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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


Tech Inferno Fan

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Only setting I've see being altered on Lenovo machines was to enable/disable the expresscard slot (enabled by default) and change it from AUTO (Gen2) to Gen1 (Gen2 is default). Should you happen to be limited by either of those locked bios settings then Setup 1.30 can be used to change both of them.

Lenovo have also had a habit of setting a high TOLUD that limits eGPU use to use with 3GB of system RAM or less. If affected then:

- if your T430 is a dGPU-equipped model, then once again Setup 1.30 can be very useful. There you can disable the dGPU and have the eGPU hijaak it's 32-bit PCI config space.

- if you have an iGPU-only model, then can extend the root bridge out into 36/64-bit PCI config space to host the eGPU. That's done using a DSDT override: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html

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PE4C V2.0 photos courtesy of pmobile.vn

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/9.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/9.jpg">

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/1.jpg">

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/2.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/2.jpg">

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/8.jpg">

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/9.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/9.jpg">

<img style="" src="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/10.jpg" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" alt="[​IMG]" data-url="http://pmobile.vn/files/sanpham/177/10.jpg">

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I have just checked and the BIOS settings are exactly as you said, EC enabled on AUTO.

I have also checked my TOLUD and it's sadly 3.5GB with 8GB installed ram, I have only the HD4000 Ivy iGP and from what I have read the only solution would be a DSDT override.

I think that the best way to go at it would be first trying if DSDT works with my locked down BIOS and then purchasing the required connectors, hoping that it works. (About this one, do you have any specific set-up to recommend based on my system specs?)

In the end I would love to go for the most stable/compatible set-up possible, as I said all I need is a stable 70-80 FPS on Dota2, all settings low except for the resolution which has to be 1920x1080.

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Hey guys, I need my GTX 770 to be even more portable, since it's in a case along the PSU. I was wondering if a Dell adapter would be enough for the GTX 770?

If not I'll need to think about getting something like the GTX 750 TI.

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Removed: My reply ended up in the wrong thread...

- - - Updated - - -

I understand that installing 8.1 EFI doesn't use the standard Bootcamp way. I'm not sure what exactly to do. Thanks.

My standard Bootcamp installation on a 13" Retina MacBook Pro is with EFI. So I think that all Retina models starting from late 2013 have EFI. You can check this but I forgot how. The Sonnet SEL solution worked for a few guys in this forum but that solution is too expensive in Europe (twice the US price) so I will wait a bit until the cheaper AKiTiO solution becomes available in Europe. I also prefer to be able to use the case (with some extra ventilation) and a short GeForce 960 (ITX) if that comes available in oktober (as rumored).

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So I wanted to provide an update to my configuration. For a couple of years, I have been running a GTX 460 using a PE4L v1.5 x1 express card link.

I bought a pe4h and pm3n kit from Mfactors storage, and I was able to achieve an x2 link on a dell latitude e6500.

Specs:

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

CPU: Intel e8435 Core 2 Duo @ 3.06 GHz

RAM: 4GB (required DSDT override due to TOLUD = 3.5 GB)

eGPU: Galaxy GTX 460 768mb, PE4H v2.4b, PM3N Port 1, Express Card Port 2

dGPU: Nvidia Quadro NVS 160m

The e6500's pci express layout is as follows (ICH9M Chipset):

Port 1: WWAN

Port 2: WLAN

Port 3: Bluetooth

Port 4: Express Card

With the end goal of achieving an x2 link, I first tried replacing the bluetooth on port 3 with a PM3N card hooked to port 1 of the PE4H v2.4b. The express card was hooked to port 2 of the PE4H.

When using setup 1.x (version 10e8), I the GPU was detected; however, when enabling x2 link on port 3, the side effect was that port 1 was also set to x2, causing problems with the WLAN card I had relocated to that port. In every instance, after doing the PCI compaction, the computer froze at the beginning of windows loading. In addition, I found that I was unable to detect the egpu the after setting port 3 to x2. No matter what I did, I had to reboot from within the setup 1x menu to achive detection.

