eGPU experiences [version 2.0]

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Guys,

I currently have a HP Probook 4730s with PE4L 2.1b setup along with my Geforce 660 TI.

Things are working beautifully ever since Nando's driver tip. Thank you again Nando, you're a lifesaver.

I have some questions to any of you if I may..

1. I am thinking of returning my card and getting the EVGA Geforce 660 TI superclocked with 3GB of ram. Is this worth it or will it be bottlenecked by the PE4L and not make any difference. Overall, is it worth it at all to upgrade from my current card?

2. After a few crashes, I no longer have a "hibernate" option on the start menu of my windows 7. I looked everywhere for a solution but they're all saying switch things in the power settings, which I already have. Nothing's getting my hibernate button back. Any ideas?

3. Now that I've got my setup working, I'd be glad to volunteer to do some benchmarking and add onto Nando's stat collection. How can I help?

A GTX660Ti to a GTX660Ti-OC-3GB isn't going to next you much performance.

Try running 'powercfg -h'. That enables hibernate mode.

Thank you for considering adding your system to our benchmark list. The details of the benchmarks run, the resolution they run at are above the DX9/DX10/DX11 sections on the first page.

Ah right thanks,

I have 3 GPUs installed,

Intel 4000

Quadro k3000M

GTX 670

The Nvidia control panel says I dont have a Nvidia GPU installed when the GTX is installed. If I disable the Intel 4000 I can get in there with the 2 Nvidia GPUs but I dont have optimus setting. Not sure how to get it working?

-- updated --

Do I need the Setup 1x to enable optimus? My GTX670 is enabled and working but I can't get into the Nvidia control panel because it says there is no Nvidia GPUs installed.

I have 2, the disabled dGPU Quadro 3000m and my eGPU GTX670

You need to disable the K3000M for the GTX670 to be given Optimus driver features (internal LCD and x1 pci-e link compression). If the M4700 has no bios option to do that then it can be done using the Setup 1.x software.

Well I'm doing an eGPU project very soon (some of the parts have been ordered) but I have a few questions.

-What is the USB port on the PE4L for?

-I have Thinkpad X220 Tablet with 8GB RAM. Do you think I will need to use Setup 1.x?

-What is the different between Opt1.2x and Opt1.1x and which will I end up with?

Thanks

x1.2Opt requires a Gen2-capable expresscard slot (Series-6 or newer) and Gen2 capable DIY eGPU hardware such as a (PE4L 2.1b or PE4H 3.2).

x1.1Opt is the performance from either a Gen1 only system (Series-5 or older) or from using a Gen2 capable system but downgraded to Gen1 due to using Gen1 DIY hardware (PE4L 1.5 or PE4H 2.4 or older).

You will not need Setup 1.x if you have the latest X220 bios installed AND have the Gen2 DIY eGPU hardware (PE4L 2.1 or PE4H 3.2).

What happened to nando´s eGPU guide on the first page (first post)? His post is completely gone, including the FAQ...

Supposedly a minor system glitch I just noticed too. It will be sorted soon.

[NamesLucky]

Hey guys I have a few unresolved questions. I'm still having a static/crackling sound when using my HDMI ports (either from onboard or egpu) to pipe sound to my receiver, this crackling also results in a huge drop in performance. This doesn't happen when not connected to the egpu. I have a dell e6520 i5/8Gb, and use an express card connection. HDMI is the best way for me to get high quality sound digital sound to my receiver, so I would like to get this working. The problem gets worse the higher the load on the computer.

My second question kind of builds on the first. I'm looking to upgrade to an i7 quad core laptop, either another e6520/6420, or an HP 8560/8460P. However, the HP doesn't have onboard HDMI so I will def. need my HDMI working through the GPU. I have also heard this can reduce the processing power of an egpu since some of the bandwidth is used for sound, anyone know how drastic this is? The large performance loss from the crackling seems too drastic to just be pci bandwidth sound allocation problems. Also, anyone have experience with a 8560p for egpu purposes, any hiccups in installation? Also, with the 8460P, it says "No switchable graphics", does this mean optimus drivers can't be used if I were to get a laptop with an ATI dgpu?

