Jump to content

I just want to confirm before purchasing questions


fernangus

Recommended Posts

Hello all, and thanx all the comunity forum.

I have this one:

Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330 i3-3120/4GB/500GB/13.3" updated >> Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330 i7-3612QM/8GB/250GB SSD/13.3"

Corsair GS700

Ati Sapphire HD 5850

I think I need PE4L-PM060A or PE4H-PM3N-060B (the PE4L is cheaper), I don´t know if I´m right. The PE4L is the best option in my opinion.

I read a lot of guides, I´m a little confused with a lot of material, manuals, etc.

This is the service manual show can connect msata and wan in pcie port, i dont sure if is posible conect the PE4L-PM060A in this port without remove the original WIFI card. ?¿?¿

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pc..._0b48602_04.pdf (page 69)

Is this a option too?

http://eshop.sintech.cn/laptop-mini-pcie-t...vete-p-948.html

Thanx a lot, and sorry my inglish, I´m spanish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hello, I want to connect video card in Wi-Fi adapter slot with mPCIe connecter to play games (I choose Nvidia GTX 770). But I think it is a very bad idea, because mPCI has very slow speed - I have 802.11n adapter, and I see somewere that it has 150 Mbit/s speed, but on WiKi I found that it has 600 Mbit/s (75 MB/s) but it still is TOO low, because PCI Express 2.0 (x1/x4/x8/x16/x32 link) has speed 5 Gbit/s (500MB/s) / 20 Gbit/s (2GB/s) / 40 Gbit/s (4GB/s) / 80 Gbit/s (8GB/s) / 160 Gbit/s (16GB/s) speed, differense is wery big, and the memory speed of GTX770 is 7 GB/s. How I read it need to be PCI 3 for this card, but Roger Tseng say (he is from hwtools Tech Support Team) that PE4L V2.1 can support to PCIe Gen 3, and must support my laptop (my laptop info is lower), but when I asked him about performance, he give me link to this forum, and I didn't find any information. Please help me if you can.

My notebook:

Samsung RC710-S03 (NP-RC710-S03RU), it has no PCI Express and no Thunderbolt. It has - Intel HM55 Chipset, Intel® Core i5-480M, 802,11bg/n Wi-Fi, Intel HD and Nvidia 315M videocards (I always have problems with Nvidia Optimus Technology, maybe you understand me). Link for this notebook in russian region - NP-RC710E - (I cant find it in USA).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello, I want to connect video card in Wi-Fi adapter slot with mPCIe connecter to play games (I choose Nvidia GTX 770). But I think it is a very bad idea, because mPCI has very slow speed - I have 802.11n adapter, and I see somewere that it has 150 Mbit/s speed, but on WiKi I found that it has 600 Mbit/s (75 MB/s) but it still is TOO low, because PCI Express 2.0 (x1/x4/x8/x16/x32 link) has speed 5 Gbit/s (500MB/s) / 20 Gbit/s (2GB/s) / 40 Gbit/s (4GB/s) / 80 Gbit/s (8GB/s) / 160 Gbit/s (16GB/s) speed, differense is wery big, and the memory speed of GTX770 is 7 GB/s. How I read it need to be PCI 3 for this card, but Roger Tseng say (he is from hwtools Tech Support Team) that PE4L V2.1 can support to PCIe Gen 3, and must support my laptop (my laptop info is lower), but when I asked him about performance, he give me link to this forum, and I didn't find any information. Please help me if you can.

My notebook:

Samsung RC710-S03 (NP-RC710-S03RU), it has no PCI Express and no Thunderbolt. It has - Intel HM55 Chipset, Intel® Core i5-480M, 802,11bg/n Wi-Fi, Intel HD and Nvidia 315M videocards (I always have problems with Nvidia Optimus Technology, maybe you understand me). Link for this notebook in russian region - NP-RC710E - (I cant find it in USA).

