eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[useafo]

You are correct, both ends of the cable are soldered onto the PCB's, so when you buy the PE4L, you have to know whether you want the expresscard, mpcie, or PCIE1x at the end.

I have PE4H, and it can do optimus.

[Renovatio]

You are correct, both ends of the cable are soldered onto the PCB's, so when you buy the PE4L, you have to know whether you want the expresscard, mpcie, or PCIE1x at the end.

This is really disappointing. Why did they solder everthing together? I already have 1x EC2C and 2x PM3N and 3x mini-HDMI cable, so for me it would have been nice to just buy the connector itself. Right now I don´t need it but my next laptop will be an Ivy-Bridge-laptop of course and then i would need the PE4L not my PE4H :/

[Tech Inferno Fan]

This is really disappointing. Why did they solder everthing together? I already have 1x EC2C and 2x PM3N and 3x mini-HDMI cable, so for me it would have been nice to just buy the connector itself. Right now I don´t need it but my next laptop will be an Ivy-Bridge-laptop of course and then i would need the PE4L not my PE4H :/

BPlus tried to get pci-e 2.0 going but it would fail when there were mHDMI connectors involved. That's why they soldered it all together to eliminate those connectors. You'll note they have a variation, PE4L-L060A 2.1b which is their newer board allowing attachment to the older EC2C or PM3N. I was advised this too couldn't negotiate a pci-e 2.x link.

The approach then is to consider offloading your current pci-e 1.x specced PE4H 2.4 + EC2C + PM3N and get a pci-e 2.0 specced PE4L-ECxxx/PE4L-PMxxx 2.1b when you get your Ivy Bridge notebook.

[Renovatio]

BPlus tried to get pci-e 2.0 going but it would fail when there were mHDMI connectors involved. That's why they soldered it all together to eliminate those connectors. You'll note they have a variation, PE4L-L060A 2.1b which is their newer board allowing attachment to the older EC2C or PM3N. I was advised this too couldn't negotiate a pci-e 2.x link.

The approach then is to consider offloading your current pci-e 1.x specced PE4H 2.4 + EC2C + PM3N and get a pci-e 2.0 specced PE4L-ECxxx/PE4L-PMxxx 2.1b when you get your Ivy Bridge notebook.

Thanks for the explanation. I hope I got this right: the PE4L-L060A (PE4L ( PCIe passive adapter ver1.5 )) [$51 - blue plate] is PCIe 1.0 only because it is still v1.5 or the fact that it has one mini-hdmi connector. Or is a blue plate always PCIe 2.0? Then again, I would need more than 60 cm lenght. Like the PE4L-PM200A (PE4L V2.1 ( PCIe Adapter )) [$81 - blue plate] which is definitely PCIe 2.0 but cannot be combinded with the PM3N.

[JeanMax]

Hey guys,

I’ve bought a Bplus™ PE4H-EC2C (expresscard) to adapt it to a video board (GeForce GT 220)

in my laptop (Dell inspiron 1545). I want to put a TV Samsung T27A550 through HDMI.

Everything works during the first test, but the monitor wasn’t receiving any signal.

I would like to know if i must do any hardware or OS configuration for it to work.

My laptop configuration:

Dell inspiron 1545;

Intel® Core™2 Duo T6500 2.1 GHz;

memory 3GB;

320GB sata;

Graphic Chip Intel 4500MHD;

Bluetooth, 802.11b/g WLAN;

Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit.

In case you guys need any other information, please tell me.

Sorry for the bad english hehe, i’m brazilian.

Thank you

[Wes Lawrence]

I have PE4H, and it can do optimus.

PE4H is still only PCIe x1.0 compliant, PE4L allows a PCIe x2.0 link.

[gz10]

Just got my X220 eGPU setup running last night, initial results:

Lenovo X220

i7-2620m

8GB RAM

Windows 7

eGPU: Galaxy GTX 660

PE4L 2.1b (so, x1.2Opt)

Corsair CX430 430W PSU

Results (@ stock): Vantage -- P16364, GPU = 19978

3DMark2011 -- P5101, GPU = 5474

Looks like it's running well.

One question -- how can I confirm that Optimus is working? I know in the NVidia control panel I can see the option for the 2 GPUs, but I know Nando on his ATI/NVidia comparison in a note mentioned: "Achieved by powering the eGPU before starting the system". Does this mean if I start my X220 from a shutdown state with the eGPU in there, it will not use Optimus? So the only way is to add in the eGPU resuming from sleep or hot swapping?

