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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


Tech Inferno Fan

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Hello

I have a Dell Inspiron 15r n5110, Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2 GHz, nVidia GT 525M. My laptop does not have any ExpressCard or Thunderbolt port so I plan to use the mpcie port that is used for the wifi card for egpu. But i am not quite sure which parts should i get, firstly because I know little about these (like what is pcie 1 or 2 etc...?), secondly the images provided of the parts are not big enough for me to visualize. I really appreciate if anyone can tell me which parts should I get?

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Hello everyone,

I discovered this forum when I was searching for eGPU DIY stuff.

I am a total ThinkPad lover (already had a T43p, X60, X61, X200, X201, X220, T420s, X1C, Helix, and now the T440p), even doh they got worse since Lenovo took them over. My ThinkPad T440p is a really lovely machine, its fully loaded i7-4900MQ, 16GB RAM, 1080p Screen, GT730M, Big 1x Samsung 840 Evo 1TB internal (would love to do a RAID0 with the Ultra bay but as far as I know it’s not possible on the T-Series), Fingerprint, 7260AC etc.etc.. Now to the big disadvantage... I don’t have an Express Card Slot nor do I have some miniPCI or Thunderbolt... but would love to do some eGPU stuff...

Is there any solution to this part or do I need to switch over to a Dell E6440?

What I find interesting is that I found in the device manager a Realtek PCIE CardReader (I really don’t need a card reader, if we could use this device PCIE? maybe?)

Thanks a lot for all your help guys special greetings also go out to @Tech Inferno Fan: I am not sure if you remember me but we did some eGPU DIY together some years back on my X201 or X220 I am not sure which one but definitely tried some funny things together, GTX580 on a X-Series =))))

Best

Yves

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Unfortunately the T440p has no expresscard nor Thunderbolt port. For a list of better candidates see http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list.html#4th .

In expresscard form suggest a 14" Dell E6440 with a user i7-quad upgrade. Just be aware that there's no point in getting anything more powerful than a i7-4800MQ in such business class notebooks. Their 47W TDP limit will see them TDP throttled to x35 in 4-core mode as discussed at http://forum.techinferno.com/throttlestop-realtemp-discussion/6958-haswell-step-backwards-ivy-bridge-i-have-some-shocking-tdp-results.html#post95181 . Even that requiring undervolting to extract most performance. In default volt form these CPUs not going beyond the x32 4-core mode as is the max in a i7-4700MQ.

A 15" MSI WS60 2OJ is the most promising TB2 eGPU candidate. Though MSI are opportunisticly seeking > $3k for one, clearly knowing they are the only ones providing a high res, thin-and-light 15" PC notebook with TB2 ports. At pricepoint that eclipses even a 15" Macbook Pro.

I recall doing some crazy troubleshooting with a guy on a X201 trying to get Optimus and x2 going. Not sure if it was you or not. We spent hours . . .

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Unfortunately the T440p has no expresscard nor Thunderbolt port. For a list of better candidates see http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list.html#4th .

In expresscard form suggest a 14" Dell E6440 with a user i7-quad upgrade. Just be aware that there's no point in getting anything more powerful than a i7-4800MQ in such business class notebooks. Their 47W TDP limit will see them TDP throttled to x35 in 4-core mode as discussed at http://forum.techinferno.com/throttlestop-realtemp-discussion/6958-haswell-step-backwards-ivy-bridge-i-have-some-shocking-tdp-results.html#post95181 . Even that requiring undervolting to extract most performance. In default volt form these CPUs not going beyond the x32 4-core mode as is the max in a i7-4700MQ.

A 15" MSI WS60 2OJ is the most promising TB2 eGPU candidate. Though MSI are opportunisticly seeking > $3k for one, clearly knowing they are the only ones providing a high res, thin-and-light 15" PC notebook with TB2 ports. At pricepoint that eclipses even a 15" Macbook Pro.

I recall doing some crazy troubleshooting with a guy on a X201 trying to get Optimus and x2 going. Not sure if it was you or not. We spent hours . . .

