eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[DarkCond0]

What about the SWEX connector? Is that not required for the setup?

I only ask because I don't see a plug for it in his pictures. Is this PSU any better than the 210 Xbox?

I too like the PE4H 3.2 but have two issues with it.

1. Non detachable cable

2. Two PSU needed.

You only need one PSU. Just plug into the ATX connector in the enclosure and the ATX connector will have 6-pin cables for the video card.

[sgogeta4]

I've had similar issues on my x220t (i7-2620m, 8gb ram, Windows 8 pro 64 bit UEFI) with my GTX 460. It worked totally fine when I had Windows 7 but since upgrading to Win 8 it's not worked. The weird thing is that I've got Win 8 installed on a new SSD, and when I put the old hard drive which has got a Win 7 install which was previously working with the eGPU it still doesn't work. I've downgraded the BIOS which didn't help then reflashed the latest UEFI/BIOS too, it's still not working. Do you use BIOS or UEFI?

You say your eGPU is detected by device manager, but with what combination of switches? In all BIOS and Windows combinations the eGPU isn't detected unless I force detection by putting SW1 into position 2 (x2-x16 PCIe mode), and SW2 doesn't make any difference. Then I get it detected in device manager and can install drivers but have the same message of you of no display attached to an NVidia GPU, either on the internal or external screen. In Win 7 I get error 12 and in Win 8 I get 'no drivers are installed for this device' even after a successful driver install, then manually selected one doesn't work. I think I'm right in saying this indicates a TOLUD issue? I've not got any spare RAM sticks to test with <4gb, but as I say it was all working fine before.

Is this a problem common to Lenovos on Win 8? Has anyone got a Lenovo running Windows 8 working with an eGPU?

I believe my system still uses BIOS, even though I have UEFI mode also enabled, since when I press F1, it's still all text based. I originally installed my eGPU with Win 8 and did get it to work briefly but once I removed the expresscard, I haven't been able to get it working again. In device manager, it shows my eGPU fully operational when it's plugged in but I cannot get my internal screen to run off the eGPU.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I believe my system still uses BIOS, even though I have UEFI mode also enabled, since when I press F1, it's still all text based. I originally installed my eGPU with Win 8 and did get it to work briefly but once I removed the expresscard, I haven't been able to get it working again. In device manager, it shows my eGPU fully operational when it's plugged in but I cannot get my internal screen to run off the eGPU.

Your W520 needs it's FX2000M disabled either in the bios or using Setup 1.1x. That then will allow your GTX650Ti eGPU to be given Optimus internal LCD functionality.

[DarkCond0]

Actually... anyone know how to wire an xbox psu to 24-pin atx?

[tondy]

Actually... anyone know how to wire an xbox psu to 24-pin atx?

Do you mean wire the 360 psu such that you can switch it on using the SWEX?

[DarkCond0]

Do you mean wire the 360 psu such that you can switch it on using the SWEX?

`

No, I mean an actual 24-pin atx. To power this PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)

Note that it can be directly powered through the 24-pin ATX connector.

[Jaster]

`

No, I mean an actual 24-pin atx. To power this PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)

Note that it can be directly powered through the 24-pin ATX connector.

Let's investigate this idea. Here is a pinout of a 24-pin ATX connector:

Credit: Pinout cable and connector diagrams-usb, serial rs232,rj45 ethernet, vga, parallel, atx, dvi...

You can see the basic Xbox pinout in my post above, based on work done by Elmopol on NBR.

First impressions are that this would be rather complicated, particularly without knowing which pins the PE4H actually uses. For example if it requires the 3.3v or 5v supply on the ATX connector you'd need to do a lot of extra wiring, which would IMO negate the benefits of the Xbox PSU in terms of price and compactness. You'd probably be better of using a pico psu as discussed on the previous page as they provide a 24-pin ATX connector as standard in a very small package.

[sgogeta4]

Your W520 needs it's FX2000M disabled either in the bios or using Setup 1.1x. That then will allow your GTX650Ti eGPU to be given Optimus internal LCD functionality.

