12" HP 2560P + GTX560Ti@4Gbps+c-EC2 (pre PE4 2.1b) + Win7 [nando4]

[Tech Inferno Fan]

[Posted 2-11-2011 in *HP EliteBook 2560p Owners Lounge* (NBR). Relocated to T|I due to being banned by Lenovo fan ZaZ]

(12-17-2011) EXCLUSIVE!! A modified PE3A was used below to achieve the first fully documented x1 2.0 Optimus benchmarking. This is not a recommended solution unless you are unwilling to wait till Feb 20 2012 for a US$92-shipped PE4L 2.1 to be available. Then you'd need to modify the PE3A, remove your video card's faceplate so it can fit and be fine with having a eGPU hanging over your keyboard where your hands would be susceptible to cuts from the eGPU's fans hovering just a few cms away. 

A more elegant $55-shipped PE3A+riser (timohour) being a simple solution that doesn't require modding the PE3A. Users that are handy with a soldering iron could save themselves US$37 over the cost of a shipped PE4L 2.1.

DIY eGPU implementation: i5-2540M 2.6 12.5" HP 2560P + NVidia GTX560Ti @x1.2Opt
 

Notebook   US$700 12.5" HP 2560P i5-2540M 2.6 HD3000 8GB DDR3 60GB Renice X3 SSD + DVD/500GB (F.21 bios) Series-6 QM67 expresscard 2.0 slot (5GT/s) Windows 7/64 and Ubuntu 11.10/64	DIY eGPU parts   US$96(US)/US$113 delivered PE4H-EC2C 2.4 OR US$81(US)/US$93 delivered PE4L-EC2C 1.5+SWEX US$130 NVidia GTX460 1GB 336 CUDA cores OR US$200 NVidia GTX560Ti 1GB 384 CUDA cores US$5 salvaged 12V/17A "550W" ATX PSU
Benchmarks (highest OCed eGPU) 3dmark: 06/vant.gpu/11.gpu=18695/17515/4626, RE5.dx9=152.7, dmcv4.dx10_s4=160.4]
LCD config RAM GB GPU DX9 DX10 DX11 Ports OS 3dmk6^ RE5 var|fixed FFXIV Mafia2^! 1080p 3dmk^ vant.g dmcv4 scene4 3dmk11 720p Unigine Heaven Dirt2#^ 1080p 1080p 720p External 8.0 GTX560Ti x1.2Opt 18340 & 148.3 &|88.6 & 3305 & 4035 & 56.1 &58.0 15587 & 147.5 & 4096 & 1351 & 41.5/66.2 &48.4/66.4 QM67 Win7 64b GTX560Ti x1.1Opt 17776 & 125.5 &|71.0 & 3189 & 3959 & 46.9 &48.0 13727 & 114.8 & 3903 & 1138 & 28.7/42.0 &27.8/43.5  QM67 Internal GTX560Ti x1.2Opt 15816 94.2 | 83.6 2588 3749 47.4 10905 60.9 3773 966 25.8/31.9 QM67 GTX560Ti x1.1Opt 9894 47.4 | 44.3 1331 2837 22.2 6903 34.0 3183 655 12.5/17.0 QM67 HD3000 4311 34.2 | 28.5 403 795 8.2 1533 27.9 - 228 12.5/13.1 -
.... = highest % improvement x1.2Opt has over x1.1Opt ! = two back-to-back runs using result from the faster second run  & = 880/2100->1020/2300(GTX560Ti) eGPU overclock result capture or text.  # = min/average, London multi-car track with all HIGH except post-process=MED. cmd used "DiRT2.exe benchmark example_benchmark.xml", output saved to Documents/My Games/Dirt 2/Demo/benchmarks ^ = 1080P or 1280x1024 'internal LCD mode' provided via notebook VGA/DP port to external LCD
US$298 GTX560Ti+ PE4H-EC2C+PSU modified PE3A: 12V input,  remove U3 and L2 ICs Optimus driver setup 2560P: [email protected] using a modded PE3A 2560P: [email protected] cabling using PE4H 2.4 2560P: [email protected] playing NFS Shift on internal LCD 2560P: [email protected] playing Dirt2 on external LCD

Idea reference: DIY eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

Software Setup 

1. [PE4L 1.5 or PE4H 2.4 or older only] These are not capable of a pci-e 2.0 link so require the expresscard port to be switched to Gen1 (x1 1.0) speed for reliable transmission. There are two ways to do that (1) in the bios by checking System Configuration->Express Card Link Speed->Generation 1 or (2) use DIY eGPU Setup 1.x to switch it to Gen1 speed, eg: by changing the startup.bat as shown. I'm using method (2) as it includes eGPU detection (vidwait).

