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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


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I note implementations that come with benchmarks. There have been sprinklings of discussion about Lenovo S430 and T430s having successful DIY eGPU implementations but details have been scarce. Perhaps you can fill in the blanks for others to duplicate your findings? AFAIK, TOLUD issues have been resolved with the latest Lenovo bios which incorporates a dynamic TOLUD. Upon detecting a eGPU on bootup the bios will decrease TOLUD to accomodate it.

Thanks, nando. Is there the possibility that this will be plug and play? Do installs exist where you don't have to reboot/etc to get the eGPU to function?

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Thanks, nando. Is there the possibility that this will be plug and play? Do installs exist where you don't have to reboot/etc to get the eGPU to function?

Expresscard eGPU configurations often support hotplugging. My testing with a MBP+Thunderbolt found it did not support hotplugging.

Is the DSDT problem for every Win8 notebook or only specific models? I was thinking of formatting my computer and loading up Win8. Should I just stick with Win7?

Macbook benefit greatly from Win8's EFI install. There the Macbook can configure the Thunderbolt port + eGPU to resolve error12 issues.

I can't comment for other systems.. it would depend on their EFI framework. If however you need a DSDT override due to a too high TOLUD then Win7 is more flexible since it allows a registry DSDT override. Win8 no longer allowing that so need a DSDT substitution in Setup 1.1x instead.

A Lenovo W520's latest bios should have a dynamic TOLUD to accomodate an eGPU. Only issue will be disabling your NVidia dGPU to get the eGPU to function with x1.2Opt features and performance. Setup 1.1x can do that, best if you have a MBR installed Win7/8 rather than EFI.

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So I currently have the latest Intel iGPU drivers and nVidia notebook dGPU drivers installed. I disable the dGPU in the BIOS, then install the nVidia desktop eGPU drivers and it should work without Setup 1.1x. If it doesn't I'll figure out the Setup 1.1x thing... what is this MBR? Master boot record?

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So I currently have the latest Intel iGPU drivers and nVidia notebook dGPU drivers installed. I disable the dGPU in the BIOS, then install the nVidia desktop eGPU drivers and it should work without Setup 1.1x. If it doesn't I'll figure out the Setup 1.1x thing... what is this MBR? Master boot record?

No need to be concerned about MBR/EFI mode since you probably won't need Setup 1.1x at all since your bios allows disabling of the dGPU. Just power on your eGPU, then power on your notebook, load the latest NVidia desktop drivers and away you go.

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Hmm. Hitting a snag with the Win8 DSDT substitution.

I successfully updated the in-memory DSDT with Setup 1.x, and based off of what I saw in device manager, a large memory region was added, but I'm not doing something right. When I attempted to do a compaction in Setup 1.x, it failed, and I'm still seeing error 12 in Win8.

I've attached my modified .dsl file for the DSDT table (nando, the mods based off of your feedback, I think, is in the section demarcated with "// nando"). I did confirm that the compiled aml file is smaller than the in-memory table.

If I can provide additional useful data, let me know. This is a Dell Latitude e6500.

Thanks,

Styx

dsdt_SYSFexxx.dsl.txt

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Good morning all,

I'm trying to make up my mind about which would be the best laptop/notebook to use with an e-GPU unit. Now the graphic card would be either a 560 (probably) or a 660 (Not too probable), but I just can't make up my mind on which laptop should I buy under 600$. Another question I couldn't solve from reading first page and some others; do Sandy/Ivi never come with a PCI-e port? Would I have to remove WiFi then?

The laptops I'm looking at are the Acer Aspire 7750G (not bad specs...but big for a laptop) or the Acer TimeLine Ultra M3. I really don't want to spend more than 500$-600$ on a laptop, since that'll be mostly for working and playing LoL outside home on spare time. I'll be playing the tough games at home, stationary, where I'll stick to my eGPU.

Thanks in advance.

Side Note: I won't use the internal LCD at home, when using the eGPU. I'll be using an external one, and the laptop will be closed on top of those laptop refrigerators. I currently have an Aspire 5920 with a crappy iGPU alone. Would it work for me if I got the eGPU first then upgrade the laptop or should I upgrade first?

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Hey Nando4,

Do you think you can figure out why is that unlike most egpu users who can't seem to get Windows 8 to work with their setups, how mine ended up working the way I did it? I posted on here sometime ago about setting up a dual boot with Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 8 Pro with my x230T. I allocated space in Windows 7 for 8 (80 gbs), went and restarted while keeping my egpu plugged in and running. I ran the Windows 8 Pro setup and used the free partition, got it all installed just fine. Windows 8 added the dual boot screen for choices upon bootup. When I got into windows 8 first thing, I wasn't getting the external to work, so I unplugged, plugged back in, nothing.. did it a second time and it seemed to install the correct drivers and worked.

