EXP GDC Beast/Ares-V7/V6 discussion

[madtail79]

Ummmmm im not 100% sure. I know that when i booted it with the switch on the EXP switched over it wouldn't run the card properly.

I hit F2 while boot up and it only gave me a real basic Bios . Nothing at all related to GPU

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Im not sure. Im not that clued up with all this. Ill work out how to access the bios and see what i can find

The first gen i7-quad has no iGPU. Without an iGPU, the nVidia driver will not engage x1 pci-e compression (x1.Opt). Meaning performance will be lousy. Best you can get on your Serie5 system is a x1 1.0 link.

To get significantly better performance, consider offloading your system for a Ivy Bridge one with an expresscard slot in this list: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list-%5Bthin-light%5D.html#post57159 .

[jacobsson]

Holy crap, that's right! Well then I suggest having the eGPU Power up and connected during boot to see if it makes any differnence for the system. I have to blame My lazy investigation on my iPad sitting on a train with a crappy connection.

And yes, as nando is saying, your system is a bit outdated and cannot perform the desired 1.2-link for eGPU (now you're running at 1/2 of that bandwidth).

[madtail79]

HAhahaha OK so back to the saving then for a new PC. Cheers for your help. Much appreciated.

[jacobsson]

HAhahaha OK so back to the saving then for a new PC. Cheers for your help. Much appreciated.

Yes that's a wise choice for a smoother experience. Test having the eGPU connected during boot-up and tell me if it makes any difference.

[madtail79]

the Egpu is conected all the time. stays connected during boot. Its not too bad for browsing. But the gaming doesn't change. Ill disconnect it all and see what my FPS does.

[Darkpower]

Hi there.

I'm about to order an eGPU system for my thinkpad X230 (i5-3320M - 8GB of Ram,IntelHD 4000, 120GB SSD-msata) and wondering about 2 options: EXP GDC v6.0 and PE4CV2 (this model is earl released).

Could u guy recommend one of those options which is best for my solution?

Thanks u guy first and sorry about my poor English.

[jacobsson]

@Darkpower

Hi buddy, welcome to the thread!

Read this post for comparison.

[Mikhailovich]

Hi Darkpower, I have the exact same Lenovo X230 laptop as you, same specs, I'm using the EXP GDC v6. I've successfully tried both an AMD and Nvidia graphics card with it. It's literally plug and play - both work like a dream.

One word of note, and I don't know if this will help the other user here who had speed issues: with the Nvidia 780 (yes i know, completely over the top and obscene) I had to disconnect the hdmi cable from the gfx card to the monitor at boot, otherwise the laptop gets stuck on the boot screen and will not boot the OS. Once windows begins loading I plug the cable back in and all is good. I have no idea why this is. I've only had this issue on the Nvidia card, my AMD 7870 does not have this issue.

[manuelgonzalvez]

Good afternoon you all here...'ve been reading this thread and similar others for a couple days...came across this whole eGPU world about a month ago, as i was in need for better video power and didn't want to change my Laptop yet.

I own a Dell Studio 1535 (PP33L) . a C2D [email protected]., 4GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB SSD. Intel 965 chipset.

A friend of mine did a quick google search and came across some pictures showing this... i later googled, and found the PE4L solution, and also the EXP GDC V6.0 one. ididn't think too much about it, and ordered a EXP GDC. Now, about a month later, i've got it here. Fact is, it simply doesn't work. I've plugged an ATX PSU with the supplied wire/plugs, that is OK, also gave extra power to the GPU ( XFX Radeon 6870) so the problem does not seem to be there. I tried removing a memory module, also removing the WLAN module. but no luck . Using everest, it shows me :

Southbridge Intel 82801HBM ICH8-DO

PCI Express

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #1 Empty

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #2 In Use @ x1 (Broadcom BCM4310 USB Controller)

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #4 Empty

PCI-E 1.0 x1 port #6 In Use @ x1 (Broadcom NetLink BCM5784M PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller)

Doesn't matter if the EXP GDC is plugged or unplugged. with or without GPU on it. i'm pretty sure the GPU DOES work...

i`ve read something about setup 1.x but i don't know if that applies to my issue or i'm having another sort of problem.

Thanks very much in advance, cheers.

