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15" Dell Studio 1557 + HD5870@x4Gbps-mPCIe1+ + Win7 [kizwan]


kizwan

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DIY eGPU implementation: 15" Dell Studio 1557 + ATI Radeon HD 5870 @x2

Link:-


Specification:-


Method (x1 setup):-

- Power ON the notebook with eGPU already connected & powered ON.
- Using modified drivers: D.N.A.


Method (x2 setup):-

- connected everything
- power on eGPU
- power on system
- set x2 on Port1 using Setup 1.x
- Reboot (using Reboot command in Setup 1.x)
- boot into windows
OR can use automated script in STARTUP.BAT:-

With the above script, only need to:-
- choose Setup 1.x at Windows/Setup 1.x boot menu
- choose first option to use STARTUP.BAT
- it will reboot automatically
- finally, choose Windows at boot menu.
DRIVER:-
- Using modified drivers: D.N.A.
OR
- dGPU HD4570 use mobile driver where driver is installed manually in Device Manager. eGPU HD5870 use desktop driver (using the .EXE file).
:: enable disk caching to improve performance

	call speedup lbacache

	:: enable x2 on port1

	call iport x2 1

	:: wait for HD5870 to be attached

	:: call vidwait 60 1002:6898

	:: check that it's a x2 link

	call iport scan

	:: give a prompted countdown for 7 seconds

	call wait_e 7 "Confirm link is x2 - if not hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and try again"

	:: run result of last PCI compaction

	call pci

	:: chainload to MBR

	:: call grub4dos mbr 

	:: need to reboot to re-detect the eGPU

	reboot


First PCI bus with 8 digits memory address = TOLM1
1 On (first gen) Intel i7 quad-core processor, this register is called TOLM, not TOLUD.

 

Boot without eGPU connected (0xC8000000: TOLM=3.125GB):-
DellStudio1557PCIBusWithouteGPU.jpg
Boot with eGPU connected (0xA8000000: TOLM=2.625GB):-
DellStudio1557PCIBusWitheGPUx1.jpg

eGPU ATI HD5870 @x1 link Setup:-

18082011367.jpg 18082011370.jpg
18082011372.jpg 18082011376.jpg
18082011377.jpg DellStudio1557HD5870.jpg

eGPU ATI HD5870 @x2 link Setup:-

DellStudio15572xPM3NonPCIeports12.jpg eGPUATIHD5870x2.jpg
ATIRadeonHD5870x2.jpg DellStudio1557ATIHD5870x2.jpg

Updated eGPU setup in mATX casing:-

eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200001.jpg eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200002.jpg
eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200003.jpg eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200004.jpg
eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200005.jpg eGPUHD5870CorsairCX500QX-200006.jpg
BENCHMARKS

 

DirectX 9
3DMark 06 (1280x1024) RE5 (1280x800-variable)

x1 link:-

Result: 13157
DellStudio1557HD58703DMark063rd.jpg

x1 link:-

DellStudio1557HD5870RE5VariableC.jpg

x2 link:-

Result: 13556
DellStudio1557HD5870x23DMark06-1.jpg

x2 link:-

DellStudio1557HD5870x2RE5Variable_New.jp

 

 

DirectX 10
3DMark Vantage Devil May Cry 4 (DMC4)

x1 link:-

DellStudio1557HD58703DMarkVantage.jpg

x2 link:-

DellStudio1557HD5870x23DMarkVantage.jpg

x1 link:-

DellStudio1557HD5870DMC4.jpg

x2 link:-

DellStudio1557HD5870x2DMC4.jpg

 

 

DirectX 11
3DMark 11 Heaven Benchmark v2.5 Basic

x1 link: Result

x2 link: Result

Detailed Scores
  x1 link x2 link
3DMark Score P3156 P3659
Graphics Score 3220 3667
Physics Score 3391 3868
Combined Score 2520 3335
GraphicsTest1 15 FPS 18 FPS
GraphicsTest2 18 FPS 19 FPS
GraphicsTest3 21 FPS 23 FPS
GraphicsTest4 8 FPS 9 FPS
PhysicsTest 10 FPS 12 FPS
CombinedTest 11 FPS 15 FPS
 

x1 link

|

x2 link

FPS:
22.7
|
28.3
Scores:
572
|
714
Min FPS:
13.2
|
13.8
Max FPS:
60.0
|
71.2

Hardware

Binary:
Windows 32bit Visual C++ 1600 Release Mar 1 2011
Operating system:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel® Core i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz
CPU flags:
1595MHz MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE41 SSE42 HTT
GPU model:
ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series 8.850.6.0 1024Mb

