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eGPU experiences [version 2.0]


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hi laust69!,for x1.1 optimus you have to check if your Intel hd ghraphics is apear in bios or device manager.optimus trigger only if detects an Intel hd,3000,4000 integrated ghrapchis.the best choice in my opinión is to use a nvidia card with optimus since you could have the advantage of dx9 acceleration and internal screen acceleration.(use the screen of laptop for rendering along with the egpu).

i have an nvidia gtx 750 ti and it Works very well considering that it has a very low tdp.But if the energy is not a worry for you suggest a gtx 660 or higher.but yo could face with two problems:

1.your tolud it could be high and not be posible to acomódate your egpu(in this case you need x1 setup provide by Tech Inferno Fan by making a donnation)

2.your integrated Intel hd could be a dormant igpu(not wirred to display(could only actívate optimus by using Windows 8.1 without the internal screen acceleration option)

suggest to study with attention the experiences of the others users before.

good luck!

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Thanks for your reply dan.

my igpu is indeed dormant coz i can't see it in device manager nor in the BIOS (i only see my dgpu).

im not thinking of changing my OS any time soon ( + i don't really like windows 8.1) and i count on using my external LCD screen for my egpu.

is there any another way to trigger optimus or to detect my igpu? if not, is it still wise to install an egpu on a pcie x1 v1.1?

my TOLUD is C0000000 is that any good to install an egpu? (and do i need setup 1.30 ?)

Thanks again

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Now, I've got a question:

I got a Thinkpad x201 I7 640 laptop (intel HD and I guess PCIe 1.2 over PCIExpresscard54) and want to do the eGPU story... What's the best card manufacturer? Do I need special driver? I am confused and the manuals are all pretty old.. I've been told custom Nvidia drivers because of PCIe compression but then they are no more necessary and on the other hand use of only newer AMD/ATI cards cos of better PCIe stream..

Cheers

NL

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Thanks for your reply dan.

my igpu is indeed dormant coz i can't see it in device manager nor in the BIOS (i only see my dgpu).

im not thinking of changing my OS any time soon ( + i don't really like windows 8.1) and i count on using my external LCD screen for my egpu.

is there any another way to trigger optimus or to detect my igpu? if not, is it still wise to install an egpu on a pcie x1 v1.1?

my TOLUD is C0000000 is that any good to install an egpu? (and do i need setup 1.30 ?)

Thanks again

On your system, you could activate the dormant iGPU under Win8.x to gain 2Gbps+compression (foremorely x1.Opt) performance using an external LCD. Doing that will accelerate mostly DX9 apps anywhere from 30% to 300%. DX10 and DX11 doesn't see as much performance improvement. Can compare the x1.1Opt versus x1 1.0 GTX660 results at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/2747-%5Bguide%5D-12-dell-e6230-hd7870-gtx660%40x4gbps-c-ec2-pe4l-2-1b-win7.html#post37197 to get an idea of how PCIe compression improves performance on your candidate system's link.

Example of activating a dormant iGPU using Win8.x is at http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/6792-%5Bguide%5D-15-acer-aspire-5742g-gtx660ti%402gbps-c-mpcie1-pe4c-1-2-win8-1-a.html#post92801 .

Now, I've got a question:

I got a Thinkpad x201 I7 640 laptop (intel HD and I guess PCIe 1.2 over PCIExpresscard54) and want to do the eGPU story...

There are several Lenovo X201 eGPU implementations at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/6578-implementations-hub-tb-ec-mpcie.html#post89707 . It's a 2Gbps+c link (x1 1.1 + x1 PCIe compression if using a NVidia GTS450 or newer vard).

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This laptop has an expresscard slot, and two mini PCI-e slots on the bottom, with a wifi and a cellular modem in each one.

i read somewhere you could use a combination of the slots to get better performance out of an egpu, but havent been able to find anything on it.

so my questions are as follows,

1. if its possible, what hardware would i need? pe4h or pe4l? and which revision?

2. i need my wifi card, so i can only use two ports for this. can i mix the expresscard and mpci-e, or should i get a wifi card for the expresscard slot and use both mpci-e ports for the egpu?

some info for you if it helps

dell latitude E6430

i5 3360m with intel HD 4000

8 GB ram

windows 7 pro

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thx nando

so if i understand this correctly, if a game supports DX10 or DX11 i will get the same performance as with optimus?

i found out that my dormant igpu ( i5-460m) is an intel GMA HD (graphics media accelerator) and not intel hd 3000 or 4000 series. would optimus still work if i use win8.x on my system?

which graphics card do you recommand for gaming ?

thx

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Hi,

I'm trying to get my y470 + EXP GDC v6 + 560ti setup running, but anytime I plug my eGPU into my laptop (w/ mPCIe cable), my laptop instantly freezes (screen blanks out) then turns off. I've tried booting with the cable in (black screen), and plugging the cable in while my laptop is asleep (black screen when resuming).

