Tech Inferno Fan

In case setup-disk-image hasn't done it, copy grub.exe from c:\eGPU to c:\ I note implementations that come with benchmarks. There have been sprinklings of discussion about Lenovo S430 and T430s having successful DIY eGPU implementations but details have been scarce. Perhaps you can fill in the blanks for others to duplicate your findings? AFAIK, TOLUD issues have been resolved with the latest Lenovo bios which incorporates a dynamic TOLUD. Upon detecting a eGPU on bootup the bios will decrease TOLUD to accomodate it.

The Sandy Bridge series has i7-2xxxx in the name. The 2 stands for 2nd-gen i-core. Fastest 2nd-gen i-core is a i7-2960XM. No point in getting such a XM CPU with unlocked multipliers since HP lock the multipliers down. Additionally, it's a 55W CPU which will present cooling issues when running at full load. So then, the fastest CPU within the thermal limits of the 2560P would be a 45W i7-2820QM/i7-2860QM. Ensure you repaste with a quality TIM (MX4, Shin-Etsu) to keep temps under TjMax. The factory-specced 2560P CPUs are all rated at 35W TDP.

The exact sequence I used to get a 2012 13" MBP + GTX660 (TH05) working in EFI and BIOS mode with Win8 are here.

How to direct NBR users here without getting into any troubleGents & maybe a few ladies(?), I see there is some cross correspondance between here and NBR. Anybody still on NBR can redirect traffic here easy enough without getting into any trouble. How? The last addition made by moderator "2.0" on the first post of the PCIe Speed Test results for older Intel + AMD HD5xxx/HD6xxx cardsPerformance of older Intel chipsets along with HD4xxx/HD5xxx/HD6xxx cards appeared to be crippled to half-duplex levels. A workaround for core2duo systems was the PCIe Speed Test to confirm if indeed it was a half-duplex bandwidth result.We are now seeing HD7xxx cards perform extremely well with latest Sandy/Ivy Bridge systems, eg PCIe Speed Test and see if there is a discrepancy between the older and newer AMD card's results.If the new HD7xxx cards do show full bandwidth results on these older systems then systems previously marked as poor eGPU candidates (x1-only dGPU-equipped Series-5 or older or ones incapable of x1.Opt) may have a new lease on life via a HD7xxx eGPU. Equally x2 capable systems like

It's technically feasible, but nobody in this forum or it's predecessor has gone ahead and soldered a mPCIe slot in place of an existing device so as to achieve x2 mode. I'm of the opinion that the complexity, time and effort involved outweighs the gain given how notebook prices have fallen dramatically. I'd suggest grabbing a s/hDell Vostro 3550/3750, Lenovo E520 or HP Probook 4530s/4730s instead to gain the equivalent bandwidth using only a single cable (x1 2.0 = x2 1.0). Yes, the configuration you suggest is entirely doable. My only concern is if your DC adapter only provides 12V rather than 12V+5V as outlined at the bottom of this post. A modded XBOX360 PSU could supply 12V+5V or there are universal DC adapters that do the same. You'd provide the 5V via the floppy molex lead. Villagetronic support is here. You paid a premium for that product so are entitled to the vendor support with it. If you get nowhere there then may I suggest seeking a refund via their return policy, Paypal buyer protection or visa insurance to purchase a PE4L-2.1b instead.

Thank you for that insight. I've changed the HDMI/Displayport to be +/-, so a pro/con depending on the user needs. Also discovered the HP 2570P supports RAID-0 striping if have two drives installed. Meaning could get close to 1GB/s block transfer rates if have two SATA-III SSDs installed. Also ddded more details on the X230's IPS LCD. It may be a con for some users.

Yes, a straight EFI install was next on the agenda to see if can get idle power down. Though I'm not optimistic about it solving anything. Reason is the Mac has powered USB ports, so it can charge devices even when turned off. On a PC notebook that had a bios setting to enable/disable that option, enabling it gave the same "USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Selective Suspend" powercfg error. So my tentative reason for this is due to Apple's powered USB ports.

Your system isn't a good eGPU candidate. It has a pcie 1.x Series-5 chipset so are bandwidth restricted, has no iGPU so no OPtimus pci-e compression and has no expresscard slot. It also has a reasonably powerful HD5870M dGPU. Only benefit an eGPU could give you would be for NVidia CUDA processing. Still, it would be an inconvenient mPCIe implementation. If you want an eGPU I'd suggest offload the G73JH and get a Sandy/Ivy Bridge notebook with an expresscard slot and iGPU, eg: 17" Dell Vostro 3750 or HP Probook 4730s. They you can consider a NVidia Fermi or Keplar eGPU running @x1.2Opt.

