Jump to content

15" Lenovo Y700 + [email protected] (PE4C 4.1) + Win10 [frozentax]


frozentax

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

Have a Lenovo Y700. Just installed the PE4C-M4060A v4.1 for M.2 "M" style key (which replaced my NVMe SSD) with Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB card. While it is working somewhat, I keep running into BSOD issues when trying the SteamVR test. Here's what I've done so far:

 

- In BIOS, switch to "Integrated Graphics" only to bypass internal NVIDIA dGPU

- Clean install of 372.70 drivers (latest drivers always caused Error 43 in Device Manager; read another thread suggesting to try the older version)

- The above works fine, and I have HDMI output from the card

- About two seconds into the SteamVR Test, the card makes an audible clicking sound and then I receive BSOD

 

The PE4C has two delay switches (what they actually govern, I have no clue and can't find any good info on this). Out of the nine possible combinations, only three combinations actually allow the card to be recognized and used in Windows. Two of the combinations cause the system to completely freeze and become unresponsive during SteamVR, and the eGPU fans turn on full blast. The third combination, which I'm using, causes the BSOD with "VIDEO_SCHEDULER_INTERNAL_ERROR." The eGPU fans don't turn on for this one. 

 

Attached is the HWiNFO readout for the PCIe bus that's in use with the PE4C.

 

Not sure what my next steps should be! Any ideas? I tried the DSDT lane increase route, but couldn't get my DSDT.dsl file to compile (even without edit), as there were 13 unresolved errors. :logik: Thanks for any suggestions!

egpu.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, you have a x4 3.0 (32Gbps) link. Once it's stable, it will run faster than 32Gbps-TB3 since there's no TB controller latency as found at https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/10579-17-clevo-p870dm-g-gtx108032gbps-ngffm2-pe4c-v41-win10-bloodhawk/

 

Check your PSU, even testing another if you can. Try also downclocking your video card.

 

There's also the possibility the PCIe 3.0 (8Gbps) lanes are having reliability issues.  We certainly saw some combinations of video cards and systems having problems maintaining even a lower specced  PCIe 2.0 (5Gbps) signal, requiring downgrading to Gen1 for stability using Setup 1.30.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Tech Inferno Fan said:

Wow, you have a x4 3.0 (32Gbps) link. Once it's stable, it will run faster than 32Gbps-TB3 since there's no TB controller latency as found at https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/10579-17-clevo-p870dm-g-gtx108032gbps-ngffm2-pe4c-v41-win10-bloodhawk/

 

I know, I was very excited to see this. I'm hoping the sacrifice of my NVMe SSD will be worth it.

 

I actually have another PSU coming today (430W). I'm currently using an old Rosewill 350W, which should be enough, but there is an odd odor coming from it which I've attributed to having been sitting in the garage for a few years. But we will see, I'll keep this thread updated with my results. If no go, I'll be sure to grab your Setup 1.30 and attempt PCIe downgrade.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so it was a garbage old PSU causing the issue! New PSU hooked up and SteamVR ran without a hitch. Results attached (says it's using the internal GPU, obviously that's not correct). Also have the Afterburner results attached - temp got up to 61°C. Seems a little high for a quick demo, but it gets right back to baseline quickly after demo completion. The eGPU makes a subtle whirring sound while displaying 3D imagery (confirmed it's not the fans, and it actually changes pitch during a scene change on-screen). Never encountered that before - but, then again, never had a GPU sitting so close to me. Should I be worried, or is that normal behavior?

steamvr2.png

afterburn.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, frozentax said:

Okay, so it was a garbage old PSU causing the issue! New PSU hooked up and SteamVR ran without a hitch. Results attached (says it's using the internal GPU, obviously that's not correct). Also have the Afterburner results attached - temp got up to 61°C. Seems a little high for a quick demo, but it gets right back to baseline quickly after demo completion. The eGPU makes a subtle whirring sound while displaying 3D imagery (confirmed it's not the fans, and it actually changes pitch during a scene change on-screen). Never encountered that before - but, then again, never had a GPU sitting so close to me. Should I be worried, or is that normal behavior?

 

Yes, coil whine on the video card is normal.  Nothing to worry about.