It is disabled. I have it set to GPU: integrated, nVidia Optimus: detect. The internal LCD runs off the iGPU but does not switch to the eGPU when I play games.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

It is disabled. I have it set to GPU: integrated, nVidia Optimus: detect. The internal LCD runs off the iGPU but does not switch to the eGPU when I play games.

You'll know if the bios is configured correctly for eGPU use when only the Intel HD3000 and GTX650Ti are listed in Device Manager. THe FX2000M shouldn't appear. In addition I found the eGPU needed to be on the pci-e bus prior to booting Windows for the internal LCD functionality to work. The way you could do that is halt Windows loading with the F8 key, hotplug the EC2C end of your PE4L/PE4H into the expresscard slot, then select Windows to load it. If still have no success then suggest remove the NVidia and Intel HD drivers and reinstall. Ensure you do a 'clean' NVidia driver install.

[DarkCond0]

First impressions are that this would be rather complicated, particularly without knowing which pins the PE4H actually uses. For example if it requires the 3.3v or 5v supply on the ATX connector you'd need to do a lot of extra wiring, which would IMO negate the benefits of the Xbox PSU in terms of price and compactness. You'd probably be better of using a pico psu as discussed on the previous page as they provide a 24-pin ATX connector as standard in a very small package.

....yeaaaaaah, I'm going to drop that idea haha. Thanks!

I'm just worried that the pico PSU might not supply enough power, since it's capped at 160W. I can't seem to find the tdp of my specific card anywhere...

[Jaster]

....yeaaaaaah, I'm going to drop that idea haha. Thanks!

I'm just worried that the pico PSU might not supply enough power, since it's capped at 160W. I can't seem to find the tdp of my specific card anywhere...

Pico PSUs can be had rated up to 200w which should be fine unless you're using something really cutting-edge, which would be in all likelihood wasted on the expresscard bottleneck anyway. I posted a link to a 200w model on at some point in the last two pages.

EDIT: Here it is: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200W-DC-DC-12v-Mini-Power-Supply-PW-200V-Mini-ITX-PSU-/260379034980?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item3c9fccc564

The next thing to check is whether it will fit on the PE4H as the 24-pin connector is actually mounted to the PCB.

[DarkCond0]

Found this, what do you think?

New 12V 200W DC DC ATX 24 Pin Motherboard Power Supply | eBay

[Jaster]

On paper that should work. Pair it with a suitable AC adapter such as the one below and you should be good to go.

192W 12V AC DC Adapter with Mini DIN and Mini Fit Jr PicoPSU | eBay

It looks like PSU you've linked has a male P4 connector, as does the cable from the mini DIN on the AC adapter cable, so you'd need a gender bender to link them or alternatively you could cut and solder them.

Or alternatively this complete kit has both items and presumably the appropriate connectors, although the PSU is only rated to 160w: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-picoPSU-160-XT-w-AC-DC-12V-192W-16A-switching-adapter-/121047286357?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item1c2efb0255&_uhb=1

[sgogeta4]

You'll know if the bios is configured correctly for eGPU use when only the Intel HD3000 and GTX650Ti are listed in Device Manager. THe FX2000M shouldn't appear. In addition I found the eGPU needed to be on the pci-e bus prior to booting Windows for the internal LCD functionality to work. The way you could do that is halt Windows loading with the F8 key, hotplug the EC2C end of your PE4L/PE4H into the expresscard slot, then select Windows to load it. If still have no success then suggest remove the NVidia and Intel HD drivers and reinstall. Ensure you do a 'clean' NVidia driver install.

It is configured correctly, I only see HD3000 and GTX 650 Ti, which are both fully functional according to Device Manager. What do you mean the eGPU is on the PCIe bus? Does Win 8 halt on F8 because it doesn't seem to do anything as the Windows logo continues to load.

edit: ok, somehow got it to work. I turned off computer. Unplugged everything. Plugged it in again and powered up. Went to BIOS and made sure settings were ok then booted up. Windows 8 had some error and actually crashed when I booted up, but it rebooted and it is working as of right now lol. No idea what the deal was...