As detailed on main DIY eGPU page -> First steps -> 2. Which video card do you recommend for best performance on my system?, you have a Series-5 system capable of a x1 1.0 (2.5GT/s) link. You will definitely be capable of x1.Opt (x1 1.0 + pci-e compression) due to having an active Intel HD *if* you disable the 315M using a bios setting OR the Setup 1.x software.

If you wanted more performance then consider trading your system for one in my sig capable of x1.2Opt (x1 2.0 + pci-e compression), 10GBps Thunderbolt1 or 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello guys!icon7.gif

First post in this forum! \o/

I've been kind of following the eGPU stuff for quite some time, and now that I'm thinking about replacing my laptop I am looking for the eGPU alternative which suits my needs best...

I was thinking of buying an i7 3610/30 equipped laptop (trying to avoid CPU bottlenecks) with an avg "integrated" discrete GPU card, like 7670 Mobility or the likes (so that eGPU wouldn't be the only absolute option).

For the eGPU I'll use a 5850 at the beginning, but I should upgrade it to something better (not high-end anyway) relatively soon

Since I have low budget (i.e. the laptop won't have a spare mPCIe easily accessible), I will probably use a USB3.0 to ExpressCard adapter, what do you think about this? is there any known backdraw of using such an adapter?

I know I could also remove the wlan module and use that slot, but it comes with some backdraws as you all know, and still, it has to be easily accessible...adapter is better, if it doesn't cause any issue icon7.gif

About the eGPU, I was thinking about buying an EXP GDC v6.0 as it seems to be much cheaper than the PE4* alternatives...

What do you think about my setup and the EXP GDC v6.0? why is it cheaper? is there any big drawback?

Thank you icon7.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator

You cannot use a USB 3.0 to ExpressCard adapter. You need to use a native PCIe interface. USB 3.0 is not one.

One very nice laptop for eGPU configuration is the HP 2570P. It has IVB support and even an ExpressCard slot. While it has no dGPU, the iGPU is good enough for when you are away from your eGPU. Plus, if you are looking for an 'average' dGPU, you might as well just use the iGPU and spare yourself the money and greater ease in eGPU setup.

See the 2570P owners lounge here:

http://forum.techinferno.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/2537-12-5-hp-elitebook-2570p-owners-lounge.html

Nice blurb of info there.

You can get a EXP GDC v6.0. Actually, we would like to see an implementation using this device. There is no drawback I know of using this device. If you do get it, please report your findings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

alright, so if I were to buy the N56VZ (which I found for less than 400€ used) I would have to use the WLAN mPCIe...thanks for the hint!

about the HP2570p, unfortunately that's quite expensive, even used :( it seems it's easier and cheaper to get an i7 3630qm notebook with a nice GPU instead of that elitebook :/

any other supposedly cheaper notebook which is good for this purpose? I've read the list which is somewhere in the sticky threads, but that's quite long :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator
alright, so if I were to buy the N56VZ (which I found for less than 400€ used) I would have to use the WLAN mPCIe...thanks for the hint!

about the HP2570p, unfortunately that's quite expensive, even used :( it seems it's easier and cheaper to get an i7 3630qm notebook with a nice GPU instead of that elitebook :/

any other supposedly cheaper notebook which is good for this purpose? I've read the list which is somewhere in the sticky threads, but that's quite long :)

Are you in the US? Cause I've seen a 2570P sell for like 320$ on ebay.

But yes, if a lappy doesn't have EC you will have to use mPCIe (usually by swapping out the WLAN card to the eGPU adapter).

Is there are particular screen size you prefer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you in the US? Cause I've seen a 2570P sell for like 320$ on ebay.

But yes, if a lappy doesn't have EC you will have to use mPCIe (usually by swapping out the WLAN card to the eGPU adapter).

