Any old laptops around here?

[DBegen]

Hello, I sure am glad that this site exists. I am an extreme newby to external gpu's. After searching all through this site I am unable,myself to answer the questions I have myself, so I am glad this site is chock-full of graphics card experts.

I will explain a little about my knowledge, system and what I am trying to set up here. although I'm newby to e gpu I do know what I am doing with graphics cards. I still have my first 3dfx voodoo2 and ati all in wonder and the geforce 1 I used to replace those. saved in bags. 1998/1999. I have wanted to build some kind of e gpu system since 2005 when I got my first expesscard slot.

I first saw a PE4H last year sometime, I finally stumbled across the part. I wanted one then but have been trying to decide which version, or forego it altogether and just get an awesome new laptop with sli or something. Now some questions. It seems most on this site are using newer or newest laptops, I7 , I5 ok new is best I get that, but will older core duo or core 2 duo work for this? I have one of each. 1) core duo 1.8 17" 1920x1200, geforce go 7800 ,express card slot max 2.5 gbs. pci express v1 x16 xp pro. And the other is core 2 duo 2.4 17" 1920x1200, geforce 8600gt expresscard slot pci expess v1 x16,max 2.5 gbs. vista, both have bios version A09.

I can't find any posts or threads of anyone using old like these. I can output to large screen with both in hd no problems. I don't use the 1.8 any more but have the latest nvidia drivers i can use one this 2.4. forceware 307.83 It shows as dx10 in gpu-z even though it is only a dx9 card. I can play anything dx9 can throw at it ( new Tomb raider, Far cry3 ) the frame rates are low, eye candy off.

I want to make this egpu for dx11 and higher frame rates, that is about all. so anything above a g 470m I believe.

Does anyone know if I can make this work on this old machine?

Will using 2 cables- 1 on express card slot, and 1 on wireless slot will give 4x? or 50% How? 2 lanes? 1 pci slot can use 2 pci ports?

All PE4H are 2.5 gbs max except version 3.2 and have 4 port connections. I was sort of leaning towards PE4C v 2.0 ( 2 port connections),but they are out of stock until late August.

Will the Gen 3 cards ie. PE4L pci express v2 x16 be backwards compatible with pci express v1 x16? I realize I will only get 1 or 2 lanes max. unless somebody can tell me how to tap the x16 video slot in the motherboard lol. I've been looking.

Well I've written half a book and I have more questions but will save some for later, will see if anyone cares to tackle these q's first. Thank you, Dbegen

[badbadbad]

Will the Gen 3 cards ie. PE4L pci express v2 x16 be backwards compatible with pci express v1 x16?

Not so long ago, I got my T400 notebook output at x1.opt with a GTX460 and PE4L 2.1b so I'm guessing that answers most of your "old" laptop questions. There's a thread here that specifically discusses the method for the T400 (a Core2Duo BTW).

forego it altogether and just get an awesome new laptop with sli or something.

This.

Most eGPU users here milk the most out of the features already available in our notebooks. But if you mention that you are due for an upgrade, why not take that route? It makes the tinkering part a lot more useful and gives back quite some impressive results.

My suggestion though before buying a rig is to factor in eGPU capability (EC slots, TB/TB2 ports). The possibility of converting a powerful yet battery-saving workstation into a highend gaming rig truly maximizes the power and versatility of a notebook.

Hope this helps.

[angerthosenear]

@badbadbad nailed it on the head. Since you are planning to upgrade, might as well do that now to get a nice gaming laptop but allow for eGPU features in the future by checking the ports IOs such as TB/2 and EC, but EC are being more and more phased out so look for TB/2. TB capable laptops seem to be growing so it will probably be easy to find a nice gaming laptop with TB/2.

So another vote for just upgrade to a nice computer than than trying to get eGPU working on your current one. The performance/$ would be much better.

[Tech Inferno Fan]

There's plenty of old notebooks that have done successful eGPU implementations. Search for ICH7M, ICH8M, ICH9M at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-thunderbolt-expresscard-mpcie-egpus.html#dx9 . You can followup badbadbad's and angerthosenear's recommendation by perusing candidate notebooks to purchase at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list.html#post57159 .

[badbadbad]

I agree with Tech Inferno Fan on checking out the list first. But in the end, your decision will revolve around what your needs really are.

Your older notebooks indicate you're primarily a gamer. You might want to consider a gaming laptop first so that you don't always need to bring the eGPU hardware and "set up camp" near a socket.

If you can survive with non-gaming specs on the go, then a workstation option might be better since you get similar quality for your display and sounds, with a boost in battery life and ports. Plus, you get to heavy game at home with an eGPU.

What will you use it for, if I may ask?

[DBegen]

Well that is a hard question.... your guess is as good as mine.....running benchmarks maybe ? really love running the Q3 benchmark still, it is amazing even today 15 years later.(long live open gl ) These laptops never see work and seldom go outside and are always on wall power.

But I will soon need a work machine, although whoever hires me, will probably supply that. am currently a CNT/CST student at a univeristy. am past the half way point. It seems Cisco is the major. Hardware is what I like, but they have wrangled me into networking.lol

Do not game online the way I used too like Q3 and COD2 days, but if I want to, my skill does return quickly. Basically, just want an e gpu to play around with, and to be able to play some of the new ones out, ( watchdogs ) should i feel like it ,and also have a decent framerate, you know?

Can work on this machine if I want, I run windows 7 and linux on it inside vista ( virtualbox), but I feel it is long past the end of its useful life.

Did do quite a few searches on this site before posting here.

Have been searching for a replacement The other night , did a search ' cheap I7 laptops ' found the first link , 23 I7 machines with G700gtx or better, all less than $800 USD, but none have an expresscard slot or TB

Then the next night I did search for business class machines I7 , spent 6 hours and only found 2 that have expresscard slot: 1 Toshiba and 1 Lenova and only 1 TB Asus. Terrible slim pickens. The prices were higher than the first machines I looked at and with much lower specs except for the slot.

What I have found is there are some excellent low level( price) gaming laptops out there with very good specs. I guess if I must I could pick up one of those and just go through the wireless slot. Anyways I am doing my research.

Like this one, seems the deals change daily, http://dealnews.com/HP-ENVY-i7-Quad-2.4-GHz-16-Laptop-w-2-GB-GPU-for-705-free-shipping/1112464.html