When I did reboot from within setup 1x after enabling a x2 link on port 3, something interesting happened. Ports 1 and 3 were still listed as x2 ports, but somehow ports 2 and 4 were also enabled at x1 link speed. I'm not sure why this happened.....

In any case, I simply disabled ports 2 and 4 from within setup 1x, and proceeded with 36bit PCI compaction. I forced the NVS160m dgpu to be allocated to 32 bit space (no igpu on this laptop), and the GTX 460 was allocated in 36bit space (I had already performed a DSDT override).

After all of this was done, chain loading into Windows 7 provides the desired result, with my egpu confirmed working at x2 1.0 and my dgpu confirmed working as well. I noticed a significant performance increase. This is great.

I have two problems with things as they are now.

1.) I'm not able to run my mpci WLAN card in port 1. Can I not run an x1 device using one lane of the port 1 x2 connection? Or have I made an error with regards to compaction?

2.) The requirement for me to reboot from within the setup 1x menu for detection of my egpu after setting the x2 links is troubling. As a result I am unable to create a startup.bat file that would be plug and play.

I eventually want to move towards an x4 1.0 link for my egpu. That will have to wait until I obtain 2 more PM3Ns. Unfortunately, M factors storage would not sell me the PM3Ns directly, so I have to wait for overseas shipping from HWtools. I have already purchased a USB wifi adapter that seems to work well, but I was wondering if I could enable my internal wifi adapter in the interim (much less clunky solution, as I move my laptop a lot).

I currently have the cables routed in such a way that I can plug and unplug the PM3N almost as easily as the express card. I think I have an unused PCMIA port on my laptop that I would consider turning into a 3 connector micro hdmi port hub (one for each PM3N). That would enable the solution to be truly plug and play. I will be testing the effectiveness of micro-hdmi connectors tomorrow when I receive those cables.

That's all for now. Any suggestions?

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Hello, I have a laptop called Acer Aspire V3 - 517G.

My specs are :

Intel i7 - 3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz

Nvidia Geforce 710m (dgpu)

8 gb DDR3 Memory

running on Windows 8.1

I bought the AMD Radeon r7 260x DirectCU II OC from Asus to use as an Egpu and

bought the PE4L-PM060A (because I don't have any express card slot so I decided to

replace my Wlan card).

And I also bought the setup 1.x from Tech Inferno Fan to disable my dgpu (geforce 710m).

The problem is my laptop doesn't recognize my egpu at all. I powered the Egpu with a PSU and

plugged into the PE4L-PM060A and to an external monitor. The Egpu could not be found in the device

manager and not even in the setup 1.x.

And everytime when I try to disable the dgpu in setup 1.x it is still enabled in the device manager

(I don't know if this is suppose to be happen or not).

Please can somebody help me?

(And also sorry for my bad English)

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Hello, I have a laptop called Acer Aspire V3 - 517G.

My specs are :

Intel i7 - 3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz

Nvidia Geforce 710m (dgpu)

8 gb DDR3 Memory

running on Windows 8.1

I bought the AMD Radeon r7 260x DirectCU II OC from Asus to use as an Egpu and

bought the PE4L-PM060A (because I don't have any express card slot so I decided to

replace my Wlan card).

And I also bought the setup 1.x from Tech Inferno Fan to disable my dgpu (geforce 710m).

The problem is my laptop doesn't recognize my egpu at all. I powered the Egpu with a PSU and

plugged into the PE4L-PM060A and to an external monitor. The Egpu could not be found in the device

manager and not even in the setup 1.x.

And everytime when I try to disable the dgpu in setup 1.x it is still enabled in the device manager

(I don't know if this is suppose to be happen or not).

Please can somebody help me?