Is there are particular screen size you prefer?

nope, not even on the same continent unfortunately :P

but that price...just...wow :o I could think about having it shipped overseas! It would still be awesome even with the customs duty! (but DHL/UPS would probably cost a looot)

About screen sizes:

up to 15.6" is okay by me :)

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator
nope, not even on the same continent unfortunately :P

but that price...just...wow :o I could think about having it shipped overseas! It would still be awesome even with the customs duty! (but DHL/UPS would probably cost a looot)

About screen sizes:

up to 15.6" is okay by me :)

Thanks!

Ah, from my talks with other non-US people, you guys can sometimes pay out your ears for computer stuffs.

Shipping via USPS (United States Postal Service) isn't that bad for overseas shipping.

I see quite a few for the 500$USD price point, and this:

New HP Elite Book 2570P i5 3 2GHz D8E78UT ABA 500GB HD 8GB RAM Business Laptop 887758501573 | eBay

At 6days, it'll probably be in the 400$ range.

What is your budget? This'll help the most for picking a good eGPU candidate out.

---

I really should setup a little proxy service lol...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, from my talks with other non-US people, you guys can sometimes pay out your ears for computer stuffs.

Shipping via USPS (United States Postal Service) isn't that bad for overseas shipping.

I see quite a few for the 500$USD price point, and this:

New HP Elite Book 2570P i5 3 2GHz D8E78UT ABA 500GB HD 8GB RAM Business Laptop 887758501573 | eBay

At 6days, it'll probably be in the 400$ range.

What is your budget? This'll help the most for picking a good eGPU candidate out.

---

I really should setup a little proxy service lol...

The budget is in that range :/

I'll see how that goes :)

also, do you think things will improve in the next, say, 4-5months? Like, is it likely to see any Thunderbolt2 cheap laptop? (probably not, from what I can tell by reading other posts)

Once I buy the laptop I'll keep it for a while so I'd rather wait few more months if that unlocks the possibility of >5Gbps link at the same price :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator
The budget is in that range :/

I'll see how that goes :)

also, do you think things will improve in the next, say, 4-5months? Like, is it likely to see any Thunderbolt2 cheap laptop? (probably not, from what I can tell by reading other posts)

Once I buy the laptop I'll keep it for a while so I'd rather wait few more months if that unlocks the possibility of >5Gbps link at the same price :)

I doubt there will be any TB2 laptop on the cheap available anytime soon. It's still viewed as a very premium feature so companies will charge a hefty price with anything that has it while they can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All,

Hey hi, I am a newbie here, I was a member of that notebook review forums too and was surprised why everything is here when it was in NBR site back then (eGPU experiences).

After nearly 3 years of reading and lurking in this topic in awe and wanting to have this project I realized nowadays I can afford to start a PC build but last January bought myself a;

Lenovo G500 i5 3230M+AMD radeon 8750M 1GB+intel hd 4000 1GB, windows 8.1

Before I want to get started with a mini ATX gaming PC build, I want to try this eGPU experience so here goes;

So I was reading a little bit of the information and now I am confused as to what setup should I follow, is it the 1.0 or 2.0? my PCIE version is the 3.0 by the way.

Do I need the PE4H or PE4L? I understand that I need to have the end in half height mini PCIE (PM060A)and I want to use an AMD R9 270X, The part where I don't understand is why the adapters are so expensive that it is easy to mass produce these PCB custom adapters.

I confirmed from a lenovo support site that my half mini pcie slot can take an SSD so theoretically it can take an eGPU also am I right?

from that site;

Re: G500 half mini PCIE ssd??

Options

‎01-03-2014 07:54 AM

hi jcagara08,

Welcome to Lenovo Community Forums!

I believe this will work as the miniPCIE in your system supports Data signaling for both WLAN and SSD.

It should be detected right away once rebooted.

Replacing HDD with SSD.

If your Operating System is Above Windows 8, you wont have an option to create Recovery CD using the One key Recovery,

I may suggest using Paragon Backup & Recovery 12 Home (free trial) and use the Migrate option (see this thread).

Regards

Solid Cruver

and here's my mPCIE slot;

9B7633A5-0287-4B4A-AF41-11DBA3BE3D0D_zpsdr3nlgdy.jpg

Also I want to use this to prevent spaghetti wire setup, can I change the end of this to PM060A or does this enclosure take only VGA cards and not PCIE 16x GPUs?