[DarkCond0]

Hi,

My eGPU setup has stopped working as of today. It was working fine last night.

But now, whenever it is connected, my computer locks up every two seconds or so and is completely unusable. The card isn't even detected. My computer will play the sound that plays whenever new hardware is detected, but its broken up and will play continuously until I unplug from the laptop...

It's a PE4L 2.1b with a GTX 460, on a Lenovo X220 with Windows 8 x64.

Any ideas? Thanks...

[AD-1]

I got everything ready and then got stuck at my first step.

First of all my system is:

inspiron 1720

T7500

8600m GT

4GB RAM

Windows 7 64

eGPU: MSI GTX 560 ti

PE4h 2.4a ec060a & pm3n

be quiet 430W PSU

Tolud is 3.5gb and I got in to some problems trying to do DSDT override . Basically my .dsl file its nothing like the one in the guide and I can't find the PNP0A08/PNP0A03 'DWordMemory' resource entries.

What am I doing wrong?

Guide.Device (PCI0)

{

Name (_HID, EisaId ("PNP0A03")) // _HID: Hardware ID

Name (_ADR, 0x00) // _ADR: Address

Name (_PRW, Package (0x02) // _PRW: Power Resources for Wake

{

0x0B,

0x03

})

Method (_INI, 0, NotSerialized) // _INI: Initialize

{

Store (SMI (0x98, 0x00), MIS0)

And (MIS0, Or (0x01, Or (0x02, 0x10)), MIS0)

Store (0x01, MIS4)

Store (SMI (0x46, 0x00), Local0)

Store (SMI (0x6D, 0x00), Local6)

If (LEqual (Local6, 0x03))

{

\_SB.PCI0.VID.GLID (Local0)

}

SOST ()

}

Method (_CRS, 0, NotSerialized) // _CRS: Current Resource Settings

{

CRS3 ()

CR_2 (0x00, 0x0100)

CR_3 (0x00, 0x0CF8)

CR_1 (0x0CF8, 0x0CF8, 0x01, 0x08)

CR_3 (0x0D00, 0xF300)

CR_4 (0x000A0000, 0x00020000)

Add (0x000C0000, GORL (), Local0)

Subtract (0x000E0000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0x00100000, GMEM (), Local0)

Add (Local0, 0x00100000, Local0)

Store (SMI (0x6D, 0x00), Local3)

If (LEqual (Local3, 0x03))

{

Add (Local0, 0x00800000, Local0)

}

Store (GPXB (), Local3)

Subtract (Local3, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (Local3, 0x04000000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFEC00000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFEC00000, 0x00010000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFED00000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFED18000, 0x4000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFED20000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFED20000, 0x00070000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFEDA0000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFEDA6000, 0x1000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFEE00000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFEE00000, 0x00010000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFFA00000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

Add (0xFFA00000, 0x00100000, Local0)

Subtract (0xFFF00000, Local0, Local1)

CR_4 (Local0, Local1)

If (LGreaterEqual (OSID (), 0x20))

{

Store (G4GB (), Local0)

If (LGreater (Local0, 0x00100000))

{

ShiftLeft (Local0, 0x0C, Local0)

Store (0xF8000000, Local1)

Store (0x01, Local2)

ShiftLeft (Local2, 0x20, Local2)

Add (Local1, Local2, Local1)

CR_5 (Local0, Local1)

}

}

CR_6 ()

Return (CRS0)

}

Device (ISAB)

{

Name (_ADR, 0x001F0000) // _ADR: Address

Device (PS2M)

{

Name (_HID, EisaId ("PNP0F13")) // _HID: Hardware ID

Name (CRS, ResourceTemplate ()

{

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I got everything ready and then got stuck at my first step.

First of all my system is:

inspiron 1720

Tolud is 3.5gb and I got in to some problems trying to do DSDT override . Basically my .dsl file its nothing like the one in the guide and I can't find the PNP0A08/PNP0A03 'DWordMemory' resource entries.

What am I doing wrong?

Insert the code as shown in Avlan's E4300 dsdt override example.

One question -- how can I confirm that Optimus is working? I know in the NVidia control panel I can see the option for the 2 GPUs, but I know Nando on his ATI/NVidia comparison in a note mentioned: "Achieved by powering the eGPU before starting the system". Does this mean if I start my X220 from a shutdown state with the eGPU in there, it will not use Optimus? So the only way is to add in the eGPU resuming from sleep or hot swapping?

