kwatson703

PE4L or PE4H? Where do I find out which one my Lenovo T430s can support? I understand the PE4H only works with machines that have 16 x1s (are those channels?) - is that the only limiting factor?

Looking again at the FirmTek TT/PX enclosure, I'm concerned about having enough power to drive a video card. It looks like that enclosure doesn't have room for a PSU. Isn't one of the advantages of an eGPU that you can have additional power available for high-end GPUs? Still fobbing around in the dark here...

@Tech Inferno Fan, Thanks for the quick reply. I'll take a look at the multi-card connection, but I do not want to replace it with an express card slot. I actually use the card reader for downloading photos. The Firmtek product looks interesting, but I have a couple of concerns. First, their tech specs state "Chassis supports compatible single half-length x1, x2 or x4 PCIe 2.0 card," but then "PCIe based video cards are not supported." Second power supply looks like it's internal and maybe too weak. What are your thoughts?

Thanks. I enjoyed reading this, and just joined the forum today myself. I'm using a Lenovo T430s with an i7-3520M processor and 8 GB RAM for every-day work, but it only has the Intel HD4000 graphics driver. I'd consider getting a gaming-capable laptop, but all the reviews I've read complain about the loud fan noise. I'm a musician, and use my laptop to compose and arrange, in my home studio. So a loud fan is a non-starter. Looking forward to seeing responses to my first post on building an eGPU.

Hi. New to the forum, and I need some help choosing components to build an eGPU for my Lenovo T430s. I've searched this and NBR for specifics regarding my laptop and needs, and can't find enough specifics (or haven't waded through enough of it to spot it yet). My laptop is a T430s with an i7-3520M processor, 8GB RAM, but only Intel HD4000 graphics. It does not have an Expresscard card (I got the multi-media card reader instead). However, it does have a Thunderbolt slot. I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (and occasionally Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon 64-bit). I did not buy it for gaming, and it suits me fine for most work (music composition, photo editing, travel). However, I've joined a kickstarter program for a new game, and need a way to play it when it comes out. I will only be playing at home on an external 1920x1080 24-inch monitor in HD, so there's no need to power the laptop's LCD. I installed a similar game and tried to play it with the Intel graphics, and it won't even load. So I have to have a better GPU. I'd rather not buy another laptop or PC just for gaming. I believe an eGPU solution would be perfect. I don't want to open the T430s's case, so am trying to do everything external to the box, and putting it inside an enclosure would be nice. Money is not an issue, but I do want to get max value for dollar spent. So I have a few questions: 1. Is what I'm trying to do feasible? 2. Would I do better with a DIY setup or are there existing enclosures that support a PCIe that would meet my needs (at a decent price)? 3. Which graphic card should I go for? I have read that the limits of thunderbolt are 10GB (I don't think this machine has Thunderbolt 2), but I don't understand the technical descriptions of PE4L, PE4H, TOLUD, iGPU, dGPU. 4. Other components: power supply - how much, and is there such a thing as overkill; fans, enclosure, etc.? I built a Network Attached Storage server from scratch, running Vortexbox (based on Fedora Linux), so I'm comfortable with hardware, software, and the command line). Thanks!