Yes. Performancewise, a PE4H 3.2 and PE4L 2.1b are exactly the same. The PE4H 3.2 is nice if you want to use the enclosure option or have a multi-rail PSU since it can use all the power, features that come at a price premium. PE4L 2.1b can't be touched for bang-for-buck. I've asked BPlus to consider making a product that takes the best of PE4H 2.4 and PE4L 2.1b here. Most sensible way of getting x1 2.0 is to offload the notebook and get a Sandy/Ivy Bridge one. Your system isn't x2 or x4 capable. An interim solution would be to get a HD7xxx series card as it is certainly better than a NVidia card in DX9. The HD7xxx may have resolved a half-duplex handshaking issue I saw with HD5xxx cards and ICH9M chipsets too. Latest Virtu MVP 2.1.221 allows it during the trial period. Installer still bails out if it detects being run on a notebook. So you'll need to install it on a desktop system with an iGPU, identify the files and registry settings altered then move those across to your notebook. Can try using regshot to help you along.

We can see at Review Asus X54HR-SO060V Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews that you do have an accessible wifi mPCIe slot. So you could do a mPCIe eGPU implementation. You also don't have a HD3000 iGPU but rather have a HD7470M dGPU only. You'd need a PE4L-PMxxxA 2.1b + video card of your choice + PSU matched for the eGPU. A AMD HD7xxx AMD card is recommended over a NVidia card for your system since having no iGPU means you can't get Optimus pci-e compression or Internal LCD mode. Be sure to check your TOLUD per Pre-purchase FAQ item 2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU? so you know if additional steps will be necessary to get the eGPU working (Setup 1.1x software or DSDT override).

Wondering if someone with a bootcamped Win7 MBP can run 'powercfg /energy' at the command prompt? I found mine with Win8 has a number of USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Selective Suspend items which may explain why I can't get a 13" MBP with iGPU to idle at 5-6W after my usual battery extending settings. This should be entirely possible. The MBP hardware isn't that different to a HP 2560P or Dell E6230 of which I got both to idle at 5W. Instead the best I get with the MBP is 8.5W as measured by BatteryBar. That 3.5W explains why I'm getting about 30% less battery life than expected. The problem lines I'm getting in the resultant energy-report.html from this command are in the spoiler: So the test with Win7 will confirm if it's a Win8 issue, since there is no bootcamp set of drivers for it as yet, or a Apple bios-emulation issue. EDIT: looks like someone else is getting the same problem with a MBA + Win7/64: Bootcamp Windows battery life - USB power problem? | discussions.apple.com

Saving/restoring port is a anti-whitelisting method. Before doing that I'd suggest boot with wifi (so pass the whitelist check with mPCIe port is enabled) then first try inserting the PM3N with eGPU powered off, then power on. If not detected, then power on the eGPU and insert the PM3N. I've *never* had a problem doing so but the sounds of it you may have a tight fit. So then you'd want to break your PM3N to be half-height to have more confidence in the process. Consider you can easily make the PM3N full height again by purchasing a extender plate available on ebay for a few dollars. See half to full mini card bracket | eBay

I found x2 mode to be a little strange. The most successful way to ensure the video card lane1 was connected last and had not previously been attached to the port. So the sequence would be: (1) ensure lane2 is attached (2) switch into x2 mode (3) attach lane1, hotplugging if necessary. Worth noting some other Dell users have had success by switching to x2 mode, then rebooting the system upon which the eGPU runs in x2 mode. Set x2 link but mPCIe Port2 or Port4 enabled after reboot? talks about this. Yes, telling us what chipset the system in question uses is vital. Furthermore, I can't be sure that it's the HD7870 that solves the half-duplex issue. It might be the Series-7 chipset. What I do know from first hand experience is that Series-4 & Series-5 Intel chipsets had crippled performance with HD5xxx cards requiring x1E or x2E mode to get full duplex performance. Will need users with older chipsets to pair up with newer HD7xxx cards and give us performance stats to see what component, the chipset or the video card, solved the problem. A GTX560Ti performs better than a GTX650, with better overclockability than a GTX460. It's the one to aim for in the s/h market. You'll need a pcie 2.0 capable PE4L 2.1b for best performance and an ATX PSU capable of at least 12V/17A on it's first rail. You might be able to dumpster dive in your business district to find one of those PSUs. I'd suggest acquiring your PE4L 2.1b from Harmonic Inversion since you get Setup 1.1x software with it. You may need that software to disable your dGPU if there is no bios option to do so AND you find TOLUD or INTEL+AMD+NVidia driver issues.