Confirm you have the Select preferred graphics processor for this program option in the NVidia control panel as shown below:

Different system bios handle the startup differently if the eGPU is detected. My understanding is the latest X220 bios will just lower TOLUD and boot with the iGPU as the active primary video device. My Dell E6230 would set the eGPU as the primary video device on bootup if it was detected on poweron. To get x1.2Opt engaged, with the iGPU as the primary video device, the eGPU needed to be hot plugged or activated using the PCI Reset Delay jumpers so it was on the pci-e bus *after bootup*.

[AD-1]

Problem solved using Setup 1.x

Solved installing drivers but there are different ones for every gpu.NVIDIA Control Panel its not opening and I have no way to change tv resolution to see if that's the problem

Now I get Error 43

I've done as in troubleshooting:

1.done

2.done

3.

- Boot eGPU Setup 1.x,

- select Video cards->Load to load the PCI space dump created when it was working with no error 43. Done then press f3 to load in Setup.bat ( don't know if I should but it gets deleted after next step anyway)

- perform 32-bit PCI compaction on the iGPU+eGPU. 32-bit or 32-bitA All its not working. I can only do a 36bit for all and force one on 32bit (I've tried both in turns)

- select startup.bat->edit, remove the 'call vidinit' since it might interfere with your load dump. Done

- select Apply config.Run startup.bat Done

- select Chainload mbr Done

Error still there but moves from eGPU to dGPU depending on PCI compaction.

Its there any setting I'm missing here?

Thanks for your help

[gz10]

Different system bios handle the startup differently if the eGPU is detected. My understanding is the latest X220 bios will just lower TOLUD and boot with the iGPU as the active primary video device. My Dell E6230 would set the eGPU as the primary video device on bootup if it was detected on poweron. To get x1.2Opt engaged, with the iGPU as the primary video device, the eGPU needed to be hot plugged or activated using the PCI Reset Delay jumpers so it was on the pci-e bus *after bootup*.

Yes, definitely have the select preferred graphics processor option.

What are the "PCI Reset Delay jumpers"? Is this the "SW1" on the PE4L? I was actually not sure what that should be set to. What exactly does this do? Add a delay to when it will register with the PCI-Express bus? I haven't had much luck with hot plugging or even switching it in during sleep, so I'll be starting from a cold boot. If I have the delay switch set to position 3 (6.9s) and turn on the eGPU first and then turn on my laptop, it should work with Optimus?

I've noticed a slight 200-250 point difference in 3DMark2011 scores from time to time and I'm guessing it's just times when optimus is enabled vs disabled. Realistically though, optimus on/off probably doesn't make a huge difference given the x1 2.0 setup instead of 1.0. I also wonder if in CPU bound games (this is the case for me in Planetside 2 w/ my GTX 660) it's disadvantageous to do the Optimus compression (this assumes the processing is being done by the CPU).

[Omnius]

Hi guys, been reading through this thread and the previous one to decide on my setup and share the experience.

First off, a huge thanks to Nando4 for putting together all the information it has been a massive help in understanding what I need to do.

I've purchased a PE4L v2.1b EC2C off redtrontech, minus the SWEX add-on, thought I'd bought the full kit and panicked for a moment before realizing I could just either do the paper clip trick or solder a switch, shaved $10 or so off the price so no real loss.

I've yet to purchase a GPU however, I've noticed that a 560 Ti seems to be the most popular one and have been scouring eBay for some deals but would like to know any recommendations for the following spec:

Lenovo X220

i7-2640m

8GB RAM

Win 7 x64

I've also found an old ammo box similar to this:

that I thought would make for an excellent enclosure assuming that I can get a PSU small enough.

[samiam]

Hi all, another new user here. I would like to thank Tech Inferno Fan for all his hard work, this egpu project is what led me to finally register at techinferno.

I have the PE4L v2.1b (expresscard version) and my Lenovo X230 with the following specs:

Windows 8 64-bit

Intel Core i5-3320M

Intel HD Graphics 4000

4GB RAM

Now I am planning to eventually buy a better graphics card (maybe Nvidia for Optimus) but before that I just wanted to make sure it works with the card I took from my old desktop, a Radeon HD 4830, which should still be a lot better than Intel's integrated graphics. I'm also using the desktop's Antec EA-500 power supply. I have a problem getting it to work though.

