daver160

Hi Muswolf, As you already know, Error 12 basically means Windows detects the eGPU, but it's unable to use it due to limited PCI space. Despite being an error, it's a good sign, more or less. In my case, I couldn't get the eGPU to work using Setup 1.x's default dGPU disable + PCI compaction actions. Instead, I had to manually configure my startup.bat script, as per the section "Troubleshooting My Setup 1.x startup.bat" (page 1, post #2). Don't forget to follow the steps in "3. Running Setup 1.x"; here I explained how to boot up Setup 1.x and what commands to run in order to get Setup 1.x to disable the dGPU and run the PCI compaction. Basically, the total of events I had to take to get the eGPU to work is: - assemble eGPU kit - boot into Setup 1.x - configure Setup 1.x for disable dGPU, PCI compaction, and chainload - boot into Windows normally (no eGPU!) - in mounted eGPU drive (usually V:\), edit the startup.bat file in text editor; modify the "call iport dGPU off" line to instead say "setpci -s 1:0.0 COMMAND=0:7 10.l=0,0,0,0,0,0 -s 0:1.0 b0.w=10:10 19.b=0,0 3E.w=0:8 COMMAND=0:7 20.l=0,0 call iportbus force" - reboot Windows, boot up into Setup 1.x That's the gist of it, of course you'll ahve to run some trial and error to determine where things are going wrong, but it sounds like you're having the same issue as I had: either the PCI compaction or the disable dGPU commands are causing you trouble.

Setup 1.x doesn't permanently disable the dGPU, it only disables it for that "session" in that the dGPU will only be disabled until you reboot/shut down. Then on next boot the dGPU will turn back on. In this case, please try the following, to see if you can get the eGPU to be detected: - turn off everything: laptop, eGPU, even eGPU's power supply (physical switch on PSU) - turn on eGPU's power supply, make sure that you get the LEDs showing on the PE4L board - turn on eGPU assembly (using SWEX board) - wait about 1 minute (to make sure that the eGPU assembly is fully powered on) - turn on laptop - boot up into Setup 1.x in menu mode - wait another 1 minute after booting up into Setup 1.x menu mode - hit F5 to refresh the device list Does Setup 1.x detect the eGPU after waiting? For me, it normally takes about 10-15 seconds from turning on the eGPU to when Setup 1.x detects my eGPU. Sometimes it takes a bit longer, but this is normal for me. If Setup 1.x still does not detect your eGPU, it might be that the PM060a adapter is not properly seated?

Well you said that D1 is always green, so you have enough power. If D3 is orange, it might mean that it's not being detected. What happens after you try running Setup 1.x? It's possible that it's still orange because you haven't disabled the dGPU yet? I don't know how the eGPU works in Windows 8 as I simply don't have experience with it. My understanding, t hough, is that you still need to disable the dGPU even with Windows 8? If you're getting power, then clearly the PSU is fine. If you're not getting detected, then it's something between the GPU and the eGPU assembly. It might just be that the eGPU isn't being used because the PCI space is currently looking for and using the dGPU

You should have received a molex to 4-pin floppy cable, like this except that the smaller end should be black. This is to provide power to the PE4L PCI board from the PSU. However, since most desktop PSUs have a 4-pin floppy power cable, this extra cable isn't really necessary so you can set it aside. That the LEDs are not all green when you power on the laptop indicates that something is amiss. Just to make sure that you have the proper wiring: - Have you got the 6-pin PCI-e power cable (or both, if the card requires) plugged into the GTX 660? - Have you got the 4-pin floppy power cable plugged into the PE4L board? - Have you got anything else you can use to keep the PM060a cable flat? Tape may not work because the mPCI-e port may be forcing the PM060a card to try to stand up, and so the pins might not be making full contact - Have you tried both the GPU and PSU in a separate desktop system to make sure that neither are faulty to begin with?

Apologies that I didn't respond to these sooner. I just didn't see them in the queue! The GTX 660 is supposedly the better bang-for-buck GPU (or maybe it was the Ti variant?), so you should be getting some very good framerates out of it for most games. Regarding using Setup 1.x, take a look at the script that I have in my first two posts. I detail the specific lines in the startup.bat script that (1) disable the dGPU and (2) run the PCI compaction that fixes the Windows Device Manager "Error 12" issue. To get the eGPU working on the internal screen doesn't require anything all that special: if you have successfully get the eGPU running, simply disable all external monitors - the eGPU should automatically start using the built in LCD panel. You'll know for sure that you're using the eGPU if you use something like GPU-Z to monitor the eGPU's activity while you run a quick benchmark on the internal LCD. What version of Windows are you using? Please try the following, just to see if Windows can detect the eGPU: 1) With your XPS 15 completely turned off, plug in the PMxxxa mPCI-e adapter into the WWAN/TVTuner slot, make sure you use the screws to keep it in place 2) turn on the eGPU assembly, make sure that it's on for at least 30 seconds; doesn't have to really be 30s, but just make absolutely sure that the GPU itself is on At this stage, what are the colours of the LEDs on the PE4L board? Are they all green? Or still the same colours as you explained in your step #5? 3) turn on the laptop, and boot into Windows regularly 4) Open Device Manager, right click on "Display adapters" and select "Scan for new hardware" Does the eGPU show up? You should at least see it in the list of display adapters, but it should give you an error like "Error Code 12" or anything else indicating that Windows sees it, but can't use it.