[h=1]PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)[/h]

PE4H%20V3.2_EXP.jpg

guidance and wisdom ol sires ot techinferno!

Regards,

Jes :bananajump:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a master at this eGPU thing. I got mine working on my 2012 rMBP. I've seen that AMD graphics cards have a harder time getting to work than Nvidia ones. The best computers for an eGPU are ones with an integrated GPU. I know that for mine, it wouldn't of worked if I only had a dedicated GPU. Good thing I had both. But almost everything can be forced to work if you're tech savvy enough.

Have you bought everything yet? Regardless, I would search the forums for if someone else has done this on an iMac. You mostly want to look for situations with computers that have similar specs to yours. Especially in GPUs.

Basically, I can't give you a definite answer because I just don't know enough... Though, there are a lot of really smart, helpful people here who can help you out with this. I would ask Tech Inferno Fan. He helped me a lot when I was going through my adventure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your mSATA slot can't be used to host an eGPU since the required pci-e pins (23,25,31,33) are SATA there. Consider using your wifi slot instead. There are both USB and WWAN (usb) wifi dongles/cards available to still allow concurrent wifi + mPCIe eGPU in your system.

A PE4L-2.1B is a x1 open-ended slot. It can accomodate a x16 card and is suggested as a lower cost alternative to PE4H 3.2. Yes, these passive adapters are overly expensive for what they are. Unfortunately the niche market hasn't had bigger players bring us lower cost products.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your mSATA slot can't be used to host an eGPU since the required pci-e pins (23,25,31,33) are SATA there. Consider using your wifi slot instead. There are both USB and WWAN (usb) wifi dongles/cards available to still allow concurrent wifi + mPCIe eGPU in your system.

A PE4L-2.1B is a x1 open-ended slot. It can accomodate a x16 card and is suggested as a lower cost alternative to PE4H 3.2. Yes, these passive adapters are overly expensive for what they are. Unfortunately the niche market hasn't had bigger players bring us lower cost products.

Sir Tech Inferno Fan thank you very much for your reply ol eGPU GURU!

But I did not undestand your first statement because its quite contradictory you mean I could not do an eGPU setup? But I have asked from the lenovo supprt site regarding utilization of the mPCIE port (only one by the way) currently occupied by my wlan card to be replaced with a half height mini pcie SSD for OS booting purposes and one rep told me yes I SSD can be utilized as pictured, its not supported?

So if you meant that I can do this setup, you recommend me to use the PE4L-2.1B?

Yes these DIY setups can really cost an arm and a leg for me, I am still thinking of building a mini ITX gaming PC at the moment but needed to make sure If I can do all these rocket science tinkering stuff that you guys are doing LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello guys!

Ok here comes out my idea/problem, call it which ever way you want :)

got my hands on free Plasma TV (sadly old one which can eat only Component but still is able to show 720 Hdish picture) (to be exact PANASONIC TH-42PA50E)

have half dead ASUS a7s laptop (dead part is GPU unsoldered or something (once proper drivers installed it dies with bluescreen) with default Win drivers works fine if you dont accelerate it)

So! since i never had or intend to have regular TV/SAT or what ever other antenna related things at my apartment (have IP TV since year 2005 :) watched what i want on my default 21" monitor) the system i want to make on that laptop/TV is as fallows GPU that can/will give out Component to get proper picture, mainly use it as TV/movie and sometimes for some oldschool games, each forum i talked in said "buy new TV, and get over it" but i am not too happy with the idea, cuz i rarely watch TV and even if i would i could not afford plasma/led that is as big as this one... and then again there is some boxes that convert VGA to S-video, i got my hands on one as well Quality is like watching 14" CRT screen at 320x200 through grandpa's glasses = not a solution