First I tried booting with the graphics card connected and powered on, it bluescreened with "0x116: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR". Then I tried booting with it connected but not powered on, and Windows boots to a black screen with a very slow mouse cursor and nothing else. Then I tried booting with it disconnected, going into standby, powering on the graphics card and connecting it, and resuming. Windows autodetects it and installs drivers and the graphics card is shown in Device Manager, but it's device status is "no drivers are installed". Monitors connected to the graphics card aren't detected (the internal display running on integrated graphics still works).

Then I tried installing AMD's Windows 8 driver (the one for older Radeon HD cards including 4000 series), but the install just gets stuck on a progress bar. I tried extracting only the display driver from the exe and using Device Manager to install it, but that got stuck too. Any suggestions on what to do? I'm not concerned with trying to get the internal display to work with the external graphics, I just want the graphics card to output to a monitor. Any help is much appreciated.

On a side note, I'm using a 256GB mSATA SSD that I installed myself as my main Windows and programs drive, and the standard 2.5" HDD for extra storage. The BIOS occasionally has problems detecting the SSD ("2101 detection error on HDD2"), so far this seems to happen right after I do a forced shutdown (happened once in the process of trying to get e-gpu working). From what I've read, reseating the SSD, even if it was already seated correctly, fixes the problem. But this is too time-consuming because I have to remove the keyboard and palm rest to reach the mSATA slot. What I do instead is reboot a few times, fiddle with the boot order in BIOS, and just let the laptop sit for a while (not sure which of these steps actually helps), and in a short time it fixes itself. But this is a somewhat worrisome problem.

By the way, it looks like hwtools just started selling PE4H v3.2 right after I got my PE4L. They say it's PCIE 2.0 compatible, and there's the option of an enclosure. Still looks like you need an ATX power supply if your graphics card need 6-pins though, and I'm not sure if there's room in the enclosure for the ATX power supply.

[gz10]

Yeah looks like this is a new product: PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)

A couple of notes for why it may not change the product we'd have chosen (PE4L 2.1b):

• You can only use video cards where the PCI-Express power connectors are on the end of the card rather than the side (the maority of high performance cards have them on the side -- my GTX 660, for example)
  
• I don't believe there's any performance difference (still limited by the ExpressCard I believe, PCI-Express x1 2.0 -- someone correct me if I'm wrong)
  
• The power adapter is only 120W. I'm unsure if that would be enough for many of the higher performing cards (even though Kepler is more power efficient). From the looks of it you could also just use a normal ATX power supply and connect the 24-pin connector to it, but IMO that kind of defeats the point of a nice enclosure when you have your PSU with all its wires out in the open
  
• It's more expensive. You're getting more than just the PE4L, sure, but I paid $78 for the PE4L, $17AR for my PSU, and I'm thinking about a cheap mATX case to stick it all in -- ~$35). Plus this setup is more flexible
  

It does look pretty nice though and is more reasonably priced than the ViDocks. Perhaps it would be a great fit for a card like the GTX 650/650Ti (PCI express connectors on the end, and possibly within the limits of the 120W adapter). For comparison, many people have used a 203W XBox power adapter (needs to be modded though) -- maybe hwtools will make a higher powered adapter available in the future

[Darvon]

I would just like to report from my previous issues with my Lenovo X230T that I got a slightly updated model from the 3434 to the 3435. I did more testing and found the same trend occurring with the need to re-install the drivers to get it to work through hot-swapping again. However, this time I discovered what allows the laptop to keep functioning with hot-swap. If you end up shutting the computer down, you are likely to lose the ability to hot-swap and would need to re-install the driver. But, if you were to just restart the machine (unplug after lenovo boot screen pops up), then plug the pci-express card back in after windows has loaded up some into the desktop, it will continue to function properly.

If you enter sleep mode and pull the pci-card, it will cause windows to stop functioning and reboot when turned back on (even if you plug the card back in), but will still be hot-swappable upon next boot. I have yet to try the same thing on hibernation, although I have my doubts there. I will also be creating a backup of the drivers using a program like "Double Driver" prior to first hot-swap to see if I can more quickly recreate the environment without the hassle of too much time taken to re install (Might get even lucky without needing to reboot).