I think the issue is my y470 has a whitelist on the mPCIe port? I can chainload mbr without any problems, and I used DDU to get rid of my dGPU drivers.

However, every time I try to restore a port, Setup 1.30 hangs on "Getting details". Every time I try to restore all ports I get "Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail".

Any ideas?

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This laptop has an expresscard slot, and two mini PCI-e slots on the bottom, with a wifi and a cellular modem in each one.

i read somewhere you could use a combination of the slots to get better performance out of an egpu, but havent been able to find anything on it.

so my questions are as follows,

1. if its possible, what hardware would i need? pe4h or pe4l? and which revision?

2. i need my wifi card, so i can only use two ports for this. can i mix the expresscard and mpci-e, or should i get a wifi card for the expresscard slot and use both mpci-e ports for the egpu?

some info for you if it helps

dell latitude E6430

i5 3360m with intel HD 4000

8 GB ram

windows 7 pro

Intel locked down the ability to set x2 ports as of Series-6 chipsets (2nd gen i-core) requiring a BIOS eeprom dump and modification using the Intel fitc tool to change, then flash back. Quite a lot of scope to brick a machine there so not recommended. Even though the E6430 would probably be one of only a few systems capable of doing a x2 2.0 eGPU link.

If you are very technical and want to try then start with a PE4C V2.x adapter. It's x2 2.0 capable. You'll need to identify which EC/mPCIe ports combine to be [port1+2], [port3+4], [port5+6], [port7+8].

The bios modding process would start with something like this: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/6980-14-dell-latitude-e6440-owners-lounge.html#post99289

Hi,

I'm trying to get my y470 + EXP GDC v6 + 560ti setup running, but anytime I plug my eGPU into my laptop (w/ mPCIe cable), my laptop instantly freezes (screen blanks out) then turns off. I've tried booting with the cable in (black screen), and plugging the cable in while my laptop is asleep (black screen when resuming).

I think the issue is my y470 has a whitelist on the mPCIe port? I can chainload mbr without any problems, and I used DDU to get rid of my dGPU drivers.

However, every time I try to restore a port, Setup 1.30 hangs on "Getting details". Every time I try to restore all ports I get "Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail".

Any ideas?

We have a Y470 existing eGPU implementation already that had no such issues. http://forum.techinferno.com/implementation-guides/5484-%5Bguide%5D-14-lenovo-y470-r9_270%404gbps-mpcie2-pe4l-2-1b-win7.html#post76575

Detailed at External GPU (eGPU) project | Inside My Head .

Note his comment:

Now moving to configure my laptop. I’m pretty sure that my laptop has BIOS version which is different from the one on Lenovo US website. I don’t recall exactly where I got it though. This BIOS version gives me the capability to disable my laptop’s dedicated GPU. The reason why I want to disable the dedicated GPU (dGPU) is that I need free memory to allocate to the new external GPU. I will not go into technical details here. You can read more at eGPU community.

On the side note, i have to take out my wifi card to have a mPCI express slot for the eGPU. After connecting the eGPU to my laptop, the system refuses to boot to screen until I disable the dGPU.

Is that your black screen? Worst case scenario would be the EXP GDC shorting your systemboard and it's black screening then turning off on startup to protect itself against permanent damage.

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When i boot in to set up 1.3 it says that the TOLUD size is 0.99

After reading o think i have more then 3.5GB of TOLUD.

Please correct mepost-30477-14494998661213_thumb.jpg

I am trying to figure out if i MUST do DSDT override or not.

I have HP DV7t-7000

Intel HD4000

8 Gb of RAM

dGPU GT650M

Running windows 8

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A question about FAQ #3, where you point to the PE4L-PM3N or PE4H-PM3N PCIe-to-mPCIe adapters as alternatives to connecting via ExpressCard.

Is there some reason you didn't also mention the PE4C-PM3N v.1.2 as a low-cost alternative? This adapter is described here:

PE4C V1.2 (PCIe x16 Adapter).