Also, last question, my current e6520 doesn't come with the nvidia 4200m like the new one I"m looking at getting does. Does the e6520 having the 4200m somehow disable my ability to use optimus?

[Northern-Loop]

Hi UncleJoe,

Is it possible you could assist me as I have a Dell M6700 and struggling to fix a couple of issues?

1. In the Intel.txt file there is no Series 7 chipset settings so I can't seem to run at the full 5gig?

2. If I try the standard disable dGPU my system hangs?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hi UncleJoe,

Is it possible you could assist me as I have a Dell M6700 and struggling to fix a couple of issues?

1. In the Intel.txt file there is no Series 7 chipset settings so I can't seem to run at the full 5gig?

2. If I try the standard disable dGPU my system hangs?

Install the patch for Setup 1.x to get Series-7 chipset support. It's available from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html#post27337 .

You could only disable the dGPU if it's not the primary video device. The iGPU would need to be the primary.

For the iGPU to be the primary video device, you must have a M6700 *without* the IPS LCD option. So then if you have the TN panel then the second issue is the Dell bios must not see the eGPU on bootup or else the iGPU is disabled and the eGPU becomes the primary video device. To avoid that the EC2C PE4L end needs to hotplugged after boot or set the PCI Reset Delay (PERST#, SW1=6.9s) so the bios doesn't see the eGPU.

You can check whether you have an iGPU by booting without the eGPU connected and seeing what devices are listed in Device Manager -> Display Adapters. You'll have a Intel HD4000 if the iGPU is active.

[Northern-Loop]

Install the patch for Setup 1.x to get Series-7 chipset support. It's available from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html#post27337 .

You could only disable the dGPU if it's not the primary video device. The iGPU would need to be the primary.

For the iGPU to be the primary video device, you must have a M6700 *without* the IPS LCD option. So then if you have the TN panel then the second issue is the Dell bios must not see the eGPU on bootup or else the iGPU is disabled and the eGPU becomes the primary video device. To avoid that the EC2C PE4L end needs to hotplugged after boot or set the PCI Reset Delay (PERST#, SW1=6.9s) so the bios doesn't see the eGPU.

You can check whether you have an iGPU by booting without the eGPU connected and seeing what devices are listed in Device Manager -> Display Adapters. You'll have a Intel HD4000 if the iGPU is active.

Thanks, I didn't see the update. Will install later.

Yeah I have the M6700 with the LCD panel. Without your setup my laptop will see the GTX 670 and partly use it for CUDA and OpenGL. I'm just not getting very good performance out of it.

I'm using the ViDock which seems to work okay.

With the eGPU plugged in I have 3 working GPUs in Windows. Can't take advantage of optimus though as the control panel won't open. Complains about no Nvidia GPU

Disable optimus in the bios and I can use dGPU and eGPU in the Nvidia control panel but it uses the dGPU for the main tasks.

The reason I have purchased the eGPU is for the CUDA rendering and if I get some higher FPS for games it's a bonus.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[bode003]

Hey guys I have PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #2 and i plan to buy KZ-B26 and PE4L for easy plug and unplug can it work properly

Thanks in advance

[Northern-Loop]

Install the patch for Setup 1.x to get Series-7 chipset support. It's available from http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2123-diy-egpu-setup-1-x.html#post27337 .

You could only disable the dGPU if it's not the primary video device. The iGPU would need to be the primary.

For the iGPU to be the primary video device, you must have a M6700 *without* the IPS LCD option. So then if you have the TN panel then the second issue is the Dell bios must not see the eGPU on bootup or else the iGPU is disabled and the eGPU becomes the primary video device. To avoid that the EC2C PE4L end needs to hotplugged after boot or set the PCI Reset Delay (PERST#, SW1=6.9s) so the bios doesn't see the eGPU.

