eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[Edward]

I need help building my own external graphics card (eGPU) for my laptop. So far I have windows 7 ultimate, a Lenovo T400 laptop, and a Nvidia GTX 650Ti graphics card. I need a list of recommended parts to buy for my eGPU laptop. Also what does the thunderbolt do and do I need it?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I need help building my own external graphics card (eGPU) for my laptop. So far I have windows 7 ultimate, a Lenovo T400 laptop, and a Nvidia GTX 650Ti graphics card. I need a list of recommended parts to buy for my eGPU laptop. Also what does the thunderbolt do and do I need it?

Recommend either a PE4L 2.1b or a PE4H 3.2. PE4H 3.2 providing a nice enclosure if your video card has the pci-e power leads on the side rather than top.

www.HWtools.net ??????????

They are both Gen2 pcie capable. While your system is only Gen1 capable, buying the Gen2 hardware will make your eGPU investment futureproof. That is, you could buy a T420 or T430 and use the eGPU gear on it with significantly better performance.

PSU options vary. Important is that you get one that provides the the power to drive your GTX650TI. The base GTX650Ti requiring 110W, the boost requiring 134W. 134W means the PSU needs to be rated at 12V/12A or greater. Typically PSUs have about 20% power loss so your need 12V/14A to be safe. Any basic ATX PSU can provide that. You might even be dumpster dive in your local business district to get a free one. These are otherwise good budget options:

CORSAIR CXM series CX430M 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

Diablotek PHD Series PHD450 450W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply - Newegg.com

I recommend you also confirm that your system has an acive 4500mHD Intel graphics adapter. Without it you'll get poor performance. See discussion at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4182-thinkpad-t400-gtx-650-ti-2gb.html#post58332

If are handy with a soldering iron then can make a more sophisticated enclosure running off a AC adapter. Eg:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4532-%5Bguide%5D-low-profile-12-lenovo-x220-gtx650%40x1-2opt-pe4l-2-1b.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4798-egpu-case-xbox-psu.html#post67204

[dan]

i really want to make my egpu gtx650 Works in a x64 Windows 8 Fujitsu amilo pi 3450 with 4gb ram and i need some help.doing DSDT OVERRIDE WORKS IN Windows 7 x64 but when i try to do a dsdt subtitucion with x1 setup like nando shows as i encounter this few problems: when do the comilation of my modified DSDT table with the qword adds i cannot find the .aml table in dsdt directory.i try some iasl versions since it give me a Warning!external method find .....,until i find the versions iasl-win-20120620 who not give me that Warning.BUT i still can find the aml table,it says that it is compiled but is not appear anywhere .also when i install the x1 setup it install ok but after first reboot desapear from disk units BUT keep doing the job well after every reboot.it is like Windows 8 hidinnig the disk or moving it in another place. So,without the aml table and the x1 setup disk in the disk units it is Little i can do.THANKS for any help or information.

[angerthosenear]

I have my setup working in Win8.1 x64 enterprise.

I'm using a Fujtisu T901.

Win8 is a bit different than Win7.

You will have to follow these steps instead of the other ones:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-27.html#post31421

MAKE SURE, you check your file size as noted in step 3, this is very important.

I redid the DSDT override after my win8 install.

Not sure on the errors. From your 2nd to last sentence. Did you lose the installer for Setup 1.x ?

[dan]

i asume that until the 3thrd step is like doing dsdt override in w7 then the tricky part as nando says is to get the aml compiled file to a smaller size.the problem is i don't get any aml file despite the iasl compiler says it compiled.regarding the x1 setup installer ,no, i don't lose the installer .it happend like this:i install wit admin.privilleges ,it install ok,it appears on the disk units alongside with disk c(Windows installations) but after i made first rebbot it dessapear from that place despite it still remain on de boot option as a secondary bootig option,even it Works fine.durring this day i am gonna try once more and let you know what happends.Thank you for your answer!

[pasport]

Hello!

I want to buy a gpu for my Hp probook 4530s. Im considering about two cards, but i dont know what the best choice would be for my laptop.

So, there are the cards:

GIGABYTE - Graphics Card - NVIDIA - PCI Express Solution - GeForce 600 Series - GV-N650OC-1GI (rev. 2.0)

or

SAPPHIRE HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB GDDR5

Thanks!

(sorry for my bad english )

[Robalo]

Hi nando! Thank You for Your amazing work for us.

Could I ask You to help me - how to set G2 link speed by setpci -s command? The command "call iport g2 2" is not working

My laptop is Dell E6430 and graphic card is 10de:11c0 (0:1c.2).

When I'm using code above, all is working but only with 1.1Opt.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi nando! Thank You for Your amazing work for us.