Hi folks, Just wanted to let people know that I am selling my PE4H v2.4 package. It includes all the parts that you would normally order through places like HWTools or HIT. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I would just like to upgrade to the PE4L. Please PM me if you are interested, do not post in this thread, and we'll work something out.

No, in my case my reduced framerates are likely caused by the PCI-E 1.0 interface I'm running on. I don't see any unusual lag or poor framerates in any games, except when I am recording/streaming video. This is most likely caused by the fact that I am running on a bandwidth limited channel (PCI-E 1.0 vs 2.0). Before I pick up a game, I usually do a search on YouTube for people using the same GPU as mine, and see what they say about performance. I see that I'm getting the roughly same performance as they do, except for some more stressful situations in the game that tax the GPU.

Not sure what that has to do with my eGPU, but no I don't actively play them. The last Call of Duty I played was MW3, and I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet. Why do you ask? Are you looking for benchmarks or something? I can try and get those games from my friend (he's a CoD, BF fanatic!) and try them out on my eGPU if you wanted.

I probably should have been more clear in my previous post: I currently run a PE4H v2.4 (purchased late Dec 2012, arrived early Jan 2013), so my link speed is just PCI-E 1.0 (1.1Opt). I was in contact with a salesperson from HIT in order to do an exchange for a PE4L, but since March I haven't heard a peep from them. On the plus side, I have a fully functional PE4H v2.4 if anybody's interested! It's *definitely* been tested to be in working order lol

Has anyone been in contact with HIT recently? I've left numerous emails and voicemails on their office lines (once per week, each), and have had no reply for about 6 weeks now. It feels like they've closed up shop or something; you'd think they would have at least replied to one of my emails or voicemails by this time... I'd like to know if they're still in business, because I'd like to get in touch with one of their staff regarding the PE4L kit. I just find it a bit disconcerting that they've not made one attempt to let me know that they're still around... unless they are intentionally ignoring me

There's no real updates to a eGPU kit, it's all on the hardware level so I need to buy a new eGPU kit. I currently have the PE4H v2.4, and I am planning to upgrade to the PE4L v2.1 The GPU looks good. I only have the GTX 650 Ti because it was on sale and has great mid-to-high end performance. It doesn't perform nearly as well as the higher GTX tiered GPUs, but I'm not one of those who nitpick on the framerates in every game - I don't expect min. 60fps @ 1080p in a CryEngine based game, I'm perfectly happy with 40fps @ 720p. And yes, you will need to use Setup 1.x software, to get around the dGPU issue. Our laptops have a dGPU GT525M/540M, which you need to disable in order to make room for the eGPU. This process must be run every time you boot the machine. Hopefully you won't run into the same problems I had with allocating PCI space!

That's hard to completely objectively quantify since even identical systems will see slightly different levels of performance. Right now I am able to get a steady 40+fps in all games running 1920x1080 with High settings. Sometimes it dips a little bit to 30fps, but it will pop right back up again. You definitely won't get 100% desktop performance, but you'll get close to it. I am assuming that I'm getting about 80-90% of my card's full performance, due to the loss of throughput from the compression and PCI-e compatibility. Take my PE4H eGPU right now. Even though I am running 1.1Opt, I'm still getting great framerates in most games, even at 1920x1080 resolution. There are some limitations I am finding, such as streaming/capturing in-game video, but this is likely due to the difference in PCI compression through Optimus. In terms of in-game performance, however, I can only estimate that PCI-E 2.0 (or 1.2Opt) would give me about 15-20% performance boost (based on Nando's [email protected] vs [email protected]? Keep in mind that the GTX 660 is more powerful than the GTX 650 Ti, so I would expect at the very maximum a 20% boost in gaming performance if I upgraded to 1.2Opt (which I am planning to do soon, still waiting to hear back from HIT).

Yes! The PMxxxA is basically the mPCIe adapter soldered directly to the cable (and the cable is soldered to the PE4L board).

