pdale

Intel locked down the ability to set x2 ports as of Series-6 chipsets (2nd gen i-core) requiring a BIOS eeprom dump and modification using the Intel fitc tool to change, then flash back. Quite a lot of scope to brick a machine there so not recommended. Even though the E6430 would probably be one of only a few systems capable of doing a x2 2.0 eGPU link.

If you are very technical and want to try then start with a PE4C V2.x adapter. It's x2 2.0 capable. You'll need to identify which EC/mPCIe ports combine to be [port1+2], [port3+4], [port5+6], [port7+8].

The bios modding process would start with something like this: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/6980-14-dell-latitude-e6440-owners-lounge.html#post99289

thanks for pointing me in that direction.

it seems electrically possible with the wifi and mobile data cards being on ports 1 and 2, according to the schematic you posted in that thread. i would only need to get a wifi expresscard to preserve my internet connection(the ethernet port on this machine is flaky)

i got as far as extracting the setupprep module of the bios, but im having trouble recognizing anything that may be of use to me there. I'll admit this is new territory to me but im learning. I've attached the file if you or anyone would like to take a look.e6430A07.txt

This laptop has an expresscard slot, and two mini PCI-e slots on the bottom, with a wifi and a cellular modem in each one.

i read somewhere you could use a combination of the slots to get better performance out of an egpu, but havent been able to find anything on it.

so my questions are as follows,

1. if its possible, what hardware would i need? pe4h or pe4l? and which revision?

2. i need my wifi card, so i can only use two ports for this. can i mix the expresscard and mpci-e, or should i get a wifi card for the expresscard slot and use both mpci-e ports for the egpu?

some info for you if it helps

dell latitude E6430

i5 3360m with intel HD 4000

8 GB ram

windows 7 pro