 

Yours is the second 32Gbps-NGFF.M2 eGPU implementation that eclipses TB3 performance at a significantly cheaper eGPU adapter pricepoint. Would you mind doing an implementation write up so other users can leverage off your pioneering findings?  Along the lines of https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/10579-17-clevo-p870dm-g-gtx108032gbps-ngffm2-pe4c-v41-win10-bloodhawk/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, can you run GPU-Z while the GTX1060 is under load? Pls observe the link speed reported. It might be x4 2.0 (16Gbps) or x4 3.0 (32Gbps). Your hwinfo output shows it was running x4 2.0 (16Gbps). That may be because it downgrades the link when idle to save power. Putting it under load will show the full bandwidth available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Downloading 3DMark now. Here's some information in the meantime.

 

eGPU Build:

Adapter: PE4C-M4060A v4.1 M.2 Key
PSU: EVGA 430 W1, 80+
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1060 G1 6GB

 

Laptop Build (16GB DDR4):

Spoiler

sz7wxu.jpg

 

 

Images:

Spoiler

15phf2q.jpg

2z8drg9.jpg

 

 

 

GPU-Z (Under Load):

Spoiler

33yj8nl.gif

 

 

CUDA-Z (Simulated Heavy Load):

Spoiler

20frcdk.png

 

 

 

Let me know if there's anything specific that you want!

 

 

Edited by frozentax
Hid images for ease of browsing
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh man, I think I need to upgrade my desk game - nice setup! Are you using the cable that came with the PE4C? Mine seems a lot shorter than yours, I don't think I could even rig it like that if I had the space.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, frozentax said:

Oh man, I think I need to upgrade my desk game - nice setup! Are you using the cable that came with the PE4C? Mine seems a lot shorter than yours, I don't think I could even rig it like that if I had the space.

Not really, its the standard length, i just routed it in a way that it neatly goes behind the laptop and under. Ill post a few pictures tomorrow morning.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Tech Inferno Fan said:

@frozentax, your CUDA-Z host-to-device score of 1322MiB/s is he bandwidth x4 2.0 gets

. Can you pls re-run that? You're looking for ~2800MiB/s for a x4 3.0 link.

 

Just re-ran it; 1378MiB/s is what it caps at. GPU-Z shows x4 3.0 alongside it. 

 

Actually, if I run the GPU-Z stress test and monitor CUDA-Z, the values drop further. Also appears that standard Windows screen effects (minimizing, maximizing - anything with a fade) become somewhat laggy and not fluid during that time. See below. Any ideas about what's happening?

 

2zivudy.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello @frozentax I just order this same laptop to upgrade my dell xps l702x, which btw I have it running with a GTX 1060 3gb but not with this eGPU, I have the GDC EXP V8.0 via mini PCIe, but my cpu bottleneck the gpu and can´t have the performance that I was expecting, so do you think that I will have a good performance with the GDC EXP V8.0 via mini PCIe setup?  

With this laptop you can easily setup an eGPU or you have to deal with other things like setup 1.3 or other things? In other words how easy is this? is just plug and play? Can you restart your pc with the eGPU connected without problems? 

Thanks and waiting for your answer. 

PD: attached a photo of my actual setup. 

IMAG2871.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, StrongHead said:

Hello @frozentax I just order this same laptop to upgrade my dell xps l702x, which btw I have it running with a GTX 1060 3gb but not with this eGPU, I have the GDC EXP V8.0 via mini PCIe, but my cpu bottleneck the gpu and can´t have the performance that I was expecting, so do you think that I will have a good performance with the GDC EXP V8.0 via mini PCIe setup?  

With this laptop you can easily setup an eGPU or you have to deal with other things like setup 1.3 or other things? In other words how easy is this? is just plug and play? Can you restart your pc with the eGPU connected without problems? 

