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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


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Upcoming 13" Alienware and 13" MSI GS30 with eGPU docks

Looks like upcoming Alienware 13 will have an eGPU dock port. From New Alienware 13 - Page 61

Anybody who guessed an external graphics option may be correct. This is from one of the articles from China.

<div class="bbcode_container"><div class="bbcode_quote"><div class="quote_container"><div class="bbcode_quote_container"></div>"ALIENWARE 13 notebook, it not only shows the extreme spirit of innovation ALIENWARE, but reflects our ongoing commitment to users." Dell ALIENWARE product manager for Greater China, Hu Jianzhong said, "players battle will not be limited to a certain place , but you can follow the footsteps of players unrestricted geospatial Therefore, along with the needs of the market, the more slim ALIENWARE product came into being at the same time, the pursuit of more excellent gaming experience for players, <b>can ALIENWARE optional external graphics will bring no limit gaming journey</b>. "

</div></div></div>I snipped the quote down to where it says external graphics just to get a more accurate translation (because Google Translate doesn't play nice with paragraphs). They are talking about a video card, a GPU.

“选配的外置显卡。” = "Optional external graphics card."<

More snipping kept saying external video card (的外置显卡 is external video card).

The more I think about this, though, the more I get the idea that Alienware will make that eGPU port on all laptops to compensate for soldered components (we know for the CPU, but what about the GPU?) and potential thinness.

The suspected eGPU dock port is shown at Alienware 13 Hands-on: Slim Chassis, Big Power pictured below:

AW-13-rear-ports.jpg

This would then make the new Alienware 13 a competitor to the upcoming MSI GS30 with a similar eGPU dock option. From MSI GS30 Shadow unveiled with GamingDock for graphics boost - SlashGear :

msi-gs30-shadow-and-gamingdock.jpg

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Hi, I'm having some problems with my new setup (Lenovo L440, EXP GDC 6, AMD R9 270). When I boot up with eGPU attached and powered the system doesn't boot up at all (hangs on black screen before anything else show up). If I boot up without it and then hot-power it up it works (the card's fans start to spin, ...) but the card doesn't get recognized by device manager (it's simply not there at all). It got recognized once, then I installed the AMD drivers (and got Error 12 which I exptected), but since it simply doesn't show up at all. It's not even listed among PCI-BUS devices...

I'm currently waitng for Setup 1.30 (mediafire doesn't work very well today so I can't download it) but I don't think that it will solve my problems...

EDIT: Ok, now without changing anything system (screen) started to freez when I hot-plug-in the eGPU... When I unplug it, it unfreezes... The weird thing is that it doesn't happen everytime, sometimes the device just doesn't get recognized, sometimes it freezes.

EDIT2: It seems as if the freezes are more frequent when drivers are not installed and the not-recognized when they are... But both scenarios still happen from time to time with either conditions.

EDIT3: After some 20-30 unpluging / pluging I managed to get the card recognized once again without screen freeze. But as soon as I unplugged it, it stopped working again... So as I see it there are two possibilities:

A) Laptop's Express Card slot is broken.

B) EXP GDC 6 is broken.

In either case, isn't it weird that it sometimes (1 % of the time) works, the gpu fans spin, and the behaviour is not consistent (=> sometimes it freezes the screen, sometimes it simply doesn't do anything.)

---

The GPU is ok (I've tested it with desktop PC).

Win 8.1 & Ubuntu (GRUB2)

Tried with disabled WLAN / Ethernet / card reader, ... (no difference).

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No I have the non 3D version with the crappy resolution screen. Biggest regret with this laptop was not getting the upgraded screen and the backlit keyboard, but that won't matter for long (keyboard is coming out to fit the mPCi connector, screen is not going to be used once I receive my parts).

Just so you know I am attempting this with a Zotac GTX 970. It was the shortest double fan model i could find so should fit nicely on the PE4C and have great cooling while still being energy efficient enough for the D220 power supply. The 5 year warranty is a nice option too. It is one of the slowest clocked cards available but that isn't so much of an issue since I'm not squeezing every bit of power from it anyway.