The long mPCIe slot in a Lenovo E330 is a mSATA/WWAN slot. It doesn't have pci-e pins connected so cannot be used to host an eGPU. See Review Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E330 Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews . You'll need to use the wifi slot then. The PM3N has perforations allowing it to be broken in half to use such a half-height slot.

Setup 1.1x's PCI compaction doesn't alter TOLUD. It simply compacts pci devices in available PCI space in an effort to free enough to host an eGPU. In your case, TOLUD is 3.5GB and your root bridge extends to 32-bit space only, so it will not have sufficient 32-bit space to work with. 36-bit PCI compaction is not going to help you as Windows would shuffle devices back into 32-bit if the root bridge only extends to 32-bit space. Next Setup 1.1x version will have a lot better guidance about 36-bit PCI compaction to lessen the confusion there. The fix for you is you either need a new bios from Lenovo that lowers TOLUD to 3.0 (or 3.25GB) to liberate 32-bit PCI space for eGPU use or perform the DSDT override to extend the root bridge into 36-bit PCI space. Unfortunately I can't see Lenovo producing a new bios as they have for expresscard-equipped systems as they didn't intend the mPCIe slot to be used for eGPU purposes. So then start reading up on the DSDT override. As for your eGPU not being detected, it's likely a whitelisting issue. Boot Setup 1.1x with the wifi card in the wifi slot, power on the eGPU then *carefully* hotplug the PM3N end (mPCIe) it into the wifi slot. Hit F5 to rescan the system details. If it's detected then play around with the Anti-whitelist methods to see if can get eGPU detected without doing such hotplugging. As for your other concerns, the HM77 chipset has up to 8 pci-e ports on the southbridge so is showing correctly. TOLUD isn't reported with that version of Setup 1.1x since it was released prior to the Series-7 chipset's release. It's a minor cosmetic issue that doesn't affect compaction in any way that will be fixed in the next version. Ensure you set the eGPU port to Gen1 speed using PCIe ports->Link speed.G1/G2 for it to work with the PE4H 2.4. Once it all works with your pci-e 1.x PE4H 2.4 then I recommend you upgrade to a PE4L-PMxxxA 2.1b to get pci-e 2.x performance. Noteworthy point about which budget business notebooks still have expresscard slots Lenovo removed the expresscard slot in their budget Series-7 Thinkpad Edge systems, though the 13" in the previous series didn't have it. HP's Probook 4x40s and Dell's Vostro 3x60 budget business notebooks following the same trend by too no longer coming with expresscard slots. Only HP's Probook 6470b/6570b budget business still keeps the expresscard slot. The premium Series-7 business notebooks: Lenovo Thinkpad T/X, Dell Latitude/Precision and HP Elitebooks still have expresscard slots. If one of these companies decided to connect the Series-7 pci-e 3.0 northbridge to the expresscard slot rather than the pci-e 2.0 southbridge pci-e ports, then we'd get the same 10Gbps bandwidth as current Thunderbolt does if using a pci-e 3.0 eGPU.

Haven't tested it to confirm. Can't see it being a problem if running pci-e 1.x (PE4 2.4 or PE4L 1.5) . pci-e 2.x (PE4L 2.1b) might be more problematic as introducing more edge connectors diminishes signal integrity. If you were thinking of getting the riser to give more cable length then consider that a PE4L 2.1b can be purchased in longer 100, 150 and 200cm lengths.

You probably had a bad experience with HP's consumer Pavilion notebooks. Their business ones are much much better quality. They have to be.. business environments cannot afford downtime. Saying that, Dell, Lenovo and HP all make great business notebooks. I'd suggest scour the Outlets of each of these to grab a bargain. They have business notebooks in 12-17" size so you can pick which best suits you. The have refurb, remarketted and scratch and dent systems. Refurbished business products https://twitter.com/DellOutlet http://outlet.lenovo.com/ HP Probooks, Dell Vostros and Lenovo Thinkpad Edge are the budget business class systems that tend to have lower grade warranty. HP Elitebooks, Dell Latitudes/Precisions and Lenovo Thinkpads are their premium business class systems with better warranties.

