eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[kizwan]

This looks very interesting:

AnandTech - Lenovo IdeaPad Y400/Y500 Gaming Notebooks (with SLI!)

I'd guess they've opened up at least an x4 PCI-E in that Ultrabay! Pretty much we only need to do a cable!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5733[/ATTACH]

GT650M 2GB GDD5 SLI. It pretty cheap too. Y500 selling like hot cakes here in Malaysia.

[daver160]

Hi Tech Inferno Fan,

So if I got this right, that means that you can pair a PE4H with a PM060a for PCI-e 2.0 performance, thus Opt 1.2?

I'm in the process of working out with HIT an exchange for the PE4H+PM3N (just received it in the mail yesterday) for a PE4L+PM060a**. Is there confirmation/proof anywhere else about this? If this is the case, it would simply mine and HIT's effort in my situation. The guys at HIT have been more than accommodating with me, and I'm over the moon with their support so far. Granted they are a little bit slow to respond via email, but that's not a concern for me.

Hopefully this great news about the PE4H is true. That would be really great to be able to just return the PM3N board in exchange for the PM060a (if HIT carries just the PM060a boards that aren't soldered to the PE4x).

** No confirmation yet from HIT, but my salesperson has said that they will try to work out an exchange such that I can return my entire PE4H+PM3N for credit towards the PE4L+PM060a and receive any left over funds as a refund (since the PE4L is cheaper than the PE4H).

PE4H 2.4 supports pci-e 2.0

Good news for PE4H 2.4 owners. According to a new update at PE4H (PCIe passive adapter ver2.4) where they've soldered the EC2C/PM3N end but left the other end detachable, PE4H 2.4 owners can now get pci-e 2.0 performance if attached to expresscard/mPCIe 2.0. PE4H 2.4 has a nice and study base so was my favorite as an open, free standing device.

[damir001]

This is great news. Other test I'd ask you to do is run the Resident Evil 5 benchmark in x1 and x1E mode. It showed +20% improvement with x1E mode when using a HD5750. REF: x1E tweak. If the result is the same then yes, AMD have fixed the issue and HD7xxx is elevated in stature for older systems.

Here are tests for RE5, as before are same for x1 and x1E.

Rest of tests will follow...

[Khenglish]

Here are tests for RE5, as before are same for x1 and x1E.

Rest of tests will follow...

Put a hold on the additional testing. Something is very wrong with your setup. Your performance is less than 1/4th of what is expected of your hardware on x1.1 with the old half duplex problem. Are you dragging the RE5 window over to the internal LCD? If so please don't, since there are many more results to compare against when using an external monitor.

Also the full variable test is usually run.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Here are tests for RE5, as before are same for x1 and x1E.

Rest of tests will follow...

25.2 is a bit low for a P8400-2.26 + HD7770. I got 30.8 with a T6600-2.2 + HD5750@x1E here. Techpower says a HD5750 gives 68% the performance of a HD7770 here so you should be getting quite a bit better than that.

Please ensure you disable the AMD sound so it uses the internal speaker instead. That gives maximum bandwidth for video rendering. Per Khenglish's comments, can you run the variable dx9 benchmark? That's were we can see how it fares on the leaderboard.

[damir001]

Put a hold on the additional testing. Something is very wrong with your setup. Your performance is less than 1/4th of what is expected of your hardware on x1.1 with the old half duplex problem. Are you dragging the RE5 window over to the internal LCD? If so please don't, since there are many more results to compare against when using an external monitor.

Also the full variable test is usually run.

All tests where run fullscreen (didn't see "window" option in RE5 benchmark option), not on docking bay and laptop lid closed. Getting screenshoot on dx10 results gave me blank screen in fullscreen and [PrintScrn] so i had to play with [Alt+TAB] and [PrintScrn] to get results.

I will re-check whole setup including disablement of AMD sound on eGPU and redo tests but i do have questions:

1. Are variable RE5 tests suppose to be run in full screen or window mode?

2. Do i need to verify in windows is x1E mode really engaged, if so how do i do it?

3. Regarding 1/4 expected performance, is there anything in device manager you suggest i re-check except disablement of AMD sound?