BTW, I note that that solution claims to support PCIe 2.0, so the speed isn't all that bad either. (In any case, I want the miniPCI-e version because I am using the ExpressCard slot to get USB3.0 portrs.

I am asking, apart from my interest in generally not wasting money, for the following reason: I actually already ordered a PE4C-PM3N, which arrived yesterday. I connected it all up, powered it on.... and nothing happened. Strictly nothing. Am I correct to presume that I was **NOT** seeing some BIOS whitelist issue? I imagine that any BIOS whitelist or other issue would have caused the card to be listed in Device Manager but with a little yellow exclamation point.

Perhaps you didn't mention the PE4C-PM3N at all because it won't actually work? I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T420 btw (4178-AFU).

Even if my GPU was dead or missing, wouldn't I see the PCIe-to-MPCIe bridge show up in Device Manager?

So I'm left thinking that either I'm not powering something correctly, or that something is dead.

(The GPU is a Asus GTX760 btw. Apart from the PCI connector, there are two power connections to a 700W power supply. When everything is turned on, there are three tiny LEDs adjacent to the FFC which light green), in addition to a green LED by each of the two power connectors. The adapter has no documentation, so I can't know if that means everything is good, or if (for example) there are supposed to be four LEDs shining.

Please confirm that this solution should work with the T420 and GTX760, or that it is fundamentally broken and would produce the non-reaction that I'm getting.

Thanks!!

scott

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@sbp

Hi, Scott.

A Couple of years ago I built my first eGPU setup using a PM3N on my Lenovo ThinkPad E530. I had the same unresponsive issue as you until I realized that I forgot to remove the protective tape from the gold fingers (insert face palm here), just saying =)

I had a white-list issue with that machine (booting blackscreen I when eGPU was connected), forcing me to use Setup 1.x and hot-swap the Wlan for the PM3N.

I think I even managed to get Setup 1.x to anti-whitelist my port too.

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I was so hopeful when I read your post, because I think it MUST be something equally banal. The "gold fingers" you mention is just the length of the PCI-Express connector , right? As far as I can tell, there is nothing covering the gold PCI-E connector tab. I'm working through the Troubleshooting FAQ; wish me luck. I'm "worried" about two issues:

1. Everyone seems to talk of putting the mPCI-e card into the WLAN slot. But on the T420 at least, you need to take out the keyboard to take out the WLAN card. I am using the mPCI-e slot that is underneath the laptop. It's much easier to access, just undo one screw and take off the cover. So I'm using the WWAN slot and not the WLAN slot. Is it possible that this is the cause of my problems: somehow this CLKRUN signal can't/doesn't get delivered to the GTX when one uses the WWAN slot.

2. I also worry that I seem to be the only person to have purchased the (cheap) PE4C v1.2 adapter (URL in my first post above). I thought that the differences with later models were entirely cosmetic, but upon closer reading, I think that the newer models have a jumper which can be used to set CLKRUN. Perhaps this is the problem.

In any case, thanks for the suggestion; I only wish it were true. <sigh></sigh>

post-29160-14494998671903_thumb.jpg

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Hey all,

I've got my Akitio2 and my goal is to create a compact solution with the Aktio enclosure on, if possible. It sounds like this can only be done if a riser *isn't* used, so I think I need a GPU which inputs with 6-pin.

Has anyone had success with a small form factor GPU like the Gigabyte GTX 750 OC? It seems like it's small enough to fit inside the Akitio. If I had a regular ATX power supply, could I power the card by only connecting the 6pin?

Also, can I use the GPU in both Mac (Yosemite) and Windows (8.1)?

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Intel locked down the ability to set x2 ports as of Series-6 chipsets (2nd gen i-core) requiring a BIOS eeprom dump and modification using the Intel fitc tool to change, then flash back. Quite a lot of scope to brick a machine there so not recommended. Even though the E6430 would probably be one of only a few systems capable of doing a x2 2.0 eGPU link.

If you are very technical and want to try then start with a PE4C V2.x adapter. It's x2 2.0 capable. You'll need to identify which EC/mPCIe ports combine to be [port1+2], [port3+4], [port5+6], [port7+8].

