eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi feodor_

I have Dell E6430 (+GTX660) and I have exactly the same problem.

I've had error 12 and I made DSDT override too.

Now, my Device Manager looks exactly the same like Yours and only 1.1Opt is available.

I know the solution to get 1.2Opt working is probably to change the value of PCI bus (first of Your screenshots) from 00000000DFA00000 to 00000000CFA00000 (more info) - but when I'm trying to run Dell with eGPU attached there's only blank screen without backlit.

Also, solution could be forcing PCI bus to 2.0 mode (called also as Gen2; G2) by setpci -s command, but i don't know how to do that (call iport g2 command doesn't make it).

I tried something like setpci -s 0:1c:2 CAP_EXP+40.b=42 (0:1c:2 is graphic card info, 40 is starting address of Express Card and that address +2 should make it running in PCIE 2.0 mode - but doesn't work too).

_feodor has been was advised to get the latest Setup 1.30. It's 'iport g2' command confirmed to switch to Gen2 on all systems I've tested it on (Lenovo, Dell, HP).

[feodor_]

_feodor has been was advised to get the latest Setup 1.30. It's 'iport g2' command confirmed to switch to Gen2 on all systems I've tested it on (Lenovo, Dell, HP).

Well, actually I haven't (been advised).. Where did you write that? :-) I was waiting for an answer for days.. So now I know and will try :-)

BTW: What else did you write as suggestions to my problem? I can't find that anywhere...

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Well, actually I haven't (been advised).. Where did you write that? :-) I was waiting for an answer for days.. So now I know and will try :-)

My bad. It was Robalo that I had responded to here with that suggestion.

[Datura]

Here's some information regarding the NGFF M.2 interface and its potential to be used for eGPUs most of which was provided from the below link.

http://www.te.com/commerce/DocumentDelivery/DDEController?Action=srchrtrv&DocNm=1-1773702-1NGFFQRG-EN&DocType=DS&DocLang=EN

M.2 has differing keys for its slots. The type of key defines what type of connection the interface can provide and it also imposes a physical limitation on which NGFF cards you can actually plug into the slot itself.

An image indicating the types of cards and their keys can be found at the below link. There are some cards that will fit into multiple slots (for example a B-M card could go into a B or M keyed slot).

http://www.bjorn3d.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NGFF.jpg

The slots with key IDs of A, B, E or M would be the only ones of interest to us as they are the slots that could provide us with PCIe traffic. From what I gather, slots with the key of E may provide 1 lane of PCIe traffic while slots with keys of A or B could provide 2 lanes(PCIe x2) and a slot with key M could provide PCIe x4.

NGFF has support for PCIe 3.0. An NGFF M slot with the 4 lanes of PCIe traffic, running at PCIe 3.0 would have almost the same amount of bandwidth available as an x16 1.0 link (~32GT/s)

I'm assuming, much like mPCIe, which pins are actually connected to these slots may be up to the manufacturer to decide, for example, they may only connect the USB pins on a slot B connector.

There are a few NGFF products that hwtools has that are of interest:

P4SM2- M Key card to PCIe x4, indicated as compliant with PCIe 2.0 spec.

P4SM2 (PCIe X4 to M.2 Adapter)

While it says compliant with the PCIe 2.0 spec, it would be really awesome if it actually could run a 3.0 connection.

L12S- A or E key slot extender to B key slot, PCIe x1 max

L12S (M.2 Extender Board)

This could possibly be used to convert an A key slot to a B key slot which appears to be more popular with SSDs.

P11S-P11F- A or E key slot extender to 2 PCIe x1 slots.

Note: I'm not sure how this is possible if E keyed slots only provide 1 lane of PCIe traffic.

P11S-P11F M.2 (NGFF) to PCI-E Extender Board

The description of the P11S-P11F seems to be copied and pasted from another product as it says the below which makes no sense looking at the images of the product:

The P11S-P11F adapter is designed for desktop/Laptop PCs that convert 3G wireless M.2 Card to full/half mini card slot.