After hours up on hours of browsing found this forum (THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING HERE! ) it seems that most of you guys are looking for perfect result which isnt my goal, but that diverse solution you have here is best i found so far, once Plasma or my Asus will die i still will have mPCI to PCI or ExpressCard to PCI device which can be used in many many ways, or even make "dock station" out of it

why i spend so much time on typing all that is :

please do suggest me which combination would work best for my purpose (not willing to spend a lot on GPU it self as i need pretty much basic/average performance)

in the perfect world i d like to have 2 PCI slots on the thing in case i want to make docking station or similar stuff... in real life id want to spend as low $ as possible

was inspired by this exact thingy : http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4H.html

so as always biggest bang for the $ :)

thank you in advance :)

(P.S. sorry for my crappy english, i hop[e you can understand my mish mash writings)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hello everyone! I've been reading through these forums like a maniac and I'm really excited to get my own eGPU setup started. I've had a PC for a number of years but I'm planning on selling it for the mobility of a MBA. Here's what I'm planning on purchasing:

Laptop:

2015 MBA i5 + 8GB RAM + 256 SSD

eGPU Equipment:

Akitio Thunder2

24Pin ATX PSU Bridge

EVGA 500W 80Plus Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply

Powered Flexible Riser (I know I shouldn't use this but I am not comfortable with making a Molex to Barrel cable ATM. I'll be sure to check the quality of this before using it)

MSI GTX 980 4GB

My plan is to get things working in a comfortable state first of all and then worry about figuring out an appropriate case for everything afterwards. This is my first build so I imagine I'll have to do some experimentation to get things working fine.

One question I do have, I have an LG ultrawide monitor at home. It only accepts DVI & HDMI cable input. Will this be compatible if I wanted to hook it up to this build or do eGPUs only work with external monitors using thunderbolt cables? I ask because I never really saw any eGPUs build tutorials with info on the external monitors used.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In general the setup seems fine. But there has just been another user upgrading from his 500W PSU because it couldn't handle his GTX980. Make sure the PSU has all the requiered PCIe plugs for the GPU. 500W should be fine.

Displays can be connected by DVI, HDMI, DP, miniDP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A thing that's not mentioned that often here, what games are you going to play?

GPU heavy games like Metro Last light or CPU heavy gamesl ike GTA V or BF4..

I found my i5 4278U in my MBPr 2014 to be TO slow to game on... I could handle Metro Last Light with ease and no issue, however if I tried other games, would my cpu often be the bottleneck..

Just FYI before you spend 1k+ $

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A thing that's not mentioned that often here, what games are you going to play?

GPU heavy games like Metro Last light or CPU heavy gamesl ike GTA V or BF4..

I found my i5 4278U in my MBPr 2014 to be TO slow to game on... I could handle Metro Last Light with ease and no issue, however if I tried other games, would my cpu often be the bottleneck..

Just FYI before you spend 1k+ $

How do you suspect a quad core i7 would fair off in this situation? Speaking about the Quad 2.6 Ghz Haswell chips on the MacBook Pro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A thing that's not mentioned that often here, what games are you going to play?

GPU heavy games like Metro Last light or CPU heavy gamesl ike GTA V or BF4..

I found my i5 4278U in my MBPr 2014 to be TO slow to game on... I could handle Metro Last Light with ease and no issue, however if I tried other games, would my cpu often be the bottleneck..

Just FYI before you spend 1k+ $

That's interesting..I was always under the impression that i5 processors are perfectly fine for gaming? I'm running an i5 2500k (which is a very old processor) with a GTX980 in my current PC setup without any issues. Is it different with laptop processors?

Thanks for the heads up though, I am definitely planning on doing some heavy gaming (Witcher 3).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please don't compare desktop CPUs with mobile CPUs. A desktop i5 has 4 cores without hyper threading, a mobile i5 always has just two cores + hyper threading.

13" MacBooks have a dual core CPU, 15" MacBooks a quad core.

The Witcher is running just fine on dual core CPUs with hyper threading like in the 13" MBs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.