(And also sorry for my bad English)

Make sure to remove the protective tape on the mPCIe connector, I made that mistake once =)

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When using setup 1.x (version 10e8), I the GPU was detected;

...

I have two problems with things as they are now.

...

That's all for now. Any suggestions?

Please obtain Setup 1.30 for reasons as noted in the header: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-30-a.html#post27337

Hello, I have a laptop called Acer Aspire V3 - 517G.

My specs are :

Intel i7 - 3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz

Nvidia Geforce 710m (dgpu)

8 gb DDR3 Memory

running on Windows 8.1

I bought the AMD Radeon r7 260x DirectCU II OC from Asus to use as an Egpu and

bought the PE4L-PM060A (because I don't have any express card slot so I decided to

replace my Wlan card).

And I also bought the setup 1.x from Tech Inferno Fan to disable my dgpu (geforce 710m).

The problem is my laptop doesn't recognize my egpu at all. I powered the Egpu with a PSU and

plugged into the PE4L-PM060A and to an external monitor. The Egpu could not be found in the device

manager and not even in the setup 1.x.

And everytime when I try to disable the dgpu in setup 1.x it is still enabled in the device manager

(I don't know if this is suppose to be happen or not).

Please can somebody help me?

(And also sorry for my bad English)

It's likely you are encountering mPCIe whitelisting issues. Easiest way to confirm is to install the wifi card and boot into Setup 1.30. Confirm the wifi is shown in the ports listing. Then *carefully* unplug the wifi, power on the eGPU and hotplug it into the mPCIe slot. The powering necessary to immediately start the CLKRUN signal and have a PCIe device to use it. If there are still issues after that then please reply to the email I sent about Setup 1.30 to continue correspondance offline.

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Hi, I am new to techinferno, and am setting up my eGPU for the first time on the following hardware:

Laptop: 2013 Macbook Pro 15 Iris

GPU: EVGA Nvidia 690

Enclosure: Sonnet Echo Express SE II

PSU: Seasonic SS-520FL 520W

I have a standard Windows 8.1 bootcamp install (So I assume it is GPT edit *UEFI is what I intended to say here; as expected)

Goals: Have Optimus enabled, and have external displays functioning via the 690. Silence (Hence the rad and fans)

Issues so far:

Following a cold boot as listed in the Optimus guide my rig boots up and sees the 690! It then crashes hard with no error. If I allow the reboot the 690 is not detected. If I power off, and start the machine again I am back to step one.

I am reviewing the guides, but I don't really know where to go from here. Thanks for any links, help, insight, or general discussion you can provide!

Power: My PSU is 4 amps over the recommendation for an Nvidia 690. The wattage is also above any peak the card will hit.

I am using the paperclip method via a toggle switch.

Device Manager: No errors when using the 690 with an external display.

When using without an external display error 12 comes up on ONE of the two 690s.

Photos so far on imgur

Thanks for your time!

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GPU: EVGA Nvidia 690

I have a standard Windows 8.1 bootcamp install (So I assume it is GPT as expected)

Goals: Have Optimus enabled, and have external displays functioning via the 690. Silence (Hence the rad and fans)

Issues so far:

Following a cold boot as listed in the Optimus guide my rig boots up and sees the 690! It then crashes hard with no error. If I allow the reboot the 690 is not detected. If I power off, and start the machine again I am back to step one.

I am reviewing the guides, but I don't really know where to go from here. Thanks for any links, help, insight, or general discussion you can provide!

Power: My PSU is 4 amps over the recommendation for an Nvidia 690. The wattage is also above any peak the card will hit.

I am using the paperclip method via a toggle switch.

Device Manager: No errors

Photos so far on imgur

Assuming you are running Bootcamp 5.0 which creates a UEFI Win8 installation with PCIe SSDs. Bootcamp 4.0 creates a BIOS/MBR Win8 installation with PCIe SSDs and should be avoided.