You can insert your M.2 card (Socket 2 SSIC-base WWAN) such as GSM,HSPA(3.5G), GPS, LTE cards to this adapter then plug to

USB port through USB cable.

[ajnindlo]

Thanks danialzaidi and Tech Inferno Fan. Thanks for the link, I will read it through. So for Haswell, mPCIe, then Thunderbolt, then Expresscard. Got it. That helps a lot.

[mhonthie]

Hi Nando,

i have followed your post regarding eGPU's way back from the old site, now that i believe my knowledge is sufficient and i have the confidence to build the project,

can you please confirm and clarify some question i have in mind.

im planning to buy this Kit from BPlus

PE4L-L060A-PM3N Package Contents

Unit price: US$ 71 ($100 shipped to my country )

since my notebook (Asus K42Jr Core i3 with ATI HD54XX Radeon) only have mPCIE underneath using the wifi slot. my question is, what is the most budget wise GPU i can pair it with below $90 budget.

and lastly do i really need to pay an additional $25 for that Setup 1.x software?

.

please help me decide as I'm really wanting to try this project for a long time.

[angerthosenear]

Hi Nando,

i have followed your post regarding eGPU's way back from the old site, now that i believe my knowledge is sufficient and i have the confidence to build the project,

can you please confirm and clarify some question i have in mind.

im planning to buy this Kit from BPlus

PE4L-L060A-PM3N Package Contents

Unit price: US$ 71 ($100 shipped to my country )

since my notebook (Asus K42Jr Core i3 with ATI HD54XX Radeon) only have mPCIE underneath using the wifi slot. my question is, what is the most budget wise GPU i can pair it with below $90 budget.

and lastly do i really need to pay an additional $25 for that Setup 1.x software?

.

please help me decide as I'm really wanting to try this project for a long time.

The PE4L-L060A-PM3N is the PE4L v1.5. This only supports PCI x1 1.0 speeds (Gen1). From the looks of it you have a IVB or Haswell CPU. You will want to the the PE4L-PM060A. This is the v2.1 adapter and supports Gen2 speeds. This will give you much better performance.

PE4L V2.1 (PCIe Adapter )

Not sure for an exact card for your system. I'd recommend a Fermi/Kepler card so you can have Optimus compression.

Can you disable your ATI HD54xx card within the bios? You will have to do so. Depending on what card you get and if your BIOS supports disabling the dGPU or not, you will need Setup 1.x (it can also make your mPCIe port G2 if it doesn't do that automatically when you plug it in). This would allow for Optimus compression.

Hopefully others can chime in on a recommended card.

[mhonthie]

Hi angerthosenear,

thanks for the detailed and very informative response, it helps clear things out, further check it seems i have a Core i3-350M arrandale Chip,

will this work on you suggested setup ? PE4L-PM060A

my notebook does not have the xpresscard slot, so my only option is to take out the WIFI card and use the mPCIE.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi angerthosenear,

thanks for the detailed and very informative response, it helps clear things out, further check it seems i have a Core i3-350M arrandale Chip,

will this work on you suggested setup ? PE4L-PM060A

my notebook does not have the xpresscard slot, so my only option is to take out the WIFI card and use the mPCIE.

Based on a Asus K42JR lspci output, the HD5470M model has no switchable graphics so no iGPU (0:2.0). Also, the Asus K42JR schematic tells me WLAN is port2 with no other enabled ports. Being a Series-5 chipset means it's mPCIe slot is only Gen1 capable. So overall you can only get a lousy x1 1.0 pci-e link via a cumbersome mPCIe connection.

To get a far more satisfying experience recommend you offload your system for a better eGPU candidate from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list-%5Bthin-light%5D.html . Eg: HP Probook 4530s, Lenovo E520 or Dell Vostro 3550 are budget business notebooks with an expresscard slot, an iGPU for NVidia Optimus and are all Gen2 capable as have a Series-6 chipset. They are available for low $$ on ebay.

[angerthosenear]

Hi angerthosenear,

thanks for the detailed and very informative response, it helps clear things out, further check it seems i have a Core i3-350M arrandale Chip,

will this work on you suggested setup ? PE4L-PM060A

my notebook does not have the xpresscard slot, so my only option is to take out the WIFI card and use the mPCIE.