Laptop Specs-

Lenovo X230T Model 3435

Cpu: i7 3520M 2.9~3.6ghz (turbo)

Ram: 8 gb (1 stick) (I have 16gbs total, but not recommended for egpu setups as it lags the computer to hell)

Egpu: Nvidia Geforce GTX 660TI

Adapter: PE4L 2.1b

PSU: 300W (Generic from 40 dollar casing)

On a side note: The wall charger that comes with this laptop is incapable of fully powering the laptop without the battery being present. This means that the cpu is stuck at less than half its performance. It took a number of Lenovo staff just to finally get to the bottom of figuring out why cpu ratings were always low.

[testedandbaked]

As you said, the problem with ThunderBolt to MXM is that it doesn't supply the power that an MXM card requires. You'd need to lug around a PSU of some sort, whether that be a 150w power brick or an ATX power supply. Add in the fact that you'd need to mount some sort of heatsink/fan combo on that card and the desktop GPU with its onboard cooling and lower price/performance ratio seems compelling. The bulk to be carried around would be similar IMHO.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Now I get Error 43

I've done as in troubleshooting:

1.done

2.done

3.

- Boot eGPU Setup 1.x,

- select Video cards->Load to load the PCI space dump created when it was working with no error 43. Done then press f3 to load in Setup.bat ( don't know if I should but it gets deleted after next step anyway)

- perform 32-bit PCI compaction on the iGPU+eGPU. 32-bit or 32-bitA All its not working. I can only do a 36bit for all and force one on 32bit (I've tried both in turns)

- select startup.bat->edit, remove the 'call vidinit' since it might interfere with your load dump. Done

- select Apply config.Run startup.bat Done

- select Chainload mbr Done

Error still there but moves from eGPU to dGPU depending on PCI compaction.

Its there any setting I'm missing here?

Thanks for your help

Try the Video cards->Initialize function first after PCI compaction. If still get an error 43 then it may be because you have both a NVidia dGPU and eGPU. In which case I'd suggest modify the Verde (mobile) driver set to include your eGPU so as to get a unified driver set for both GPUs.

Yeah looks like this is a new product: PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)

A couple of notes for why it may not change the product we'd have chosen (PE4L 2.1b):

• You can only use video cards where the PCI-Express power connectors are on the end of the card rather than the side (the maority of high performance cards have them on the side -- my GTX 660, for example)
  
• I don't believe there's any performance difference (still limited by the ExpressCard I believe, PCI-Express x1 2.0 -- someone correct me if I'm wrong)
  
• The power adapter is only 120W. I'm unsure if that would be enough for many of the higher performing cards (even though Kepler is more power efficient). From the looks of it you could also just use a normal ATX power supply and connect the 24-pin connector to it, but IMO that kind of defeats the point of a nice enclosure when you have your PSU with all its wires out in the open
  
• It's more expensive. You're getting more than just the PE4L, sure, but I paid $78 for the PE4L, $17AR for my PSU, and I'm thinking about a cheap mATX case to stick it all in -- ~$35). Plus this setup is more flexible
  

It does look pretty nice though and is more reasonably priced than the ViDocks. Perhaps it would be a great fit for a card like the GTX 650/650Ti (PCI express connectors on the end, and possibly within the limits of the 120W adapter). For comparison, many people have used a 203W XBox power adapter (needs to be modded though) -- maybe hwtools will make a higher powered adapter available in the future

Correct. A PE4H 3.2 provides the same x1 2.0 (pci-e) performance as a PE4L 2.1b. It's advantages over a PE4L 2.1b being mostly packaging:

1. an enclosure for the video card

2. ability to use all power form dual/tri rail ATX PSUs

It's negatives are:

1. it costs considerably more than a PE4L 2.1b

2. it continues to use a 19V DC input for those wanting DC power for the slot. That means that hot bridge rectifer remains. PE4L 2.1b uses straight 12V.

3. if using an enclosure then the video card must have pci-e power from the side rather than top.

A PE4L 2.1b + modded XBOX360 PSU still gives the best bang-per-buck portable solution imho.

[AD-1]

Now I get Error 43

I've done as in troubleshooting:

1.done

2.done

3.

- Boot eGPU Setup 1.x,

- select Video cards->Load to load the PCI space dump created when it was working with no error 43. Done then press f3 to load in Setup.bat ( don't know if I should but it gets deleted after next step anyway)

- perform 32-bit PCI compaction on the iGPU+eGPU. 32-bit or 32-bitA All its not working. I can only do a 36bit for all and force one on 32bit (I've tried both in turns)

- select startup.bat->edit, remove the 'call vidinit' since it might interfere with your load dump. Done

- select Apply config.Run startup.bat Done

- select Chainload mbr Done

Error still there but moves from eGPU to dGPU depending on PCI compaction.