Yup, that PSU should do fine. On the Coolermaster website, you'll see that the output on the 12V1/12V2 rails is set to 18amps (~200W), so that should be plenty of power for the GPU. Even an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 requires 195W (12V @ 16.25A). You could use this to power the PE4L board, but it does not provide enough output to power a GPU, unless you are using a very old GPU that doesn't require much power. You could get by with a mid range GPU like the ATI 7750 (~50W) or Nvidia GT 630 (~50W). The problem is that these cards may require a 6-pin PCI cable to provide power to the GPU, and your spare laptop charger may not be able to provide enough stable throughput to both the PE4L and the GPU together. I can't confirm 100%, but that looks liek the PE4L v1.5, which is not guaranteed to be PCI-E 2.0 compatible. People are reporting that non-soldered PE4L/PE4H packages do not provide guaranteed PCI-E 2.0 compatibility. You should look at teh PE4L v2.1, which is PCI-E 2.0 compatible. This will increase the overall performance of the GPU, and give you the best bang for buck. The PE4L v2.1 is a single piece of hardware, all 3 parts are soldered together. It's inconvenient in this regard, but again, it's the best bang for buck package.

You mean that Windows doesn't detect it at all? It doesn't show up in your Device Manager? What colour are the LEDs on your eGPU board?

No no, you don't need to plug in both the ExpressCard and mini PCI-E card, you only need to use one of the two. In this case, it's highly suggested that you use the ExpressCard since it's much easier to deal with than the mPCI-E card on the underside of the laptop. Basically, with an eGPU you only need to use 1 slot on your computer to get it up and running. While it is possible to use both the ExpressCard slot and the mini PCI-E slot, it's not necessary. That is only if you want to really get as much performance out of the cards as possible. Since you aren't looking to invest in a high end GPU, you will not receive much benefit from using both slots. It's better to get the PE4L v2.1 that supports PCI-E 2.0, because it will also work with PCI-E 1.0/1.1 devices. It is backwards compatible if that is what you are looking for. I am almost certain that your ExpressCard slot will support PCI-E 2.0, hopefully someone can confirm this or correct me on this!

I would choose the PE4L because it gives me the freedom to build my own enclosure, as well as being the cheaper option. As far as I know, yes, the PE4L is not only for GPU usage, you can plug in almost any PCI-E device into the PE4L kit. FOr example, sound cards, wireless cards. Yes, but don't worry about them. The PE4L v2.1 is the variant that you want. I only recommend the PSU because there's no fuss about cutting and splicing wires. Any PSU that meets the requirements of the GPU you are going to use will be fine. As long as you have a PSU that has at least say 12amps on the 12 volt rail will do. Take this PSU for example at Newegg: Open the Details tab, scroll down to the "Output" line. Do you see the numbers? +3.3V@20A, +5V@20A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, [email protected], [email protected] The numbers I highlighted in blue means that the 12 volt rail has 18 amps, which should be plenty enough to drive most GPUs that require a secondary power source (except for some of the really high end GPUs). My old GTS 8600 doesn't require a secondary power source, as an example, but my GTX 8800 does. Most power supplies will satisfy this requirement, so just make sure you find one that outputs to the 12V rail. I don't know what you mean by "double the eGPU performance", but the PE4L 2.1 supports PCI-E 2.0 compatibility, so that means you are going to run the GPU at PCI-E 2.0. The PE4H v2.4 that I currently have only supports PCI-E 1.1 compatibility, so that means my GPU is only running at PCI-E 1.1 instead of 2.0, thus lower bandwidth/performance (if that's what you mean). The two images you linked two are for the PE4H v2.4 kit, which you should avoid due to the lower performance. The PE4H kit seems like a better package due to the fact that you can disassemble it easily (unplug the mHDMI cable), but it in fact provides less bang for buck due to the limited PCI-E 1.1 performance.

What are you full system specs? What make and model? This is just so that we can consider your hardware configuration in case there may be any known issues, etc. I can't link directly to a thread/post because I can't find it, but if you search this specific thread you'll see some discussion about modding an Xbox 360 power supply (230W) for use with an eGPU. It's not a difficult procedure, but not advised for those who are not familiar with cutting and splicing cables. The procedure should be relatively easy if you are experienced with wiring, etc. Well, this is a bit subjective. your old GT 9xxx card will definitely work with the eGPU kit, but I don't know if you'll be able to use it for your internal LCD screen. As I understand it, your Nvidia card needs to support Optimus technology, and I don't know if the GT 9xxx series GPUs support Optimus proper. I recall that the 9xxx series GPUs supported some sort of switchable graphics technology, but I don't think this was Optimus proper. If you have a budget for up to $100 for the GPU, I would advise using it if you want to get it to work on your internal LCD. Of course, you can test with your GT 9xxx card first to see if it works with the internal LCD, but if it doesn't you'll have to shop for a newer Nvidia GPU. There are some on Amazon, so you could do some shopping there. I don't know if any of their sellers offer the Free shipping through Amazon. That would be a good play to start. Personally, I recommend Harmonic Inversion (Harmonic Inversion), but you do have to pay for shipping through them. Depending on your hardware configuration, you may or may not need to use the Setup 1.x software to run a PCI compaction against your memory. However, as you are running Windows 8 + 4GB you might be able to install your eGPU without any issues (though never any guarantees).

