JakoobCZ

The card was working for few days and then suddenly stopped, now it is showing error code 31 in device manager and as soon as I try to install AMD drivers, the screen goes black and that is the end. I tried countless combinations to get it to work again, but no luck. I have no clue what to do next, if anyone experienced similar issue and found solution, I would be grateful for sharing it.

Sorry for late reply, but still no luck... all my stuff is just sitting in the corner covered by dust

Meaning when you extend the screen the external monitor didn't power on and remain in standby due to no signal?

From what you wrote appear your card was not correctly recognized after all.

Did you install drivers downloading it directly from AMD website or using amddriverdownloader?

Yes exactly I cant get signal to external screen no matter how hard I try, I tested this on two different LCD's so faulty unit is out of game. The card seems to get recognized by Windows normally and driver is installed without any warning sign. However there is something, which is preventing the card from going to full-working state.

I used both automatic downloader and manual one, both stable and beta drivers... I'm really curious where is the weak point in my setup

My suggested troubleshooting process:

- try to reboot again

- the monitoring process are launched inside the external monitor attached to eGPU? Since I did noticed the laptop monitor its still driven by the iGPU.

- try to load the eGPU with some benchmark can let you free to monitor the activity, such as Cinebench OpenGL test

The problem is I cant turn the external screen on, those screenshots were made on my laptop internal screen.

From my experience on these card:

- did you first uninstall other card drivers

- you need to connect the card the first time only after the laptop is up and running

- after the card is recognized you need to reboot with the card already connected

- didn't try to extend desktop before boot is fully complete and catalyst cc is loaded

I tried to follow your instructions and card is now recognized by the system. However there is still something wrong. I made screen of HWINFO and GPU-Z, where some values are very low or none.

Does anybody have any clue, what is wrong? I tried to set ExpressCard to Gen1 or automatic, but it doesn't help. I bought new 360W seasonic PSU, so hopefully the issue of undervolting isn't there as well.

Thanks for any advice

EDIT: I connected the PSU through Watt-meter and The consumption is only 21,6 W. So clearly the card isn't fully running

See replies above about switching to Gen1 for testing purposes and then considering a BPlus PE4L 2.1 or PE4C 2.1 over a EXP GDC adapter if Gen2 signalling proves to be the problem causing your hangs. If Gen1 is OK, then there could be power starvation issues with your PSU or even a faulty HD7950.

Today I tried older Radeon HD 4xxx and it worked from the start, even drivers were installed automatically, unfortunately my HD 7950 is still not. I set in BIOS gen1, but it didn't help. Maybe there isn't enough power in the PSU rails, but I thought Enermax 500 W will have enough voltage and current to drive this 3fan beast. Is there anyone else running this card? I'm curios what PSU you have...

Hi guys,

I have an issue with setting up my system and since Google seems to not know answer to my question, I would like to ask you for a help. I plugged in following setup:

Thinkpad X220 (latest bios)

8 GB RAM (tolud seems to be ok)

Enermax 500W

EXP GDC V7.0 (Ares)

Gigabyte HD Radeon 7950 (3 GB)

Windows 7 64 bit

I can boot to Windows and I see new device in the device manager. It recognized Radeon HD 7900 series, but during official Catalyst install (namely the driver part), the desktop disappears followed by BSOD (atikmpag.sys). Even if I manage somehow to squeeze the driver in, there is yellow triangle and error code 52 (unsigned driver).

Do you have any clue, how to solve this? I will try to download DNA drivers, but I was hoping for official ones.

Thanks

So I finally got EXP GDC V7, unfortunately I'm unable to get it to work. I connected Gigabyte AMD HD 7950 to Enermax ELT500AWT, started the X220 laptop and booted to freshly installed Windows 7. Then I downloaded latest Catalyst drivers (even beta), but during the driver installation the desktop disappears (just wallpaper remains) and then I get BSOD (atikmpag.sys).

I'm searching the forums, to see if anybody has similar issue, but it seems my problem is special. I have no clue what I'm doing wrong.

Nevermind the EXP GDC is on its way to me and hopefully in few weeks I will be able to present some values and compatibility with 16 GB of RAM.

Thanks Nando4, this seems to be pretty good deal. Finally someone offered reasonable price for shipment

Since my CPU is i5-2540M (second gen), I wont get any extra performance if I buy PE4C V2.1 instead, right?

EDIT:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-External-PCI-E-graphics-card-Expresscard-Set-ATX/1480989524.html

On aliexpress is written:

The input interface:

Mini PCI-E (WLAN\WWAN\DMC)

Expresscard (34#/54#)

NGFF (Slot A),

Thunderbolt

This might be game changer for me, however I didnt find the Thunderbolt version for sell, will look for more info tomorrow

Intel is really a pain in the lower part, because of all their restrictions regarding Thunderbolt... they doomed this technology by their stupid behaviour. Instead of supporting producers, they are banning them.

My 16GB test is on hold, because I need the PE4C first and right now I dont know, whether to buy it and next year "throw" it away, because I wont be able to use it on my new laptop. Since I doubt we will see ExpressCard ever again.

Btw Dell will have Alienware 13 with external GPU, yet this laptop is too much progaming oriented to me...

I found one slight issue and Im looking for solution. Right now the PE4C is capable of sending data over ExpressCard, Mini PCIe and PCIe. However, if I sell my laptop next year to get Broadwell, I will lose the ability to use this adapter. Do you think there is a possibility that PE4C V2.1 will work through Thunderbolt?

My plan is to buy eGPU first and try on current setup, then buy RAM from local dealer and if it will not work together, I have 14 days to return it.

Hi Davide,

which version of BIOS are you running? I also have X220 with 8 GB and on the desk Gigabyte 7950 (3 GB), so I hope it will work without any issue. Only thing is, that I wanted to upgrade from current 8 to 16 GB, because Photoshop is eating all my RAM, when editting RAW files. I will see if I pass the TOLUD issue with such configuration...

Hi guys,

I'm looking forward to buy this new adapter and give it some tests. Before I buy it, can someone clarify few things for me?

The setup will be following:

1) ThinkPad X220 with latest BIOS and 2x 4 GB of RAM (in future maybe 2x 8 GB if it works)

2) Gigabyte HD 7950 (3 GB)

3) PE4C

Is there any reason, why this shouldn't work together? I plan to use power brick (220 W), which is in the package, but not for hardcore gaming. Main purpose of this is to drive 2x 27" 2560x1440 for some basic Photoshop and 2D CAD stuff, which current HD 3000 isn't capable of at all.

Thank you in advance