Cheers,

D

[Tech Inferno Fan]

All tests where run fullscreen (didn't see "window" option in RE5 benchmark option), not on docking bay and laptop lid closed. Getting screenshoot on dx10 results gave me blank screen in fullscreen and [PrintScrn] so i had to play with [Alt+TAB] and [PrintScrn] to get results.

I will re-check whole setup including disablement of AMD sound on eGPU and redo tests but i do have questions:

1. Are variable RE5 tests suppose to be run in full screen or window mode?

2. Do i need to verify in windows is x1E mode really engaged, if so how do i do it?

3. Regarding 1/4 expected performance, is there anything in device manager you suggest i re-check except disablement of AMD sound?

Cheers,

D

Fullscreen mode, disable the AMD audio, run RE5 var 1280x800 (or 768 if no 800). Your fixed results were a bit lower than expected given a T6600-2.2 with HD5750@x1E had a better result. Maybe that will fix it? If you've changed the port to be x2 mode in Setup 1.x prior to chainloading, that is all that is required. You could use AIDA-64, looking at the southbridge to confirm if it's still in x2 mode if really want to be doubley sure.

[noric]

Hey Nando, I was looking at your recent GTX660 benchmarks and comparing them to last year's GTX560Ti's benchmarks. I was focusing on dx9 (since I'm forced to winXP) and I've noticed that according to your tests it appears that the new GTX6xx series is more bandwidth-limited than the GTX5xx series. Infact, if tested on a desktop the new GTX660 is 20% faster in dx9 than the GTX560Ti, while with an eGPU internal lcd setup it's equal if not slower (in RE5 is noticeably slower).

Does this mean that for eGPU purposes in dx9 mode, x1.2opt, and intenal lcd I'd be better with a GTX5xx gpu? Am I wrong in my assumptions?

Thanks

Edit: my notebook has a sandy bridge pentium cpu (b960) and no dedicated graphics. Will Optimus engage with the integrated HDgraphics (it's very similar to the HD2000, just with a few minor features deactivated)??

[daver160]

Edit: my notebook has a sandy bridge pentium cpu (b960) and no dedicated graphics. Will Optimus engage with the integrated HDgraphics (it's very similar to the HD2000, just with a few minor features deactivated)??

No, My understanding of Optimus and Opt1.2 is that your system had to have Optimus prior to installing the eGPU.

[noric]

No, My understanding of Optimus and Opt1.2 is that your system had to have Optimus prior to installing the eGPU.

Are you sure? From the first page:

"NVIDIA's Optimus can engate on your your eGPU setup if you have:

• Intel IGP: Intel GMA 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or x3150 (Pine Trail)
  
• NVIDIA Fermi desktop card: GT4xx, GTS4xx, GTX4xx, GTX5xx, or GTS240. A GTS250 or older will not work."
  

If I remember correctly what is important is that you have an ACTIVE intel gpu (which I have), but I thought it's not required a notebook with a dedicated nVidia gpu (there's no mention of it).

To my knowledge, the point is if the SB Pentium HD graphics is among the chips that support Optimus. It should, since it's similar to the HD2000, but I hope someone will confirm...

[daver160]

Are you sure? From the first page:

"NVIDIA's Optimus can engate on your your eGPU setup if you have:

• Intel IGP: Intel GMA 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or x3150 (Pine Trail)
  
• NVIDIA Fermi desktop card: GT4xx, GTS4xx, GTX4xx, GTX5xx, or GTS240. A GTS250 or older will not work."
  

If I remember correctly what is important is that you have an ACTIVE intel gpu (which I have), but I thought it's not required a notebook with a dedicated nVidia gpu (there's no mention of it).

To my knowledge, the point is if the SB Pentium HD graphics is among the chips that support Optimus. It should, since it's similar to the HD2000, but I hope someone will confirm...

Perhaps you're right. As I stated, it was my understanding that your system had to have Optimus already in order for it to engage...

[will9895]

Hi, I've having problems with my x220 tablet and GTX460 (i7-2620m, 8gb RAM, Vertex 3 SSD, Win 8 UEFI). I had an eGPU working absolutely fine on Win 7 and the installation was basically plug and play, couldn't have been easier.

I then installed Win8 UEFI and couldn't get the card to work. The fan would continue running at full speed regardless of the perst delay and restarts/cold boots. It would be detected by device manager when using x2-x16 mode on SW1, and I could install drivers but then there would be an error message saying 'no drivers are installed for this device'.

