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In PCIe ports, you have a Hot reset port and a Retrain link option. Try each one after you've manually set x2 mode. Likely you need the Link retrain option. Contrary to the help text, it doesn't automatically retrain the link after setting x2 mode. Help text is to be corrected in next version.

@Renovatio - those T9800/T9900 prices seem rather high when you can get a US$140-shipped Aliexpress X9100 E0 edition that can be overclocked up to 4.2Ghz. REF: RickiBerlin's X9100-E0 HDX9000 testing The X9100-E0 has lower running temps than the X9100 OEM release, so it's the more overclockable (fastest) dual-core CPU available for the Series-4 and 965PM systems. I expect it to retain it's value. Overclocking is done using Throttlestop software unlocking the multipliers.

Yes. The PE4L needs 12V to power the slot. It gets it from the floppy molex connector. Congratulations . x2 implementations are somewhat rare so good to see another one pop up. Now if you post full system specs and benchmarks like shown on the implementations on the first page I can include you in the list.

Ultramon's mirroring is only used to give a virtual view into your dummy monitor attached to your eGPU. The idea is then to grab the window and bring it onto your internal LCD. This solution only works only for windowed apps. To get full screen apps driven by your eGPU but displayed on your internal LCD would require using the expresscard HDMI input adapter as you are doing. LucidLogix Virtu is the other solution that can do that but you need a Sandy Bridge or newer CPU + iGPU as the active primary video adapter.

While both the Sonnet Echo Express and Th05 give real-world x2 2.0 bandwidth, the Sonnet will register a x4 2.0 link speed with the Thunderbolt controller and the TH05 will register x2 2.0. As you noted, need the driver to see them both at x4 2.0 to allow the SLI option to be enabled.

Indeed. You are only getting x2 2.0 performance levels due to the Thunderbolt link. Now for whatever reason, your memory copies are still a good ~10% faster than mine. I'm using TH05 + [email protected] on a 2012 13" MBP Haven't tried to install Virtu on Win8. My instructions work perfectly with Win7. Atm I'm using a scratch HDD with MBR-installed Win7 + Setup 1.1x with a MBP 13" 2012. Needed to go back to Win7 because 3dmark06 has lower results in Win8. Oh.. and way back someone tried to do a x1 1.0 SLI config finding the driver would only allow SLI if there was a x4 link. So no cookie. Apparently, all the 2012 Macbooks use a DSL3510 Cactus Ridge Thunderbolt controller. Certainly, its in my MBP 13" (pci ID 8086:1549). I'm wondering then if someone with a 13 or 15" MBPr with it's dual-Thunderbolt ports could mate it with a Sonnet Echo Express (x4 2.0 capable), wiring up *both* Thunderbolt ports. Would CUDA-Z (NVidia) or PCIeSpeedTest (AMD) show 1500-1600MiB/s CPU<->GPU memory transfer rate to confirm x4 2.0 operation?

Easily done. Just run CUDA-Z which will give you memory copy info such as shown for x1 2.0 below. Your x4 2.0 GTX660Ti should be seeing 4 times that result, 1500-1600MiB/s.

Awesome. You cover a couple of details that I'd otherwise miss. Now can I ask you to provide the full set of dx9, dx10 and dx11 benchmarks like shown in the DIY eGPU experiences implementations post ? <strike>Then you can be included as the first to submit x4 2.0 results.</strike> <-- it's about 10-15% faster than x2 2.0 due to the Thunderbolt downlink constricting the traffic. Disappointing.

Moved to http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2967-lucidlogix-virtu-internal-lcd-mode-amd-egpus.html#post41056

If using a NVidia Fermi/Keplar eGPU and wanting the features provided by x1.2Opt (pci-e compression and internal LCD mode) rather than x1 2.0 then yes, you would need Setup 1.1x to disable the W530's NVidia dGPU since the bios doesn't provide that facility. That allows the eGPU to engage those features rather than the dGPU. If are OK with just x1 2.0 performance and don't care for internal LCD mode, then can bootup without using Setup 1.1x. For the latter case you may even want to get a AMD eGPU which does give slightly better performance. REF: i5-3320M + GTX660/HD7870. Now if LucidLogix Virtu worked on Series-7 mobile systems I'd be suggesting go for an AMD eGPU + Virtu. If wanting to avoid using Setup 1.1x but still use a NVidia eGPU at x1.2Opt then consider a notebook that has a iGPU only, eg: Lenovo T430/T530, HP 8470P/8570P or 6470b/6570b, Dell Latitude E6430/E6530 or Vostro 3460/3560. They tend to be cheaper than the workstation class systems like the W530 or Dell M4700. Do note that there has been reports of Lenovo notebooks having very poor eGPU performance when equipped with 16GB of RAM where reducing it to 8GB solves the issue. You could even consider a Thunderbolt-equipped notebook if wanting faster eGPU performance: a Macbook or certain Lenovo T430s/S430 systems.