Most glaring issue I see is the GTX690. It's a twin-GPU card for which there has been zero successful eGPU implementations. That may be why you are having zero success. Better to stick with cards known to work: GTX680/GTX770/GTX780.

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Assuming you are running Bootcamp 5.0 which creates a UEFI Win8 installation with PCIe SSDs. Bootcamp 4.0 creates a BIOS/MBR Win8 installation with PCIe SSDs and should be avoided.

Most glaring issue I see is the GTX690. It's a twin-GPU card for which there has been zero successful eGPU implementations. That may be why you are having zero success. Better to stick with cards know to work: GTX680/GTX770/GTX780.

Thanks for the information Tech Inferno Fan, I will possibly try implementing a single 690 core. But it sounds like my best bet will be grabbing a 780ti or wait for the new series of single cards to come out. I'm sure 2 cores each individually interacting with the bus oversaturates it.

I will also make sure I am using bootstrap 5, I am very sure I am as i used the latest version as of a week ago.

Edit: To my surprise, disabling a 690 core, and disabling my internal dedicated gpu is working great for an external gpu/external monitor.

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As per my post here:

http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/3539-guide-dsdt-override-simultaneous-igpu-dgpu-egpu-7.html#post104586

I'm having problems DSDT overriding on my T430 with Windows 7, no dGPU and Ivy Bridge i5, 3.5gb TOLUD.

I really want to get this eGPU setup to work but I'm not so sure about my options right now. I'm thinking of purchasing a PE4C V2.0 as that would work with my Express Card locked at Gen2 by BIOS ( No supervisor password, sadly) as I understood.

Another possibility would be abandoning Windows as Dota2 kind of works on Linux but I'd like to avoid that as it's not so stable and I play competitively so I need stability more than anything.

I would buy the 1.3 Setup but I don't know if it could do me any good, I'm a student on a tight budget so I'd rather make sure that I'm not wasting my money before buying the adapter and the software.

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Hey guys, some news!

MSI apparently has showed a new notebook, the GS30, which can also be bough with an eGPU dock of some sorts.

I wonder what connector it will use to connect the notebook and the dock tho. If thunderbolt, then that would be very interesting! Lets hope it isn't a proprietary one.

Link

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Hey guys, some news!

MSI apparently has showed a new notebook, the GS30, which can also be bough with an eGPU dock of some sorts.

I wonder what connector it will use to connect the notebook and the dock tho. If thunderbolt, then that would be very interesting! Lets hope it isn't a proprietary one.

Link

Whoah I saw the link damn it looks sick! Its like an external gpu enclosure and boom box all together wow I do hope too it would not be that proprietary and exclusive to MSI and that laptop

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Hello

I've been following eGPUs for a while now and finally bought a PE4C V2.0 last week. I've managed to make it work with a GeForce 6600 but I couldn't get it to work with the Dell AC adapter bplus shipped with it. All the power LEDs turn off once I plug a card in, both on the PE4C and the adapter. Is the AC adapter good for the trash ?

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Hi!

I wonder: if i have a mPCIe slot 1x 2.0, does it mean that it supports only gen 2.0 and that i must have something like PE4C beceause if not, it won't work beceause of uncompatibility?

<img src="http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x500q90/537/cMwDvt.png">

I wanted to know: If i have a TOLUD 2.5GB up to 4GB, can i host an external graphic card?

And can i still buy the Setup 1.x?

Thanks for the answers!

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Hi!

I wonder: if i have a mPCIe slot 1x 2.0, does it mean that it supports only gen 2.0 and that i must have something like PE4C beceause if not, it won't work beceause of uncompatibility?

cMwDvt.png

I wanted to know: If i have a TOLUD 2.5GB up to 4GB, can i host an external graphic card?

And can i still buy the Setup 1.x?

Thanks for the answers!

YOu have a HM77 (Series-7) chipset. It has a pci-e 2.0 mPCIe/expresscard slot. TOLUD=2.5GB is a very good indicator that you won't need other additional work using a DSDT override to host an eGPU. Yes, Setup 1.30 is available: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-30-a.html#post27337 .