I tried reinstalling Win 8 using MBR/BIOS instead of UEFI but it still wouldn't work. I then put my old HDD in with the previous Win7 install and that would detect the card (only with SW1 at x2-x16) and give me an error 12 message. Now I've got my SSD back in, and the fan speed lowers when plugged in at x2-x16 (not at x1), with light D1 green and light D3 orange, but it won't show up in device manager and I can't install drivers.

I've not got an easy means of testing the hardware, so can anyone tell me if this is likely a hardware problem or will I need to do a DSDT override like Psychotoxic did? Thanks!

[damir001]

Fullscreen mode, disable the AMD audio, run RE5 var 1280x800 (or 768 if no 800). Your fixed results were a bit lower than expected given a T6600-2.2 with HD5750@x1E had a better result. Maybe that will fix it? If you've changed the port to be x2 mode in Setup 1.x prior to chainloading, that is all that is required. You could use AIDA-64, looking at the southbridge to confirm if it's still in x2 mode if really want to be doubley sure.

is this what i should be lookign at in AIDA-64? because it says x1?!

EDIT1:

This is how it looks like before going to sleep, powering on eGPU and powering on laptop back on.

EDIT2:

If i just power on eGPU while in windows this is how AIDA-64 looks like and this is how device manager looks like.

[naturbo2000]

Are you sure? From the first page:

"NVIDIA's Optimus can engate on your your eGPU setup if you have:

• Intel IGP: Intel GMA 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or x3150 (Pine Trail)
  
• NVIDIA Fermi desktop card: GT4xx, GTS4xx, GTX4xx, GTX5xx, or GTS240. A GTS250 or older will not work."
  

If I remember correctly what is important is that you have an ACTIVE intel gpu (which I have), but I thought it's not required a notebook with a dedicated nVidia gpu (there's no mention of it).

To my knowledge, the point is if the SB Pentium HD graphics is among the chips that support Optimus. It should, since it's similar to the HD2000, but I hope someone will confirm...

I can't comment on whether the Pentium CPUs are sufficient for Optimus, but I know for certain that you do not need Optimus prior to the egpu to get it working correctly. My T420 has an i5-2520M CPU and no dedicated graphics. With a 560ti448 and the latest stock nVidia drivers, Optimus is working correctly.

I would expect that the SB Pentiums would work fine, but it will come down to what nVidia has chosen to support in their drivers.

[Khenglish]

Hey Nando, I was looking at your recent GTX660 benchmarks and comparing them to last year's GTX560Ti's benchmarks. I was focusing on dx9 (since I'm forced to winXP) and I've noticed that according to your tests it appears that the new GTX6xx series is more bandwidth-limited than the GTX5xx series. Infact, if tested on a desktop the new GTX660 is 20% faster in dx9 than the GTX560Ti, while with an eGPU internal lcd setup it's equal if not slower (in RE5 is noticeably slower).

Does this mean that for eGPU purposes in dx9 mode, x1.2opt, and intenal lcd I'd be better with a GTX5xx gpu? Am I wrong in my assumptions?

Thanks

Edit: my notebook has a sandy bridge pentium cpu (b960) and no dedicated graphics. Will Optimus engage with the integrated HDgraphics (it's very similar to the HD2000, just with a few minor features deactivated)??

The only test where I see the 560ti beat the 660 is the RE5 internal LCD results. On the internal LCD the 304+ series drivers perform better in fullscreen mode than older drivers, but they perform worse in windowed mode. Nando may have ran RE5 in windowed mode. Also, the Nvidia driver will sometimes invoke strange fps caps on internal LCD mode (for me locks 1080P to 50fps max, 1280x800 to 100fps max). This behavior has varied from driver to driver. I think the driver is trying to guess at how much bandwidth it should reserve for the framebuffer, which does not need to be transferred when using external LCD. Sometimes it reserves too much, and other times too little. When it reserves too much you see generally worse performance, and when it reserves too little, you see hard fps caps.

I do not know if optimus will engage on an XP system. The fact that the iGPU is not labeled as an HDx000 concerns me as well. The Nvidia driver might not recognize it and not engage compression.