Yeah, that's what I thought... :-((( I guess I keep the T440p as the Big one and buy a 2570p and fully out spec it :) I like the idea of having a 12.5", with quad i7, 16GB ram, raid 0 840 evo ssds with a eGPU :) what kind of eGPU can you recommend.

That was definitly me :D we tried for hours in the middle of the night (at least in my timezone) but I like crazy projects like this :D

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Yeah, that's what I thought... :-((( I guess I keep the T440p as the Big one and buy a 2570p and fully out spec it :) I like the idea of having a 12.5", with quad i7, 16GB ram, raid 0 840 evo ssds with a eGPU :) what kind of eGPU can you recommend.

That was definitly me :D we tried for hours in the middle of the night (at least in my timezone) but I like crazy projects like this :D

Yup.. remember that one. Was one of the weirdest troubleshooting sessions ever!!

Think you'll find very little separating the performance of your i7-4900MQ T440p and a i7-3740QM or i7-3840QM HP 2570P. Well, the 14" T440p would have mSATA, 1080P LCD, GT730M dGPU whereas the 12.5" 2570P would have the 768P LCD + eGPU. A 14" E6440 could straddle the feature set of both: mSATA, 900P LCD, HD8690M dGPU + eGPU. Only sacrifice there would be the 1080P LCD and no factory i7-quad. E6440 maxes out at 900P.

If going the 2570P route then suggest a GTX680, GTX670 or GTX760 eGPU in that order. These are all under 220W and so can be used with a EXP GDC V6 or PE4C V2.0 with their bundled Dell DA-2 220W AC adapter. They also have the lowered PCIe config space requirements so do not need Setup 1.x software or DSDT overrides, something that a GTX650/750 does need with a 2570P. The mini ITX GTX670 or GTX760 by Asus or MSI are a personal favorite. Those cards have a tiny footprint as jacobsson shows us his 2570P + mini GTX670 in a EXP GDC V6: eGPU EXP GDC - Imgur

I'll mention too that the E6440 BIOS has better handling of the eGPU than a 2570P. It being able to accomodate cards with larger PCIe config space: GTX650/GTX750 or AMD. Plus it can have the eGPU functional after a resume-from-sleep. A 2570P would hang when doing a resume-from-sleep with eGPU attached.

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Yup.. remember that one. Was one of the weirdest troubleshooting sessions ever!!

Think you'll find very little separating the performance of your i7-4900MQ T440p and a i7-3740QM or i7-3840QM HP 2570P. Well, the 14" T440p would have mSATA, 1080P LCD, GT730M dGPU whereas the 12.5" 2570P would have the 768P LCD + eGPU. A 14" E6440 could straddle the feature set of both: mSATA, 900P LCD, HD8690M dGPU + eGPU. Only sacrifice there would be the 1080P LCD and no factory i7-quad. E6440 maxes out at 900P.

If going the 2570P route then suggest a GTX680, GTX670 or GTX760 eGPU in that order. These are all under 220W and so can be used with a EXP GDC V6 or PE4C V2.0 with their bundled Dell DA-2 220W AC adapter. They also have the lowered PCIe config space requirements so do not need Setup 1.x software or DSDT overrides, something that a GTX650/750 does need with a 2570P. The mini ITX GTX670 or GTX760 by Asus or MSI are a personal favorite. Those cards have a tiny footprint as jacobsson shows us his 2570P + mini GTX670 in a EXP GDC V6: eGPU EXP GDC - Imgur

I'll mention too that the E6440 BIOS has better handling of the eGPU than a 2570P. It being able to accomodate cards with larger PCIe config space: GTX650/GTX750 or AMD. Plus it can have the eGPU functional after a resume-from-sleep. A 2570P would hang when doing a resume-from-sleep with eGPU attached.

I think I go for the 2570P since I already have a good 14" Notebook with the T440p I also own a Helix and... which I will sell for the 2570P :) here is what I thought the config will be like:

- 1x Intel i7-3840QM

- 2x Kingston KTH-X3B/8G to get my 16GB DDR3 (or should I got for the DDR3L?)