Highest performance configuration would be a PE4H 2.4 running in x2 mode. Can choose either a NVidia or AMD card. I'd probably go a AMD 7xxx card if I had this notebook. Kizwan's DIY eGPU implementation: 15" Dell Studio 1557 + ATI Radeon HD 5870 @x2 a good example of how to do it. Keeping in mind, this is a twin cable solution that accesses the mPCIe slot. It's not for everyone. A Sandy Bridge notebook's expresscard slot gets the same bandwidth (x1 2.0 = x2 1.0) using a single cable since it runs the faster pci-e 2.x plus the CPU itself is faster than your 1st gen one. The PE4H 2.1b eGPU hardware to do it is cheaper and it's overall less complex to do. So an inexpensive SB system upgrade with expresscard slot such as a HP 4530s/6560b/8560p, Lenovo E520/T520/W520 or Dell 3550/E6530 is something else you may consider. The HP 4530s has been successful retrofitted with a 1080P screen too.

On a competing site I see you list you have the HD6450M model of the R840. Meaning, no iGPU, so no x1.1Opt (pci-e compressed) performance for you. That is why your 3dmark06 is so low. You can improve it by either getting a PE4L 2.1b which will double bandwidth from your current pci-e 1.x to pci-e 2.0. Or alternatively, replace your GTX670 with an AMD equivalent HD7870/HD7950/HD7970. Maybe could even ask someone if they'd be prepared to swap out their iGPU systemboard for your HD6450M one in that way gaining Optimus pci-e compression? Can see the performance differences between x1 1.0 and x1 2.0 as well as a GTX660 versus HD7870 here. Included too is x1.1Opt and x1.2Opt performance if you did manage to get a iGPU version systemboard.

On a x1 1.0 link, AMD cards do better in 3dmark06 (DX9) that NVidia cards. You would get 3dmark06 of 12-15k if using a HD7870. I got 3dmark06=18432 using a pci-e 1.x link, i5-3320M and HD7870 here. Just be aware in that testing the AMD card no longer exhibited half-duplex crippled performance as seen with older AMD cards + Intel chipsets. I'm not sure if it was Intel or AMD that fixed that handshaking problem. So it would be best if you can borrow a HD78xx card to test to confirm performance is satisfactory. Otherwise yes, $180 for a TH05 TB adapter + extra $$ for a TB-equipped notebook that would get you double the bandwidth of a Sandy/Ivy Bridge expresscard solution. Not worth the considerable $$$ outlay for TB over expresscard imho.

Unfortunately no. Per previous replies, your options for better performance with your Series-5 notebook with no iGPU or x2/x4 options are (1) replace notebook with a Sandy/Ivy Bridge one with iGPU for substantial x1.2Opt performance improvement (2) replace your NVidia card with something like a AMD HD7870 for a minor performance improvement.

Had virtually the same issue when my PE4L 2.1a flaked out from being bent around the pads area. Seemed to still be conducting and my eGPU could be detected but login was ultra slow and any load on the eGPU would fail. Suspect transmission errors due to crosstalk between the TX/RX differential pair. So you want to triple check your wiring of your self-made adapter.

Ensure lane2 is connected to your system and the PE4H, use PCIe ports->Link Width.x2 , hotplug lane1 then (if necessary) do Video cards->Initialize. Chainload to your OS.

It's over 10k, so Optimus' pci-e compression is engaging. Elitebooks have a gen1/gen2 setting for the expresscard slot. Please check if yours does and if it's set to gen1, set it to gen2. You can check it by running GPU-Z. It should say x1 2.0 when under load like shown.

It's not the TH05 that's the problem. It's current Thunderbolt. A TH05 gets 88.88% the bandwidth of what the more expensive Sonnet/Magma/OWC Thunderbolt enclosures get. They are all restricted to 10Gbps pci-e over the Thunderbolt link itself which is the bottleneck. It's substantially less than the x4 2.0 they negotiate with the eGPU. You'd have to hit the OC websites to see how much headroom different cards have. There's the reference cards, the mild OC ones with better cooling and then the high OC ones with golden chips. I usually go for the mild OC ones and with some luck try to clock them near the high OC ones. A HD7870 is a great card but if it's priced near a HD7950 then of course get the latter. REF: http://www.overclock.net/f/67/amd-ati