You can check whether you have an iGPU by booting without the eGPU connected and seeing what devices are listed in Device Manager -> Display Adapters. You'll have a Intel HD4000 if the iGPU is active.

Since I upgraded to the series 7 I can't get the solution to boot. Just hangs in the Windows 8 logo

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[mrbauer]

Hey guys I have PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #2 and i plan to buy KZ-B26 and PE4L for easy plug and unplug can it work properly

Thanks in advance

This wont work at 2.0 speed. As dicussed in this topic: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2958-pe4l-pm060a-mini-pcie-extender-2.html. I wanted to build somethin like that on my own.

Im about to get started on my own egpu. I already ordered a pe4l 2.1 and a gtx 660. I have a dell Xps 15 l502, with a gt540m dgpu.

As I understand it I definitly need setup 1.x to get it to work. But what would happen if I tried it without setup 1.x. Would it not work at all or would I just miss optimus?

[M-Low]

*** Problem Solved - Leaving this up as it might help someone else with the same issue ***

I don't know what to say. I haven't changed a thing. It worked for a solid month and then stopped all of a sudden.

I can't even get Win8 to recognize the Thunderbolt port with the TH05 plugged into it (i.e. no gpu). What could be going on here?

Is it possible that I blew the circuits on the TH05??? The lights still "light up". There was a couple points when I was gaming that the screen would go all white and freeze unless I rebooted... but I thought that might have been cpu or bandwidth issues while on my ULV MacBook Air.

Any insight? Is there a way to test that my thunderbolt port on my laptop is at least working? (tried the no gpu method mentioned above - doesn't show up in Device Manager)

Has this happened to anyone else?

<s>Last question: is there any drawback, besides cost, from going the Sonnet route??? (i.e. power requirements or size for my gpu, bandwidth, etc.)</s> Just saw @Tech Inferno Fan's post regarding the future of Thunderbolt eGPU's here >> http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/3062-13-mbp-gtx660ti-hd7870-th05-%40-x2-2-0-a.html

*** New Development ***

I noticed that when I boot into Win8 without anything plugged into the thunderbolt port, I get four PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge line items in device manager. When I boot in with the TH05 connected, I get six - even though the Thunderbolt port did not register in device manager... what do you think that means???

So, I put the gpu back into the TH05 and now it reads the gpu, still not entry for Thunderbolt port in dev manager, but I get an error code 12... (see photo)

What does it all mean???

*** Problem Solution ***

So... I downloaded the latest Nvidia driver at the beginning of January. I thought this would've been the latest one at least... I did a quick update driver after unplugging all peripherals (i.e. I plug my keyboard and mouse into the monitor). This solve the problem. I'm now using the driver version in the pic below. I hope this helps some one else!!!

Cheers!

M-Low

[NamesLucky]

Hey guys, I've just upgraded my laptop to an i7 3612qm dell vostro with a 7670m dgpu. I've had my egpu working well with my e6520, but cannot get it working with this new laptop. I am using the same ssd, so the egpu setup 1.x partition was still there. I reran the devcon file updater, but still get a problem with the "ichip" being wrong when I load the egpu setup. This means the iport settings are not available in the egpu setup 1.x, and that I can't disable the dgpu. It says you can edit the intel.txt file to get the ichip working, but when I go in there there are no DIDs for series 7 chipsets, and if there were I really wouldn't know how to edit it to make the ichip work.

The nvidia 680 is recognized, and shows no errors in device manager, but cannot be used. I have uninstalled the catalyst drivers for the 7670m, and installed nvidia drivers for the 680. The 680 shows up in device manager, but nvidia control panel gives error about no nvidia gpus attached. Also, after uninstalling the catalyst drivers, the intel 4000hd shows an error (either 43 or 57). I also can't just install intel video graphics as it says something about not meeting minimum requirements. Please help.

