Malloot

And what about the Lenovo Thinkpads W540, T540p, L540, ...? They also have a M.2 slot. Is it connected to SATA or PCIe Interface?

You will have to google that yourself.

However unless those are new laptops for 2015 the chance they have a M.2 Type m slot is almost none.

Found 2 new laptops for the list of fresh coming of CES

Both have M.2 type M

Hp Zbook 14g2

Hp Zbook 15u

Someone pushing the envelope further...or at least trying!

**Official Clevo P650SE/SG - P651SE/SG / Sager NP8651 - NP8652 Owner´s Lounge** - Page 364

Originally Posted by HTWingNut

Great idea! I have been wanting to do this for a while, but unfortunately M.2 runs off 3.3V I believe which is why the adapter won't work. You can try something like this to up convert from 3.3v to 5V:https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10255

And where did you get that adapter board?

I just wish there was an adapter that would just convert from mPCI-e to USB. So many possible applications.

Both of these already exist?

P32S-P32F (M.2 to USB3.0 Extender Board) Indeed powered with a sata power cable

P34SF-USB (USB to mPCI-e Extender)

They sell mutch more usefull tools like that, for example

P15S-P15F (M.2 to mPCIe Extender Board) M.2 to mPCI-e

P4SM2 (PCIe X4 to M.2 Adapter) M.2 to PCI-e 4x

Especially the last one is interesting for us, as we have one of maybe 5 laptop types that have a 4x speed M.2 slot, you can make a external gpu setup with that adapter and a x4 to 16x adapter. For now who is going to need a faster GPU then a GTX98/70m? But maybe in the future it could be interesting. Its less then 5% loss over 16gbps vs normal 16x slot in a desktop

hmm, maybe a sli config with a mxm gtx98/70m is possible? No idea how SLI Bridges work in the mobile GPU's. I know AMD does it over pci these days and doesn't need a bridge anymore.

Food for thought"

Thats me!

Was planning to post here but was searching on NBR and couldn't find the thread, well back on the right track again

A list with laptops that have a M.2 Type M slot that support PCI-e 4x

Asus Zenbook nx500jk

Hp Zbook 15/17 G2

Hp Omen gaming laptop, but its M.2 slot seems to be the ONLY slot for a hard drive

Sony Via Pro 13, but its M.2 slot seems to be the ONLY slot for a hard drive

Clevo P650, P651

Clevo P670, P671

Clevo P751ZM, P771ZM laptop with Desktop CPU, 2x slots, possibly for 8x or PCI-e 3.0?

Problem with the clevo laptops is that they already have performance comparable to a desktop so why try to make a external system. T

We need a MSI Gs30 like laptop, small, light, quad core, socketed cpu, intel iris or GTX 850 ish gpu onboard and a free M.2 type M slot.

Haven't found more laptops that support the M.2 Type we need, hope CES brings more but getting actual specs from internal connectors seems to be hard.

I was searching a bit but couldn't find anything about this, my google fu is not doing well lately so if this is a stupid idea please tell me.

I was planning on shelling out on a GTX970m laptop but always had the dream of setting up a perfect eGPU setup, then I saw the laptop i wanted to buy had a M.2 PCI-Express x4 (16gbps!) slot aboard. And my mind went racing, what if i just link that to a gpu?

So i found this

P4SM2 (PCIe x4 to M.2 NGFF adapter) - M-FACTORS Storage

Then just link that to one of these

PCI E Express Extension Cable Flex Ribbon 4X to 16x Extender Riser Card Adapter | eBay

And im done? for around 70 dollar?

Am i missing something?

Edit: Except the fact i hardly need a eGPU if i buy that GTX970m laptop (pci-e to mxm sli config maybe?)

and i found a list of laptops with a M.2 type M slot that should just be pci-e compatible and not only sata. I includes the Clevo i want to buy

80mm PCI-e M.2 NGFF (2280)

Notebooks/Devices

Sager NP8651 / Clevo P650SE

SONY VAIO Pro 13 (bootable)

So also a Via 13 pro, would make more sense in that but still not a perfect target.

I use HPFanControl with 2560p. Is it really impossible to set fan rpm's somewhere between 0 and 3200rpm (first level threshold)? X220 is able to run (if I remember correctly) something about three different rpm's levels before 3000 rpm. With 3200rpm 2560p has mean temp. aroun 38/40C so If there would be possibility to set for example 2600 rpm it will cause 5C temp rising. Not bad because still under 50C.

Allot of fans control settings have this, i was trying the same and came to the conclusion that the only thing that is going to help is to solder a resistance into the cable so it runs slower than it says. The thing with that is the max fan speed will also be lower like that. The program mentionned does help though.

I got my 2560p in the mail today and i'm very happy, my 300 euro's well spend. I've upgraded it to a I7 2630QM and added another ram stick of 2gb to 6gb ram total (and by random luck it was the same ram as installed, same type number and brand just smaller). And ofcourse dropped in my Samsung 840 evo ssd. Didn't do a fresh install so had some problems with nvidia drivers from my old laptop but nothing driver sweeper couldn't fix. Sorta curious how mutch i could ask for it here in Holland in it's upgraded state. There still selling the 2570p's for 1300 euro in its lowest specs.

Idle temps are a bit high though, about 50-53C, used Arctic silver so it does have a burn in but wonder if i could undervolt or tweak the cooling abit.

Yes, with @jot23 we tried use i7-2630QM in 2570p and it was working. After thi, when we were tryingo to swap i5 back, motherboard suddenly fried. Thats over.

