qapn

16x cards work in 1x slots. I replaced my ThinkPad with a Macbook retina recently and so don't use it anymore, but as soon as there's an affordable expressCard to thunderbolt adapter I'll use it with my MBP.

Nah, the GPU just uses the 1x slot of the PE4L.

Has anyone found a solution to this? Things are slightly more tolerable since I switched to a 1680x1050 panel, but Chrome is still prohibitively slow on the eGPU for basic text rendering. Has anyone found a solution? God forbid I have to use IE or something.

Hey has anyone had issues with Chrome? The Nvidia drivers are hard-coded to use the iGPU for Chrome, which produces horrible performance for me (Intel HD Graphics can't cope at 1920x1080). Firefox and IE are fine. I've tried renaming the exe to bypass Nvidia, but it lags all the same. Tried Chromium too. Is there a solution for this? Don't really wanna switch to Firefox, I've got everything set up nicely on Chrome. This is all with external displays connected to the eGPU. EDIT: Quick way to test, try this webGL demo: http://madebyevan.com/webgl-water/ It works at silky smooth FPS in Firefox and Internet Explorer, it gets sub 20FPS in Chrome.

PHi guys. This was my first eGPU build, just thought I'd show for others interested in a similar setup. My goal was minimal time spent putting it together, and no software issues/dependency. Laptop specs: Lenovo ThinkPad X201 Intel Core i5-520m, 2.4GHz Intel HD Graphics (1st generation) ExpressCard 1.0 8GB RAM (2 x 4GB DDR3-1066) 256GB Samsung 830 SSD Ultrabase w/internal 1TB SATA drive Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit eGPU specs: MSI GeForce 560 Ti Hawk w/1GB GDDR5 VRAM PE4L EC060A 2.1b Corsair CX430 PSU Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced case The build process/design: The actual building was easy. I tested it all out of the case first to make sure there were no issues. The GPU is mounted normally in the case, propped up underneath by the PE4L. The PE4L is not screwed in, I have boosted it a little off the base of the case with a small bit of cardboard shoved underneath. The PSU is similarly mounted normally inside the case. Selected this PSU because it's quiet and modular (you'll struggle to fit all the cables for a non-modular PSU in this case). ExpressCard adapter comes out the back where the motherboard IO shield normally is. The way the adapter comes out works well since it just flips up right into the ExpressCard slot of my ThinkPad. Power is toggled by the main power switch on the PSU, the case button itself would only work if I kept it pressed in. The dock itself contains a SATA caddy, so I have an internal 1TB drive on that with all my games and video editing stuff. Docking and undocking: To undock, you need to open the laptop's screen, then disable the 560 Ti in device manager. Then you hit the undock button on the Ultrabase, disconnect the eGPU, and pull the laptop off. Docking is similar, just have to re-enable it in device manager. Means you never need to turn off the laptop or put it to sleep to dock/undock. Software: I couldn't find much in the way of answers to this online when I was setting mine up, but it's far simpler than the old resources you'll find imply. There are no notebook specific drivers you need to mod any more. Install the latest Nvidia desktop drivers for your GPU (mine were literally just the latest Forceware drivers) and it will automatically come to life. Optimus works so long as you have the right eGPU/iGPU combo, which I did. Nothing special needed, no boot procedures or programs. Issues: Chrome lags a lot on some websites. There seems to be no explanation for why some sites are very slow to scroll around, and some are fine. I've fiddled with the Chrome hardware acceleration flags, but something is definitely amiss. Has anyone else had a similar issue? It's fine at 1920x1080 if I am using my internal graphics. Performance is unpredictable, it depends on how the game or software works in terms of bandwidth demands. Battlefield 4 is great until you're on a large map and it's constantly streaming textures. Unreal Engine 3 games, Source Engine games etc all run maxed out at 1920x1080 without any issue, with something like 80-120 frames on things like Team Fortress 2, Mirror's Edge, and Mass Effect 2. Bodes well for Titanfall, which uses Source (just missed the chance to test the beta on the eGPU). Cost: I spent around $220 on parts besides the GPU, which was my desktop's old GPU. You could probably do it cheaper - the case is neat but unnecessary if you're not bothered or can build your own, the PSU was OTT and just a reliable and easy way to build it. You could probably salvage one and achieve the same results. Totally worth it though. Photos: The full setup on my desk. The case is sideways on the desk. Side view. Playing Battlefield 4.

Hi all. I bought a PE4L 2.1b for use with a GeForce 560 Ti. The PE4L arrived today and I hooked it up to my Lenovo X201 (8GB RAM, Windows 8.1). I hotplugged the GPU (it would BSOD on boot) and installed the latest Nvidia drivers. From then, it worked, and I could switch between my internal screen powered by Intel and my external display powered by my 560 Ti. Anyway I wanted to check in and make sure I'm not missing anything else here. Do the latest desktop drivers automatically use Optimus compression or is that something I have to do via driver modding? I downloaded the latest mobile drivers and modified the nvamn.inf file to include thingies for my 560 Ti. This meant the driver installation software had a go at installing the drivers, but it fails during installation. So my questions are: 1. How do I get Optimus? Do I have Optimus? I don't really care about getting my internal display using the 560 Ti, I just want PCI-e compression. 2. What is best practice for removing/reconnecting it? Sleep mode? At boot now that I have the drivers installed? Will be making a custom enclosure and posting pics no doubt once I'm done.