Update: found the patch for series 7 cpus, this allowed me to disable dgpu. however, after finally getting the intel hd 4000 driver installed the screen becomes erratic once windows loads. If I do not disable dgpu it will boot into windows fine, show intel hd 4000 driver (and standard vga for dpu). I can then hotplug egpu and get it to work correctly, alothough optimus cannot be enabled this way. Any thoughts on why disabling dgpu (no compaction/anything else) with setup 1.x causes screen to go crazy once booted into windows, and what can be done to help?

[Tech Inferno Fan]

Hey guys, I've just upgraded my laptop to an i7 3612qm dell vostro with a 7670m dgpu. I've had my egpu working well with my e6520, but cannot get it working with this new laptop. I am using the same ssd, so the egpu setup 1.x partition was still there. I reran the devcon file updater, but still get a problem with the "ichip" being wrong when I load the egpu setup. This means the iport settings are not available in the egpu setup 1.x, and that I can't disable the dgpu. It says you can edit the intel.txt file to get the ichip working, but when I go in there there are no DIDs for series 7 chipsets, and if there were I really wouldn't know how to edit it to make the ichip work.

The nvidia 680 is recognized, and shows no errors in device manager, but cannot be used. I have uninstalled the catalyst drivers for the 7670m, and installed nvidia drivers for the 680. The 680 shows up in device manager, but nvidia control panel gives error about no nvidia gpus attached. Also, after uninstalling the catalyst drivers, the intel 4000hd shows an error (either 43 or 57). I also can't just install intel video graphics as it says something about not meeting minimum requirements. Please help.

Update: found the patch for series 7 cpus, this allowed me to disable dgpu. however, after finally getting the intel hd 4000 driver installed the screen becomes erratic once windows loads. If I do not disable dgpu it will boot into windows fine, show intel hd 4000 driver (and standard vga for dpu). I can then hotplug egpu and get it to work correctly, alothough optimus cannot be enabled this way. Any thoughts on why disabling dgpu (no compaction/anything else) with setup 1.x causes screen to go crazy once booted into windows, and what can be done to help?

See details tondy has provided us of his Vostro 3560 (HD7670M) + GTX560 implementation at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2672-budget-egpu-project-dell-vostro-3560-amd-6870-a.html#post36519 .

[NamesLucky]

Thanks Nando,

I did find that thread last night and even contacted tondy and he was very helpful. However, for some reason I can't get a 32bit/A pci compaction to work on my computer without giving some kind of "can't find c drive location" or something like that when trying to chainload into windows. However I have found a work around to get optimus working. I have to boot into windows with dgpu disabled and egpu plugged in. I will initially get a very buggy, jumpy windows, but if I hibernate then resume I"m completely fine after that and still have optimus enabled. So for now, I'm happy. I would of liked a solution as easy as my e6520, but for now I"ll take what I can get.

[daver160]

Hi all,

Quick show of hands: who thinks I should forego waiting for the PCI 2.0 compliant PE4H from HIT and just get the current PE4L instead?

I'm not looking for top of the line performance, but I would like the 1.2Opt that comes with Gen2 compatibility. I'm not in any rush, and HIT has been great in still honouring the discussed plan of refunding the PE4H and getting the PE4L. I just don't want to have to wait a whole year.

So does anybody think it's still worth waiting for the new PE4H kit? I'd love to test it out and let people know how it is (and of course benchmark the digital snot out of it), but I just don't know WHEN that will be. It could be next year for all I know!

[rhx123]

I have a 650Ti and the latest PE4L on my X220T and I am very happy with my performance. I will be making a thread like yours when I finish it all.

Howver, my 3Dmark score is lower than yours. I'm guessing this is due to the slower processor however, I can run the heaven benchmark later at the same settings as you if you'd like a comparison.

[daver160]

I have a 650Ti and the latest PE4L on my X220T and I am very happy with my performance. I will be making a thread like yours when I finish it all.

Howver, my 3Dmark score is lower than yours. I'm guessing this is due to the slower processor however, I can run the heaven benchmark later at the same settings as you if you'd like a comparison.