Win7 does allow a UEFI install which is what I'd recommend you attempt for a simpler configuration. Can see my brief on the different eGPU behaviors a 13" MBP has when booting Win8 in UEFI mode versus MBR/BIOS mode here. The latter is what occurs when you bootcamp a Mac. You can see it's trickier to get the NVidia eGPU detected and requires pci-e fixups in a preboot environment (eg: setpci in Setup 1.1x or mm in rEFInd). UEFI mode gives a plug-and-play implementation in Win8.

Found a workaround. Unfortunately didn't find a way to fool the installer. Here I had to extract the files on a desktop system and copy them over to a mobile platform. It works LucidLogix Virtu MVP 2.1.220 (Mobile) 64-bit install on a Notebook

If TOLUD=3.5GB then you would need to do the DSDT override if running 4GB or more of RAM regardless if it's 32-bit or 64-bit Windows to be able to attach a eGPU. Only difference b/w 32 and 64-bit Windows is 32-bit can't use more than 4GB of RAM. Note too that Win7 can do a registry DSDT override which is less complicated than Win8 which requires a pre-boot environment (eg: Setup 1.1x) to do a in-memory DSDT substitution. Microsoft are really clamping down security in Win8.

@svl7, would you know what components are necessary to activate AMD's Enduro? As far as I can tell, some Clevos have a specially vbios for it. They may also have DSDT code too. I'm trying to engage Enduro on a expresscard/Thunderbolt attached eGPU - a HD7870. It just happens to be very similar to a HD7970M but with higher clocks. Wish I had a Clevo P150EM close by . . .

The Dell E6230 has the expresscard slot so maxes out at x1.2Opt / x1.2 . The external tests have all been done here. Internal tests too have been done for x1.2Opt since the Optimus driver allows it. Lucidlogix Virtu 30-day trialware doesn't work with Series-7 mobile chipsets x1.2 AMD internal testing is an issue since the latest LucidLogix Virtu 1.2.114 doesn't engage on my i5-3320M Dell E6230. Eg: Running a Virtu approved game/app does say HD78xx series but the performance results match what I get from the HD4000. I get nothing even close to timohour's Internal Screen for ATI GPUs with Virtu Driver performance results. It seems that version of the software was written for Sandy Bridge systems. There is a LucidLogix Virtu MVP for Mobile systems that was released via Origin (EON) but certainly no trialware download. Meaning the best I'll be able to do for internal AMD HD7870 testing is the Chung-gun/Ultramon method. The jist being starting the app on the monitor attached to the eGPU, putting into windowed mode then dragging it over to the LCD attached to the iGPU and noting the results. More expresscard vs Thunderbolt benchmarks coming . . . x1.2Opt vs x2.2 will be coming when I do a comprehensive set of tests on the 2012 13" Macbook + TH05 + GTX660/HD7870. Only issue there is the internal tests will be limited to 1280x800, the native resolution of the system. Unfortunately the only video out port on that Macbook is the Thunderbolt/mDP port and there is no daisy-chainable 2nd Thunderbolt port on the TH05. So I won't be able to do 1280x1024 3dmark06 "internal" testing for example. The significantly pricier Macbook retina has 2 Thunderbolt/mDP ports and even a native HDMI port so isn't nearly as restricted. On the first page you'll find a Fujitsu AH531 implementation. However, that one by Farfavid has a NVidia dGPU which is disabled so as to not have any TOLUD issues. I recall seeing that Fujitsu run a high TOLUD so be prepared to do a DSDT override / DSDT substitution to get around that to run 4GB+ of RAM. That Fujitsu is about the only remaining consumer style notebook with a expresscard slot. Still, I'd suggest grabbing a HP Probook 4530s or Dell Vostro 3350 over a AH531 since either won't have TOLUD issues. The Probook 4530s has a large user following with detailed guides on how to replace the LCD with a FHD one. See HP Probook 4530s screen upgrade 900P, 1080P . The first post of this thread details how a eGPU can be attached to a system's expresscard slot or if not available, it's mPCIe slot. The latter usually used to host the wifi card.

