15" Lenovo W520 + GTX670@4Gbps+c-EC2 (EXP GDC V6) + Win8.1/Ubuntu 14.04 [Kytael]

[Kytael]

eGPU Implementation

Lenovo Thinkpad W520

i7-2720QM

16GB RAM (2x8GB)

Quadro 2000M (disabled in bios)

Bios 1.42 without whitelist

Win8.1+Ubuntu 14.04+Linux Mint 17

eGPU:

Asus GTX 670 DirectCUII / Gigabyte GTX 560

EXP GDC 6.0

220W DA-2 PSU from ebay

coolermaster PCIE 6pin to 2x6+2pin

1.2Opt

Updated Benchmarks

all performed under Win 8.1, except where noted

Benchmark External LCD/Internal LCD

3Dmark11 8507 GPU / 7237 GPU

Fire Strike 6597 GPU / 4959 GPU

Sky Diver 20272 GPU / 10327 GPU (50% performance hit!)

Cloud Gate 38794 GPU / 11069 GPU (71% performance hit!)

with a GTX 560:

3DMark11 3827 GPU / fail (would not start on internal screen for reasons unknown, everything else worked fine)

Fire Strike 2577 GPU / 2367 GPU

Sky Diver 8285 GPU / 6257 GPU

Cloud Gate 21451 GPU / 8482 GPU

Desktop (with the 670, win 7) for comparison:

3DMark11 9750 GPU

just dGPU (Quadro 2000M): (you can see I was using 24GB/Win 7 here before this fiasco)

3DMark11: 1838 GPU

while trying to get the eGPU to work I also tested the GTX 560 on my old laptop, a Dell 1520, I think this was using a 1.1 link, no optimus

3DMark11: 2317 GPU

Benchmark notes

The internal display performance hit was more than I was expected. looks like cloud gate is the new 3dmark06? is it possible that optimus compression isn't set up properly on my laptop? I do have the optimus indicator

Experience

I expected it to be plug and play given all the other thinkpad experiences, but I experienced a huge slowdown when I booted up with my eGPU attached. it was the 100% CPU usage issue people with the x230 had when they tried to boot in 16GB. turns out having 24GB of RAM was a problem (2x4GB+2x8GB) and no one had that much RAM in the charts, but16GB works fine with most thinkpads as everyone else reported. I didn't try setup 1.x to fix it, but I tried about everything else, including upgrading from windows 7 to 8, and different versions of linux. it seems to be an OS- independent issue.

as soon as I reverted to 16GB it was plug and play.

it even works in linux as you'd expect, even with the dGPU turned on at the same time, but no optimus compression as far as I can tell. I haven't tried too hard to get that to work with nvidia's PRIME, but it might be possible.

I would have used the PE4C v2, but it wasn't in stock, so I ordered the EXP GDC.

Pics

Current setup:

Internal display works, must be using optimus, no?

old laptop with GTX 560:

[indykpol]

I am also doing a setup like yours. My W520 sports the i7-2820QM and 4x4GB RAMs. Though I'd prefer the P4EC v3.0, I got the latest GDC EXT: EXP GDC Beast Laptop External Independent Video Card Dock - US$49.99 due to availability in EU. I'd have to spend 2-3x more due to expensive shipping and duties, VAT and admin fee if I ordered the P4EC from Taiwan.. I got the GTX 970 Extreme Core from Zotac + be queit! 650W pure power PSU as a primer for my possible gaming PC. I'll make an update once I got all the parts and hopefully get the system to run