The bios modding process would start with something like this: http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/6980-14-dell-latitude-e6440-owners-lounge.html#post99289

thanks for pointing me in that direction.

it seems electrically possible with the wifi and mobile data cards being on ports 1 and 2, according to the schematic you posted in that thread. i would only need to get a wifi expresscard to preserve my internet connection(the ethernet port on this machine is flaky)

i got as far as extracting the setupprep module of the bios, but im having trouble recognizing anything that may be of use to me there. I'll admit this is new territory to me but im learning. I've attached the file if you or anyone would like to take a look.e6430A07.txt

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thanks for pointing me in that direction.

it seems electrically possible with the wifi and mobile data cards being on ports 1 and 2, according to the schematic you posted in that thread. i would only need to get a wifi expresscard to preserve my internet connection(the ethernet port on this machine is flaky)

i got as far as extracting the setupprep module of the bios, but im having trouble recognizing anything that may be of use to me there. I'll admit this is new territory to me but im learning. I've attached the file if you or anyone would like to take a look.[ATTACH]13014[/ATTACH]

The grub method of writing new UEFI variable data isn't used to switch your ports to x2. It's more complex than that. ME FW flashing is needed since Intel have locked down x1/x2/x4 Southbridge PCIe port settings to the ME FW since the Series-6 chipsets. Series-5 and earlier were unlocked and could be adjusted using software like Setup 1.30. Since BIOS flashing is involved here I'd recommend you note the location of the BIOS chip(s) and have a strategy to remove them and reflash them if something goes wrong.

1. unlocking the flash descriptor do be able to take a dump of it. Probably need to jumper your AUDIO chip like shown at http://forum.techinferno.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/6980-14-dell-latitude-e6440-owners-lounge.html#post99289 to do the unlock.

2. Take a ME FW dump using the Series-7 Intel fpt.exe utility. It's available at http://forum.techinferno.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/2537-12-5-hp-elitebook-2570p-owners-lounge-12.html#post65904

3. Modify the ME FW dump using the Series-7 Intel fitc.exe utility to set port1 to x2 mode. Here's the Series-8 fitc utility that should be compatible: Simple File Sharing and Storage.

4. Flash the modified ME FW back to the system using fpt.exe

5. Optional: if have it all working at this stage, ask @Khenglish to modify your modified ME FW to allow BCLK overclocking. That can net an extra 4-5% performance using XTU software.

6. Remove the AUDIO jumper you've set as part of 1 to allow the ME FW to function correctly. Reboot system.

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Well, according to the Lenovo documentation the WWAN slot is also a mini-PCI-Express slot. That being said, I learned in this forum that even though both slots are mini-PCI-e, they are not compatible: to use a WLAN card in the WWAN slot, one must mask ping 20, because the WWAN card needs that signal, while if that signal is set then the WLAN card will kill its radio. I understand that with a GPU, the signal to worry about is CLKRUN.Is it possible that the WWAN mini-PCI-e slot of the Thinkpad T420 **never** provides this CLKRUN signal?

One other straw I might grasp at: The slot is a "full length" mini-PCI-e slot, but the card shipped to me with the PE4C adapter is a **half-length" mini-PCI-e card. Now I taped it down, so I believe the contacts are making contact. But the hole in one back corner does not mate with the little connector 'bump' on the motherboard; nor does the screw at the other corner screw into any hole. Is it possible that in order for the card to get power at, these two connectors must be properly connected? I suppose there must exist adapters which can turn a half-length card into a full-length card. Is it neccesary to get one of these in order for the card to work at all?

As far as the whitelist is concerned: I have by now replaced the BIOS 1.46 (latest) with one with the whitelist removed.

Thank you for your help so far.

scott

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Well, according to the Lenovo documentation the WWAN slot is also a mini-PCI-Express slot. That being said, I learned in this forum that even though both slots are mini-PCI-e, they are not compatible: to use a WLAN card in the WWAN slot, one must mask ping 20, because the WWAN card needs that signal, while if that signal is set then the WLAN card will kill its radio. I understand that with a GPU, the signal to worry about is CLKRUN.Is it possible that the WWAN mini-PCI-e slot of the Thinkpad T420 **never** provides this CLKRUN signal?

One other straw I might grasp at: The slot is a "full length" mini-PCI-e slot, but the card shipped to me with the PE4C adapter is a **half-length" mini-PCI-e card. Now I taped it down, so I believe the contacts are making contact. But the hole in one back corner does not mate with the little connector 'bump' on the motherboard; nor does the screw at the other corner screw into any hole. Is it possible that in order for the card to get power at, these two connectors must be properly connected? I suppose there must exist adapters which can turn a half-length card into a full-length card. Is it neccesary to get one of these in order for the card to work at all?