I repeated the same process of install windows 8 pro because of other things I still had to do and the second time required me to manually update the drivers but with the same result. I also noticed that when booting up with my egpu plugged in and running, when it got to the dual boot screen, this is where it detects the external and begins displaying to it before anything is there. It would either fail to load up the dual boot screen (just sits idlely at the flag icon) or work. If it failed, I would just reboot and it would always work on the second try. A third try would likely mean recovery mode so thank god for that hah.

I did update the bios while in Windows 7 and heard that lenovo might have some special support for egpu setups in their bios, but not sure how that would play into the method I used to get my egpu setup to work or if it even did. The other consideration is the version of windows 8. I decided to go with pro because it was only 15 bucks for the upgrade from Microsoft (The deal is still going on, I know some friends who actually say that the website just gives you the promo despite not having bought a legitimate machine with windows 7 recently). Pro also has more compatibility with programs unlike the standard version, so who knows..

I just want to know what it really was in this process that might have contributed to an easy egpu setup for the most part.

P.s. Windows 7 from dual boot screen also now seems to acknowledge the egpu existence upon loading up. Before I had a lot of trouble doing just the same thing. o.O

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Hmm. Hitting a snag with the Win8 DSDT substitution.

I successfully updated the in-memory DSDT with Setup 1.x, and based off of what I saw in device manager, a large memory region was added, but I'm not doing something right. When I attempted to do a compaction in Setup 1.x, it failed, and I'm still seeing error 12 in Win8.

I've attached my modified .dsl file for the DSDT table (nando, the mods based off of your feedback, I think, is in the section demarcated with "// nando"). I did confirm that the compiled aml file is smaller than the in-memory table.

If I can provide additional useful data, let me know. This is a Dell Latitude e6500.

Thanks,

Styx

[ATTACH]5676[/ATTACH]

Try hotplugging your eGPU in Setup 1.1x, hit F5 and confirm it's detected then do a Video cards->Initialize then Apply config.chainload MBR. That process avoids all PCI compaction and so depends on how well Win7 does the PCI allocation. I found it would automatically add the eGPU into the newly created "Large Memory" space. If not, then follow the directions to manually create a pci.bat at the bottom of the DSDT override page.

Good morning all,

I'm trying to make up my mind about which would be the best laptop/notebook to use with an e-GPU unit. Now the graphic card would be either a 560 (probably) or a 660 (Not too probable), but I just can't make up my mind on which laptop should I buy under 600$. Another question I couldn't solve from reading first page and some others; do Sandy/Ivi never come with a PCI-e port? Would I have to remove WiFi then?

The laptops I'm looking at are the Acer Aspire 7750G (not bad specs...but big for a laptop) or the Acer TimeLine Ultra M3. I really don't want to spend more than 500$-600$ on a laptop, since that'll be mostly for working and playing LoL outside home on spare time. I'll be playing the tough games at home, stationary, where I'll stick to my eGPU.

Thanks in advance.

Side Note: I won't use the internal LCD at home, when using the eGPU. I'll be using an external one, and the laptop will be closed on top of those laptop refrigerators. I currently have an Aspire 5920 with a crappy iGPU alone. Would it work for me if I got the eGPU first then upgrade the laptop or should I upgrade first?

Pretty much all Sandy/Ivy Bridge notebooks will come with a mPCIe slot for wifi. The more important question is how accessible is that mPCIe slot? Ultrabooks tend to be difficult to access that slot. Some other notebooks have a little cover over the wifi slot that can easily be removed. Still, I'd advise seeking an expresscard-equipped notebook for easiest access. The budget ones being Sandy Bridge Lenovo E420/E520, Dell Vostro 3450/3550/3750, HP Probook 4330s/4430s/4530s/4730s/6360b/6460b/6560b. All the premium business range have expresscard slots too: Lenovo X220/X230/T420/T430/T520/T530, Dell Latitude E6220/E6230/E63230/E6330/E6420/E6430/E6520/E6530, HP Elitebook 2560P/2570P/8460P/8470P/8560P/8570P.

I previously purchased a 12.5" HP 2560P due it's small size, great build quality, dual 2.5" drive capability, socketted/upgradable CPU, 3/6/9-cell battery options and low ebay price. It offers great mobility on the road and high performance when eGPU docked. Certainly available within your pricepoint. A 2570P is the Ivy Bridge version which improves things yet again by offering RAID-0 across the two available drives for very fast storage. Only issue is you won't be able to get a new one for < $600.

