Leaskovski Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Hi all,I would thought I would start my thread with regards to getting an eGPU running on my Dell Precision M6500 using a 670 GTX that a colleague has leant me. First things first, some specs...Dell 17" Precision M6500 (A10 Bios)Intel® Core i7 CPU M620 @ 2.67GHz8GBATI FirePro M7740Windows 7 64 bitI decided to go for a PE4L PCIe Adapter V2.1 (PE4L-EC060A) for the basis of the setup.<strike>For the PSU, I found a generic Dell 200W laying about in the office. This has a 20pin MB power connector with a 4 pin P4 CPU connector. Its other power plugs are a 4 pin floppy drive connector that is shared with a 4 pin larger connector, this is being used to drive the PE4L. It also has 2 sets of 2 daisy chained 4 pin connectors, these have 2 6 pin converters on that are used to drive the GPU which has 2 6 pin power supply sockets.</strike> <--- PSU was not good enough. Results in BSOD when eGPU was under load. I sourced a better PSU that provides 240W on the 12v rail after which the eGPU can run some benchmarks properly.So first off, given that I am running 8GB, it was a given that I was going to have to do a DSDT Override to give me a 'Large Memory' resource in the device manager. I did this by using the DSDT Editor and Patcher found at olarila.com • View topic - DSDT editor and patcher with steps in the spoiler . . . Once downloaded I ran it up and selected 'Extract DSDT' from the 'File' menu. I then manually edited the code by finding the first occurance of 'CR_4 (Local0, Local1)' and inserting the following code after it, and before the 'CR_6 ()' line... If (LGreaterEqual (OSID (), 0x20)) { Store (G4GB (), Local0) If (LGreater (Local0, 0x00100000)) { ShiftLeft (Local0, 0x0C, Local0) Store (0xF8000000, Local1) Store (One, Local2) ShiftLeft (Local2, 0x20, Local2) Add (Local1, Local2, Local1) CR_5 (Local0, Local1) } }To make this easier, a version of the code before patching can be found here...https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_m6zDSwPKqCUk1fWUhaQkJnVlk&authuser=0and after the code has been added, can be found here...https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_m6zDSwPKqCUzRiS09kN05yd0E&authuser=0After that, I tried to compile it using the 'ISAL' > 'Compile' menu option. It through up errors, one of which was an invalid name '*pnp0c14' which I simply changed to 'PNP0C14'. the rest were 'Buffer' errors which I simply used the 'Fix Errors' button that was displayed after compiling the code.Once I had sucessfully compiled the code, I then ran the 'asl /loadtable dsdt.aml' command on my newly compiled aml file. After a reboot my device manager was then reporting the lovely 'Large Memory' resource.Note: At this stage, I didnt have any nVidia drivers installed. If you already do, I sugest running one of the driver cleaner utilities to remove them.At this stage I was now ready to plug the Express Card into the EC slot on the right of the laptop. Once I had plugged it in, I then switched it all on via the SWEX flip switch. This then powered up the card, and windows detected the device. I didn't let it try to find the drivers for the card. Instead, I let it finished what it was doing and said yes to any reboots. Once the reboots had finished, I then ran the nVidia driver installer downloaded from their website. I followed the onscreen prompts and allowed the reboot. After the reboots had finished, with a monitor connected to the GPU, I was able to see that my desktop had been extended to the eGPU.That concluded getting it installed and running.Benchmark results3D Mark 11, GPU=7035 , NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5R3D Mark 06 = 5427 , NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5RUsing 3D Mark's Cloud Gate test...Without eGPU:Graphics Score 9833Physics Score 2441ATI FirePro M7740 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5RWith eGPUGraphics Score 33221Physics Score 2365NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5RFirestrike.GPU=5625 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5RI would say that is a marked increase. Assetto Corsa now runs like a dream The 06 results didn't change from when the eGPU card wasn't plugged in. Not sure why, however I know that the eGPU is working and it makes the laptop a million times better when playing games now.As for the PhysX not working, that will be down to this...Nvidia disables PhysX when ATI card is presentBasically, nVidia were fedup with people buying cheaper early gen PhysX cards and using them with better ATI cards. I have tried disabling the ATI GPU whilst the eGPU is in, but that didn't work. Anyway, no bother, as the games Im playing don't have any implementation, so it has no effect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Inferno Fan Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Great to hear it's working for you. Would you mind doing 3dmark06 and 3dmark11 runs so I can add you to the Leaderboard at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html .I'll add too, that since you have a i7-620M, you could enable the iGPU to trick NVidia driver to enable x1.Opt (x1 pci-e compression) under Windows 8.x. That can accelerate mostly DX9 apps by up to 300%. Here's an example of how another user with only an active iGPU but with the same capabilities in the CPU managed to do just that: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6792-%5Bguide%5D-15-acer-aspire-5742g-gtx660ti%40x1-opt-pe4c-pm3e-v1-2-a.html#post92801 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaskovski Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Does that work for windows 7 as well? Basically it is my work laptop and I'm not sure if I can put an os upgrade on it, though I'm sure they aren't amazed by what I have done to it so far... lolWould that also allow for use of the LCD as well instead of having to plug a monitor or TV in?Once I get a permanent psu, I shall try and get the 3d mark scores done.I also found out my physx issue. Basically because the ati card is present, the nvidia drivers automatically disable physx. I guess I might have to disable the anti card once the nvidia card is up and running, and then reenable after use.Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaskovski Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Great to hear it's working for you. Would you mind doing 3dmark06 and 3dmark11 runs so I can add you to the Leaderboard at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html .I'll add too, that since you have a i7-620M, you could enable the iGPU to trick NVidia driver to enable x1.Opt (x1 pci-e compression) under Windows 8.x. That can accelerate mostly DX9 apps by up to 300%. Here's an example of how another user with only an active iGPU but with the same capabilities in the CPU managed to do just that: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6792-%5Bguide%5D-15-acer-aspire-5742g-gtx660ti%40x1-opt-pe4c-pm3e-v1-2-a.html#post928013D Mark 11NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5R3D Mark 06NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-620M Processor,Dell Inc. 01RV5RThe 06 results didn't change from when the eGPU card wasn't plugged in. Not sure why, however I know that the eGPU is working and it makes the laptop a million times better when playing games now.As for the PhysX not working, that will be down to this...Nvidia disables PhysX when ATI card is presentBasically, nVidia were fedup with people buying cheaper early gen PhysX cards and using them with better ATI cards. I have tried disabling the ATI GPU whilst the eGPU is in, but that didn't work. Anyway, no bother, as the games Im playing don't have any implementation, so it has no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke8804 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I am hoping Leaskovski is still available. I have a Dell Precision m6500 and I am needing some assistance. I followed your directions exactly and was not able to get the large memory in device manager.I even attempted using your file and was still unsuccessful. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaskovski Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 What bios version are you running? OS, etc?It might be worth uploading your DSL files to see what changes you made and if they are different to mine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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