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Hi!

I wonder: if i have a mPCIe slot 1x 2.0, does it mean that it supports only gen 2.0 and that i must have something like PE4C beceause if not, it won't work beceause of uncompatibility?

<img src="http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x500q90/537/cMwDvt.png">

I wanted to know: If i have a TOLUD 2.5GB up to 4GB, can i host an external graphic card?

And can i still buy the Setup 1.x?

Thanks for the answers!

YOu have a HM77 (Series-7) chipset. It has a pci-e 2.0 mPCIe/expresscard slot. TOLUD=2.5GB is a very good indicator that you won't need other additional work using a DSDT override to host an eGPU. Yes, Setup 1.30 is available: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-30-a.html#post27337 .

Thanks a lot for answering me Tech Inferno Fan, you really helped me,

Even if my first question was about the fact that:

If i have a 1x 2.0, does it mean that i must take a 2nd gen egpu stuff (like the PE4C)?

Thanks for answering!

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Hello :)

Here is my little creative DIY case project, consisting of an egpu-case assembled from an old broken samsung printer.

Maybe it's not the most portable solution but surely the most economic (for free!) and funny to build (furthermore I don't play games on the road, and my gtx660 is very large).

Here the original printer:

post-18229-14494998288016_thumb.jpg

Opening (video here:

)

post-18229-14494998287297_thumb.jpg

Disassembly completed:

post-18229-14494998286556_thumb.jpg

Fitting everything inside:

post-18229-14494998285801_thumb.jpg

Some cables management on the sides_

post-18229-14494998285051_thumb.jpg

Here we go!

post-18229-14494998284302_thumb.jpg

Final look with the docking station on top:

post-18229-14494998280487_thumb.jpg

post-18229-14494998281207_thumb.jpg

The air flow is not ideal but pretty much adeguate on idle and at surfing and working time (very silent, too).

For gaming and intensive work, as bonus, I can simply open the printer lid:

post-18229-14494998281931_thumb.jpg

post-18229-14494998282646_thumb.jpg

post-18229-14494998283618_thumb.jpg

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In case anyone is having the same problem as I had, you should plug the Dell AC adapter in the PE4C first then plugging it to the wall outlet.

I've no idea why it works in this order and not the other way around. Weird.

post-29308-14494998291402_thumb.jpg

Other than that, it works perfectly fine with the GeForce 6600 but damn this GPU is old. The Intel IGP performs better -_-'

I've tried it with a GT9600 but it freezes either when booting onto Windows or a few minutes after :/

Any idea on how to fix that ?

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Thanks a lot for answering me Tech Inferno Fan, you really helped me,

Even if my first question was about the fact that:

If i have a 1x 2.0, does it mean that i must take a 2nd gen egpu stuff (like the PE4C)?

Thanks for answering!

It's highly recommended you get a Gen2 capable adapter (EXP GDC V6, PE4C 2.0 or PE4L 2.1). If you get a Gen1-only capable adapter like a PE4H 2.4 or PE4L 1.5 then you (1) you lose half the bandwidth and (2) if your bios doesn't have a Gen2->Gen1 switching mechanism, you'll need Setup 1.30 software to do it.

EXP GDC V6 ATX PSU kit is US$50/$53-shipped EXP GDC Laptop External PCI-E Graphics Card - US$50.00

From http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7476-%5Bguide%5D-dsdt-override-fix-error-12-a.html#post104793

I managed to DSDT override my T430 with some black magic and luck.

First of all I updated the BIOS, something I had not done yet since I had the second most recent and I don't know if this alone does the trick but it might and in this case I'm an idiot and wasted way too much time.

Would you mind writing up a complete Lenovo T430 eGPU implementation guide incorporating your DSDT override method? We do not have one as yet for a T430 at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html#post89707

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