Yeah read the posts about it now, just seems extremely strange it was working and then failed upon changing back to ivy. Im a stubborn tweaker (i gues you all are as otherwise you would never do this stuff ) so im just gonna go on a limb and say it has been another reason it was fried. Just seems very weird to me that a motherboard fries upon installing the original cpu because it changes back from an cpu it should not work with but did! Also there is absolutely no mention of how broken the motherboard was, no post?, just random errorness?, burned and eaten by aliens?

Im searching for ether the 2560 or 2570 but whatever is cheaper i will buy, just try to make sure the warranty is good when i buy a 2570

Edit: Okay thanks to you all i just bought a 2560p on Ebay for a grand total of 304 euro including shipping and the Dutch 21% import tax :) I have checked for ages on the web to find something comparable new but other then the 1700+ euro M4800 from Dell i couldn't find anything like the good old Elitebook series. Have a i7-2360qm and a 840 evo 256gb ready for some upgrade action.

Btw this snow effect from the website makes me panic and think i have screen tearing all the time

I can't recommend swapping CPU from Sandy to Ivy, I've heard stories of faulty motherboards as results.

Thanks for the reply jacobsson. However you are talking about upgrading a sandy mobo to a ivy cpu. Im talking about upgrading a dual core ivy to a quad core sandy on a 2750p. I gues this is a different outcome. Might even be no1 tried it?

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

Im considering buying this over a dell m4800 for budget reasons and the fun of upgrading a laptop cpu and making a egpu (670) system.

I have a laptop with a broken screen with a socketed i7 2630qm processor. Would it be possible for the ivy bridge chipset to use this cpu?

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

2011-2013 Thunderbolt is imho, a dud. It's 10Gbps, double expresscards slot performance but the Thunderbolt eGPU enclosures are hideously expensive. Thunderbolt on a Macbook is well and truly not plug and play. I found the firmware would even disconnect the Thunderbolt controller off the root bridge if no device was detected on bootup.

Until 20Gbps Thunderbolt comes out either with Haswell (June 2013) or later in 2014, I'm suggesting users avoid Thunderbolt for the time being. It's just too pricey for both the notebook and the eGPU enclosure. Macbook users will consider it since they have Thunderbolt and no expresscard slot and seemingly deeper pockets.

So I'd suggest stick with a system with an expresscard 2.0 slot. The best Ivy Bridge options to meet your needs being:

12.5" Lenovo X230, HP 2570P or Dell E6230. I chose a 12.5" HP 2570P as it's the performance king from this list. It can be upgraded to a i7-quad and can host 2x9.5mm drives, even configurable in RAID-0 formation. That means can get > 10Mbps sequential reads with the latest SSDs. The other two systems have soldered CPUs, limited storage upgrade options and look a lot worse imho. Unfortunately review sites fail to mention these 2570P performance features. A 2570P is greatly under represented by review websites.

13" Toshiba R930 or Dell E6330. A Dell E6330 betters a E6230 by offering a touchstyk and can host 2 drives.

14" Lenovo T430s/T430, HP 8470P, Dell E6430, Toshiba R940. These all have 1600x900 LCD options. i7 version of T430s has both a Thunderbolt and expresscard slot. A 14" Toshiba R940 being the thinnest/lightest unit while still having a 66Whr battery. A T430s is light but uses a low capacity li-po so needs a optical bay battery to get decent battery life out it. Note: T430s and R940 have soldered CPUs.

The other wildcard here is a 13" Sony SVZ. Awesome machine with i7-quad CPU, FHD LCD, RAID-0 SSD storage all in a chassis as light as a 13" Macbook Air. Problem is they have no expresscard slot and they're being discontinued. Thankfully, our Mikjoa has shown us how it a convenient mPCIe eGPU can be attached to one of these beauties. Save your money and DON'T get the PMD option with a SVZ. They come with a HD6650M/7670M that's also limited to the same 10Gbps downstream link just like 2011-2013 Thunderbolt (x2 2.0 + 12.5%). A GTX560Ti+ eGPU via mPCIe giving far better performance. See http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2158-diy-egpu-guide-sony-vaio-vpc-z2-svz13.html#post27918

Lastly, if you have deep pockets then consider a 13" or 15" retina Macbook Pro (rMBP). 15" rMBP is 4.6lbs, has a quad-core CPU and GT650M, plus 2xThunderbolt ports along with their sensational retina displays. Then add a Thunderbolt eGPU enclosure.

I just registered to thank you for the most helpful and clear post I have seen since starting to search for this subject. Clearly written and recommendations based on facts and experience. A pleasure to sore forum eyes!

A couple of other considerations to think of in the light of buying a 12-14 inch laptop that can be plugged in to become a desktop aswell (I basically have the same idea as Gwypaas)

As far as i can see a i7 3520qm Lenovo x230 comes for 1070dollars and a Hp 2570 needs a whopping 1499dollars for the same(just going off manufacturer us website prices here), even though the hp has more upgrade paths that seems allot of money.

I have a I7 2630qm proccesor in my 3+kilo 2hour battery life laptop atm, would it be a good idea to use that as a way to upgrade a i3 Hp2570? or is the power consumption/tdp from that sandy bridge to high to use with it?

What type of Gpu should i buy for this system? I am personally thinking of spending about 150-200 euro for a card as it seems thats where the price/performance is at atm. The new 650 ti boost any good for the use?

Thnx in advance for any anwser