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Thanks to some advice from @Tech Inferno Fan and @jacobsson I'm putting together my first eGPU set-up. I feel like I'm close but I haven't been able to cross the finish line.

My eGPU appears in the Device Manager with its status listed as "This device is working properly". But when I connect a monitor to the eGPU it doesn't appear in the Screen Resolution display dialogue, so I can't actually choose to output through the eGPU.

I earlier ran into Code 12 and Code 43 errors while trying to boot via Setup 1.3 but I've since discovered that the device seems to work if I simply disable my dGPU in Device Manager, reboot Windows normally (without going through Setup 1.3), and then hot-plug my eGPU. After a moment the driver appears in the Device Manager list of display adapters and appears to be happy but Windows doesn't seem to recognize that a monitor is connected to the eGPU. I've tried the HDMI and DVI (via a DVI to VGA adapter) ports on the eGPU. I'm using known-good cables and a working monitor. Any ideas?

Platform Description:

WIndows 8.1

Lenovo Thinkpad W530

20GB of RAM

Zotac Nvidia GTX 680

EXP GDC v7 PCI adapter via Expresscard

Dell DA-2 power adapter

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Hi thanks for the reply trollinteemo and I admire the work of Tech Inferno Fan.

My question is that do I really need Setup 1.30???

first off my laptop is a lenovo z510

win 8.1(64 bit)

core i7 4702mq

gt 740m 64 bit + HD4600 ( dgpu + igpu ) Planning to buy GTX 980 or "GTX 980 ti " (if it comes out) AX860 as my power supply and PE4C v 2.0

4gb of ram and planning to upgrade to 16 gb

regarding error 12 I think that my TOLUD size is 2.5 gb ( I saw this in another post and it is identical)

the first PCI Express Root Complex is [000000009FA00000 - 00000000FEAFFFFF]

Then

I can set UMA only in the BIOS utility to only use iGPU, disabling the dGPU

Do I need a PCI compaction with the eGPU and the iGPU?

Then the last and the one that Im really nervous about. I dont know if this laptop has a bios whitelist.

Im gonna have to access to mpcie slot to do an eGPU setup since this laptop has no express card. I don't mind the hassle on opening the base cover of this laptop.

Im buying this setup just for the whitelist XD I dont know if this is going to be worth it

So Im gonna be using setup 1.30 (if I have a whitelist) instead of modding the BIOS because I dont want to void warranty ( still have 2 years) and brick my laptop.

Do you think Im gonna have okay performance PRICE:PERFORMANCE

A reply would be appreciated. :D

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Hi @gothic860, yes I have, and thank you for writing it.

Among other things I've tried following your steps with only these differences:

  • I'm running Win8.1
  • I have a EXP GDC v7 instead of a PE4L

  • I don't see an option in Setup 1.3 to choose between 32bit and 32bitA compaction, so I'm just using the default.

That eliminates the Code 12 error but results in a Code 43 instead.

With regards to that Code 43, I think my next step is probably to try this solution from the FAQ, but that's going to require finding/buying a 2GB stick of RAM since 4GB is the smallest I've got in my laptop.

In the meantime it seemed like the hot-plug "solution" is really promising, so it's rather frustrating that the monitor doesn't get listed. I'm just not sure what the issue is there.

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Maybe its a Windows 8.1 problem.

Thanks for the suggestion @gothic860. I installed Windows 7 as a dual boot to test if Win8.1 is the issue, but if I chainload from eGPU Setup 1.3 to Win7 I immediately get a black "Windows failed to start...a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed" failure screen. I searched the forums but apparently that's not a common issue.

I had to uninstall my K2100M to get a display output

In Windows 8 or Windows 7? I have my K4000 dGPU disabled in Win 8, and un-installed in Win 7.

Not sure where to go from here. I guess I'll try and find a 2GB stick of RAM and use it try to resolve my Code 43 issues in Win8.1 with a dump/load.