Ah you have the 1st gen i-Series, so you can ditch my suggestion (The one I saw had the IVB CPU). And yes, the PE4L-PM060A is a mPCIe adapter with a 60cm cable length.

Based on a Asus K42JR lspci output, the HD5470M model has no switchable graphics so no iGPU (0:2.0). Also, the Asus K42JR schematic tells me WLAN is port2 with no other enabled ports. Being a Series-5 chipset means it's mPCIe slot is only Gen1 capable. So overall you can only get a lousy x1 1.0 pci-e link via a cumbersome mPCIe connection.

To get a far more satisfying experience recommend you offload your system for a better eGPU candidate from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list-%5Bthin-light%5D.html . Eg: HP Probook 4530s, Lenovo E520 or Dell Vostro 3550 are budget business notebooks with an expresscard slot, an iGPU for NVidia Optimus and are all Gen2 capable as have a Series-6 chipset. They are available for low $$ on ebay.

And with this. Since you are stuck with a Gen1 port. You really should listen to his advice and offload it for a different laptop. Would certainly be worth it. Huge performance difference.

[mhonthie]

Hi Nando and angerthosenear

Thanks for clarifying lots of things to me, this saves me alot of my hard earned cash,

as it seems my plan wont work for now for my asusk42jr,

how about my HP pavilion 2500, this one has a carbus and a AMD turion Proc, will this work ?

if it does then i might have to have this serviced as currently its dead.This have a burnt dGPU and needs re-balling.

you inputs are highly appreciated!

[rhui099]

Hi,

I'm interested in giving my old gaming laptop a boost by getting a better GPU since I have a good enough system (IMO), I heard a GTX 580 does wonders for both 3D Rendering and Gaming, I'm not into gaming that much but I want to work on 3D on this system:

Laptop: Samsung RF511-S05AE

Processor: Core i7 2670QM @ 2.2 Ghz

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT540M (Optimus)

Intel HD3000

I read here (http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2894-%5Bguide%[email protected]) that I can use the mini PCIe slot (currently has WiFi card in it), and I am ready to purchase PE4L-PM060A to make the upgrade possible.

So, my question is, can I use this graphics card?

Asus GTX 580 DirectCU II (ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 - Graphics Cards - ASUS)

or

any GeForce GTX680 or GTX690 (will have to look for a specific card with high VRAM)?

What's the best GeForce card can I use given my setup?

...and can I use a PSU with it instead of an Adapter? Because I don't know if the Power Adapters are enough (or is it? I don't know if it can reach 250W requirement of the said card).

Any useful insight to this is much appreciated!

Edit: I didn't know if there's any card with a high enough VRAM, need it for 3D Rendering

[matrix666]

Hey i got a similar question.

I'm most probably be running my set up with an i7 2630qm,

And with my Gtx560ti through mPcie slot and Optimus on an Internal Screen.

Would there be a huge difference if im running it with Gtx680?

Would my processor bottlenecking it?

Or in short, whats the best Nvidia eGPU to pair up with this processor?

[angerthosenear]

Hi,

I'm interested in giving my old gaming laptop a boost by getting a better GPU since I have a good enough system (IMO), I heard a GTX 580 does wonders for both 3D Rendering and Gaming, I'm not into gaming that much but I want to work on 3D on this system:

Laptop: Samsung RF511-S05AE

Processor: Core i7 2670QM @ 2.2 Ghz

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT540M (Optimus)

Intel HD3000

I read here (http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2894-%5Bguide%[email protected]) that I can use the mini PCIe slot (currently has WiFi card in it), and I am ready to purchase PE4L-PM060A to make the upgrade possible.

So, my question is, can I use this graphics card?

Asus GTX 580 DirectCU II (ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 - Graphics Cards - ASUS)

or

any GeForce GTX680 or GTX690 (will have to look for a specific card with high VRAM)?

What's the best GeForce card can I use given my setup?

...and can I use a PSU with it instead of an Adapter? Because I don't know if the Power Adapters are enough (or is it? I don't know if it can reach 250W requirement of the said card).