- 2x Samsung 840 EVO 1TB RAID0

- 1x Broadcom BCM4352 (since I don't like the Intel)

- 1x PE4L 2.1b with a GTX780TI

- 9 Cell HP battery

What did I forget?

Thanks for your help

Best

Yves

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I think I go for the 2570P since I already have a good 14" Notebook with the T440p I also own a Helix and... which I will sell for the 2570P :) here is what I thought the config will be like:

- 1x Intel i7-3840QM

- 2x Kingston KTH-X3B/8G to get my 16GB DDR3 (or should I got for the DDR3L?)

- 2x Samsung 840 EVO 1TB RAID0

- 1x Broadcom BCM4352 (since I don't like the Intel)

- 1x PE4L 2.1b with a GTX780TI

- 9 Cell HP battery

What did I forget?

Thanks for your help

Best

Yves

* DDR3L instead of DDR3 for better battery life

* A optical bay caddy to replace the 2570P's optical drive so you can do your monster 2TB SSD RAID-0

* A EXP GDC V6 or PE4C V2.x instead of PE4L 2.1b. Either of those giving a full x16 slot with better stability.

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@Yves. Hi man! I'm planning out my rig similar to yours but I might stick with Raid-0 500Gb EVOs. Don't need that much space and I kinda read a chart of specs somewhere that 500Gb has slightly better performance than 1Tb. Could be wrong though.

Get a 90W (slim) adapter too so you don't scrimp on power. I think @jacobsson is selling his.

Get the BCM4352 just in case you want to Hackintosh with Clover like these guys. I would try it just for the heck of it.

Maybe a Maxwell GTX880 when it arrives. With the speculated card specs, drawing only 195W of power will be ideal for an EXP GDCv6 or PE4C 2.x setup.

Since you want to max out the beast, you might want to consider getting a WWAN card as well. Just because well..you can.

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HP just confirmed me I should get a brand new 2570p by end of this week. Intel should deliver the CPU also by then maybe begin of next Week. Now I only need a good eGPU RAM. Samsungs I have already by my hand

@Tech Inferno Fan

Which DD3L can you recommend?

What are de advantages and disadvantages of the EXP GDC V6 vs. the PE4C V2.x?

@badbadbad

Hi man! :) I see we have the same intrest.

I dont really need the WWAN because I always have at least 2 smartphones with hotspot capabilites with me :)

Why is the 200W max so important? Can't I use anycard? I would like to try out a GTX Titan Black :D

Thanks again to all for your support.

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You need an extra PSU when the GPU consumes more then 200W otherwise you can use a Dell DA-2 220WAC adapter.

Too much money heh? :P But its possible with an extra PSU, yes.

Ah okay, well I won't take the eGPU with my anyway... and if I do so... I don't mind even taking also a PSU with me :) so I guess I don't have to watch on the 200W limit then :)

Does any one know if I can outperform this system?

- Intel E3 3125 not OC'd @3.40GHz

- 16GB RAM 4x4GB G.Skill

- 2x OCZ Vertex 3 MaxIOPS Raid0

- Asus HD 6970 DirectCU II 2GB also not OC'd

because if this would be possible I could throw away my workstation :D and switch over to only using the 2570P with the 6970 DirectCU II or an even better Eyefinity Card or card that supports many many displays.

Best

Yves

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Hello,

I've been messing around with my eGPU for a few days now and need some help getting a x2E link setup.

Specs:

Dell D630, T7500, Nvidia 135m, 3gb Ram, setup 1.x, Vista 32-bit

PE4H 2.4B w/ AMD HD 5570 and two PM3N (hopefully can get a x2E)

port 1 is the WWAN, Port 2 is the Wifi, Port 6 is LAN

Setup 1.x 1.3 is running via my hdd rather than a flashdrive.