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Thanks for the suggestion @gothic860. I installed Windows 7 as a dual boot to test if Win8.1 is the issue, but if I chainload from eGPU Setup 1.3 to Win7 I immediately get a black "Windows failed to start...a required device isn't connected or can't be accessed" failure screen. I searched the forums but apparently that's not a common issue.

Please change from the default MBR2 chainloader mode to MBR or BOOTMGR. That's set via the Chainloader->mode menuitem. Do a Chainloader->Test Run to test it.

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Does a Intel HD graphics item appear in Device Manager or can you get one by playing with BIOS settings? If so, does it appear with an LCD attached to it? I believe the answers here are no, so you wouldn't be able to use NVidia Optimus to provide an accelerated internal LCD mode. The best you could do is drag *windowed apps* from the external LCD to the internal one. There is the Chung-gun or Ultramon method to set up a dummy external LCD and then drag a phantom window to the internal one.

Only benefit Setup 1.30 could have for your implementation: http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/7563-%5Bguide%5D-17-dell-m6500-gtx670%402gbps-ec1-pe4l-2-1b-win7-64-a.html#post103826 then would be to activate the dormant iGPU under Windows 8.1 That would engage x1 pci-e compression accelerating DX9 apps considerable. Example of doing that is at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/6792-%5Bguide%5D-15-acer-aspire-5742g-gtx660ti%402gbps-c-mpcie1-pe4c-1-2-win8-1-a.html#post92801 .

Just rereading this again... My CPU is an Intel Core i7 620M, which according to Intel Core i7 620M Notebook Processor - NotebookCheck.net Tech has the Intel HD built in with it. Shouldn't that mean I should be able to enable it somehow, or if I was to use Setup 1.30 to disable the dGPU, that would kick it in?

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Just rereading this again... My CPU is an Intel Core i7 620M, which according to Intel Core i7 620M Notebook Processor - NotebookCheck.net Tech has the Intel HD built in with it. Shouldn't that mean I should be able to enable it somehow, or if I was to use Setup 1.30 to disable the dGPU, that would kick it in?

You can enable the dormant iGPU to gain x1 pci-e compression under Windows 8.1 as described at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/6792-%5Bguide%5D-15-acer-aspire-5742g-gtx660ti%402gbps-c-mpcie1-pe4c-1-2-win8-1-a.html#post92801 . That will not enable an accelerated internal LCD mode as your iGPU is not wired to do that.

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Hi @Tech Inferno Fan, I tried chainloading into Win7 using MBR and BOOTMGR and I receive the same "a required device isn't connected or can't be access" error. No problem booting into Win8.1 (although I haven't been able resolve the display issue I have there).

Any other thoughts?

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Hello eGPUers,

Today the Alienware 13 was announced (it launches tomorrow), which normally we wouldn't be too excited about. However, in addition to the Alienware 13, Dell is also releasing a $300 eGPU enclosure which a user can connect any GPU of their choosing. Essentially, this is the first commercial and mass-market (aka. affordable price) eGPU solution to come to light that is actually being released and that Intel cannot kill.

Here's a review (there are tonnes of them out there): Alienware 13 Review: The First Futureproof Gaming Laptop

The eGPU works nearly flawlessly according to the review (some issues with PhysX) with NVidia graphics cards. Probably some other reviewers used AMD cards, but I haven't read all of them yet. (@Tech Inferno Fan feel free to edit this post with whatever info you want to if you'd like to).

As of right now, the Alienware 13 is the only laptop to support their eGPU implementation. It's being called "Graphics Amplifier". I see no reason for Dell not to just add the proprietary port, needed for connection between the eGPU and the laptop, to their other lines of laptops. I have a strong feeling that this will spark other companies to try and out-eGPU Alienware, particularly because other boutique builders like to compare themselves to Alienware so much (such as Origin PC). Honestly, Dell was the company I least expected to release a reasonably priced eGPU solution, so props to them for getting it to market.

As an additional point for speculation, it's interesting to consider if Intel will retaliate in any way, and if so how.

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<strike>2014 15" Macbook Pro with i7-4980HQ 2.8-4.0Ghz 47W CPU hitting 66.55W - it's TDP unlocked!!