Could I ask You to help me - how to set G2 link speed by setpci -s command? The command "call iport g2 2" is not working

My laptop is Dell E6430 and graphic card is 10de:11c0 (0:1c.2).

When I'm using code above, all is working but only with 1.1Opt.

Please obtain latest version of Setup 1.x.

[sskillz]

Hey,

Just got a 2560p off ebay, and PE4L 2.1b, I also have a 400W psu (24A on 12v rail) and a xbox power block.

Now I'm searching for a second hand GPU, I don't plan on playing on the laptop screen so its not a consideration.

I have the following offers around here (not US):

HD7970 at 285$ (Usually 340$)

GTX680 at 260$ (Usually 350$+ around here so it may be gone tomorrow)

HD7850 at 150$

560TI at 150$

660 at 200$

660TI at 250$

For which cards will I need setup 1.x and is it recommended anyway?

There isn't a lot of experiences here with AMD cards, I guess its because of the easiness of

optimus instead of virtux to relay the video to the internal screen. But are there any issues with them

compared to Nvidia, especially on this laptop?

And lastly I'm thinking AMD HD7970, what do you say?

Thanks ahead,

[coyote]

Hey guys I'm about to add 4 Gb of Ram. Will I need to redo the DSDT override?

- - - Updated - - -

@ sskillz

Well I'm not very sure and someone else should confirm but if you are not going to use external screen I think it's of your personnal choices, Nvidia or AMD being both great cards. Now better go for a GTX 680 or 7970 instead of GTX 660 TI or for cheaper price have the gtx 660 (which I have and it's great).

[angerthosenear]

Hey guys I'm about to add 4 Gb of Ram. Will I need to redo the DSDT override?

If you have had over 4GB of RAM already, you probably don't have to... probably. Not sure when I changed how much RAM I had in my laptop. But when I upgraded from 8GB to 16GB I don't remember having to redo anything. So you should be good.... probably.

[nak1017]

Quick question-

On rMBP laptops with windows, all changes made by DIY eGPU setup software only affect windows and not the Mac side or the UEFI/BIOS, correct?

And if need be, you can reinstall windows if there is a large enough problem, also correct?

Thanks

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[Edward]

What does PSU stand for and where do i buy one from?

[feodor_]

Hello,

i bought a Dell e5430 and the tolud value was too high. Thus, I tried a dsdt override.

IASL Compiler gives me just one error. How can this be fixed? Here is the output

I'd be very happy If someone could help :-)

This is the problematic area:

Scope (_SB)

{

Device (AMW0)

{

Mutex (WMIX, 0x01)

Name (_HID, "*pnp0c14") // _HID: Hardware ID

Name (_UID, Zero) // _UID: Unique ID

Name (_WDG, Buffer (0x64)

{

/* 0000 */ 0xBC, 0xDC, 0x9D, 0x8D, 0x97, 0xA9, 0xDA, 0x11,

/* 0008 */ 0xB0, 0x12, 0xB6, 0x22, 0xA1, 0xEF, 0x54, 0x92,

/* 0010 */ 0x41, 0x41, 0x01, 0x00, 0xCE, 0x93, 0x05, 0xA8,

/* 0018 */ 0x97, 0xA9, 0xDA, 0x11, 0xB0, 0x12, 0xB6, 0x22,

/* 0020 */ 0xA1, 0xEF, 0x54, 0x92, 0x42, 0x41, 0x01, 0x02,

/* 0028 */ 0x94, 0x59, 0xBB, 0x9D, 0x97, 0xA9, 0xDA, 0x11,

/* 0030 */ 0xB0, 0x12, 0xB6, 0x22, 0xA1, 0xEF, 0x54, 0x92,

/* 0038 */ 0xD0, 0x00, 0x01, 0x08, 0xE0, 0x6C, 0x77, 0xA3,

/* 0040 */ 0x88, 0x1E, 0xDB, 0x11, 0xA9, 0x8B, 0x08, 0x00,

/* 0048 */ 0x20, 0x0C, 0x9A, 0x66, 0x42, 0x43, 0x01, 0x00,

/* 0050 */ 0x21, 0x12, 0x90, 0x05, 0x66, 0xD5, 0xD1, 0x11,

/* 0058 */ 0xB2, 0xF0, 0x00, 0xA0, 0xC9, 0x06, 0x29, 0x10,

/* 0060 */ 0x4D, 0x4F, 0x01, 0x00

})

Name (INFO, Buffer (0x80) {})

Name (ECD0, Zero)

Method (WED0, 1, NotSerialized)

{

Store (Arg0, ECD0)

Return (Zero)

}

PS: The rest is only remarks, warnings and optimizations, I guess they are ok??

