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PROBLEM - Lenovo x230 / EXP GDC Beast/ GTX960


sammael.liu

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Hello all,

 

I am new in this area (eGPU) and have some issues. When I Google my problems, this forum pops out to me. After review some posts, I still cannot figure out my problems, so I decide to register on the site and ask my questions here.

Those are my parts: 

 

Lenovo Thinkpad x230 with i7-3520M, 16GB RAM, Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
EXP GDC BEAST, Expresscard
EVGA 500 W1 80+, 500W Continuous Power, Power Supply

Gigabyte GTX 960 Overclocked 4 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card GV-N960WF2OC-4GD


 

My problems are:

When I pluged in the Expresscard, the computer can catch the graphics card, and it told me to restart the computer if I want to use it. After I restarted the computer, it worked! The fans on the graphics card spun, and I can see the screen in the external monitor, and it showed me that I was using GTX 960 now. I tried to watch the movie, and it worked well. But the fans on the graphics card stopped spinning. I am not sure it is normal or not, but my computer still worked fine.

HOWEVER, when I tried to play the video game, it worked at first. But after about half hour, it would suddenly shut down, then restart the computer. At this time the graphics card did not work, so I have to use the internal LCD. I was trying to re-start the graphics card, but it still did not work and it was a little warm. I have to wait for some time to use the graphics card and the whole kit again.

 

Does anyone know how this happen? It worked for a long time for movie(at least 1.5hrs), but it only worked for 30min for game.

 

I also tried to change in BIOS. Inside "POWER" I think there is "PCI Express Power management", and the default is "enable". I tried to change it into "disable", but the result is still the same. I tried this change because I thought this is referred to "Disable PCIe Power Saving", but I am not sure. Or does anyone know where should I change?

 

I would very much appreciate your help in this case.

 

Thank you in advance!

Sammael

Edited by sammael.liu
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Other than overheating, the issue may be due to running the eGPU at Gen2 PCIe speed. EXP GDC has been found to glitch when doing that, whereas PE4C V3.0 (with it's soldered cable) does not.

So can test for this as being the problem by downgrading your expresscard slot to Gen1 using either a BIOS option or Setup 1.30 and test further.

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4 hours ago, neoseeker said:

Sounds like overheat issue to me. Try using measuring software like Speccy and record the temperature when idle an when gaming.

No, I tried to track the temperature. A second before the computer shut down, the graphics card is about 2X°C. That's why I said "warm" instead of "hot. :D And I don't know why I have to wait for using the graphics card again. Right now, I have been waiting for 2 hours and it is cold, but I still cannot use the graphics card through EXP CDG.

 

3 hours ago, Tech Inferno Fan said:

Other than overheating, the issue may be due to running the eGPU at Gen2 PCIe speed. EXP GDC has been found to glitch when doing that, whereas PE4C V3.0 (with it's soldered cable) does not.

So can test for this as being the problem by downgrading your expresscard slot to Gen1 using either a BIOS option or Setup 1.30 and test further.

Since I still cannot make my laptop catch the graphics card through EXP CDG, I will try to change to Gen1 tmr. The options are only "Generation 1" and "Automatic". And the default is "Automatic".

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12 minutes ago, sammael.liu said:

No, I tried to track the temperature. A second before the computer shut down, the graphics card is about 2X°C. That's why I said "warm" instead of "hot. :D And I don't know why I have to wait for using the graphics card again. Right now, I have been waiting for 2 hours and it is cold, but I still cannot use the graphics card through EXP CDG.

 

Since I still cannot make my laptop catch the graphics card through EXP CDG, I will try to change to Gen1 tmr. The options are only "Generation 1" and "Automatic". And the default is "Automatic".

 

Yes, try "Generation 1" and confirm it's actually switching to Gen1 by watching the output of GPU-Z while the eGPU is under load.  I say that because there have been a few Lenovo BIOS that have no switched properly to Gen1 requiring Setup 1.30 to do it properly.

 

Load the GPU by going to the NVidia control panel -> Adjust image where the NVidia logo starts spinning. If GPU-Z reports x1 1.1 that's Gen1. If it reports x1 2.0 that's Gen2.

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23 hours ago, Tech Inferno Fan said:

 

Yes, try "Generation 1" and confirm it's actually switching to Gen1 by watching the output of GPU-Z while the eGPU is under load.  I say that because there have been a few Lenovo BIOS that have no switched properly to Gen1 requiring Setup 1.30 to do it properly.

 

Load the GPU by going to the NVidia control panel -> Adjust image where the NVidia logo starts spinning. If GPU-Z reports x1 1.1 that's Gen1. If it reports x1 2.0 that's Gen2.

Hi Tech Inferno Fan,

 

I just tried, and the result is still not good and I include some images here (Sorry, my computer is in Traditional Chinese, just ignore it :) ):

1. http://imgur.com/rBzLRFI

    All options are the same as the default, and I have already changed "Express Card Speed" into "Generation 1" (This image was taken before that).