As far as the whitelist is concerned: I have by now replaced the BIOS 1.46 (latest) with one with the whitelist removed.

Thank you for your help so far.

scott

Can you relocate your WIFI card into the WWAN slot and get it detected in Device Manager? That would confirm that you have PCIe signals going to it. Otherwise do note that a WWAN slot only needs the USB signals going to it.

If that does the trick,t hen boot with WIFI and halt OS bootup with F8/F12. Power your eGPU, remove the WIFI card and *carefully* hotplug the mPCIe card end into the WWAN slot. Continue OS load. Is the eGPU detected OK? That process overcoming any whitelisting and CLKRUN signalling issues that may be associated with a mPCIe slot.

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>Can you relocate your WIFI card into the WWAN slot and get it detected in Device Manager?

1. Very clever, did not think of that. Just to make sure I understand: I should not expect the WLAN card to actually work in this set-up, because I haven't covered pin 20, so I'll have a Wifi card with a dead radio. But a radio-disabled Wifi card is still mPCI-e. On the other hand, a WWAN card is a modem and needs nothing more than a serial port. In fact, that WWAN slot is advertised as supporting (some whitelisted set of) WWAN cards and mSATA drives. so perhaps that's enough already to know it doesn't do "real" PCIe.

2. Actually, I had of course already tried putting the mPCIe adapter card into the WLAN slot -- but I didn't appreciate that I have to start the boot with WLAN card and then before I select the boot medium I switch WLAN for the adapter card. Before, I had been starting the laptop with the WWAN slot empty and then *carefully* hotpluging the card.

Unfortunately because of work demands I might have to leave this for as much as a week. (I'll be away). What a cliff hanger (for me anyway). Thanks for the help, once again. I will report back as soon as I can try these things.

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Is that your black screen? Worst case scenario would be the EXP GDC shorting your systemboard and it's black screening then turning off on startup to protect itself against permanent damage.

Sadly I've tried disabling the internal GPU, and nothing changes. Whenever I plug in my EXP GDC, the screen goes out: if it's in Setup 1.X, the screen goes blue; if it's mid-boot the screen stays black; if it's in Windows; the screen goes white/blue.

I think it's a whitelist issue, I've noticed that Setup 1.X isn't detecting my mPCIe port. However, when I try to restore the port, Setup 1.X gets stuck in "gathering resources to build screen". Any ideas?

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@jjbron

Test all combinations of saving/restoring the white listing:

1. Saving mPCIe1 -> restoring mPCIe2

2. Saving mPCIe1 -> restoring mPCIe1

3. Saving mPCIe2 -> restoring mPCIe1

4. Saving mPCIe2 -> restoring mPCIe2

I remember having some issues myself a long time ago and I did this random attempt to make it not being stuck in "gathering resources to build screen"

You don't happen to have any other mPCIe card you could try this method with?

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Hi,

I need some help!

like Yakov_Gustshabos a get error code 43 and i'm use amd r9 280x card and PE4C V2.1.

What shell i do?

Do you need some pic?

Play with the PCI Reset Delay and CLKRUN delay switch slider settings, powering on eGPU slightly before powering on the notebook. Another thing to try is hotplugging after boot (if have an EC card) as well as sleep/resume the system. Idea is to get the AMD card to initialize itself correctly to overcome error 43.

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Hi,

I have problems to enable PCI Express 2.0 link, My setup is

Lenovo T520, 6GB ram, only iGPU, Windows 7 64bit

egpu: PE4C-EC3C V1.2

Gigabyte Geforce GTX 470, latest nvidia drivers

Everything installs correctly, and an 1.1 link is established. 3dMark06 gives me 17k, i i suppose it is OK (i have underclocked the card a bit, since my PSU is 350w, and i had some BSODs).

The problem i have is that I wanted to play "Dreamfall: Chapters". What happens is that on some places in the game i get <4FPS.

As comparison - using the iGPU - Intel HD3000, with the same settings the game achieves 8-10FPS on the same place

On other locations it is much better with the external card.

This is why I assume that the bandwidth is not enough. I set PhysX to CPU, and use an external lcd.

The T520 BIOS is the latest version, and the Express Card Speed is set to automatic.

I tried the 60cm and 30 cm cables. Both result in 1.1 link in GpuZ

From other posts in the forum i learned that the people were successful in establishing 2.0 link, but with other eGPU

Is there something i have missed ?

Thanks, Vladimir

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