Good work in getting what appears the iGPU to be active. A big step for 15" Macbook users with both NVidia dGPU or eGPUs. Biggest problem I'm seeing with Virtu is you can't buy it. Appears like systemboard manufacturers buy a license that gets loaded when the user runs UEFI firmware and Virtu then becomes a licensed version. The 30-day trial doesn't let you adjust settings nor does it actually appear to be doing anything on my HD7870 configuration. This is bad/goods news for AMD/NVidia cards. AMD cards will otherwise be the superior performers on a TB x2/x4 link. NVidia's Optimus giving a transparent internal LCD mode without the need for LucidLogix so long as you boot with an active Intel iGPU.

<span "style=font-size:large">Updated: Implementation: i5-3320M 2.6 12.5" Dell E6230 + NVidia GTX660 @x1.2Opt + HD7870 @x1 2.0</span> Conclusion for Sandy/Ivy Bridge systems with latest GTX6xx/HD7xxx card <ul> <li>for expresscard/mPCIe systems capable of x1.2Opt: AMD has overall the better performance but the margin is minor. <li>for Thunderbolt systems or systems incapable of x1.2Opt: AMD cards > NVidia cards.</ul> Other factors favoring NVidia cards are CUDA and Optimus' internal LCD mode. Unfortunately AMD's equivalent Enduro is still being developed and doesn't appear to be easy to retrofit to eGPU solutions. Lucidlogix' Virtu has a 30-day trial version providing similar internal LCD rendering functionality to NVidia Optimus.

One other issue your 15" MBP will have is the GT650M. If you did get Optimus to use a GPU to render the image but display it to a iGPU-attached device then it would use the GT650M first. The solution to use the eGPU instead is to disable the GT650M within your EFI shell. Do that by translating the following setpci commands to your mm commands. I haven't done it because there is some bitmasking here so you'd need to check the original value and apply the mask. :: Disable dGPU on a Series6/7 chipset setpci -s 0:1.0 84.l=3:3 b0.w=10:10 19.b=0,0 3E.w=0:8 COMMAND=0:7 BASE_ADDRESS_4=0,0 setpci -s 1:0.0 COMMAND=0:7 10.l=0,0,0,0,0,0

Instructions on that page highlight that recent Desktop drivers include the Optimus component. Meaning, no need to download the Verde driver and apply mods. Either of those notebooks has a pci-e 1.x specced expresscard slot. I would recommend going to a M4600 or E6420. Their expresscard slot is pcie 2.0, so is double the speed. Both can run the Optimus tweak. Just be sure to get a pci-e 2.0 capable PE4L 2.1b if going for one of these boxes. I'm wondering if your expresscard slot is shot. Worth trying your eGPU gear on another Sandy/Ivy Bridge system to see if it all works. While TOLUD might leave a generous amount of pci-e space available, I found some HPs still allocate a system device right in the middle of a candidate contiguous pci-e block. There Setup 1.1x's pci-e compaction ma be able to help to allocate around the problem device. You will see some performance improvement but will be bandwidth handicapped. Meaning, so apps will stutter rather badly particularly DX9 ones. If your system had a 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or HD4000 iGPU then the NVidia driver would activate pci-e compression, netting 20-333% better performance. I'd suggest look at upgrading your system first to at least an inexpensive Sandy Bridge one (Lenovo E520, Dell Vostro 3350 or HP 4530s) which have the required iGPU and have a pci-e 2.0 expresscard slot. Just be sure to mate it to a pci-e 2.0 capable PE4L 2.1b. The AMD chipset system I don't think you can do x2. The Edge 14 might be able to, so long as it has mPCIe+expresscard or mPCIe+mPCIe ports being [port1+2], [port3+4], [port5+6] or [port7+8]. I'd recommend upgrading to the a Lenovo E420 before you do that. It has a pci-e 2.0 expresscard slot so effectively provided the same bandwidth as x2 1.0 (x1 2.0).