2nd edit: I think Lenovo automatically changes the BIOS setting of GPU from iGPU to nVidia Optimus sometimes when I power off everything and reboot. With nVidia Optimus, it shows the FX 2000M as well and you get the errors. Win 8 also does not like hotplugging or turning off the eGPU when the computer is running. I have found that best thing to do is press F1 every time you boot up to check that GPU is set to iGPU (not dGPU or nVidia Optimus) and that nVidia Optimus detection is enabled. Then boot up Win 8 normally and it should work.

[Jaster]

Are the nvam.inf files available anywhere these days? The links on NBR are all dead now.

EDIT: Looks like desktop 295.xx and up should work without them. Onward!

EDIT 2: Just finished my reinstall - I can confirm that the most recent desktop drivers (310.90) work excellently for plug-and-play Optimus. Just had the CUDA SDK for my software development running fine and played a quick round of Red Orchestra 2 on ultra settings, all on the internal display!

[zsph]

I got a new x230 and I think I have the TOLUD problem. I have BIOS 2.02 and I though the problem was fixed by Lenovo long ago After numerous BSOD's and other booting problems I managed to take a screenshot of PCI bus memory allocation. I have only 4GB RAM installed.

I use PE4H 2.4 + EC060A with PCIe Gen 2 support + GTX 550Ti. Any x230 owners?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

I got a new x230 and I think I have the TOLUD problem. I have BIOS 2.02 and I though the problem was fixed by Lenovo long ago After numerous BSOD's and other booting problems I managed to take a screenshot of PCI bus memory allocation. I have only 4GB RAM installed.

I use PE4H 2.4 + EC060A with PCIe Gen 2 support + GTX 550Ti. Any x230 owners?

Wow. I believe you are the first to test a PE4H 2.4 + EC060A for it's gen2 compliance. Admittedly, I was a bit sceptical that it could do gen2 since mHDMI connectors introduce noise into the pci-e signals.

* you don't have a TOLUD problem.. The PCI BUS starts at 0xCFA00000 (3.244GB ~ 3.25GB). You can clearly see the GTX550Ti is allocated. If you had a TOLUD problem, the GTX550Ti would be flagged with an error 12: cannot allocate resources error and wouldn't appear in that list at all.

* you have some other instability problem eg: insufficient power to drive the eGPU, the video clocks are not stable or the PE4H+EC060A isn't Gen2 compliant. You can the latter by switching your expresscard slot to Gen1 spec in the bios if it has that setting, or use the Setup 1.1x to do it. If it works without BSODing at Gen1 speed by fails at Gen2 speed then the PE4H+EC060A isn't Gen2 (pci-e 2.0) compliant.

I'm interested in your Gen1/Gen2 PE4H-EC060A 2.4 test results.

[zsph]

* you have some other instability problem eg: insufficient power to drive the eGPU, the video clocks are not stable or the PE4H+EC060A isn't Gen2 compliant. You can the latter by switching your expresscard slot to Gen1 spec in the bios if it has that setting, or use the Setup 1.1x to do it. If it works without BSODing at Gen1 speed by fails at Gen2 speed then the PE4H+EC060A isn't Gen2 (pci-e 2.0) compliant.

I'm interested in your Gen1/Gen2 PE4H-EC060A 2.4 test results.

You're right. I set Gen 1 compatibility mode in BIOS and it worked just fine. 3DMARK06 Scores 15767

But no luck with Gen 2. Windows just crackles with errors all the time and no Aero. I can't even open context menu anywhere, and trying to switch to external screen just kills Windows. GPU-Z still reports it's x1 speed

Should I write to Bplus and ask for a replacement?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

You're right. I set Gen 1 compatibility mode in BIOS and it worked just fine. 3DMARK06 Scores 15767

But no luck with Gen 2. Windows just crackles with errors all the time and no Aero. I can't even open context menu anywhere, and trying to switch to external screen just kills Windows. GPU-Z still reports it's x1 speed

Should I write to Bplus and ask for a replacement?