Any useful insight to this is much appreciated!

Edit: I didn't know if there's any card with a high enough VRAM, need it for 3D Rendering

You have to use a desktop PSU to power the external video card. (For the PCI power plugs that are on the card). You can power the eGPU adapter with the desktop PSU as well. You can get the GTX 680/780 if you want, not sure about the 690. MikjoA uses a Titan with his setup (and over mPCIe as well).

About how much VRAM to you expect to be using? 6GB?

Hey i got a similar question.

I'm most probably be running my set up with an i7 2630qm,

And with my Gtx560ti through mPcie slot and Optimus on an Internal Screen.

Would there be a huge difference if im running it with Gtx680?

Would my processor bottlenecking it?

Or in short, whats the best Nvidia eGPU to pair up with this processor?

I have the i7-2620M (the dual core version of your CPU with a little bit higher clock). You would probably notice a difference between the 560 Ti and the 680. You would probably benefit over connecting externally if you can however. MikjoA did some tests here (I'll ask him to do more Internal LCD tests when I see him again):

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13.html

[rhui099]

Thank you very much for that reply, I feel more confident about getting a GTX 680 card, still have to look for one with 3-4GB VRAM in it, but if there's a better card that has noticeable performance and reasonable price, than I might think about it some more.

Last question:

Can I really utilize the card's performance if I go Titan or 780Ti? You said MikjoA uses a Titan with his setup, was he able to utilize the Titan? I've been reading other posts (this and you posted here too lol) and daver160 said using a Titan for eGPU is not a good idea..

Sorry for asking too much questions, but since I'm really new into eGPU setups, I want to be sure when I buy a graphics card because these upgrades are really expensive, and I don't want to fail on first try.

Decisions, decisions...

[angerthosenear]

Thank you very much for that reply, I feel more confident about getting a GTX 680 card, still have to look for one with 3-4GB VRAM in it, but if there's a better card that has noticeable performance and reasonable price, than I might think about it some more.

Last question:

Can I really utilize the card's performance if I go Titan or 780Ti? You said MikjoA uses a Titan with his setup, was he able to utilize the Titan? I've been reading other posts (this and you posted here too lol) and daver160 said using a Titan for eGPU is not a good idea..

Sorry for asking too much questions, but since I'm really new into eGPU setups, I want to be sure when I buy a graphics card because these upgrades are really expensive, and I don't want to fail on first try.

Decisions, decisions...

Ah, he didn't add it yet on this ( http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13.html ) page, but I talk to him on steam quite often.

He has used a 480, 670, and a Titan as an eGPU. He has noticed a performance boost each time. Even between the 670 4gb model and his Titan (6gb). One time he said he was using ~5.5GB of VRAM with his Titan lol... (his Skyrim is intensely modified).

So he is able to utilize the Titan's ability (of course not the same as if it were hooked up to a desktop computer).

MikjoA's friend got a 780Ti recently so I'll have to ask about performance on that vs the Titan.

I'll see if he'll update his guide page.

---

Personally I use up my 2GB of VRAM quite often, so I would suggest 3/4GB card (it seems you will be quite intensive with your setup).

---

Don't worry about asking questions!

[rhui099]

so the port that is available in my laptop is <strike>PCIe 1.0</strike> PCIe 2.0 (it's currently being used by my WiFi card, but I'll remove that to use the PE4L connector), will I be able to use a GTX 780 or a Titan with it?

What's the best card that I can use with it?

You've been really informative and helpful angerthosenear, thank you very much for your help so far! I really appreciate it

[angerthosenear]

so the port that is available in my laptop is PCIe 1.0 (it's currently being used by my WiFi card, but I'll remove that to use the PE4L connector), will I be able to use a GTX 780 or a Titan with it?

What's the best card that I can use with it?

You've been really informative and helpful angerthosenear, thank you very much for your help so far! I really appreciate it

If it is the same laptop as earlier, you have a 6-series (2670QM) CPU, so that port would actually end up being PCIe 2.0 x1.