Those images of the Intel HD4000 system tray look promising. They wouldn't appear if the HD4000 wasn't installed and functioning. Well, you can try taping you card to only make the first lane available. I did it by leaving the first 7 tracks accessible on the second half of the pcie slot as shown below. It's just a small piece of cellophane tape that I ran on both sides to cover lanes 2 onwards. If x1.2Opt engages then you'll get a 3dmark06 score that's higher than your x2 2.0 results.

Yup.. MBP eGPU owners should avoid Win7 and bootcamp. Go straight to Win8 installed in UEFI mode for a plug-and-play eGPU implementation. According to EFI shell help the mm command has the syntax is as follows: Meaning, you should be able to code the above in your rEFIt or rEFInd shell as something like: mm 0x728 1 -IO mm 0x710 2 -IO mm 0x740 2 -IO mm 0x750 0 -IO GTX660 - RE5 internal DX9 var benchmarks: x1.2Opt vs x2 2.0 GTX660 at x2 2.0 versus x1.2Opt. 117.0 vs 95.9. Huge difference. I forced a x1 link on the TH05 by cellophane taping all tracks past the seventh on the second section of the PCIe slot. The NVidia driver will see the 13" MBP's HD4000 and the x1 link, engaging pci-e compression so I get x1.2Opt. We see clearly the x2 2.0 link does significantly better than the x1.2Opt link when using the internal LCD. AMD likely the better performer on a x2 2.0 or x4 2.0 Thunderbolt interface Now prior to discovering Optimus' pci-e compression on a x1 expresscard/mPCIe link back in 2010, a ATiAMD card running at full duplex (x1E) was the better performer. Now a Thunderbolt port runs off the Intel Northbridge, a completely different pathway. So if a AMD card negotiates full duplex speed we can speculate a HD7870 to perform noticably better than it's competitor, a GTX660, on a Thunderbolt x2 2.0 or x4 2.0 link due to it's lower bandwidth requirements. Only things still favoring a NVidia card then would be the transparent internal LCD mode provided by the Optimus drivers and the CUDA processing. LucidLogix Virtu can provide the former or could investigate if can spoof necessary signatures in the ACPI tables to enable the AMD switchable graphics. Need a AMD card to put the speculation to rest.

<span style="font-size:large">Briefly: i5-3210M 2.5 13" MBP + TH05 + GTX660@x2 2.0 Win8 DIY eGPU implementation</span> I managed to get my hands on a 2012 13" Macbook Pro which I paired successfully with a TH05 + GTX660 + Win8. I concur the findings of users Shelltoe and oripash - there are two ways of installing Win8 which significantly affect the ease of eGPU use. The first (UEFI MODE) requires a little more skill to get Win8 loaded initially but the eGPU functionality is plug-and-play thereafter. It's the recommended mode to use. The second (BIOS MODE) is the default Bootcamp 4.0/5.0 method so it's likely users will find themselves in this less desirable mode. More details of both are below: 1. UEFI MODE [recommended] If install Win8 using oripash's guide http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2494-macbook-air-11-2012-gtx-660ti-%40-2-2-no-opt.html#post33280 and Teknotronix' http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2385-17-macbook-pro-late-2011-th05-win-8-setup-guide.html#post31839 then just need to set TH05 SW1=1 (PERST# from PortRidge), SW2=2-3 (x2..x16) . Boot into Win8 where the eGPU will work out of the box. There will be no error 12. It's a plug-and-play configuration. Unlike Teknotronix, I found no need to use a surrogate system to install the UEFI version of Win8. I could boot the MBP, hit ALT key and select either the Win8 Pro MSDN Installation DVD or USB stick copy of it and perform the installation. Only important point being I had to select the "EFI" DVD or USB stick. 2. BIOS MODE [avoid if possible] A Bootcamped MBP runs a MBR type partition system. It requires a special sequence to get the eGPU detected. I found Win8 would *always* get an error 12 against the eGPU and if don't get the timing right I could end up with either no eGPU on the PCI BUS or if use the TH05 setting as UEFI mode above (SW1=1), the Macbook will power itself off when trying to boot Win8. The 100% successful method to get the eGPU on the PCI BUS in this mode is to set SW1=3 (6.9s), SW2=2-3 (x2..x16) on the TH05, poweron the eGPU+TH05, poweron the Macbook. Hit ALT during boot to get a boot selection. Watch the RED PERST# LED on the TH05. When it's no longer red then the eGPU is on the PCI BUS so can select your required OS. It's also possible to flick switch SW1 to SW1=2 (500ms) to hasten the process of getting PERST# to no longer be RED while at the ALT screen or Setup 1.1x screen if the delay is too long for your system. The delay turns out to be more like 30s than 6.9s. The most convenient fix for the error 12 that will be seen in Windows 8 is: <ol><li>Install Setup 1.1x onto a USB stick. <li>Configure it's \config\pci.bat to contain a replica of the same configuration UEFI boot uses for the eGPU, captured and translated below: <li>Configure the \config\startup.bat to do the pci-e fixups and then chainload to Win8. <li>Confirm this fixes error 12 against the eGPU as it did for me.</ol> Once confirmed to work, streamline this into the more convenient and faster booting disk image install of Setup 1.1x. It's more convenient as you'll no longer need to hit ALT to boot the USB stick. Instead, you'll have a DIY eGPU Setup 1.x Win8 bootitem. Proceed to copy your \config\pci.bat and \config\startup.bat from your USB stick to the Setup 1.1x disk image V:\config directory as mounted within Win8. The reason can't just use the disk image install for everything is because a Macbook doesn't do the disk mapping correctly so can't be used within the Setup 1.1x pre-boot environment to configure the system. Instead, the USB stick is used for initial configuration and when done, the pertinent configuration files copied across to the disk image for read-only access.

