eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[bichael]

Hi, firstly just wanted to let people in the UK know I’m selling my EXP GDC 6.0, including dell 220W PSU and acrylic enclosure. Will be in the UK (Yorkshire & London) in the next couple of weeks. PM me with an offer if interested in picking up in person, otherwise I will put it on ebay.



I had a great experience with the egpu but my old laptop @ pci 1x1 was limiting things a bit, a new laptop was tempting but I didn’t really need the portability (mostly using it for gaming on the couch) so decided to put together a budget gaming/htpc in a small SG05 case using some of the bits.

Not sure if it's really useful but I did some comparison as below (sorry about the formatting) of my GTX550Ti 2Gb performance using my old core2duo laptop and new haswell dual core desktop. I think (?!) this shows the egpu was getting maybe 60% performance roughly as expected, and interestingly pci gen2 in the desktop seems to have very little benefit, I guess due to the low end graphics card. So I suppose a x1 2.0 laptop with more up to date processor would easily be able to get nearly everything out of the card as well.

	Cpu speed	pci	RE5	3dmark vantage gpu	3dmark vantage cpu
c2d T9600	2.8	x1 1.0	67	6254	5527
Haswell	2.7	x16 1.0	109	11163	7772
Pentium	2.7	x16 2.0	107	11436	7682
G3258	4.4	x16 1.0	136	11181	11867
Dual core	4.4	x16 2.0	140	11349	11910

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi, firstly just wanted to let people in the UK know I’m selling my EXP GDC 6.0, including dell 220W PSU and acrylic enclosure. Will be in the UK (Yorkshire & London) in the next couple of weeks. PM me with an offer if interested in picking up in person, otherwise I will put it on ebay.

Would you mind commenting on which acrylic enclosure you are using in the V6 thread at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6643-exp-gdc-v6-discussion.html#post88642

Only the metal ones for V7 are linked on the first page. Furthermore, the aliexpress looks to be for V5.8 : Exp gdc notebook circumscribing independent external pci e graphics card acrylic-inLaptop lock from Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

[bichael]

Would you mind commenting on which acrylic enclosure you are using in the V6 thread at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6643-exp-gdc-v6-discussion.html#post88642

Only the metal ones for V7 are linked on the first page. Furthermore, the aliexpress looks to be for V5.8 : Exp gdc notebook circumscribing independent external pci e graphics card acrylic-inLaptop lock from Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Yep forgot about the other thread, will make a post there as well.

My acrylic enclosure looks more or less the same as that on the aliexpress link, I bought from Taobao as in China at the moment.

EXP GDC

There is a note on the page saying image/video are for v5.8 but the version shipped would be for v6.0.

Works well once I figured out you take the bottom part off the main adapter, and I also needed to file out one of the openings a little. Can't seem to upload a photo now but just remembered I posted before, no.185 in the EXP GDC V6 discussion http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6643-exp-gdc-v6-discussion-19.html#post95995

[jacobsson]

The acrylic enclosure to use for V6 is the one Cloud presents on his Taobao store. The seller on Aliexpress (not referring to Cloud) that sells an acrylic enclosure is for v5 and older. You can ask Cloud to send the V6 acrylic via Aliexpress too.

[jcagara08]

@Tech Inferno Fan

Lastly MXM cards are on ebay, enclosures now available but how is it going to be implemented to future laptop users?

Is is still via mPCIE, Expresscard, PCIE? How is the cooling for this? I understand that it needs heatsinks to be cooled so is this MXM eGPU viable?

and I wonder if a mSATA based eGPU enclosure can be possible in the future? I realized that most laptops with dvd drives can be easily removed and replaced with third party hdd cradles, Ultrabay GPU like that of the Lenovo Y510P and that port can provide high speeds am I right?

[jcagara08]

@Tech Inferno Fan

Sir may I suggest that you may need to post this image as a guide to would be and current eGPU enthusiasts?

I think this information is reliable enough;

This graph of GPU power consumption really show the real powe draw of GPUs.

It can help many who are still deciding which GPU to use.

Other than that the GPU TDP values now seems to be Max value where a card can safely operate I guess based on this graph.

[arclord]

Thunderbolt 3 is slated for Skylark, the platform after Broadwell. So no improvements in TB2 bandwidth in the 2015 i7-quad Broadwell Macbook Pro 15"

Broadwell's 22nm->14nm die shrink should see turbo boost improvements just like the Sandy Bridge 32nm -> Ivy Bridge 14nm did http://forum.techinferno.com/throttlestop-realtemp-discussion/6958-haswell-step-backwards-ivy-bridge-i-have-some-shocking-tdp-results.html#post95181 . You'll of course see a faster iGPU too.

A NUC straddles the line between a notebook and a desktop. There have been others looking to use a NUC for eGPU connectivity. As you are the first to do so, would you mind providing a GUIDE of how you got it all to work? (pics, benchmarks, steps)? There are several guides is this forum already that can be used as a template.

The generous user contributed GUIDE are what keeps the eGPU momentum.