Indeed, I'd expect that you'd likely have better scores in true GPU-only benchmarks. My CPU definitely gives me an advantage anywhere the CPU is used, but the 1.2Opt you're running on probably reduces any major advantages my CPU provides. In day-to-day gaming though, I would imagine that you're getting better performance that I do!

I think it would be really great if you created a similar thread as myself and others have, so that future eGPU DIY-ers with your same laptop model can follow along with what you've done to get up and running.

While we're not pioneers, we should definitely be town criers!

[rhx123]

I'm building an enclosure for it too, so want to leave the big reveal and thread until it's finished.

[daver160]

I'm building an enclosure for it too, so want to leave the big reveal and thread until it's finished.

With confetti and champaign and all that ?

[rhx123]

With confetti and champaign and all that ?

I think a YouTube video.

And maybe some champers if I manage to not injure myself with the Dremel

[rhx123]

The 660ti is worth it over the Normal 660. (In my opinion)

The 660ti is a Full size GK104, the same as the 670 etc.

The 660 is only a GK106, the same as a 650Ti.

If you're spending that much money, spend that little bit more and go for the 660Ti.

[MystPhysX]

Does anyone else have a problem with Just Cause 2 (Steam) opening on the dGPU instead of the eGPU? I only seem to have a problem with Just Cause 2 so this isn't a problem with my Setup. FYI I'm running both the internal and external display and using the extend windows option.

*edit - Found that using only the external monitor forces JC2 to run on the eGPU.

[eharvey328]

I'm trying to anti-whitelist my pcie ports since I am using an HP laptop. However, my laptop has an AMD processor and that seems to mess things up a bit when dealing with setup 1.x. There are menu items I am not seeing-- here is my screenshot:SCN000.BMP

[NamesLucky]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the help getting my egpu going with the new laptop. I also solved the buzzing sound when connecting to the receiver, it was a grounding issue from cheapo surge protector my computer was attached to. I have my vostro 3560 attached to a very well overclocking MSI GTX 680 lightning @ 1398/6600mem cooled by an H100 cooler via ziptie mod. I'm in process of running the benchmarks at my 24/7 speeds. Might crank the voltage up later for some suicide runs since the lightning can be cranked without hardware mods. Pictured below is the enclosure, large, but I don't really need it to be mobile besides the occasional friend gathering. This is a desktop replacement setup for me, since I literally sold off my desktop when discovering the egpu.

3DMark 11: Overall P8801 Graphics: 9554

Vantage: Overall P26760 Graphics 30176

Heaven 3.0: 100.5 avg fps, 2531 score

3Dmark 06 (crappy): Overall: 21557

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6268[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6269[/ATTACH]

Nando4 edit>>

System config is:

15" Dell Vostro 3560

i7-3612QM 2.1Ghz CPU

8GB RAM

250GB Samsung 840 SSD

HD4000 + HD7670M dGPU

[email protected] eGPU using PE4L-EC060A 2.1b via expresscard slot

Win7/64

[Northern-Loop]

When my gtx 670 steps up from 1.1 to 2.0 the driver crashes and I lose all performance. It's fine running at 1.1 all day but only maxes out around 30FPS

Can someone let me know the correct procedure for using the DIY setup?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[bode003]

This wont work at 2.0 speed. As dicussed in this topic: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2958-pe4l-pm060a-mini-pcie-extender-2.html. I wanted to build somethin like that on my own.

Im about to get started on my own egpu. I already ordered a pe4l 2.1 and a gtx 660. I have a dell Xps 15 l502, with a gt540m dgpu.

As I understand it I definitly need setup 1.x to get it to work. But what would happen if I tried it without setup 1.x. Would it not work at all or would I just miss optimus?

i talk about kz-B26 not kz-B22

[mrbauer]

i talk about kz-B26 not kz-B22

I don't think this one will work either. Hwtools writes on its page: Maximum speed of PCIe2.0 (5Gbps) is not guaranteed.

In my opinion the problem will be the extra connection and the unshielded cable.