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hello,

i bought a Dell e5430 and the tolud value was too high. Thus, I tried a dsdt override.

IASL Compiler gives me just one error. How can this be fixed? Here is the output

I'd be very happy If someone could help :-)

Change:

 Name (_HID, "*pnp0c14")  // _HID: Hardware ID

To:

 Name (_HID, "pnp0c14")  // _HID: Hardware ID

[feodor_]

Thanks :-) Tried that, worked. I can see the "big memory" entry in the device manager.

Unfortunately, new issues came up

I'd like to buy the Setup 1.x, but I want to assure that my setup will work afterwards.

I own a Dell e5430 that has a tolud value of 3.5 GB. Therefore I did a dsdt override. As a result, the Error 12 is gone but the Error 43 appears now.

One time, I managed to see both the HD4000 and my GTX460 in the device manager without yellow "!".

What does not work for me is the standby-egpu on-resume fix. My notebook just performs a reboot.

The only thing that works is the F8-halt-Egpu method. Still, Error43 appears.

I use the Pe4l 2.1 which supports only PCI-E 2.0. I didn't find out exactly but my Dell Notebook maybe supports only 1.1.

Will Setup 1.x do the trick here?

Do you offer a refund in case I just can't get it running?

This it how it looks, if error 43 is gone: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/13/11/10/cwh.png

Regards

Andreas

EDIT: Seems like I can get it running without error 43. But still without function, see screenshot above. Nvidia System Control Panel won't open, saying no Nvidia GPU attached

Any ideas??

[theJF]

What does PSU stand for and where do i buy one from?

PSU stands for Power Supply Unit, which in this case will be used to power the external graphics card. You can buy one from many online retailers, such as Newegg, Amazon and TigerDirect, among others. Be sure to read the original post for suggestions on what power supply you'd need for the graphics card you decide to go with, and good luck!

[feodor_]

Thanks :-) Tried that, worked. I can see the "big memory" entry in the device manager.

Unfortunately, new issues came up

I'd like to buy the Setup 1.x, but I want to assure that my setup will work afterwards.

I own a Dell e5430 that has a tolud value of 3.5 GB. Therefore I did a dsdt override. As a result, the Error 12 is gone but the Error 43 appears now.

One time, I managed to see both the HD4000 and my GTX460 in the device manager without yellow "!".

What does not work for me is the standby-egpu on-resume fix. My notebook just performs a reboot.

The only thing that works is the F8-halt-Egpu method. Still, Error43 appears.

I use the Pe4l 2.1 which supports only PCI-E 2.0. I didn't find out exactly but my Dell Notebook maybe supports only 1.1.

Will Setup 1.x do the trick here?

Do you offer a refund in case I just can't get it running?

This it how it looks, if error 43 is gone: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/13/11/10/cwh.png

Regards

Andreas

EDIT: Seems like I can get it running without error 43. But still without function, see screenshot above. Nvidia System Control Panel won't open, saying no Nvidia GPU attached

Any ideas??

Sometimes with ! and error 43, sometimes not. I discovered the following

The card does not seem to be mapped in the address range I created with dsdt override

Postimage.org / gallery - Unbenan3nt, Unbenannt, Unbenannt2

If I open it, there are 3 address ranges in the resources tab in device manager. 2 Seem to reside in the big memory space, 1 (the first) seems to be in the range I hat to enlarge where the internal HD4000 and all the other devices are.. Is this the problem? That there is no address space as one chunk?

Please help.. I don't know what else to try!

Will Setup 1.x help here?

T H A N K Y O U !!!!!!!!

[danialzaidi]

Hey guys,

Ok so after weeks of waiting, all of my parts for eGPU have arrived which is PE4L+PM060A , Radeon R9 280X and a Gigabyte Hercules 580w.

After setting up all of the parts, everything seems to be working fine and I did not need the setup 1.x because lucky me, I could disable my iGPU from the UMA switchable graphic option in my Bios. The system detects the eGPU and I can proceed to the driver installation as usual. I used external monitor as main and only one display because having the dual display with the internal display messed up the graphic card's driver.

Later I will upload the pictures and maybe a setup video if I'm not too busy working.

My Rig,

Lenovo Y580

i7 3630QM 2.8Ghz

GTX 660M

8GB RAM

eGPU

PE4L+PM060A

AMD R9 280X

Gigabyte Hercules 580W PSU

[Diarek]

Greeting to all gentlemen and ladies at TechInferno forums.

I have been interested in eGPU for awhile and recently has finally made my purchase . I was able to get the system running once or twice. But the third time never came. Not only the card busted itself, the PE4H v2.4 board also bursted into flame in front of my horror face. After getting a new card and replace the chip on the board, i have faced with new issue.