PD: Forgot to add. GPU turns on, fan at full speed. USB Host DOES work .

[Mikhailovich]

Fans at full speed sounds wrong. Is the EXP GDC plugged in when you switch it on? Does the blue led shine?

Try using the supplied Dell power brick first and see if that works.

Is the gfx hooked up to an external monitor? Try unplugging the cable between external monitor and egpu before you boot. Plug in after OS loads.

Take a picture of your setup and post it here.

[manuelgonzalvez]

I`ve been using it with ATX plugged in, and unplugging expresscard from laptop. Tried it the other way, but it doesn't work neither.

I don't have a dell power cord, except from the laptop one, but the plug does not fit in. (also, it`s 19.5V )

I made all first tests without external monitor plugged. Tried now with a HDMI TV, but nothing happens neither.

Blue led is on, and USB host does work, so i think this discards a faulty cable issue.

[Kytael]

I ended up getting the EXP GDC 6.0, since the PE4C v2 wasn't available, I made a post in the main thread subject to moderator approval, but no problems that can be traced to the EXP GDC to report. I would have preferred the PEAC had it been available. my only gripe is that the hdmi connector is upside down, requiring at least one twist to plug into my W520, and that the expresscard on my laptop isn't in a great place if I want to use a mouse beside it, but that's not due to the EXP GDC. something to be aware of though, I didn't think to check that beforehand.

Thanks jacobsson for the guide! the coolermaster 6pin cable was a great find, looks a lot nicer than the standard cable, if a bit long. I was a bit confused though, I thought the normal 6pin cable would come with the EXP GDC, but only the ATX connector did.

of note: I tried powering it with an old ATX PSU while I waited for my DA-2 PSU, which worked fine. you have to use the 4-pin CPU connector! not the +4 pin on the 20+4 pin cable. most PSU's these days have a 8 pin cpu cable that is actually a 4+4 pin cable. the card uses 12V and as you can see here the pinout is totally different from 12V/GND/12V/GND that you want.

here's my current setup just for testing, definitely not how I would actually use it

[Mikhailovich]

I`ve been using it with ATX plugged in, and unplugging expresscard from laptop. Tried it the other way, but it doesn't work neither.

I don't have a dell power cord, except from the laptop one, but the plug does not fit in. (also, it`s 19.5V )

I made all first tests without external monitor plugged. Tried now with a HDMI TV, but nothing happens neither.

Blue led is on, and USB host does work, so i think this discards a faulty cable issue.

I was going to say take a closer picture of your connections but if the blue led is on then suggests the power should be feeding correctly.

I get gfx fans on full speed with my Nvidia card if I plug in after boot - basically doesn't work unless it stays in at boot.

Have you made sure the power from the atx psu is sufficient enough for the gfx card? Are all power ports on the gfx card plugged in? It could be under powered. Do you have another gfx card to try?

[manuelgonzalvez]

I don't have another GPU right now to test...i'll try to finde one.

This GPU has 2 x 6-pin power plugs. I only have one adapter for that, but when it was installed in desktop it worked fine that way, using only 1. I'll keep up if i have some news when trying this.

[Mikhailovich]

That's probably where it went wrong. Neither one of my gfx cards would work in the exp gdc unless both 6+8 or 8+8 were plugged in.

[manuelgonzalvez]

UPDATE: I changed the GPU, now i'm testing with an ATI Radeon 4850. it has only one 6 pin connector, so all the power plugs are on. Same issue, fans at full speed.

BUT. in some random quick expresscad plug-unplug act, fans suddenly slowed down its speed, and the " new hardware found" icon appeared... recognized the vga adapter and "PCIsomething".

a few seconds later, BSOD. restarted without unplugging, took ages to start, and it didn't even start windows. unplugged the expresscard, it turned on, plugged it again, and ..nothing again. fans at full speed. same issue as before. I'm thinking maybe about the faulty cable issue? or might be some PCIe adressing problem? tried before taking the Wlan and Wpan mini pciE cards out, no luck...help?

[manuelgonzalvez]

UPDATE#2: after a reboot, it started with fans at los speed and showed me the device un manager... So ir works. Trying now with radeon 6870 but no luck, will try to find the extra 6 pi n plug.