This is what I know:

-The eGPU must be on and connected before the laptop is turned on or the laptop will not see the eGPU.

-With a x1 link, it doesn't matter if I have the PM3N plugged into the WWAN or Wifi, it will work.

-Unless I have the Wifi card plugged in (and the PM3N in the WWAN), port 1 will always be empty and port 2 will be the eGPU (for instance if I have both PM3N plugged in this happens)

-When I have Wifi card in and PM3N in the WWAN and the eGPU shows up as port 1, I disable all of the other ports (but 6) and set port 1 speed to x2 and chainload into windows, GPUz still shows a x1 connection speed.

-I looked at the troubleshooting FAQ and saw the two-pass script which I typed into my startup.bat and ran it but it couldn't make a x2 link and would reboot.

-I am not sure if PCI compaction works with this model of Dell. Also, when I try to chainload into windows after setting the port to x2 (or x4), it gives a warning that if I don't PCI compact, windows will reassign the PCIe upon startup.

Is there a way to force port 1 to show a device in it so I don't have to trick it using my wifi card? Is there a way to PCI compact so I can get a x2 or x4 (for x2E) link? Thanks for your help.

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Hello,

I've been messing around with my eGPU for a few days now and need some help getting a x2E link setup.

Specs:

Dell D630, T7500, Nvidia 135m, 3gb Ram, setup 1.x, Vista 32-bit

PE4H 2.4B w/ AMD HD 5570 and two PM3N (hopefully can get a x2E)

port 1 is the WWAN, Port 2 is the Wifi, Port 6 is LAN

Setup 1.x 1.3 is running via my hdd rather than a flashdrive.

This is what I know:

-The eGPU must be on and connected before the laptop is turned on or the laptop will not see the eGPU.

-With a x1 link, it doesn't matter if I have the PM3N plugged into the WWAN or Wifi, it will work.

-Unless I have the Wifi card plugged in (and the PM3N in the WWAN), port 1 will always be empty and port 2 will be the eGPU (for instance if I have both PM3N plugged in this happens)

-When I have Wifi card in and PM3N in the WWAN and the eGPU shows up as port 1, I disable all of the other ports (but 6) and set port 1 speed to x2 and chainload into windows, GPUz still shows a x1 connection speed.

-I looked at the troubleshooting FAQ and saw the two-pass script which I typed into my startup.bat and ran it but it couldn't make a x2 link and would reboot.

-I am not sure if PCI compaction works with this model of Dell. Also, when I try to chainload into windows after setting the port to x2 (or x4), it gives a warning that if I don't PCI compact, windows will reassign the PCIe upon startup.

Is there a way to force port 1 to show a device in it so I don't have to trick it using my wifi card? Is there a way to PCI compact so I can get a x2 or x4 (for x2E) link? Thanks for your help.

Unusual that the two-pass script doesn't work for you. The way to simulate it's work is to boot into Setup 1.30, setup your port to x2, select the Reboot option to boot back into Setup 1.30 and check the Details window. Does the eGPU now show [email protected] [eGPU]@x2.1? If so, then the script just needs to be customized a bit more for functionality.

If not, then one thing I have noticed on some systems is that once a port, say port1 is in x1 mode and has detected a device, it doesn't like to switch to x2. That's even if after trying to use the PCIe ports->Hot reset option. An effective way of dealing with this is to unplug lane1 (leftmost mHDMI cable) on the PE4H 2.4, boot into Setup 1.30, change the port to port2, then plug that cable back in and hit F5. Is it detected as x2 now?

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Unusual that the two-pass script doesn't work for you. The way to simulate it's work is to boot into Setup 1.30, setup your port to x2, select the Reboot option to boot back into Setup 1.30 and check the Details window. Does the eGPU now show [email protected] [eGPU]@x2.1? If so, then the script just needs to be customized a bit more for functionality.