Your CPU is very low end, and I would suggest that you get an i5 or better to replace it. Even if you can't use an egpu, the HD3000 is much faster than your watered down HD2000.

Update:

Just ran RE5 internally on my system full screen mode. FPS average was low 80s. Fps only ever varied between 78 and 85 fps:

http://i.imgur.com/xhBsm.jpg

Also ran at 1920x1080, and fps ranged from 47 to 50.

I used to see a hard fps cap. This is more of a softer cap than what I saw on older drivers.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hey Nando, I was looking at your recent GTX660 benchmarks and comparing them to last year's GTX560Ti's benchmarks. I was focusing on dx9 (since I'm forced to winXP) and I've noticed that according to your tests it appears that the new GTX6xx series is more bandwidth-limited than the GTX5xx series. Infact, if tested on a desktop the new GTX660 is 20% faster in dx9 than the GTX560Ti, while with an eGPU internal lcd setup it's equal if not slower (in RE5 is noticeably slower).

Does this mean that for eGPU purposes in dx9 mode, x1.2opt, and intenal lcd I'd be better with a GTX5xx gpu? Am I wrong in my assumptions?

Thanks

Edit: my notebook has a sandy bridge pentium cpu (b960) and no dedicated graphics. Will Optimus engage with the integrated HDgraphics (it's very similar to the HD2000, just with a few minor features deactivated)??

The system only needs to have a support iGPU (Intel 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or HD4000) and a NVidia Fermi/Keplar eGPU to get Optimus to engage. A HD2000 is a Sandy Bridge class iGPU so Optimus *should* engage. I say should because we haven't had a confirmation as yet. Contrary to some comments, there is no need to have a NVidia dGPU in the notebook to have Optimus engage.

As to a GTX560Ti vs GTX660. The comparison you are making is based on two different systems and two different Win7 builds. Khenglish points out driver version performance difference as well. If I had tested the GTX660 in my last years 2560P, then it would have given better results across the boards. Though for internal LCD mode there will be little in their difference because pci-e bandwidth limits start playing a larger role in performance results.

You'd get better results with your system if go for a GTX560Ti and upgrade your CPU, if it's socketted, with the money you save over buying a GTX660. x1.2Opt does pci-e compression, accelerating DX9 performance considerably. The pci-e compression scales according to the CPU performance.

is this what i should be lookign at in AIDA-64? because it says x1?!

EDIT1:

This is how it looks like before going to sleep, powering on eGPU and powering on laptop back on.

EDIT2:

If i just power on eGPU while in windows this is how AIDA-64 looks like and this is how device manager looks like.

This confirms a x1E link (port is set to x2 but link is running in x1 mode). Your method of attaching the eGPU by sleeping, powering on eGPU then resuming is causing the bios to reset the port status and revert back to x1 mode. Rather than use that method, do this to get the eGPU on the system in x1E mode:

1. set the PERST# delay switch to 15s, SW1=3 on your PE4H 2.4

2. power on the eGPU

3. power on your notebook. boot to Setup 1.1x and hit F5 until the eGPU is detected.

4. set your port to x1E mode, run your PCI compaction/startup.bat/etc so it chainloads to Win7.

5. Perform your RE5-var-dx9-1280x768 benchmark and PCISpeedTestv0.2.

6. Poweroff the systems, repeat steps 2-5 but in x1 mode.

7. Upload results for comparison. Does x1E give better results as it did with older HD5xxx cards?

[Khenglish]

is this what i should be lookign at in AIDA-64? because it says x1?!

EDIT1:

This is how it looks like before going to sleep, powering on eGPU and powering on laptop back on.

EDIT2:

If i just power on eGPU while in windows this is how AIDA-64 looks like and this is how device manager looks like.

Your graphics card has an ! next to it in the device manager. This means that there is an error and it is not operating properly.

[noric]

Thanks so much khenglish and nando!

I have been looking at compatibility between Optimus and sandy bridge Pentiums, and I've found:

- a Samsung notebook that features a Pentium B950 and a GT520MX: Samsung's site (and a few resellers) states that it supports Optimus.

- an Acer Aspire featuring a B960 and a GT520M: I haven't found it on Acer's site but a reseller mentions Optimus support.