 

To begin with, I had to turn off switchable graphics in the BIOS (specify dedicated/integrated only). I used the M.2 port, so can't speak to the mini PCIe port - however, there was no whitelisting necessary or need for setup 1.3. For Windows, I had to use the 372.70 drivers, as the latest caused an Error 43 (however, this could be resolved by now, not sure). Performance wise, I'm not sure how the mini PCIe port will fare. I think you'll be locked to either x1 or x2 link speed, which (based on my limited research), may affect FPS output to some extent in high intensity  / max settings environments - but the GPU performance could counteract that, to some extent. Either way, I was able to run VR (Vive) without any hiccups. Keep us posted on how it goes, and let me know if you have any other questions! The laptop itself is a great buy, by the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks @frozentax for your fast response. I will have to wait for the laptop arrive and see if will be compatible all this... Thanks and I will update the post when I have the laptop and can try with the  GDC EXP V8.0. 

Edited by StrongHead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello @frozentax I already have the laptop, and have tried the GTX 960m that comes with it and I am surprise of all the power that it have. But in other hands I can't use the gtx 1060 or at least with the GDC EXP V8.0 because this laptop doesn't have the network card on the usual mini pci-e port, it have an intel dual band card that comes in m.2 form. So just in case someone is reading this and was thinking about buying this laptop to try this, at least with the GDC EXP mini pci-e you cannot use an external gpu. 

I attached a photo to show a size comparison of the two wifi cards. Hope that could be for help to someone..

photo_2017-01-11_19-56-16.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, StrongHead said:

Hello @frozentax I already have the laptop, and have tried the GTX 960m that comes with it and I am surprise of all the power that it have. But in other hands I can't use the gtx 1060 or at least with the GDC EXP V8.0 because this laptop doesn't have the network card on the usual mini pci-e port, it have an intel dual band card that comes in m.2 form. So just in case someone is reading this and was thinking about buying this laptop to try this, at least with the GDC EXP mini pci-e you cannot use an external gpu. 

I attached a photo to show a size comparison of the two wifi cards. Hope that could be for help to someone..

photo_2017-01-11_19-56-16.jpg

Well you could buy the m2 ngff version of the beast

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, egpulover said:

Well you could buy the m2 ngff version of the beast

Oh  yeah thanks, I didn't know that.. I was looking for and find that they sell only the cable which is what I need to make my V8.0 EXP GDC BEAST compatible with my new laptop. 

|Here is the link of the cable only. 

http://www.banggood.com/NGFF-Cable-for-V8_0-EXP-GDC-Beast-Laptop-External-Independent-Video-Card-Dock-p-1037574.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, StrongHead said:

Oh  yeah thanks, I didn't know that.. I was looking for and find that they sell only the cable which is what I need to make my V8.0 EXP GDC BEAST compatible with my new laptop. 

|Here is the link of the cable only. 

http://www.banggood.com/NGFF-Cable-for-V8_0-EXP-GDC-Beast-Laptop-External-Independent-Video-Card-Dock-p-1037574.html

So... its a good thing that they are selling it seperately, right?

 

Anyway you can have x2/x4 speed with the m2 ngff cable instead of the x1 of the mPCIe port so if money is not a problem you should consider buying the cable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I can't help but reply. I'm seriously impressed someone beat me to making an eGPU for the Y700. However, I noticed that the M.2 port is getting 2.0 rather than 3.0 transfer speeds. Might this thread help? It's a guide for modifying the BIOS in order to support PCIe bus speeds of the 3rd generation. 

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Likewise the guy above me, sorry to bring up an old thread.

 

On 4/28/2017 at 7:11 PM, ThatGuyOverThere said:

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I can't help but reply. I'm seriously impressed someone beat me to making an eGPU for the Y700. However, I noticed that the M.2 port is getting 2.0 rather than 3.0 transfer speeds. Might this thread help? It's a guide for modifying the BIOS in order to support PCIe bus speeds of the 3rd generation. 

 

This is indeed an important info, though I find one more important thing to notice. @frozentax used PE4C v4.1, which only supports speed up to Gen2.

 

Quote

The PE4C V4.1 is designed for Notebook PCs that converts PCI Express 16X Add-on Card to M.2 Card or 
PCIe x4 connecter with up to Gen2 speed.

 

image_85.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Hi Everyone !
I have a MSI GE72 2qE apache Pro LapTop with a m.2 key M connectors too but when i plug my Egpu on the laptop he didn't recogniz the graphic card :/
I don't know what to do to solve this problem :/
 

If someone know how to solve it, it could be realy cool !!!

Sorry for re-open an older subject ^^

Best Regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.