2. http://imgur.com/qcbnIpn

    This is GPU-Z Graphics shows when Nvidia logo starts spinning. And it shows "PCI-E 1.1x16@x1 1.1" in "Bus Interface". I think this means that Lenovo BIOS has switched properly to Gen1.

 

However, the problem is still here, and it is even worse now. Right now, when I just connect to the EXP GDC and the graphics card, it can only work about 8 min without playing any game, and suddenly shut down. After that, I have to wait for few hours to re-connect them again, and I do not know the logic about waiting, but I just have to wait for re-connection. And that's why I post this late today...

 

I have some thoughts here:

1. When I connect to EXP GDC and GTX 960 and restart my computer, both GPUs (GTX960 and HD Graphics 4000 ) are working. Is it normal? If not, how do I stop HD Graphics 4000?

2. Do I need to change the BIOS? Now my setting is the same as the image I show except for the "Express Card Speed".

 

http://imgur.com/8FjYrYE

And this image shows what my computer showed before shut down and restart. It show my computer has some errors and need to be restared. They are collecting the information, once it get 100%, it will restart. And for more information, please search for error code: VIDEO_DXGKRNL_FATAL_ERROR.

I am not sure does this error code matter or not because I am thinking maybe it is graphics card stop working first, then the computer suddenly disconnect with the graphics card, so this error code comes later. I would very much appreciate your help in this case. :) 

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I have (1) updated the HD 4000 driver, and (2) changed "PCI Express Power management" from "enable" to "disable" again. And I have be playing the game for more than an hour without shut down or restart. I will try again tomorrow. If I can still play the game without any issue, then I think my problem is solved.

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47 minutes ago, sammael.liu said:

I have (1) updated the HD 4000 driver, and (2) changed "PCI Express Power management" from "enable" to "disable" again. And I have be playing the game for more than an hour without shut down or restart. I will try again tomorrow. If I can still play the game without any issue, then I think my problem is solved.

 

Nice work. Out of curiousity, can you enable the PCI Express Power Management to enabled again and then set your Windows power profile to "High Performance"? That sets an option "PCI Express -> Link state power management" to disabled, which should effectively achieve the same result. Pls test if you have a chance and advise.

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On 2015/12/18 at 2:36 AM, Tech Inferno Fan said:

 

Nice work. Out of curiousity, can you enable the PCI Express Power Management to enabled again and then set your Windows power profile to "High Performance"? That sets an option "PCI Express -> Link state power management" to disabled, which should effectively achieve the same result. Pls test if you have a chance and advise.

Too bad, it failed again... I tried the following two settings, but both suddenly shut down and restarted. This time the screen turned to black and had "BEEEE..." sound which is different from before (before showed this http://imgur.com/8FjYrYE ). When I posted yesterday at 1:47AM, I used the HDMI output on the graphics card to my big monitor. But when I did the following two trys, I used the DVI output and transfered to VGA then connect to my small monitor. I do not does this matter or not.

1. The original setting I posted yesterday at 1:47AM. I do not know why it does not work now.

2. I changed (1) "PCI Express Power management" to "enable" and (2) power management in PCI Express in advanced setting in Windows power profile. And for this one, during the 20 min working time, it turned to black screen a second and back to normal, but finally shut down and restarted after 20 min.

 

I will try (1) "PCI Express Power management" to "disable" and (2) power management in PCI Express in advanced setting in Windows power profile. But does anyone know why I always need to wait to reconnect EXP GDC and graphics card? Now the laptop cannot catch the EXP GDC and graphics card.

Edited by sammael.liu
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It still cannot work, so I decide to change the graphics card. Does anyone recommend any graphic card that will work properly with the following items?

 

Lenovo Thinkpad x230 with i7-3520M, 16GB RAM, Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
EXP GDC BEAST, Expresscard
EVGA 500 W1 80+, 500W Continuous Power, Power Supply

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47 minutes ago, sammael.liu said:

It still cannot work, so I decide to change the graphics card. Does anyone recommend any graphic card that will work properly with the following items?

 

Lenovo Thinkpad x230 with i7-3520M, 16GB RAM, Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
EXP GDC BEAST, Expresscard
EVGA 500 W1 80+, 500W Continuous Power, Power Supply

 

Suggest get better quality PE4C V3.0 instead of the EXP GDC Beast, which numerous DIY eGPU users have reported quality problems with with Gen2 signalling and instability.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Sammael

 

I am just curious that you didn't encounter the wellknown "100% cpu load" issue with your 16G RAM setup on the X230 connecting eGPU?

reference: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/Betreff-100-CPU-load-with-16GB-RAM-eGPU/td-p/1219312 

 

I'm having exactly the same issue posted in this thread.

 

Thanks!

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