Do you think this information (given it's correct...) would confirm Optimus compatibility even for eGPU purposes?

I know that I'd be better off with a faster cpu but unfortunately for now I can't change it...

Thanks again!

[damir001]

This confirms a x1E link (port is set to x2 but link is running in x1 mode). Your method of attaching the eGPU by sleeping, powering on eGPU then resuming is causing the bios to reset the port status and revert back to x1 mode. Rather than use that method, do this to get the eGPU on the system in x1E mode:

1. set the PERST# delay switch to 15s, SW1=3 on your PE4H 2.4

2. power on the eGPU

3. power on your notebook. boot to Setup 1.1x and hit F5 until the eGPU is detected.

4. set your port to x1E mode, run your PCI compaction/startup.bat/etc so it chainloads to Win7.

5. Perform your RE5-var-dx9-1280x768 benchmark and PCISpeedTestv0.2.

6. Poweroff the systems, repeat steps 2-5 but in x1 mode.

7. Upload results for comparison. Does x1E give better results as it did with older HD5xxx cards?

I chuckled when i saw "explain it to me like i'm five" approach

Thank you both (khenglish and nando) so much for your patience and effort in this matter!!!

Short story:

I can report success with running 1xE mode but it was not so straight forward and nando explained and it took some guesswork as i'll explain bit later in post.

There is noticeable difference in speed between 1x and 1xE mode!

Here are requested benchmarks.

Long story:

x1E

1. Switched delay to 15 sec on PE4H 2.4 and powered on eGPU and notebook.

2. Setup 1.1x did not recognize eGPU even after extended period of time, i noticed port3 missing in system overview section of setup 1.1x

3. Manually enabled port3 in setup 1.1x and it appeared in system overview together with recognized eGPU, didn't have to do F5

4. Seting up 1xE mode on port3

5. Did Compact and "reinitialize/hot-reset ports" to get 256 MB in system overview...Compacting did not give me 256MB (at one point it even said 64MB)....reinit/reset did 256MB

6. Executed "startup.bat", i did not run this step before..ever..didn't know it was necessary, i'll look up in docs and thread what does it do.

7. Executed chainload to resume booting to windows

--- windows boots displaying on iGPU and eGPU is on but has black screen ---

8. Checking windows graphic properties gives just one single video output, "Fn+F4" does not switch to eGPU

9. Checking Device manager, seeing eGPU recognized OK but iGPU with error

10. Running setup of latest official drivers for iGPU from HP site

--- After setup is finished, eGPU powers on and on question to restart i click "No" so i end up with working iGPU and eGPU and device manager looks ok now

11. Run tests as requested for 1xE

12. Restart to do x1 tests

x1

Steps 1 to 7 same but without step 4 of seting up 1xE

--- windows boots ok displaying with eGPU as main display ---

8. Run tests as requested for 1x

9. Shutdown

Next step for me is to try to automate booting to windowsto 1xE mode. I will do my homework on this on threads and Setup 1.1x help but can you guys give me some pointers?

EDIT1: Found post from nando on automating startup.

EDIT2: Here are results for x1E mode in 3DMark

Cheers,

D

[Khenglish]

Interesting. So performance still improved with x1E, but the PCIe test reports the same bandwidth for both. Maybe x1E links never improved bandwidth for any system, but the driver may have just managed resources better when thinking it had an x2 link? Either way, considering that setting 1xE improved performance as much as it did, and how low your performance is, it looks like the recent driver enhancements do not apply to older chipsets.

All startup.bat is for is doing the changes you make in the eGPU setup menu automatic. I'm not sure how exactly it works in recent versions. It may or may not automatically have your settings added to it, or you may have to add them manually.

Port 3 may have been missing because the BIOS POSTs and loads the setup program before the 15s timer is up, so the BIOS disables the port because it did not see any device on it. The main reason the delay is available is because some systems will not boot with an eGPU connected and on. If I remember correctly, the x1E script (which is identical to the x2 script) should also enable port 3 if it is disabled.

On a side note, futuremark says you're running 1GB and 2GB memory sticks. I don't think Core 2s can run dual channel with mismatched memory, so you're running at 62% (667/1067) memory bandwidth of what your system is capable of. You might want to try to pick up a cheap 2GB stick to replace the 1GB. However, since your system is pretty dated and it appears that ATI cards run better on newer chipsets, it might be better to just buy a new laptop instead.