You would be able to use up to the new GTX 780 Ti if you wanted.

[rhui099]

@Tech Inferno Fan

I was looking (and anticipating) at *replies to my post and saw your edit, I used AIDA64 to check my System Info and it says the mPCIe that I have is 1.0...

Device Properties

Device Description: Broadcom BCM4313GN 802.11b/g/n 1x1 Wireless Network Adapter

Bus Type: PCI Express 1.0 x1

Bus / Device / Function: 2 / 0 / 0

I'm a bit confused

- - - Updated - - -

If it is the same laptop as earlier, you have a 6-series (2670QM) CPU, so that port would actually end up being PCIe 2.0 x1.

You would be able to use up to the new GTX 780 Ti if you wanted.

Yes, it's still the same laptop (Samsung RF511 S05AE) with the 2670QM CPU. If that's true then I'm good to go GTX 780 Ti

[angerthosenear]

@Tech Inferno Fan

I was looking (and anticipating) at *replies to my post and saw your edit, I used AIDA64 to check my System Info and it says the mPCIe that I have is 1.0...

Device Properties

Device Description: Broadcom BCM4313GN 802.11b/g/n 1x1 Wireless Network Adapter

Bus Type: PCI Express 1.0 x1

Bus / Device / Function: 2 / 0 / 0

I'm a bit confused

- - - Updated - - -

Yes, it's still the same laptop (Samsung RF511 S05AE). If that's true then I'm good to go GTX 780 Ti

You will have to force the port to G2, he talks about this in the 4th to last bullet point under 'Setup'

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2894-%5Bguide%[email protected]

(this would be done within Setup 1.x)

[rhui099]

You will have to force the port to G2, he talks about this in the 4th to last bullet point under 'Setup'

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2894-%5Bguide%[email protected]

(this would be done within Setup 1.x)

Oh ok, I didn't see that line and I didn't even know that was possible lol

can I do that via Nando’s Setup 1.10b5 ? or is it done in another way?

@Tech Inferno Fan

thanks for the correction, now I know it can be 2.0

[angerthosenear]

Oh ok, I didn't see that line and I didn't even know that was possible lol

can I do that via Nando’s Setup 1.10b5 ? or is it done in another way?

@Tech Inferno Fan

thanks for the correction, now I know it can be 2.0

Yes it is done within Setup 1.x. Please see:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html

The latest 1.30 is much improved over the old 1.10b5.

[grichka59]

Hello,

I am using the GTX 780 clasiffied with a good O/C up to 1250/1300 mhz , the solution with my laptop (the same as mickjoa) is realy good , great performances , lots of games can be played with all settings max , in full HD. It's a really good solution but i think that the mpcie 2.0 is near to the limit to render correctly lastest games with all setttings set to max with a GK110.

I can play BF4 at max settings , COD ghost with most of the settingsset to max , bioshock infinite at max settings to , metro last light too ... lots of games are really playable with the GTX 780 at max settings and more than 40 FPS...

As anyone try to use egpu with windows 8.1 ?

[angerthosenear]

Hello,

I am using the GTX 780 clasiffied with a good O/C up to 1250/1300 mhz , the solution with my laptop (the same as mickjoa) is realy good , great performances , lots of games can be played with all settings max , in full HD. It's a really good solution but i think that the mpcie 2.0 is near to the limit to render correctly lastest games with all setttings set to max with a GK110.

I can play BF4 at max settings , COD ghost with most of the settingsset to max , bioshock infinite at max settings to , metro last light too ... lots of games are really playable with the GTX 780 at max settings and more than 40 FPS...

As anyone try to use egpu with windows 8.1 ?

I'm on Win8.1 Enterprise x64. Works really well.

[herpmerpderp]

Hey guys! I've been following the threads for quite a while now, and I figured I might get a better response here instead of NBR since the creator of that thread is actually here.

So I'm trying to find out the performance hit an eGPU set up would take compared to a desktop.

What I think I get so far, is that output to an external screen gives better results than the LCD. All I'm looking for is optimal performance for an external output. I'm sorry if I phrased the entire post wrongly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole eGPU thing.