2. Boot your system. If using Setup 1.x then you will be prompted to hotplug your eGPU and upon detection of it, the system will be chainloaded to Win7. If not using Setup 1.x then boot Win7, sleep Win7, attach eGPU via expresscard slot and power it on, resume Win7. 

The eGPU is detected as Standard VGA. There are no error 12 or USB ports disabled issues with the 2560P. 

3. Install 285.62 modded Verde driver. Disable NVidia High Definition sound to maximize video bandwidth. 

4. OPTIONAL for eGPU overclocking: Install MSI Afterburner. 

How to startup the eGPU

1. The 2560P bios will hang at the first bios screen if the eGPU us powered on and connected to it. So Poweroff the eGPU until get past the bios, then power it on and plug the mHDMI cable into the EC2C. OR set the PE4H PCI Reset Delay slider to 7s to effectively do this automatically for you which works during a cold reboot but not a warm reboot. 

If you use Setup 1.x, then you will be prompted to hotplug the eGPU if it's not detected, after which the system will chainload to Win7. 

If not using Setup 1.x, then hit F8 to halt Win7 startup, power on the DIY eGPU then plug the mHDMI cable into the EC2C. Some video cards will have a slightly muted fan noise indicating it has been successfully connected on the pci-e bus. Select Win7 to continue the boot process.

OPTIONAL: use sleep-resume method. Boot Win7, sleep Win7, attach eGPU via expresscard slot and power it on, resume Win7. If a LCD is attached to the eGPU then make it the Main Display in Display Properties to output accelerated graphics to it. NOTE: this method does not allow Optimus to output accelerated graphics to the internal LCD - the eGPU must be detected on bootup for that. Note: you must set the PCI Reset Delay slider to the 0 second (disabled) position for this to work successfully.

Observations
 

• this GTX560TI can be powered by a basic 12V/17A ATX PSU. Overclocking at 1020/2300 however does require a second 12V/15A PSU to supply power via one GTX560Ti pci-e lead. 
   
• Setup 1.x queries the pci-e port for it's link speed which will report x1.1 (x1 1.0) since the eGPU isn't under load. Seems the NVidia eGPU or pci-e bus does that to save power. Use GPU-Z instead to check the pci-e 1.0/2.0 link state. It will report x1 2.0 upon starting GPU-Z but will revert to x1 1.0 a few seconds later *if* the eGPU isn't under load. Changing from Adaptive to Performance in the NVidia Control panel having no effect. Running a game on the eGPU in the background does however keep and maintain a x1 2.0 link.
   
• observant readers will notice the x1.1Opt cabling has cellophane tape near the EC2C. That is an engineering sample of a EC2C-045A, where a 45cm flat cable and EC2C are soldered together. The EC2C-045A was able to initialize a pci-e 2.0 link but was not able to maintain it under load. The NVidia driver would give kernel errors, benchmarks would start and black screen a few seconds later and it resulted in BSODs. So it was unreliable for pci-e 2.0 but could maintain a pci-e 1.0 link without any problems. For this reason I have been advised the future PE4H 3.0 will be a EC2C+mHDMI cable+PE4H all soldered together. It seems the mHDMI connectors are the culprit causing pci-e 2.0 links to fail. 
   
• x1.2Opt's extra bandwidth makes it realistically possible to now run a eGPU using the internal LCD mode only. x1.2Opt-internal shows twice faster FPS than x1.1Opt-internal across the board. Clearly x1.1Opt-internal was choking on the limited bandwidth. This extra bandwidth means a SB x1.2Opt-internal implementation will outperform a 1st-gen i-core x1.1Opt-external implementation (when you factor in the faster CPU). It will cost less too when you factor in the savings from not buying an external LCD. Though I'd still recommend getting an inexpensive s/h external LCD to run highest FPS.
   
• Gaming/benchmarks are noticably smoother with x1.2Opt over x1.1Opt. Far less microlags. Benchmark histograms show less deviation from the median frame rate.
   
• At this point in time I would recommend a overclocked GTX460 over a GTX560Ti. The GTX560Ti delivers at best 15% more performance but at over a 55% price premium. Better to save the money and put it towards a 28nm GTX6xx (Keplar) scheduled for release in the next 3 months.
   
• Above results are now occupying the DX9/DX10 pole position on the DIY eGPU main page . A position long held by Khenglish. Sorry mate. <- Khenglish blows me out of the water with his new GTX580 at x1.1Opt. Expecting a major tail kicking when he gets the gear to run x1.2Opt (pci-e 2.0).