Its there any setting I'm missing here?

Thanks for your help.

Try the Video cards->Initialize function first after PCI compaction. If still get an error 43 then it may be because you have both a NVidia dGPU and eGPU. In which case I'd suggest modify the Verde (mobile) driver set to include your eGPU so as to get a unified driver set for both GPUs

It worked without modifying drivers!

Tnx Tech Inferno Fan

I'll try x2 link and then post " how to " eGPU Inspiron 1720

[DarkCond0]

Quick bump, I've determined that the problem is with the PE4L. Do I contact hwtools or harmonic inversion for support?

[konpei-island]

DIY eGPU Setup 1.x chainloading fails for Lenovo G560

My PC is lenovo G560

windows7 64bit

One physical HDD

The partition is only C drive on windows.

Chainloading does not work in normal menu.win and menu.mbr.

If grub4dos.Prompt is chosen, it will become a black screen and will stop.

I installed grub4dos and executed ls (hd[tab] command,

and hd0 and the partitions 0 and 1 were displayed.

I edited \config\menu.win into chainloader(hd0, 1)/bootmgr or chainloader(hd0, 0)/bootmgr,

but Chainloading does not work.

Please teach a right procedure

Someone please help me!!

[Quest Ng]

I followed your guidance few months ago and has recently finished building my egpu. But when I run gpuz, it shows im running on pci-e 1.1 only although I bought the PE4L 2.1b

Im using cx430 psu, vaio cw26, twinfroz MSI gtx 660, PE4L 2.1b. any advice?

also when i run 3dmark06 its super horrible, about 5k points only (i did run gpuz behind to double check if it is running on the right card!)

my laptop is cw26 sony vaio

everest shows that my gt330m is using PCI E 2.0 and 3d accelerator is set to gt330m, iGPU not activated.

[M-Low]

Bit of a off-topic note...

Imagine the capabilities of this eGPU setup >> 25-gpu-cluster (25x AMD HD6990) LOL!!!

I wonder if there is a way to leverage this Virtual OpenCL cluster platform in eGPU implementations. Dreaming :P

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Bit of a off-topic note...

Imagine the capabilities of this eGPU setup >> 25-gpu-cluster (25x AMD HD6990) LOL!!!

I wonder if there is a way to leverage this Virtual OpenCL cluster platform in eGPU implementations. Dreaming :P

There's also fastraII, the NVidia version from a few years back. 6xGTX295 + 1xGTX275, 13 GPUs total = 12TeraFlops of computing power. We have done the DSDT override so have no 32-bit limitations to host the eGPUs. Just need a expresscard/TB bus extender to host so many eGPUs to do the same with our notebooks. It would of course still be limited by the bus bandwidth. Not sure how much is required for computational purposes but would guestimate it would be a lot less than for gaming.

I followed your guidance few months ago and has recently finished building my egpu. But when I run gpuz, it shows im running on pci-e 1.1 only although I bought the PE4L 2.1b

Im using cx430 psu, vaio cw26, twinfroz MSI gtx 660, PE4L 2.1b. any advice?

also when i run 3dmark06 its super horrible, about 5k points only (i did run gpuz behind to double check if it is running on the right card!)

my laptop is cw26 sony vaio

everest shows that my gt330m is using PCI E 2.0 and 3d accelerator is set to gt330m, iGPU not activated.

Your CW26 is a Series-5 system. It's PCIE 1.x only for the link speed, but PCIE 2.x for power management. In addition you have no iGPU so no Optimus pci-e compression. You are seeing straight x1 1.0 link performance which is pretty bad for a NVidia card when using DX9.

The weak link in your configuration is the notebook. Replacing it with a Sandy or Ivy Bridge one with an iGPU and expresscard (eg: 14" HP 8460P/8470P, Dell E6420/E6430, Lenovo T420/T430) would gain you x1.2Opt performance (x1 2.0 + NVidia pci-e compression). 3dmark06 would be over 18k then with your GTX660.

[Quest Ng]

hi, thanks for your swift reply. i would like to have ivy bridge w iGPU, expresscard, <= 1.6kg, 13/14 inch, 1080p. any suggestion?

i was all over vaio z3 few months ago other than it doesnt have expresscard slot. then on the verge of buying r930 but then hold back because of 1080p. just waiting for the right one to come.