Will probably wait for the Broadwell Macbook Pro then since I don't need a laptop urgently.

Sure, I will post a guide for the Intel TB NUC soon.

[Lind.LHeart]

I am trying to use my nvidai 9600 GS for the eGPU setup using the laptop internal screen with GEFORCE R304 DRIVER which i think is the 32 bit version of the 306.97WHQL driver but i cant seem to get it to run... it gives me an error which says that i am using an incompatible driver although in the products specifications list it is isted there... Could someone help me out here?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I am trying to use my nvidai 9600 GS for the eGPU setup using the laptop internal screen with GEFORCE R304 DRIVER which i think is the 32 bit version of the 306.97WHQL driver but i cant seem to get it to run... it gives me an error which says that i am using an incompatible driver although in the products specifications list it is isted there... Could someone help me out here?

The NVidia 9600GS doesn't support Optimus, so no internal LCD mode or x1 pci-e compression. You could try mucking around with older drivers and get it working but you'd see better performance getting a GTS450 or newer that does support Optimus, capping it at a GTX680, the most powerful card supported by 306.97WHQL.

[jcagara08]

@Tech Inferno Fan

Sir can you be able to use that image I posted for the "Real" power consumption of multiple GPUs as part of the DIY eGPU guide?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Tech Inferno Fan]

@Tech Inferno Fan

Sir can you be able to use that image I posted for the "Real" power consumption of multiple GPUs as part of the DIY eGPU guide?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

I saw it posted and was surprised at the low numbers. One number I was looking at is the GTX770 one. The linked table lists the TDP of GTX770 as 195W but officially it's 230W. techpowerup measured it at 214W here.

If a GTX770 owner would use that table as a reference they'd think they are well within the power constraints of a 220W Dell DA-2 PSU supplied with a EXP GDC V6/7 or BPlus PE4C V2.x, yet the reality would more likely see power starvation with BSODs or complete shutdown under fulll GPU load.

[Lind.LHeart]

The NVidia 9600GS doesn't support Optimus, so no internal LCD mode or x1 pci-e compression. You could try mucking around with older drivers and get it working but you'd see better performance getting a GTS450 or newer that does support Optimus, capping it at a GTX680, the most powerful card supported by 306.97WHQL.

Tech Inferno Fan thanks for the reply, could you explain to me what is the code 43 error that i am getting with this card then?

[jcagara08]

I saw it posted and was surprised at the low numbers. One number I was looking at is the GTX770 one. The linked table lists the TDP of GTX770 as 195W but officially it's 230W. techpowerup measured it at 214W here.

If a GTX770 owner would use that table as a reference they'd think they are well within the power constraints of a 220W Dell DA-2 PSU supplied with a EXP GDC V6/7 or BPlus PE4C V2.x, yet the reality would more likely see power starvation with BSODs or complete shutdown under fulll GPU load.

Yes you are correct..I guess its safe to base GPU selection on its official TDP..but aren't those measurements accurate? I see that oscilloscopes and powerclamps were used so I thought that was accurate

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[jakethesnake438]

I saw it posted and was surprised at the low numbers. One number I was looking at is the GTX770 one. The linked table lists the TDP of GTX770 as 195W but officially it's 230W. techpowerup measured it at 214W here.

If a GTX770 owner would use that table as a reference they'd think they are well within the power constraints of a 220W Dell DA-2 PSU supplied with a EXP GDC V6/7 or BPlus PE4C V2.x, yet the reality would more likely see power starvation with BSODs or complete shutdown under fulll GPU load.

Yep, that 170w (hopefully) gtx 970 cant come soon enough for me. I just sold my 770.

Ill post benchmarks when I get the new card

ALSO, there is a reasonable difference between reference and non reference GTX 770s, with non reference cards generally consuming more (with their higher clocks, higher power limits, beefier cooling and VRMs they will boost higher than reference cards

[davide445]

......

[davide445]

Just tired to wait budget for a new PC think eGPU the best solution.

But need a really cheap solution, my setup will be Lenovo X220 + Radeon HD 7950

Will need to have 2x6pin PCIe connector and 150w to power the GPU

Buy a cheap 50$ 350w ATI PSU appear to me a waste of money, since I cannot reuse it on a PC when I will be able to buy one.

So there is any way to use something like a laptop power adapter to power my GPU?

[zhu777hao]

So, I just have all my parts shipped over, and I hook up everything to my laptop, and it didn't work at all. My laptop isn't detecting the eGPU. I know my system has TOLUD issue (TOLUD = 3.5G), but let's not worry about that for now. I'm having a lenovo E430. HM77 platform. I have googled my question, and it turns out the issue could come from whitelisted wifi card, but I wasn't really getting it. I have also tried to hot-plugged my eGPU under setup 1.x, and it still doesn't detect!. I believe it has to deal with my bios. Any thoughts will be very pleased!!