I just want to know what it really was in this process that might have contributed to an easy egpu setup for the most part.

P.s. Windows 7 from dual boot screen also now seems to acknowledge the egpu existence upon loading up. Before I had a lot of trouble doing just the same thing. o.O

Only thing I know about the X230T is the most recent bios versions will dynamically change TOLUD to accomodate an eGPU if they detect it on bootup. So you may have been powering on the eGPU before the system to get it to work successfully?

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In case setup-disk-image hasn't done it, copy grub.exe from c:\eGPU to c:\

Yep, I sure did. I made sure it was before I came groveling here, and I think I mentioned that before, but maybe not, who knows.. Anything else you think it could be Mr. nando? I've tried booting it from both a FAT partition and an NTFS partition, and I've made sure that grub.exe, grub.mbr, and menu.lst exist in the root and \eGPU directories each time.

So what is it that I'm missing here? Although Linux isn't necessarily my strongest suit, I'm incredibly far from a novice in this general area. I just don't know what else it could be though. I need ideas.. Anyone?

nando, could you possibly provide me with an MD5 hash for the current version (1.10b5), so that I might be able to eliminate file integrity as a potential cause?

The archive I have is a WinRAR SFX executable, with an MD5 sum of f1e093ac42e3381e031c480429997cf1 . Does yours match? The CRC32 I have for grub.exe is 65CE7B27 . Many thanks for any help offered..

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Yep, I sure did. I made sure it was before I came groveling here, and I think I mentioned that before, but maybe not, who knows.. Anything else you think it could be Mr. nando? I've tried booting it from both a FAT partition and an NTFS partition, and I've made sure that grub.exe, grub.mbr, and menu.lst exist in the root and \eGPU directories each time.

So what is it that I'm missing here? Although Linux isn't necessarily my strongest suit, I'm incredibly far from a novice in this general area. I just don't know what else it could be though. I need ideas.. Anyone?

nando, could you possibly provide me with an MD5 hash for the current version (1.10b5), so that I might be able to eliminate file integrity as a potential cause?

The archive I have is a WinRAR SFX executable, with an MD5 sum of f1e093ac42e3381e031c480429997cf1 . Does yours match? The CRC32 I have for grub.exe is 65CE7B27 . Many thanks for any help offered..

You can check the the bcd entry for DIY eGPU Setup 1.x per the instructions.

Appears you are using NTFS partitions, which grub.exe works on OK.

grub.exe should exist on your Win7 boot volume's \ and \eGPU directory to allow boot into the disk image as well as the image's \config directory to allow chainloading out of. Only reason I can think of booting the disk image failing on a NTFS partition is if it's compressed or using bitlocker, something grub.exe can't deal with.

Lastly, if you find no go booting the disk image then I'd suggest do a USB installation per the Setup 1.1x instructions.

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The MD5 signature is correct:

DIYeGPU-Setup-110b5.exe MD5=f1e093ac42e3381e031c480429997cf1 size=4.35 MB (4,568,152 bytes)

You can check the the bcd entry for DIY eGPU Setup 1.x per the instructions.

Appears you are using NTFS partitions, which grub.exe works on OK.

grub.exe should exist on your Win7 boot volume's \ and \eGPU directory to allow boot into the disk image as well as the image's \config directory to allow chainloading out of. Only reason I can think of booting the disk image failing on a NTFS partition is if it's compressed or using bitlocker, something grub.exe can't deal with.

Lastly, if you find no go booting the disk image then I'd suggest do a USB installation per the Setup 1.1x instructions.

Focking A.. Bitlocker.. I'm sure that's it. I have it suspended (so that it doesn't prompt me for my key on every boot), which is probably why I overlooked it.

Awesome ! Thanks man.. To the USB page I go..

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Pretty much all Sandy/Ivy Bridge notebooks will come with a mPCIe slot for wifi. The more important question is how accessible is that mPCIe slot? Ultrabooks tend to be difficult to access that slot. Some other notebooks have a little cover over the wifi slot that can easily be removed. Still, I'd advise seeking an expresscard-equipped notebook for easiest access. The budget ones being Sandy Bridge Lenovo E420/E520, Dell Vostro 3450/3550/3750, HP Probook 4330s/4430s/4530s/4730s/6360b/6460b/6560b. All the premium business range have expresscard slots too: Lenovo X220/X230/T420/T430/T520/T530, Dell Latitude E6220/E6230/E63230/E6330/E6420/E6430/E6520/E6530, HP Elitebook 2560P/2570P/8460P/8470P/8560P/8570P.

