

Seems to me that if it gets a WEI score of 7.9 and a decent 3D mark score it should be able to play games pretty well. Do you have a link to a demo?

 

Good stuff. Thanks. Rep added!

So do you think this investment would be worth it for someone who, say, didn't want to mess with the BIOS hack/NVIDIA drivers? I'm not real keen on getting into that, as it probably would take a bit effort to research and I don't really use the 330m enough to care much for the updated drivers. The ViDock would be real cool though if it is as simple as plug and play.

 

The BIOS hack is really easy. As far as the investment goes... the setup I chose represents the absolute best and the maximum amount of money you could possibly spend on this setup. ViDock, GTX570 and U3011 cost me just over $2K all together. This could be done a lot cheaper if you were to get a lesser ViDock or DIY eGPU and a lesser graphics card. Honestly I don't know if it is worth it to you or not. It is worth it to me because I wanted more resolution (I still want to get a second U3011 + a 32" Sony 3DTV for a triple display setup) that is why I got the crazy card.

I can't really answer your opinion question for you. I have no regrets about getting this setup, but I don't know if it is worth it to you. If you want more resolution or more game performance, it is pretty much the only way to go.

 

What I meant was worth it for someone too lazy to do the BIOS hack. I'm wary of spending he money if I'm going to have to mess with the BIOS to make it work. Though it may be easy to do, I don't have much experience playing in the BIOS and would have to search around for how to do the hack. If it's plug and play I think it becomes much more appealing. I know you aren't going back to the NVIDIA drivers that came with the Z, but if you do have a chance to go back ot the original BIOS and see if everthing is still kosher with your set up, that test would be much appreciated (assuming it is easy for you to "remove" the hack--I don't know what it entails). Either way, this is a compelling solution for GPU upgrades! Thanks for sharing your results.

 

well I don't have to undo the BIOS hack to test what you want me to test... I just have to set the VGA switching policy back to dynamic. Like I said before it won't be a true test unless the old hybrid drivers are installed. Supposing I was to get motivated to run such a test for you... what drivers are you using?

 

Thanks for the reply ComputerCowboy. Please don't run the test just for me, as I'm curious more than anything. I currently don't need any more graphical power, but it's nice to know that I have the option to upgrade should that situation ever arise.

 

A GTX460 and up plays Crysis 2 fluently maxed out @1080p. I played through it with my DIY eGPU. A 120$ GTX460 outbenches a GTX480M laptop with ease.

 

Ok sorry for sounding like an idiot here but can anyone explain to me the mechanism of the ViDock?

I know it's an external GPU and a dock that adds other expansion options, but doesn't it get limited by the expresscard speed (IIRC it's PCI-E?). Any more details other than that? I've read through the villagetronics page and I don't understand a thing.

 

^ it is simple. There is an express card with a cord attached to it, the cord goes into a box with a full size PCIE slot in it. You plug your favorite desktop graphics care in and boom, you have a super external GPU for your lappy.

 

+1 request for cowboy to install the hybrid graphic drivers and see if it still work just as well

 

I got these rather ridiculous instructions from Village support, the cool thing is that you can use the eGPU to drive the laptop LCD.

I doubt I am going to do all this, but it gives you an idea of what is possible.

Seems to me that unless you want to use the internal LCD the BIOS hack way is much easier. I can easily install the latest nVidia drivers. With my setup the GTX570 does NOT drive the internal LCD. The thing is I don't care that much about the internal LCD, the whole point of my setup is to drive WQXGA displays.

 

Yeah I kind of understand that part but wouldn't the functionality of the external video card be limited by the express card connector though? I've heard it even bottlenecks USB 3.0.

 

is gtx 570 the lowest range card that has 2x dvi + displayport +hdmi?IS there any other cheaper card that has 4 ports like this?

 

The trouble with USB3.0 is that it's much higher in the stack. Getting data to the GPU requires going from CPU -> southbridge -> PCIe bus -> USB controller -> GPU. And the USB interface introduces quite a bit of latency, which causes poor performance in external GPUs.

The great thing about ExpressCard is that it supports connecting on the PCIe interface directly, which means you cut out the USB interface. So instead you get: CPU -> southbridge -> PCIe bus -> GPU. You don't get any extra bandwidth compared to USB3.0 (though it doesn't really matter; you usually only need to feed data to the GPU, it will handle output through its own ports), but you can get rid of a lot of that latency which greatly improves performance.

The interesting thing is that LightPeak on the Z2 is quite similar to using PCIe through ExpressCard. CPU -> southbridge -> LightPeak controller (PCIe) -> GPU; although LightPeak of course provides more bandwidth (10Gbps bidirectional).

 

I picked the GTX570 because it was the highest end card with all the ports that I wanted that was compatible with the ViDock.

There are probably other lesser cards that have 2xDVI/DP/HDMI... one thing that I am not sure about is whether all of those ports will work simultaneously on this card or any other card for that matter. I know that on a GTX 590 you can do 3D Surround with a single card. Ideally I'd like to do three WQXGA monitors and an HDTV... but I am not sure if that would work. I know that ATI has some Quad monitor cards, but I hate ATI, so I never looked into them.

I just did a quick look around on newegg and I couldn't find any card less than the EVGA GTX570HD that has all four aforementioned ports.

Here is the thing Brian, the card is bottle-necked by the ExpressCard... but look at the 7.9 WEI graphics score. It won't run as fast as it would in a desktop, but the setup I have is the best you can do with the ViDock and the best you are ever going to see with the Z1.


EDIT: just updated the first post... hot plug/unplug works great

I feel like I am only just getting started with this thing, it just keeps getting better and better!

 

ComputerCowboy that is one sweet upgrade. Will have to check if they ship to the UK.

 

Very generous of you to offer, but don't feel compelled if you don't have time and don't want to restore to the crappy stock ones. The stock ones are the ones I have (as far as I know)...driver version 188.80.

Haha...yes those instructions are pretty intense! Seems like an awful lot of work. Too bad...I'd probably prefer to power the internal LCD, but an external would be a fine alternative too. Unfortunately it does seem like one wouldn't be able to get a ViDock to work without some modification to the Z system--don't know if I'm ready for that. At least I know this is a potential option. Maybe someday there'll be a an external GPU option that doesn't hate the Sony drivers...

 

Updated the original post to show some pictures of my VAIO mad science lab

 

Did you ask the ViDock guys what their response to Thunderbolt/Lightpeak is?

 

No... but that is an awesome question. Imagine if they made something that worked with the Z2.

 

No luck on a crysis 2 demo link. Would you be willing to install Steam and download the Homefront demo?