17" Dell M6800 (M6100) + GTX980@4Gbps+c-EC2 (EXP GDC V6) + Win7 [darkydark]

[darkydark]

This is Enduro enabled system.

Dell Precision M6800

Intel Core i7 4810MQ

8Gb DDR3L 1600 (2x4)

Intel HD4600 + AMD FirePro M6100

eGPU Setup 1.30

EXP GDC v6 + EC cable

PSU: Dell D220P

Gainward GTX 760 Phantom

3 GPUs installed.

iGPU + dGPU + eGPU combination was almost plug and play, as long as eGPU was plugged in after system booted and was in standby. Simple driver installation, safely remove eGPU, restart and plug it in again and we had GTX 760 powering external monitor at PCIe x1.2 speed but without Optimus.

When running external monitor via eGPU i was able to run LuxMark 2.0 and Cinebench on dGPU, but when working on internal display nVidia wasn't available to any software.

GTX 760 and GTX 980

@1.2opt Instalation procedure

Getting Optimus to work and disabling dGPU took a bit of time and messing around and here is what I did.

Note - If i have eGPU plugged in during POST - Windows will BSOD - Still haven't found way how to ignore that.

GTX 980 needs DSDT Override,

GTX 760 works without it.

1. Download and instal Intel HD4600 driver package, restart
   
2. Uninstal AMD software, restart
   
3. Use DDU to be 100% sure its all gone
   
4. If iGPU is running normally, go into device manager and disable dGPU, restart
   
5. If dGPU is disabled and iGPU is performing normally, restart
   
6. // Now we can enter and try to bypass dGPU - in every attempt to disable dGPU without it being disabled in Windows my iGPU would not perform normally - Device Manager would list it as "Operating normally" but system behavior could only be explained like I was running fresh windows installation with no drivers installed.
   
7. Halt system on OS selection (Windows/DIY eGPU 1.30 selection screen)
   
8. Plug in eGPU and enter DIY eGPU Setup
   
   1. 
      
   2. Initialize eGPU
      
   3. PCI compaction - Ignore dGPU
      
   4. PCI compaction - !Run compact on iGPU only (No changes needed to endpoint)
      
   5. Video Cards - Hybrid gfx disable dGPU
      
   6. Chainload - Test Run
      
      
   7. Upon entering Windows you should be greeted with "new hardware found", just cancel it and install nVidia drivers, shut down
      
   8. Unplug eGPU when system is off and start it again
      
   9. Repeat step 8 if you haven't saved entire process (Just to clarify you can save and automate it)
      
   10. Enjoy M6800 + eGPU running at PCIe x1.2opt
       
       
       I performed DSDT override after these steps - it wasn't needed but I did it in case I will need it in future for Graphic cards I plan to test.
       I think that with adapter that has ability for longer delay unplugging could be skipped, but that will have to wait as I'm not really willing to sped money on one more adapter.
       Now on to some tests and numbers:
       Gainward GTX 760 Phantom
       
       iGPU + dGPU + eGPU Total // Graphics
       //ignore 3DMark saying tests were performed using M6100 - External monitor was connected to eGPU and if you look Secondary Graphics you will see GTX 760, also all scores (except 06) surpass M6100 performance.
       3DMark 06 - 11787 // ----
       3DMark 11 - 7218 // 7247
       3DMark FS - 5259 // 5279
       iGPU + eGPU Internal LCD Total // Graphics
       //Not sure if it was x1.2opt or 1.1opt as I was excited as hell and forgot to check, will rerun tests after
       3DMark 06 - 13954 // ----
       3DMark 11 - 6121 // 6050
       3DMark FS - 3807 // 3752
       iGPU + eGPU External Total // Graphics
       //@1.2 opt - rerun and confirmed
       3DMark 06 - 31487 // ----
       3DMark 11 - 7512 // 7745
       3DMark FS - 5391 // 5930
       MSI GTX 980 TwinFrozr V
       
       iGPU + eGPU
       //@1.2 opt
       3DMark 06 - 34136
       3DMark 11 - 13964 // 12101
       3DMark FS - 9783 // 11531
       EDIT:
       // Rest of the tests, screenshots and tests will follow on later - I actually sold my monitor and I'm using TV as external for testing, but my better half occupied it at this point so everything is on hold
       // Will post Heaven 4.0 later on

[darkydark]

I'm having a vierd issue and was wondering if Setup 1.3 can remedy it.

If I have eGPU plugged in during post it will result in Windows BSOD, I actually have eGPU fully setup up and running, as long as I plug in eGPU after post or within Windows itself as it can be seen here. iGPU dGPU eGPU and iGPU eGPU work rock solid.

I'm thinking a delay timer would help in that regard, but as I've been a cheapskate and got GDC v6 I'm guessing 6 seconds is not enough.

I did try disabling eGPU pcie port when in setup 1.3x but it just crashed the system.

Can I provide you with any information for you to look at, or at least can you point me into a direction where I can try and bypass this issue.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I'm having a vierd issue and was wondering if Setup 1.3 can remedy it.

If I have eGPU plugged in during post it will result in Windows BSOD, I actually have eGPU fully setup up and running, as long as I plug in eGPU after post or within Windows itself as it can be seen here. iGPU dGPU eGPU and iGPU eGPU work rock solid.

I'm thinking a delay timer would help in that regard, but as I've been a cheapskate and got GDC v6 I'm guessing 6 seconds is not enough.

I did try disabling eGPU pcie port when in setup 1.3x but it just crashed the system.

Can I provide you with any information for you to look at, or at least can you point me into a direction where I can try and bypass this issue.