[Quest Ng]

hi nando,

you recommended me E6230, i would like to ask is E6330 the same? as in, they have the same expresscard spec and cpu performance? can i go wrong w this? can you compare it with x230, hp 2670, 6230, r930 that you recommended last time?

Latitude E6330

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3520M (2.90GHz, 4MB cache, Dual Core)

English Windows® 7 Professional

320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz Memory (2 DIMMs)

Display : 13.3in High Definition (1366x768) LED-backlit LCD Panel with HD Camera and Microphone

Back Up Media Not Included

English Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64 Bit)

Wireless : Dell Wireless 1504 (802.11 b/g/n 1x1) Half Mini Card

Wireless : Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth Card

8X DVD+/- RW Drive

Battery : Primary 3-cell 32W/HR

[Tech Inferno Fan]

hi nando,

you recommended me E6230, i would like to ask is E6330 the same? as in, they have the same expresscard spec and cpu performance? can i go wrong w this? can you compare it with x230, hp 2670, 6230, r930 that you recommended last time?

Latitude E6330

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3520M (2.90GHz, 4MB cache, Dual Core)

English Windows® 7 Professional

320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz Memory (2 DIMMs)

Display : 13.3in High Definition (1366x768) LED-backlit LCD Panel with HD Camera and Microphone

Back Up Media Not Included

English Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64 Bit)

Wireless : Dell Wireless 1504 (802.11 b/g/n 1x1) Half Mini Card

Wireless : Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth Card

8X DVD+/- RW Drive

Battery : Primary 3-cell 32W/HR

E6230 implementation has been done with success: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2747-12-5-dell-e6230-gtx660%40x1-2opt-hd7870%40x1-2-pe4l-ec060a-2-1b.html#post37197 . E6330 will have the same pci-e configuration so will be just as easy. It's difference to a E6230 being it's a larger 13.3" chassis that incorporates an internal optical drive. Specwise it's OK except I'd suggest swapping the 3-cell battery for a 6-cell.

[noric]

Nando, could you please look at my previous post? I'd like to be sure about that before purchasing an nVidia gpu. Thanks. :-)

I have been looking at compatibility between Optimus and sandy bridge Pentiums, and I've found:

- a Samsung notebook that features a Pentium B950 and a GT520MX: Samsung's site (and a few resellers) states that it supports Optimus.

- an Acer Aspire featuring a B960 and a GT520M: I haven't found it on Acer's site but a reseller mentions Optimus support.

Do you think this information (given it's correct...) would confirm Optimus compatibility even for eGPU purposes?

I know that I'd be better off with a faster cpu but unfortunately for now I can't change it...

Thanks again!

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Nando, could you please look at my previous post? I'd like to be sure about that before purchasing an nVidia gpu. Thanks. :-)

The Samsung bas a B950 + GT520M and you state it supports Optimus. In which case, adding a NVidia Fermi or Keplar eGPU will give Optimus support too.

Before you jump on the Samsung, I do see Lenovo E520 and Fujitsu AH531 units on ebay.it for 300-400 euros. Either would be a more convenient eGPU implementation as they both have an expresscard slot. Though do note, the AH531 has a high TOLUD so would need a DSDT override to get 4GB+ configurations working.

[noric]

The Samsung bas a B950 + GT520M and you state it supports Optimus. In which case, adding a NVidia Fermi or Keplar eGPU will give Optimus support too.

Before you jump on the Samsung, I do see Lenovo E520 and Fujitsu AH531 units on ebay.it for 300-400 euros. Either would be a more convenient eGPU implementation as they both have an expresscard slot. Though do note, the AH531 has a high TOLUD so would need a DSDT override to get 4GB+ configurations working.

Yes, infact I already have a Lenovo E520 with a Pentium B960 and no dedicated graphics. I also have a PE4H 2.4a (I'm going to buy the new 2.0 cable, if I can get everything to work). I mentioned those Samsung and Acer notebooks because they have a Pentium cpu (like me) and they support Optimus.

In other words, given that a few notebooks (Samsung's and Acer's ones) have a sandy bridge pentium and support Optimus, I thought that the same would apply to my E520: am I wrong?