[rubayethk]

Has anyone managed to get the GDC v6 and a lenovo t430 to work ? if so can someone kindly guide me to a successful implementation guide ?

Thanks

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Has anyone managed to get the GDC v6 and a lenovo t430 to work ? if so can someone kindly guide me to a successful implementation guide ?

Thanks

No Lenovo T430 eGPU implementation is listed as yet at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html#post89707 . When you do the first one with your T430 using a EXP GDC V6, could you please submit a writeup so others can leverage off your efforts? Thank you.

Just be aware that the Ivy Bridge Lenovos with an iGPU only tend to have TOLUD=3.5G, complicating the eGPU implementation. Then would need a DSDT override to be able to allocate the iGPU+eGPU in order to get x1.2Opt working, inc internal LCD mode. Furthermore, there are stuttering/poor system response issues if those systems are equipped with 16GB of RAM.

If you have an option for another notebook then I'd suggest you consider a 14" Dell E6430/E6440 or 14" HP 8470P in the same class instead of a 14" Lenovo T430. Either having less complicated eGPU implementations that a T430.

[Tempest]

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum.

I bought a GDC v6 some weeks ago and I want to share my experiences.

I use it in my Vaio VPCZ13V9EX with bios hack (to disable the dGPU 330M) and now I have a true plug and play solution using Windows 8.1 and a GTX750Ti OC from Asus. I can even turn on the laptop with the express card inserted.

It took a lot of reading, most of it done in this forum, so I want to say thanks to everyone, specially Tech Inferno Fan

I also got it to work with an old Acer Aspire 4920 but just on the external screen, internal gets gray 4bit, using Setup 1x.

If anyone needs help with similar setups I will be happy to help if I can.

I also ended up modding an old PSU and now I don't need the ATX power cable that came with the GDC v6. The mod can be useful if you don't have one of those cables or a Dell DA-2 near you.

I got addicted to playing with this and just ordered a HP 2570p from ebay.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi,

This is my first post in this forum.

I bought a GDC v6 some weeks ago and I want to share my experiences.

I use it in my Vaio VPCZ13V9EX with bios hack (to disable the dGPU 330M) and now I have a true plug and play solution using Windows 8.1 and a GTX750Ti OC from Asus. I can even turn on the laptop with the express card inserted.

It took a lot of reading, most of it done in this forum, so I want to say thanks to everyone, specially Tech Inferno Fan

I also got it to work with an old Acer Aspire 4920 but just on the external screen, internal gets gray 4bit, using Setup 1x.

If anyone needs help with similar setups I will be happy to help if I can.

I also ended up modding an old PSU and now I don't need the ATX power cable that came with the GDC v6. The mod can be useful if you don't have one of those cables or a Dell DA-2 near you.

I got addicted to playing with this and just ordered a HP 2570p from ebay.

Pls contact me RE: Setup 1.x Email details are listed at DIY eGPU Setup 1.x .

[manuelgonzalvez]

UPDATE: i have just been able to test the Radeon 6870, I could not find the 6pin power cable...works, perfect condition. Only issue: when I choose shut down from power off menu while eGPU is connected, it says shutting down, then restarts. Also USB ports stop working when I hot unplug the adapter...not a real issue anyway, just get used to shutting down before plug-unplug.

[madman3000]

Hello everyone!

I have recently bought EXP GDC and I have tried to install it with my notebook, but unfortunatelly I have some major issues. I hope that you will help me

First of all this is my spec:

HP Probook 6560b

i5-2520m

4gb ram

dGPU : AMD 7400M Series

Windows 7 Pro 64bit

eGPU spec:

EXP GDC v.6

DELL DA-2 PSU

Radeon HD 5770 (I want to change it for better one if my setup will work )

I connect all the pieces and nothing seems to be working for me. I tried to connect the EXP GDC while in Windows, while booting the notebook, shortly after booting, after pressing F8 or even before switching on the laptop in every case my OS doesn't seem to recognize the card, nothing pops up in the Device Manager. What else can I do? Do I need setup 1.x to make my configuration working?

Cheers,

MadMan from Poland (yeah, sorry for my English, I am not a native speaker )

[Brom]

Does the led of the Dell PSU switches from yellow to green?

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