Then ultrabooks are difficult to access, got it. I was thinking of getting a refurbished one (DELL XPS, undercover almost fixed) from the UK, since I'm Spanish (no ñ for me on those :) ). Then would you recommend the laptop having discrete graphics or not? I've read it can make things complicated, and I don't really need one but I don't mind if it has... and I mean I really wouldn't mind.

Then the last thing, I've always thought I7 to be a wasted on gaming since it has quite a bit too much power to fully use it with your graphic, but hey, I'm outdated. I7 over I5 any day? Is the price difference worth it?

I'm finally going to get a refurbished Dell from their business factory outlet.

Thank you so very much for your help.

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Just an update on how my system is running. I have been experiencing random ATI driver failures which requires me to reset the TH05 and reboot my MacBook. These can happen at any time and I can't isolate the problem to any one variable, but my best guess at this point in time is that Flash in Google Chrome is the issue. The type of crash is the same as what I have experienced on another one of my computers which also has an ATI card running in eyefinity mode, so I don't think its related to the TH05 setup.

I am seriously considering switching to Nvidia but I require a single card that can do 3 or 4 screens at 2560x1440. This setup is not for games but only productivity work (I am a software developer so I mainly run only VS and MSSQL environments). Any suggestions?

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First and foremost I want to thank Tech Inferno Fan for all his dedication to this DIY project, and the many threads he maintains. It's not easy maintaining your composure across so many threads on the internet. That pretty much makes him a demi-god. I had been following the thread on NBR for a while (not sure about the whole banning debacle, but I don't delve into that)and came here when I saw the links.

Now on to the flesh of the matter. My notebook is the Dell XPS 15 L502x, i7-2760qm, 8GB mem, GT540M gpu (Optimus), and has a free mPCI-e port. The GPU that I bought is the Gigabyte GTX 650 Ti OC 2GB ($120), and a Cooler Master Extreme 2 Power Plus 625W (12V1 @ 24A) ($40) [both were on sale].

I currently have a PE4H-PM3N (from HIT) in the mail. I had read many, many, many pages on the NBR forum before finding out that the PE4L gives better performance due to PCI-e 2.0. But by that time, it was too late: I had already ordered the PE4H package.

In realistic numbers (say, in-game FPS), how much of a performance drop is PCI 2.0 vs 1.0? I understand that I will be able to do, at max, Opt 1.1, with the PE4H and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to upgrade my GPU from the GT540M to something capable of running games at framerates higher than just 30 fps at med settings. I've also inquired with HIT if I can exchange the PE4H for the PE4L, but I have yet to hear back from them (I only just inquired today).

I've been assembling my own gaming rigs for years. That said, I'm actually not too well versed in the differences in performance between stuff like PCI-e generations; I've only just gone with what's standard for the time.

Thanks in advance! And hope everybody had a happy new year!

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First and foremost I want to thank Tech Inferno Fan for all his dedication to this DIY project, and the many threads he maintains. It's not easy maintaining your composure across so many threads on the internet. That pretty much makes him a demi-god. I had been following the thread on NBR for a while (not sure about the whole banning debacle, but I don't delve into that)and came here when I saw the links.

Now on to the flesh of the matter. My notebook is the Dell XPS 15 L502x, i7-2760qm, 8GB mem, GT540M gpu (Optimus), and has a free mPCI-e port. The GPU that I bought is the Gigabyte GTX 650 Ti OC 2GB ($120), and a Cooler Master Extreme 2 Power Plus 625W (12V1 @ 24A) ($40) [both were on sale].

I currently have a PE4H-PM3N (from HIT) in the mail. I had read many, many, many pages on the NBR forum before finding out that the PE4L gives better performance due to PCI-e 2.0. But by that time, it was too late: I had already ordered the PE4H package.

In realistic numbers (say, in-game FPS), how much of a performance drop is PCI 2.0 vs 1.0? I understand that I will be able to do, at max, Opt 1.1, with the PE4H and I'm fine with that. I just wanted to upgrade my GPU from the GT540M to something capable of running games at framerates higher than just 30 fps at med settings. I've also inquired with HIT if I can exchange the PE4H for the PE4L, but I have yet to hear back from them (I only just inquired today).

I've been assembling my own gaming rigs for years. That said, I'm actually not too well versed in the differences in performance between stuff like PCI-e generations; I've only just gone with what's standard for the time.

Thanks in advance! And hope everybody had a happy new year!