If not, then one thing I have noticed on some systems is that once a port, say port1 is in x1 mode and has detected a device, it doesn't like to switch to x2. That's even if after trying to use the PCIe ports->Hot reset option. An effective way of dealing with this is to unplug lane1 (leftmost mHDMI cable) on the PE4H 2.4, boot into Setup 1.30, change the port to port2, then plug that cable back in and hit F5. Is it detected as x2 now?

So I tried the first method to simulate the two-pass script. Although I could set the port 1 to x2, the egpu still showed [email protected] eGPU @1.1. When I tired the second method, I could set the blank port1 to x2 (nothing plugged in). When I turned the eGPU back on and plugged it back in, the computer could not find it (pressed f5). So I rebooted and about 1 out of 10 times, the external monitor displayed the image rather than the laptop's screen meaning the computer recognized the eGPU. However, when the link status appeared in setup1.x it still showed [email protected] [email protected]. Are there any other ways to force x2? Also, on the reboot, is there a way that I could make the reboot take a half-second longer so it has time to recognize the eGPU (or somehow hang the start up process for a second)? Thanks.

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So I tried the first method to simulate the two-pass script. Although I could set the port 1 to x2, the egpu still showed [email protected] eGPU @1.1. When I tired the second method, I could set the blank port1 to x2 (nothing plugged in). When I turned the eGPU back on and plugged it back in, the computer could not find it (pressed f5). So I rebooted and about 1 out of 10 times, the external monitor displayed the image rather than the laptop's screen meaning the computer recognized the eGPU. However, when the link status appeared in setup1.x it still showed [email protected] [email protected]. Are there any other ways to force x2? Also, on the reboot, is there a way that I could make the reboot take a half-second longer so it has time to recognize the eGPU (or somehow hang the start up process for a second)? Thanks.

Not sure what you mean by 'second method'. In my previous post I recommended you do not attach lane1 to the PE4H 2.4 until after you've switched the port to x2 mode. You can add a 'call wait_e [secs]' to your startup.bat to add [secs] of delay.

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Hey, do you think you could help me with an issue I'm having? I just bought a GTX 660 & PE4L-PM60xxA. I disabled my 660m discrete gpu through bios, and was able to have the gtx 660 detected. My problem now is, every time I go to run any 3D application, I'll either get a BSOD, or it will reboot automatically.

Also, whether or not relevant, I should add that the LCD monitor on my laptop looks like it is on, but it's black. As in, only the screen's backlight is on, but no image is displayed. I'm currently using an external display via HDMI, which is working. I have all switches on 1_2. Another point which might be worth mentioning is: after trying to run 3dmark11, it returned an error stating out-of-memory exception has occurred. I have been unable to reproduce this error, since it just BSODs or auto reboots. I am running Windows 8.1.

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Not sure what you mean by 'second method'. In my previous post I recommended you do not attach lane1 to the PE4H 2.4 until after you've switched the port to x2 mode. You can add a 'call wait_e [secs]' to your startup.bat to add [secs] of delay.

I meant in the first paragraph of your last post you mentioned the manual way to run a "two-pass script." I was referring to the second paragraph where you mentioned not plugging in the PM3N until after changing the port 1 to x2. I will try the call_wait command for the startup.bat. Thanks for the help Nando4.

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Well, I merely suggested the WWAN just to max everything out..simply because you can!

But otherwise, mobile hotspots are the way to go.

It'll be tough to say since the actual max multiplier achieved in the 2570p processor table so far is x35 for a few minutes.

I'm building my 2570p to be a decent mobile rig for when VR arrives.

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Oculus Rift CV1. (Yes, it's aimed for desktops, but I'm looking into something portable as well)

Since it's x1.2opt, I'm honestly hoping VR presence won't be ruined by upscaled settings or watered down details.

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Hey,

I've been having some issues with Setup 1.30. I have a Mac Mini running Win 8 (BIOS install). I've successfully run compaction but I'm still receiving Error 12. I've tried all the troubleshooting tips in the FAQ and a few other successful implementations and was wondering if you could take a look at my diag:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByErVmBELmu8YUhqWURFd0VKMEU/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks!

Matty

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