Any OEM manufactures reading this thread take now. Apple impresses yet again, removing performance restrictions that other PC notebook vendors impose.

We can see at 57s in the video below, a 2014 15" rMBP quad-core machine with GTX780Ti eGPU sees the CPU hitting 66.55W TDP and over 100 degrees temps at 3.5Ghz 4-cores. This means it is TDP unlocked and is only temperature throttled. </strike> Had this user applied a -80mV undervolt, as is available on Haswell CPUs using either Throttlestop or XTU, he'd be hitting the 3.8Ghz 4-core max. There may be potential to go further given the CPU has an additional 6 unlockable turbo bins (4.4Ghz max 4-core) by applying improved cooling and undervolting.

Cooling could be improved by drilling some holes on the undercarriage and/or sitting the machine on a notebook cooler.

<strike>I wish Elitebook/Zbook/Latitude/Precision/Thinkpads and ASUS gaming/business PC notebooks gave their systems the same flexibility. They bios-lock their systems to the nominal CPU TDP, which would be 47W here. That would net ~500Mhz less 4-core performance . This rMBP has gaming cred. Even more so with the upcoming Broadwell version with a more efficient 14nm CPU.</strike>

Update: CPU hits a max of 48W TDP at 59s. The 66W value was a short burst only.

With reference to this post, is it still viable to undervolt the CPU in the rMBP to achieve the 3.8ghz max? Has anyone attempted this?

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@Tyrant Erik

Very cool to see a commercial try for eGPU! That CPU though :( I can't recommend buying this for gaming, but maybe for editing and other tasks. Still cool to see that someone gets the concept!

Sent from my iPhone

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Hello eGPUers,

Today the Alienware 13 was announced (it launches tomorrow), which normally we wouldn't be too excited about. However, in addition to the Alienware 13, Dell is also releasing a $300 eGPU enclosure which a user can connect any GPU of their choosing. Essentially, this is the first commercial and mass-market (aka. affordable price) eGPU solution to come to light that is actually being released and that Intel cannot kill.

Here's a review (there are tonnes of them out there): Alienware 13 Review: The First Futureproof Gaming Laptop

As an additional point for speculation, it's interesting to consider if Intel will retaliate in any way, and if so how.

I believe Intel will have no problem with this eGPU dock.

I speculate their issue is with pluggable and scalable eGPU CUDA/OpenCL processing displacing Intel CPUs from doing the grunt work and instead being used to just run the OS.

I elaborate more about this in http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/8130-why-intel-not-allowing-thunderbolt-egpus-ideas-inside.html

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Setup 1.30 is the last option available if all others are exhausted. Other hardware tests you may consider are: (1) testing the video card in a desktop system to confirm it's working OR test another video card with your eGPU hardware (2) test the EXP GDC V6 with another notebook to confirm it can do reliable PCIe comms (3) test the EXP GDC V6 using a Gen1 rather than Gen2 pci-e link, an option available in the 2560P BIOS.

Gen 1 link did the trick, thanks a bunch @Tech Inferno Fan !

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hi!,anybody have an idea why the bpplus quit the pciemm-060b cable from their store?it is very easy to work with it.

:uncomfortableness: and i think it is the only way to try a x1.2 conection on the pe4h v2.4 adapter,by using this cable.tiny and usefull.

a bad move from bp plus.

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hello, i am new to egpu but this forum is really helping me understand some things to get started. which egpu video card do you guys recommend (for best performance) for my laptop:

lenovo G460 i5-460m 2.53Ghz

nvidia geforce 310M

HM55 Chipset

4 GB ram

Expresscard34

win7 ultimate 64bit

After some research, i found out that my laptop only supports pcie v1.1 and i only want to use my expresscard slot to plug my egpu (so only x1). i read that x1.1Opt is the best solution for me but i didn't quite understand what it really is or how to set it up. if someone can explain it to me i would be very grateful. i would also like to know if i'm gonna need setup 1.3 from nando when i install everything. I was thinking of getting a GTX 750 Ti but im not quite sure. what do you guys suggest?

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