This might answer all your questions below: short answer is "No". You still require some sort of extra power supply, whether it's a pico, a modded Xbox 360, or regular desktop PSU, to drive the eGPU assembly as well as the graphics card. You could get away with a GPU that doesn't require extra power (powered directly from the PCI-board), but that's about as portable as it gets. If you are looking for a completely passive eGPU solution (powered straight from the laptop), sorry I don't think any such thing exists right now. Yes, as long as you use an Nvidia card. It's also possible with an ATI card, but the effort-to-investment ratio isn't worth it. You should be fine. As I recall, almost all systems with 4GB or less shouldn't have a problem in terms of memroy/PCI space and allocation PE4L 2.1 or PE4H 3.4 (or was it 3.2? can't remember) will both give you identical performance. The only real difference between the two are how they are physically assembled. PE4L is more DIY in that you need to build your own enclosure for it, PE4H 3.4 usually comes with one. yes, as long as those applications recognize the eGPU you are using. eGPU will simply add/replace your current dGPU. If the application supports GPU acceleration, then it will support your eGPU. Not to sound pessimistic, but good luck getting a brand new eGPU kit up and running on $120. The cheapest eGPU package is the PE4L at $71USD. Add to that shipping and you're looking at $80 or more for the eGPU package alone. Now further to that, you have to source a GPU which will cost anywhere from $50-$500 (quick search: $50 GeForce GT 520 @ Newegg) and a power supply, which could cost anywhere between $20 and $200. I don't mean to be negative about it, but for brand new parts (new PE4L, new GPU, new PSU) I doubt you'll be able to get everything for under $120 is all I mean. However, you might be able to squeeze by if you can source the GPU and PSU from buy/sell boards. For example, you might be able to get a GPU for $25-50 and a PSU for the same or less (or even free from a dead desktop system). I would say that you should be able to buy a used GPU + PSU for $75 after taxes (shipping is another matter).

Before you go thanking me, just one more thing to keep in mind: if you want to buy the PE4H package, make absolutely sure that you buy the PE4h v3.2, not the v2.4. Only v3.2 has Gen2 speeds. (If you buy PE4L 2.1, you are OK). Now, regarding @Tech Inferno Fan recommendations for laptops, he is totally correct. While we can get eGPU setup on mPCI-e ports, it's much, much more convenient to use the ExpressCard slot. Not only does it mean it's easily to just plug in the eGPU into the laptop, you don't have to worry about the physical slot space on the underside of the laptop. Even though my Dell laptop has *just* enough room for a fullsize mini PCI-e card, not all laptops have that much room. The image you linked to looks like it may not have enough room for the PM___a adapter. As you can see, there are only a few millimeters between the WLAN card and the RAM slots. This may pose to be a problem down the road - or not, it's hard to tell from just pictures.

If you have a Sandy Bridge or higher processor, then you'll get 1.2Opt, meaning Gen2 (5gbps) speeds. You'll need a PE4L 2.1 or PE4H 3.2 eGPU package.

That's great news! Do you have any benchmarks or screenshots that show it's working at full Gen2 speed? Just curious to see if software detects anything different, or if it's completely transparent!

Not yet, but I will definitely go forward with the PE4L kit. The guys at HIT often take a while to respond to mail, so I'm still waiting to hear back from them. I will definitely post updates to my benchmarks when I have it running!

Again, what online shop are you looking at for the PSU? We could peruse their site and come up with some PSU alternatives for lower prices. Just my 2 cents on the GPU: If you are not planning on getting any sort of mid-range or better GPU, you could really get away with just getting something like an Nvidia GT, instead of a GTX. Since you will be using it strictly for "industrial" use (I use this term when people use a GPU for stuff like rendering and programming), you can get by with a GT 620/630/640. A friend of mine does similar stuff (he's worked for Activision, EA, Radical), and he's currently doing all his work on a laptop's GT650M. He only does heavy duty work on his desktop, most other things he gets away with on his laptop. As an idea of cost savings going with a GT rather than a GTX, GT630 (2GB GDDR3) = $75 vs GTX 660 (1GB GDDR5)= $250. You'll certainly get much better performance from the GTX 660, but you'll also save almost $200 by getting a GT instead of a GTX.

I don't recommend the Xbox 360 power brick simply because it requires DIY work. A desktop PSU is much more out of the box, and significantly less daunting to a user who is not familiar with modifying hardware. Not to mention that if the PSU fails while under warranty, it's as easy as unscrewing and unplugging it from the eGPU system, packaging it up and shipping out to the manufacturer for RMA.