Compare x1.1Opt vs x1.2Opt results at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-20.html#post30509 and http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13.html#post27918 . The doubling of bandwidth b/w pci-e 1.x and pci-e 2.x adds a considerable amount of extra real-game FPS.

There's supposedly a modded bios that can switch the dGPU off on your L502x so with the PE4L 2.1b it may not even need to boot via Setup 1.1x. The PE4H 2.4 woud require booting via Setup 1.1x to downgrade the mPCIe port link from pci-e 2.x to pci-e 1.1x speed. The extra performance and easier installation are reason why I'd recommend offloading/returning the unopened pci-e 1.x capable PE4H-2.4 and getting a pci-e 2.0 capable PE4L 2.1b instead.

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Hey Tech Inferno Fan, long time reader, first time writer. Have you ever thought about putting all this stuff in a wiki? It's pretty annoying trying to gather bits and pieces all over the thread. If you can't host it somewhere yourself you might give Wikia a try.

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Hey Tech Inferno Fan, long time reader, first time writer. Have you ever thought about putting all this stuff in a wiki? It's pretty annoying trying to gather bits and pieces all over the thread. If you can't host it somewhere yourself you might give Wikia a try.

Tried a wiki way back with no response in developing it so discussion (then) continued on NBR and the wiki just stagnated and disappeared. A second round (late 2011/early 2012) did build better documentation by identifying important areas needing work with individual owners then contributing, eg: SimoxTav:videos/icons and kizwan:troubleshooting guide. Those were linked with icons on the first page. Perhaps a wiki with an integrated forum could blend the best of both worlds?

For the time being, iIf you feel there is missing doco then feel free to contibute and I can link it on the first page. Same goes for modifying the first post content.. users are welcome to suggest changes and I can rework it. That's the model that came to be the default. I act as a secretary to link/summarize important info and findings as they are posted.

My immediate concern is why the TH05 has been recalled and whether it will be replaced with an equivalent in the near future. If not, that's a pretty big step backwards for affordable Thunderbolt eGPUs. I'm emailing BPlus to find the driver for that recall.

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perdon por mi ingles jejeje

the PE4L-PM060A could be compatible with my notebook?

​or what is best for my type of connection which is mPCIe??

my notebook is:

Lenovo IdeaPad V570

Core i5 2430M 2.4 GHz up to 3.0GHz

8GB DDR3 1333mhz ram

750gb HDD

intel HD 3000

my notebook has a mPCIe port, but will connect an eGPU compatible as gtx560ti?

post-8853-14494994105869_thumb.jpg

post-8853-14494994105779_thumb.jpg

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Compare x1.1Opt vs x1.2Opt results at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-20.html#post30509 and http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13.html#post27918 . The doubling of bandwidth b/w pci-e 1.x and pci-e 2.x adds a considerable amount of extra real-game FPS.

There's supposedly a modded bios that can switch the dGPU off on your L502x so with the PE4L 2.1b it may not even need to boot via Setup 1.1x. The PE4H 2.4 woud require booting via Setup 1.1x to downgrade the mPCIe port link from pci-e 2.x to pci-e 1.1x speed. The extra performance and easier installation are reason why I'd recommend offloading/returning the unopened pci-e 1.x capable PE4H-2.4 and getting a pci-e 2.0 capable PE4L 2.1b instead.

Got it, looks like 1.2Opt really makes a huge difference. No kidding about that 20-300%!

The stupid thing is, after reading all those pages on NBR, I knew that one was "better" than the other (PE4L vs PE4H), but when I was ordering the parts on HIT I had it the other way around: I thought that PE4H was the better board, which allowd 1.2Opt whereas PE4L allowed 1.1Opt.

I'll work with HIT to see what kind of return/exchange I can work out. It wasn't until I came here to register and post a thank you that I read that PE4L is the better board. Quite the "duh" moment, isn't it.

And yes, the user capitankasar at NBR has a modded BIOS for the L502x wherein there is an option to set the primary video adapter; this may or may not actually disable the dGPU, but I'll find out once I flash the new BIOS.

Thanks again!

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I just started to look into doing this to my laptop yesterday. I am sure glad i came across this forum. I just read for like 3hrs, probably to long, i only understand about 20% of it give or take. I was looking at that ViDock and really not wanting to spend that kind of money. So thank you Tech Inferno Fan and the rest of you, i've just seen his name on other forums as well is all. I'm looking forward to starting this. Not sure were to start tho. I have a Toshiba Satellite A505-s6005. i3, 8gb ram. Not sure about the chip set. i do have an express card slot tho. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Hope you all have a great night.

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