User alert: only PE4L-ECxxxA 2.1b and PE4L-PMxxxA 2.1b are Gen2 complaint

RE: zsph's Lenovo X230 + PE4H-EC060A + GTX550Ti fails at Gen2 speeds but works at Gen1 speed

The behaviour is exactly as I saw when I did Gen2 testing that failed back in Dec 2011. It too used a cable with a socketted end. From that testing I and BPlus concluded the cable could not have any mHDMI connectors on it. It needed to be soldered on both ends. The end result being a PE4L-EC060A 2.1b and PE4L-PM060A/PM100A 2.1b, which use a soldered cable and have been 100% confirmed as Gen2 compliant.

So it was surprising then that BPlus recently changed their PE4L 1.5 & PE4H 2.4a page claiming Gen2 compatibility when using such a cable with one end soldered by the other socketted. You've proven their claims are false.

So yes. Ask them for a PE4L-EC060A 2.1b and to refund the difference.

This is going to mess others' plans, eg: daver160, of using a socketted end cable to provide Gen2 capability.

I have alerted HIT and BPlus of this important finding.

[Renovatio]

This is really bad news! Thank you @zsph for doing that pioneer work for us.

I wonder if the PE4H 2.4 - PM060A also fails to do Gen 2 speeds (the one via mPCIe). Would be nice to have someone who could try this connection and verify Gen 2 support or find out that it also fails.

[zsph]

Just my 2c to this amazing community. The refund difference will probably go to cover the shipping back to Bplus. And I had to sacrifice Setup 1.x free copy from HIT.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Callout to repost DIY eGPU implementations into their own threads

There are now a number of very well documented individual threads for experiences like those shown below:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2728-13-retina-mbp-win7-th05-gtx570-internal-lcd.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2367-macbook-pro-retina-15-gtx-560-ti-%40-th05.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2824-dell-xps-15-l502x-pe4h-pm3n-gtx-650-ti-%40-1-1opt.html

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2747-12-5-dell-e6230-gtx660%40x1-2opt-hd7870%40x1-2-pe4l-ec060a-2-1b.html

If your username here, or on a competing site, happens to appear on the first page of this thread as an implementation, then please consider making such a post for your own system. The idea being to encapsulate enough details for others to replicate what you've done, provide benchmark performance data so we know where you sit on the leaderboard and perhaps include a photo or two of how it all looks.

The individual posts being easier to find, re-link and discuss than if lumped into the DIY eGPU experiences thread. We have plenty of room here for them

[Hunter20]

What i still dont get is: why is it so difficult (for Bplus) to make the cable detachable? Couldnt it be simply done just by cutting of the hdmi cable and use a universal connector to connect/disconnect it?

Something like this:

Maybe it is possible to mod a current PE4L this way to be detachable.

[sgogeta4]

Now that I'm back in one location and have managed to get my eGPU working on a regular basis with 16GB (though my system is temperamental at times), I've decided to add to the leaderboard! Since my resolution maxes out at 1600x900, I cannot do 1280x1024. Should I run the tests at 1440x900, which has 99% of the amount of pixels as SXGA? I hope the results are comparable. If not, what resolution should I use?

edit: back to 8GB. weird that with 16GB, my system freezes when my eGPU is connected and nVidia Optimus is enabled. 16GB works just fine w/o eGPU. also, does anyone notice that eGPU slows Windows start up noticeably?

edit2: ok now I've disabled eGPU completely. not sure why system keeps freezing now. the last few days have had no problems and have been running great, today it's frozen 3 times in the last few hours. argh!! frustrated. really messing me up since I'm playing multiplayer in SC2.

[lemonherb]

Hi.

I'm new to the forum and eGPU.

I bought PE4H-EC2C ver. 2.4 from amazon

Amazon.com: PE4H-EC2C (PCIe Passive adapter ver2.4 with EC2C ExpressCard): Computers & Accessories

When I got it, I plugged a GTX 460 to it, powered the GPU and PE4H, and connected the expresscard to my laptop (Sony Vaio VGN-Z790DKX).

At first, it recognized the board and the video card and tried to install drivers. Then in the middle of it, it says the board was "disconnected" and neither drivers installed.

Next time I plugged it in, nothing happens, and I don't see anything on my device manager (not even a device with error 12).

Anybody have any idea why? Do you think the board burned out or something?

Thank you.