[ivan_xiao]

Hallo TI Member

Just upgradet my sony vaio VPCZ1 ( 2010 ) with eGPU to sony vaio SVZ. Here is the spec :

- Intel core i7 3612QM 2,1GHz up to 3,1GHz Turbo boost

- Intel HM77 Chipset

- Integrated Intel HD4000 without any dedicated GPU

Also I have some question before I purchased the PE4L. After looking my PCI Tolud, it seems my tolud is under 3,25GB ( see picture ). Thats mean it should just plug and play after I plugged the eGPU. But, after I looking this thread, why some people using setup 1x..?

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13-2.html

Is that necessary to use setup 1x, if the Tolud already under 3,25..?

Thanks for your help

[Orowheat]

Hi,

I finally got the dsdt substitution working after a little bit of work, but after I hotplug my eGPU and try to output to an external screen I always get a IRQL BSOD for nvdk...sys (i don't remember the exact spelling but its the main driver). Can anyone tell me whats happening?

My method:

1. perform dsdt substitution using setup 1.3

2. chainload to windows 8.1 x64

3. sleep, then hotplug eGPU and resume

4. try to switch to external monitor creating a BSOD

I think the BSOD also occurs when I try to do anything graphic intensive, so it might be blue screening when the eGPU kicks in.

My specs:

Lenovo x220

windows 8.1 x64

GTX550ti with PE4L

8 gb ram

EDIT: 340.52 nvidia driver version

Any help is greatly appreciated.

On a side note, when performing a dsdt substituion on the x220 at least disable optimization when recompling the .dsl. I spent an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong and it worked after running iasl with -oa, which is disable all optimizations.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi,

I finally got the dsdt substitution working after a little bit of work, but after I hotplug my eGPU and try to output to an external screen I always get a IRQL BSOD for nvdk...sys (i don't remember the exact spelling but its the main driver). Can anyone tell me whats happening?

My method:

1. perform dsdt substitution using setup 1.3

2. chainload to windows 8.1 x64

3. sleep, then hotplug eGPU and resume

4. try to switch to external monitor creating a BSOD

I think the BSOD also occurs when I try to do anything graphic intensive, so it might be blue screening when the eGPU kicks in.

My specs:

Lenovo x220

windows 8.1 x64

GTX550ti with PE4L

8 gb ram

EDIT: 340.52 nvidia driver version

Any help is greatly appreciated.

On a side note, when performing a dsdt substituion on the x220 at least disable optimization when recompling the .dsl. I spent an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong and it worked after running iasl with -oa, which is disable all optimizations.

If the video card now appears OK in Device Manager with no error 12, then it's correctly allocated. Your IRQL failure followed a BSOD when the video card is under load points to a power issue. Check power, even swapping your PSU out with another if necessary to see if that helps the issue. If you still suspect your DSDT override is somewhat responsible, then test with 2GB of RAM eliminating the need for the DSDT override.

[Lind.LHeart]

Now i am using a leadtek 660... I am having " Incompatible display adapter has been disabled" and when i tried using GPU-Z it says "Intel OpenCL driver bug detected, skipping OpenCL detection. Please update your intel opencl driver to re-enable this functionality "... please advice me in regards to this matter.

[artearte]

Updating as my PE4C v2 arrived yesterday.

I had already done a DSDT override from my previous post, I have a T430 with no dGPU and a i3320M i5.

As soon as it arrived I slapped my 7850 on it, powered it up with the Dell brick that came together with it, suspended my Windows 7, connected it and turned it on.

Windows recognized it instantly and downloaded it's drivers. Then I downloaded the latest stable AMD CCC and installed it and everything worked out of the box.

I had output on both my laptop screen and my DVI connected to the 7850 monitor working perfectly in extended mode without having to do anything, I honestly don't know if what's on my laptop's screen comes from the HD4000 or the ATI card but I can freely move a windowed game between the two seamlessly.

GPU-Z says that the connection is at x1 1.0 but as soon as I start the render test or a game it kicks up to x1 2.0 and stays like that.

[Orowheat]

If the video card now appears OK in Device Manager with no error 12, then it's correctly allocated. Your IRQL failure followed a BSOD when the video card is under load points to a power issue. Check power, even swapping your PSU out with another if necessary to see if that helps the issue. If you still suspect your DSDT override is somewhat responsible, then test with 2GB of RAM eliminating the need for the DSDT override.

Alright replugged everything and got it to boot up with the dsdt substitution, but now the eGPU doesn't do anything. It shows up in the device manager without errors, but I'm unable to use the NVIDIA control panel or even get it to output anything. My method is still to perform the dsdt substitution then hotplug in sleep. What do I do?

[jcagara08]

Good news guys! Maxwell Nvidia GPUs are really now that power efficient!

See the below link for power consumption of a Gigabyte GTX 980 card!

191 Watts full load!! We can probably assume that it can still be used with the Dell DA-2 adapter!

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming review - Hardware Setup | Power Consumption

only thing left now is the bandwidth limitation of the mini PCI-e and expresscard slots!

[Lind.LHeart]

Evrytime i restart the computer it will be a plack screen and that it wont respond or anything and i will have to forcce shut down my laptop... Can anyone help me out here?