Yes, a delay timer is what you are after. Try the 6s on the EXP GDC V6 by moving the tiny slider on the left to the left position. What that will do is ensure the bios does not see the eGPU and so not alter any configuration that causes a BSOD. Failing that, eGPU Setup 1.30 can be used to coordinate plugging in the eGPU after POST but prior to booting the OS.

A nice startup.bat to do that would be, which is what I have, as follows. Here I've done the bootice process as per the Setup 1.30 thread to boot straight into Setup 1.30 first and then 'chainload mbr2' boots into Win7. This gives me a fully automated boot process without needing any key input from the user.

:: use cache to speed up start-to-end processing time
call speedup lbacache

:: wait to detect eGPU or 60s timeout, whichever comes first
call vidwait 60 

:: if no eGPU found then just chainload OS
if '%eGPU%'=='' goto OS

:: Perform eGPU initialization
call vidinit -d %eGPU% 
:: call iport gen1 7
:: call pci 

:OS 
:: bootice procedure enacted to give direct booot
:: call chainload mbr2

:: Chainload the MBR
call chainload mbr

[darkydark]

Thank you for the startup process, will be sure to implement it soon. For now I'm waiting for 980M to see what needs to be done to turn on the machine to use it.

Delay switch is already in the left position. Right position, regardless of when i try to plug in eGPU (prePost, in setup 1.x, os selection, when system is in sleep or just plug it when windows are booted) results in Master Blaster fan speeds on eGPU and no recognition.

OT: about that overclocking thingie with raising TDP - will be sure to try it out as soon as I'm done with job stuff on M6800 so in case of a brick I dont loose any work

Edit: GTX 980 just landed. Happy times :-)

Edit: fs 11500, 3d 11 - to be tested, 06 34000

Edit: M6800 sold - Im lookimng into zbook 15 g2 for long term due to tb2 :-)

[Tech Inferno Fan]

@darkydark, looks like this is your full eGPU implementation details:

pcekspert.com (hr): DIY eGPU - Dell M6800 + Dell E5430 + GTX980/GTX760@4Gbps+c-EC2 (EXP GDC V6)

[darkydark]

@darkydark, looks like this is your full eGPU implementation details:

pcekspert.com (hr): DIY eGPU - Dell M6800 + Dell E5430 + GTX980/GTX760@4Gbps+c-EC2 (EXP GDC V6)

@Tech Inferno Fan It's my article, I've recently started working for them and this is actually my second eGPU article for them. First was with Dell Latitude E5430 + GTX 760 which was plug n play. Funnily enough that E5430 was also plug n play with Radeon R9 270X.

3rd article is planned with 2570P and AMD R9 270x I'm just waiting for a friend to give me test details of that same 270X in combination with his 2500K so I can provide more of the relevant information about eGPU and how it scales and works.

If there is enough interest I could translate both articles to English as entire series is or at least should serve as introduction into eGPU world and I try to cover as much implementations I could with limited amout of time I have with hardware i get.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

@Tech Inferno Fan It's my article, I've recently started working for them and this is actually my second eGPU article for them. First was with Dell Latitude E5430 + GTX 760 which was plug n play. Funnily enough that E5430 was also plug n play with Radeon R9 270X.

3rd article is planned with 2570P and AMD R9 270x I'm just waiting for a friend to give me test details of that same 270X in combination with his 2500K so I can provide more of the relevant information about eGPU and how it scales and works.

If there is enough interest I could translate both articles to English as entire series is or at least should serve as introduction into eGPU world and I try to cover as much implementations I could with limited amout of time I have with hardware i get.

That explains the high level professionalism of the articles. If you had the inclination to translate them to English then they would make fantastic guides for each of those machines. Would be desirable if you could repost them on here in English

[darkydark]

That explains the high level professionalism of the articles. If you had the inclination to translate them to English then they would make fantastic guides for each of those machines. Would be desirable if you could repost them on here in English

All 3 articles are translated, just waiting for our translator to fix up my bad grammar.

In the meantime I've received FreeSync monitor R9 290 and FirePro W8100 and will try eGPU on those two very soon

EDIT:

M6800 R9 290 eGPU implementation proces:

1. Enter bios and disable switchable graphics

2. Boot into windows and install latest available Catalyst drovers

3. Put computer to sleep

4. Plug in R9 290 eGPU

5. Profit

6. Make sure you only plug in eGPU when you send computer to sleep

Edit2:

For some reason sleep method is no longer needed. Pure plug n play, like in desktop :-)

Also just testing AMD FirePro W8100 which is also plug n play :-)

[supsep]

Is the FreeSync noticiable? I am thinking of setting one up with my MBPr and a AMD card, but deciding if its worth it or not.

[darkydark]

FreeSync was noticable, expecially in games like World of Tanks which suffer a lot from screen tearing.

[JediPartTime]

On 4/29/2015 at 4:52 AM, darkydark said:

All 3 articles are translated, just waiting for our translator to fix up my bad grammar.

In the meantime I've received FreeSync monitor R9 290 and FirePro W8100 and will try eGPU on those two very soon

EDIT:

M6800 R9 290 eGPU implementation proces:

1. Enter bios and disable switchable graphics

2. Boot into windows and install latest available Catalyst drovers

3. Put computer to sleep

4. Plug in R9 290 eGPU

5. Profit

6. Make sure you only plug in eGPU when you send computer to sleep

Edit2:

For some reason sleep method is no longer needed. Pure plug n play, like in desktop :-)

Also just testing AMD FirePro W8100 which is also plug n play :-)

 

I don't know if it's late but I just want to say thank you for your helpful guide. I followed this instruction for R9 290 and clean uninstall for AMD Drivers (Nvidia 760 guide) and now I have an awesome Crimson driver running on my M4800: Firepro as primary, Radeon R9 200 as secondary if I attach it to a monitor. Just thank you!