My setup is as follow:

PE4Hv2.4 with EM2C part ( i also has the PM3N still boxed for an planned x2 connection)

Laptop model Lenovo 3000 G430 running XP SP 3

Graphic card is MSI HD 7730 1GB DDR5

I powered the setup using either: - Laptop charger listed output at 19V-3,16A

- A decade old PSU brand CODEGEN 250W with +12 V rated 9A; +3,3V rated 14A

My current situation is:

When i plug the power in, the GPU fan run a few seconds before stop, after consulted a vid on youtube, i decided that's a normal reaction

I met error 12 before so i used Solution 7 of using the Magma Full Drive, its what get my system able to run before.

When i plugged everything in in order: eGPU ON, Laptop ON, plug the cable in when the screen prompted to, actually i tried all the orders in FAQ, same difference.

The GPU fan would not run and my Window can't find the card either.

Would anyone able to help me point out where the problem is ?

And i has another question: Would using both of my power sources at same time turn my setup into firework materials again ?

Many thanks and great day for all of you.

[sskillz]

What does PSU stand for and where do i buy one from?

PSU = Power Supply Unit, or just Power Supply. And you can buy one from any computer store that sells

computer hardware (and not just prebuilt PC). You can also probably get one from and older PC, a friend

or second hand. You don't need a real powerful one just enough for the gpu alone. People are also using

a xbox power block as their power supply, but that will require some soldering skills.

[ajnindlo]

Question, If I buy a laptop today, what ports or connections would support a eGPU in the future, and which port/connector is the best or easiest to do an eGPU? I.e. what should I look for in a new laptop so I can later add a eGPU? Thanks.

[danialzaidi]

Question, If I buy a laptop today, what ports or connections would support a eGPU in the future, and which port/connector is the best or easiest to do an eGPU? I.e. what should I look for in a new laptop so I can later add a eGPU? Thanks.

Look for a laptop with an Express Card slot and of course also with a powerful CPU so that if you are planning to use a high performance eGPU Graphic Card, the CPU will not cause Bottleneck effect to the Graphic Card.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Question, If I buy a laptop today, what ports or connections would support a eGPU in the future, and which port/connector is the best or easiest to do an eGPU? I.e. what should I look for in a new laptop so I can later add a eGPU? Thanks.

Please review http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list-%5Bthin-light%5D.html . At this point in time the best value eGPU implementation is using a Ivy Bridge notebook with an expresscard slot. Consider:

The ease of physical eGPU attachment is listed in order:

1. 5Gbps expresscard

2. 20Gbps Thunderbolt2 or 10Gbps Thunderbolt1

3. 5Gbps mPCIe

The lowest cost for eGPU implementation is ranked in order as follows, which is the opposite to performance ranking:

1. 5Gbps expresscard or 5Gbps mPCIe

2. 10Gbps Thunderbolt 1

3. 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2

The ranking of notebooks with availability of these ports in the Haswell series ranks as follow. Expresscard is on the way out and Thunderbolt is on the way in. Ivy Bridge or older series see more expresscard systems than Thunderbolt ones.

1. mPCIe

2. Thunderbolt

3 Expresscard

[Robalo]

Sometimes with ! and error 43, sometimes not. I discovered the following

The card does not seem to be mapped in the address range I created with dsdt override

Postimage.org / gallery - Unbenan3nt, Unbenannt, Unbenannt2

If I open it, there are 3 address ranges in the resources tab in device manager. 2 Seem to reside in the big memory space, 1 (the first) seems to be in the range I hat to enlarge where the internal HD4000 and all the other devices are.. Is this the problem? That there is no address space as one chunk?

Please help.. I don't know what else to try!

Will Setup 1.x help here?

T H A N K Y O U !!!!!!!!

Hi feodor_

I have Dell E6430 (+GTX660) and I have exactly the same problem.

I've had error 12 and I made DSDT override too.

Now, my Device Manager looks exactly the same like Yours and only 1.1Opt is available.

I know the solution to get 1.2Opt working is probably to change the value of PCI bus (first of Your screenshots) from 00000000DFA00000 to 00000000CFA00000 (more info) - but when I'm trying to run Dell with eGPU attached there's only blank screen without backlit.

Also, solution could be forcing PCI bus to 2.0 mode (called also as Gen2; G2) by setpci -s command, but i don't know how to do that (call iport g2 command doesn't make it).

I tried something like setpci -s 0:1c:2 CAP_EXP+40.b=42 (0:1c:2 is graphic card info, 40 is starting address of Express Card and that address +2 should make it running in PCIE 2.0 mode - but doesn't work too).