DarkCond0

I would like the honest opinion of some of the egpu owners out there with a 1.2opt setup and a gtx 670/680. Can you get smooth framerates at "mostly high" settings, 1080p 60hz, on current games? I'm looking to possibly replace my desktop, at least until 2014 when I can evaluate the thunderbolt market and decide if I want to go back to desktops. I specifically play Diablo 3, Borderlands 2, and Starcraft 2. While I know I cannot get the performance of a desktop, is the ~70% desktop framerates pretty uniform throughout current games with an egpu?

I could do that with my GTX460.

Can anyone please confirm what I am about to get myself into is okay for GEN 2 support?

(1) one of PE4L 2.1B or PE4H-EC060A V3.2 (if Bplus ever puts it back on their page....?)

(2) Geforce 660ti

(3) A Power supply to correctly power the thing.

I have a HP ProBook4730s. SPecifications are here: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF06b/321957-321957-64295-3955552-3955552-5060893-5173291.html?dnr=1

Briefly, it's a sandy bridge machine with expresscard 2.0 with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and 8 GB of ram.

Yep! Should be good

There is no mentioned of it on the website. In fact, accord to PE4H-EC060A V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter) - M-FACTORS Storage they mentioned that they only support ONE 6 pin power connector!!!!

Does the Kit come with a 6 pin power connector? If not, how do I build one?

Check again. No where on that website does it say that it only supports one 6 pin connector.

It even shows you in the manual that it has two 6 pin power connectors.

http://www.bplus.com.tw/PDF/PE4H%20V3%202b%20user%20mannual.pdf

Thanks for the Clarification. I don't have a spare ATX power Supply and I an NOT technically minded to sheild myself if I had a bare ATX Power Supply so I'll go the 'Proper' way:1 x PE4H-EC060A V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter) = $1701 x Premium picoPSU-160-XT w/AC-DC 12V 192W 16A switching adapter = $109= $279 + Shipping to AustraliaViDock 4+ OverDrive = $279 + Shipping To AustraliaAdvantage of PE4H = Fan + Single Power Supply?Advantage of ViDock 4+ Overdrive = Can handle PCIe card with two 6-pin power connectors?Question:1. What about the [120W 19.5V AC Adapter (Input:110-240V ~ 2.0A 50-60Hz Output 19.5V 6.15A)] which the webpage mentioned?2. A $20 software from Tech Inferno Fan?3. My Alienware M18x R2 has 16 Gb of ram, does that mean I have to remove 12 Gb to make that work?Do I still need to cost both of them too?sorry about the noobie questionsIce

The 192w adapter and 160XT picoPSU combo is available for $75 here picoPSU-160-XT with 192W Adapter Power Kit

Also, the PE4H v3.2 can handle a PCIe card with two 6-pin power connectors.You don't need to buy the $20 software from Tech Inferno Fan. It should come with the order. You might need to buy it if you get the ViDock.

Really, I think the only advantage of the ViDock is that it looks nicer, in terms of aesthetics.

so the only thing we need to purhase now is the Power Supply and the right graphics card right? What power adaptor would work with say at NVidia 660Ti? 160 watt?

Ice

PS: At the price of $170 + price of another power adaptor... isn't that just cheaper to purchase the VillageTronic 4+??? and save on the trouble of sourcing everything else? [PS: I know everyone will be bias with the PE4H v3.2 but im just weight up the facts only & I've bought myself an alienware m18x R2 recently with Nvidia 675m SLI]

Yeah, 160 watt would be enough for the 660 ti.

ViDock 4+ is $309 before tax. Don't forget that you also have to buy a graphics card for the ViDock 4+. I think the PE4H v3.2 is much more cost effective. Especially if you have a power supply lying around, or you can buy a cheap ATX power supply ($20-30). Also, if you want to use the DC adapter we talked about a few pages back, you only need one. The ViDock uses two AC adapters. Also, the PE4H v3.2 has fans.

Thank you Nando, you're always so helpful.

So anyone having trouble actually BUYING the PE4H-EC060A 2.4 ? The order page does NOT have it listed on their website.

A quick google search showed this site : PE4H-EC060A v2.4 (PCIe passive adapter with EC060A Express Card adapter) - M-FACTORS Storage

I'm assuming it's the same thing? Anyone familiar with this vendor and can I trust them?

Also anyone familiar with this?

PE4H-EC060A V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter) - M-FACTORS Storage

What's the difference between the two products? (2.4 v 3.2) The casing is pretty attractive though the price...not so much.

PE4H v2.4 doesn't have Gen 2 compatibility. Just making sure there isn't a misunderstanding here.

PE4H v3.2 is almost the same, it's just made differently for use with the enclosure. However, PE4H v3.2 does support Gen 2

Found this, what do you think?

New 12V 200W DC DC ATX 24 Pin Motherboard Power Supply | eBay

First impressions are that this would be rather complicated, particularly without knowing which pins the PE4H actually uses. For example if it requires the 3.3v or 5v supply on the ATX connector you'd need to do a lot of extra wiring, which would IMO negate the benefits of the Xbox PSU in terms of price and compactness. You'd probably be better of using a pico psu as discussed on the previous page as they provide a 24-pin ATX connector as standard in a very small package.