Settings

Render:
direct3d11
Mode:
1920x1080 fullscreen
Shaders:
high
Textures:
high
Filter:
trilinear
Anisotropy:
4x
Occlusion:
enabled
Refraction:
enabled
Volumetric:
enabled
Tessellation:
normal

 

GAMES EXPERIENCE

 

Games Settings FPS (average range from lowest to highest)
DirectX 9 DirectX 10 DirectX 11
x1 link x2 link x1 link x2 link x1 link x2 link
DiRT 2
(with *x1 link* setup, choppy/stutter)
(with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly)
Resolution : 1280x800
Refresh Rate : 60
Multisampling : 4xMSAA
VSYNC : Off
(ALL) : (Preset - High)
Inbuilt:-
Min:12.5
Avg:14.2

 
17 - 19
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Inbuilt:-
Min:17.1
Avg:26.3

 
32 - 34
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
N/A N/A Inbuilt:-
Min:12.5
Avg:15.4

 
17 - 24
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
Inbuilt:-
Min:20.3
Avg:26.6

 
32 - 37
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
(with *x1 link* setup, very lag with DirectX 10 & 11)
(with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly)
Resolution : 1280x800
Overall Quality : Advanced
Level of Detail : High
Texture Quality : High
Shadow Quality : High
Effects Quality : High
Anti Aliasing : 8x
Anisotrophic Filter : 16x
VSYNC : Off
HBAO : Off
39 - 60
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
57 - 80
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
25 - 35
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
39 - 50
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
22 - 30
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
38 - 50
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Need for Speed: Shift
(with *x1 link* setup, choppy/lag when too many cars & effects at the same time)
(with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly)
Resolution : 1280x800
Refresh Rate : 60hz
Anti-Aliasing : 0xAA
Windowed : On
Texture Filtering : Anisotrophic 16x
V-Sync : Off
Car Detail : High
Shadow Detail : High
Track Detail : High
Motion Blur : High
Texture Resolution : High
16 - 72
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
33 - 74
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
Pic 8
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
(with *x1 link* setup, steady FPS & microstutter)
(with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly)
Resolution : 1280x800
High Resolution Textures : On
Motion Blur : On
Shadow Level : High
Anisotropic : On
23 - 40
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
Pic 8
Pic 9
Pic 10
Pic 11
Pic 12
34 - 45
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6
Pic 7
Pic 8
Pic 9
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Left 4 Dead 2
(with both x1 & x2 setup, game able to running with stable 60FPS most all the time. FPS capped at 60.)
Resolution : 1920x1080
Anti-Aliasing Mode : 4xMSAA
Filtering Mode : Anisotropic 8x
Wait for Vertical Sync : Enabled (Double Buffered)
Shader Detail : Very High
Effect Detail : High
Model/Texture Detail : High
Multicore Rendering : Enabled
Paged Pool Memory Available : High
60 60 N/A N/A N/A N/A

Summary/Conclusion:-
When compared with Nvidia games experience on x1 link, the ATI graphic card unable to deliver comfortable performance when running on x1 link. This issue can be fixed with x2 link. Fortunately, Dell Studio 1557, just like Studio 1555 & 1558, can support x2 link configuration (PCIe port 1 & 2). Also it seems, there are enough PCI bus space to support SLI/CFX configuration. So, my next plan are:-

  • To get two PM3N (mini-PCIe) card to drive HD5870 on x2 link. [[Update 24 August 2011: Ordered 2xPM3N mini-PCIe cards]]
  • (Optional) Get a PM3N card & Nvidia GTX460/470 card for x1.Opt link configuration on Asus K42JV notebook.
  • (Wish) Get a PE4H-PM3N package & another HD5870 to setup CFX configuration on Dell Studio 1557.
  • Thumbs Up 2
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