Since you've earmarked the X220, have you also looked at pricing of the competitor 12.5" Dell E6220/E6230 or HP 2560P/2570P systems? Below I've shortlisted their pros/cons. Sometimes can get a good deal on a refurb or 'as new' unit but this varies by locale. All can accomodate a NVidia DIY eGPU using their expresscard slot with 4GB+ of RAM. 12.5" Lenovo X220/X230 + IPS LCD with wide viewing angles + dual-drive capable: mSATA + 7mm 2.5" HDD/SSD + 94Wh 9-cell battery option -- X220 has quality and bulild issues with palmrest material above expresscard slot disintegrating, battery rattling around - styling not for everyone -> same as from their 1990s Thinkpads - non-upgradable soldered CPU - short palmrest may be uncomfortable if have large hands - whitelisted WWAN/wifi slots preventing use of future comms standards. I believe a hacked bios exists to get around this. - uses Displayport rather than HDMI port 12.5" Dell E6220/E6230 + contemporary styling + traditional keyboard + do not whitelist their WWAN/wifi slots + HDMI port - no touchstyk - non-upgradable soldered CPU - no IPS LCD option - only single 7mm 2.5" SATA SSD/HDD capable - no 9-cell battery option, rather uses a slace. 12.5" HP 2560P/2570P + contemporary styling + socketted CPU -> can upgrade to faster dual or quad cores but confirm warranty implications + optical drive. Can be replaced by caddy hosting 2x9mm 2.5" SATA SSDs/HDDs + 100Wh 9-cell battery option - uses Displayport rather than HDMI port -- heavier and thicker than the above two - no IPS LCD option - whitelisted WWAN/wifi slots preventing use of future comms standards. No hacked bios is possible.

In the commotion that was last month, the important 10-01-2012 BPlus update about a x4 2.0 TB product wasn't added. It's now been updated at Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, PCIe 2.0 eGPU update, quoted below. BPlus advised a x4 2.0 BPlus product will arrive in 2013. The BPlus TH05 with it's x2 2.0 link will outperform a x1.2Opt link as I explain in my i5-3320M +GTX660 @ x1 1.0, x1.1Opt, x1 2.0 and x1.2Opt testing here. 10-01-2012: Masaharu on x4 2.0 Thunderbolt TH05 device

You won't be able to host a HD6850 with your system unless you use 3GB or less of RAM. The Radeon series of cards requires a free 256MB PCI space block. Unfortunately your TOLUD is set to 0xD8000000 (3.375GB) of which only NVidia cards can make use of that 128MB space b/w D8000000-E0000000. That's because NVidia cards can use a fragmented 128MB+64MB+32MB PCI space. ATiAMD cards need a 256MB PCI space aligned to a 256MB boundary. Considering too you lack of an iGPU (for Optimus) and together with a Series-5 chipset you are limited to x1 1.0 link. I'd suggest upgrading your notebook to a cheap Sandy Bridge one with an iGPU so it's x1.2Opt capable and buy a PE4L 2.1b instead of a PE4H 2.4. It will be significantly faster than your Samsung.