....yeaaaaaah, I'm going to drop that idea haha. Thanks!

I'm just worried that the pico PSU might not supply enough power, since it's capped at 160W. I can't seem to find the tdp of my specific card anywhere...

Do you mean wire the 360 psu such that you can switch it on using the SWEX?

No, I mean an actual 24-pin atx. To power this PE4H V3.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter)

Note that it can be directly powered through the 24-pin ATX connector.

Actually... anyone know how to wire an xbox psu to 24-pin atx?

What about the SWEX connector? Is that not required for the setup?

I only ask because I don't see a plug for it in his pictures. Is this PSU any better than the 210 Xbox?

I too like the PE4H 3.2 but have two issues with it.

1. Non detachable cable

2. Two PSU needed.

You only need one PSU. Just plug into the ATX connector in the enclosure and the ATX connector will have 6-pin cables for the video card.

So would it simply be a case of hacking off the molex/SATA/P4 connectors and replacing them with a floppy molex for the board and two 6-pin PCI-E connectors for the GPU? (Obviously after having prodded it with a multimeter to make sure that the relevant wires will supply the necessary power.)

I actually spotted a shop selling the full range of pico PSUs on eBay and considered buying one as I'm currently using a spare ATX PSU with the whole setup in a cardboard box and I feel like putting together a proper enclosure. I was actually going to go for an Xbox PSU just because it's a tried and tested option but this would be preferable size-wise if it works.

EDIT: Here's the one I was looking at - it already has a floppy molex so that's one less hack job to worry about!

200W DC-DC 12v Mini Power Supply PW-200V Mini ITX PSU | eBay

The nice thing about the PE4H v3.2 is that you just need the 24-pin ATX. The enclosure has 6-pin power cables running from the 24-pin ATX port.

If you're using something like the PE4L, then you could just skip the power supply and use the AC adapter alone with the included P4 adapter, and then jerry rig some cabling together. Kallogan actually did that here: DIY eGPU experiences - Page 848

I don't understand what a picopsu is, is it that small board on which the psu is placed?

Or is it something like convertor to connect a notebook adapter?

It's a tiny DC-DC power supply. So I would go from AC adapter -> picoPSU -> PE4H

SWEX / ATX plug is only for switching on the ATX PSU. You'll need the 6-pin to fully power the GPU. You can always hack 6-pins onto the 12v rails if connectivity is a problem.

I'm not talking about the ATX plug from bplus, but the picopower adapter that would go into the ATX port on the PE4H v3.2. This picoPSU-160-XT, 160watt (200watt peak) , 12V input DC-DC ATX Power Supply\

It seems that the enclosure has 6-pin cables coming out of the 24-pin ATX port that is used to power the PE4H v3.2. In any case, I'm awaiting email reply from bplus.

edit: just got a reply from Roger. He thinks it will work. Awesome!

I guess I'll be a guinea pig for this

So how do you power the GPU itself? PCI ports can't provide enough power to a GPU on their own...

Like so: http://www.bplus.com.tw/PDF/PE4H%20V3%202b%20user%20mannual.pdf

Looks like the enclosure has the 6-pin cables connected to the 24-pin ATX port.

Why not get a regular desktop PSU? That picoPSU doesn't look to have the 6-pin PCI-e power plug that is also required to power up the GPU itself.

For an eGPU such as the PE4H 2.4, you needed to power the GPU itself, as well a plug in the 24-pin ATX power into the SWEX board (which controlled the on/off of the PSU). I'm not familiar with the PE4H 3.2, so I don't know if you still need to power the GPU with the 6-pin.

I'm pretty sure all I need with the PE4H 3.2 is the 24 pin ATX plug, it doesn't seem to need the 6-pin to power the GPU.

I used a PE4L 2.1b with a desktop PSU for the past few months. It stopped working and HIT didn't return any of my emails... I'm trying to go for something more portable and I don't have the time to make an enclosure, so I'm getting the PE4H 3.2 with the enclosure. I'm just trying to find a way to power it without using a desktop PSU :/

Do you know what the minimum power requirement is for your specific GTX 460? One of the EVGA models says it recommends a 400W PSU, so I would assume that 192W should be more than enough for your card. Just don't hold me to that

I'm not sure, but I think it should definitely be less than 160. This is the card MSI USA - Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

I'm just concerned because it seems that I have to use this with the AC adapter to get to the 24-pin ATX for the PE4H v3.2 picoPSU-160-XT, 160watt (200watt peak) , 12V input DC-DC ATX Power Supply

It's capped at 160W. Is there any better way I can do this without that? I'd much rather use an AC adapter than a full power supply again.

Quick question, would this picopower psu work for the PE4H v3.2? I'm using a GTX 460.

picoPSU-160-XT with 192W Adapter Power Kit

Quick bump, I've determined that the problem is with the PE4L. Do I contact hwtools or harmonic inversion for support?

Hi,

My eGPU setup has stopped working as of today. It was working fine last night.

But now, whenever it is connected, my computer locks up every two seconds or so and is completely unusable. The card isn't even detected. My computer will play the sound that plays whenever new hardware is detected, but its broken up and will play continuously until I unplug from the laptop...

It's a PE4L 2.1b with a GTX 460, on a Lenovo X220 with Windows 8 x64.

Any ideas? Thanks...