DIY eGPU experiences

[HopelesslyFaithful]

yea the only thing the 2x eGPU would help with is newer games....its weird that older games have this weird bandwidth issue. It is hard to say if its worth the effort to do the eGPU because i would have to pull out my wifi card to do a 2x setup. The performance would only help with newer games, which would be awesome. Although, i have to do the registry editing, which i have never done and its confusing to me. I get i think 6k vantage so it would help with newer games but man this will be a pain. plus my laptop would be unmovable because of the bottom of the case having the mPCIe slot used for it. It is debatable if its worth it....

[User Retired 2]

mPCIe pci-e 2.0 BPlus hardware sample made

Sony Z2 (Mikjoa) and Alienware m11xR3 users would be happy to hear PE4L 2.1 for use with their pci-e 2.0 mPCIe slots are now available Per the latest entry in the Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, PCIe 2.0 eGPU update.

5-02-2012: Masaharu - mPCIe pci-e 2.0 product sample available

> Apart from the 13" Sony Z2, a 11.6" Alienware M11xR3 (with a HUGE userbase)
> could also benefit from a PE4L-PM3N 2.1.

Regarding that kind of product, we already developed samples, after we asked my boss.

The product name is "PE4L-PM060A V2.1b". PE4L portion is same as PE4L-EC2C v2.1b、and PM060A stands for Pcie Minicard (Half size) and 60cm cable.

We hope we can test in the middle of May.

[noric]

Please read Pre-Purchase FAQ >> 2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU?. Referring to the Pre-Purchase FAQ, check TOLUD on your notebook & compare it with the TOLUD table (available at Pre-Purchase FAQ >> 2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU?). Basically, as long as TOLUD is equal or lower than 0xD0000000 (3.25GB) your notebook will have enough 32-bit PCI space for a eGPU to work with 4GB or more of system RAM. Depend on your notebook, you probably need to do PCI compaction (using Setup 1.x) to allocate 256mb of contiguous PCI space. If TOLUD is higher than 0xD0000000 (3.25GB), you can try DSDT Override.

Thanks kizwan! I know my TOLUD is C0000000, that is 3GB.
The point is: I had tried setup 1.x, when it was freeware, but it always hanged, so I suppose it doesn't work with Sis chipsets. Can you confirm this?
If setup 1.x is not compatible, it means no PCI compaction, I guess.

[kizwan]

yea the only thing the 2x eGPU would help with is newer games....its weird that older games have this weird bandwidth issue. It is hard to say if its worth the effort to do the eGPU because i would have to pull out my wifi card to do a 2x setup. The performance would only help with newer games, which would be awesome. Although, i have to do the registry editing, which i have never done and its confusing to me. I get i think 6k vantage so it would help with newer games but man this will be a pain. plus my laptop would be unmovable because of the bottom of the case having the mPCIe slot used for it. It is debatable if its worth it....

Yes, it's though decision whether it's worthwhile or not. eGPU will definitely allow you to play newer games on high settings, probably with capped FPS but still playable on high settings. Yeah, I agree x2 link setup will make your notebook unmovable. Well, if you want to go mobile, it is pretty easy to disconnect the cables, put the wifi card back & closed the cover...but yeah, it is a lot of work especially if you need to do this regularly. The best or preferred notebook for eGPU if it have active Intel HD Graphics/3000 iGPU & also have ExpressCard slot. If you have SB notebook, it will be much better since it support PCIe rev 2.0 (10Gbs concurrent bandwidth). Also not to forget Thunderbolt eGPU, hopefully the specification+chip is publically available soon.

Even though I have two notebooks, I usually use my Dell for work because the most important thing is the screen, it's bigger (15") than my Asus (14"). It useful when running VM & remote connections. So, using eGPU on my Dell is challenging. I do not play games a lot, only BF:Bad Company 2 which actually can run well at x1 link (connected to ExpressCard) with little lag & stutters at some scenes (high settings + 1080p). Of course, with x2 link it will run much better. Probably I should get a Nvidia Fermi graphic card instead & use eGPU on my Asus since it have Intel HD Graphics. With Intel HD Graphics, Optimus setup will be possible & the performance will be similar to x2 link, sometime better.

Thanks kizwan! I know my TOLUD is C0000000, that is 3GB.
The point is: I had tried setup 1.x, when it was freeware, but it always hanged, so I suppose it doesn't work with Sis chipsets. Can you confirm this?
If setup 1.x is not compatible, it means no PCI compaction, I guess.

I can't confirm since I don't have notebook with SIS chipset. You probably don't need PCI compaction. Jeykhob's eGPU setup also doesn't need PCI compaction.

[noric]

I can't confirm since I don't have notebook with SIS chipset. You probably don't need PCI compaction. Jeykhob's eGPU setup also doesn't need PCI compaction.

Yes, I know. But he was using an Nvidia Fermi vga (GTS450), which needs less PCI space than AMD cards: 128MB vs 256MB.
Maybe Nando knows if setup 1.x is compatible with Sis chipset or is only intended to work with Intel chipsets.
Nando, are you there!?

[minnus]

Sonnet just released their Thunderbolt solution for preorder @ 599,799 a pop. Ouch.

Sonnet Online Store

The pricing is kind of ridiculous given what it is.

[captainvera]

Sonnet just released their Thunderbolt solution for preorder @ 599,799 a pop. Ouch.

Sonnet Online Store

The pricing is kind of ridiculous given what it is.

Still no word from msi?

[QuantumRecursion]

Hello everyone! I've been working on building an eGPU for my Dell XPS 15 (L501x) using a GTX560. I've managed to get everything connected (via PE4H & PM3N), and my device manager recognizes the external card just fine. Where I've hit a wall, however, is in trying to overcome the error code 12.
I've used DIY eGPU setup 1.x in an effort to resolve the issue, but I'm hitting a few hitches:

As per the setup instructions I went to turn off my dGPU in the hybrid gfx portion of the menu, but found both it and iGPU to already be off. I am unable to toggle them back on in that menu, getting a message asking if they are txt-locked in the BIOS.

Hoping maybe that would be a non-issue, I tried skipping that step (as they were already off) and the only PCI compaction that works for me is 36-bit (again, as per the setup instructions) running 36-bit compaction on my dGPU and eGPU (iGPU not listed), then forcing 32-bit compaction on the eGPU.
Interestingly, chainloading from this leads to a resolution of the error code 12 issue for the GTX560 in windows, but ALSO leads to 800x600 resolution in (what appears to be) 16-bit color on my internal laptop monitor, with no options available to change to my external screen.

While I've spent the last week or so pouring through as much of the past 1005 pages of posts as I could stomach, I'm at my wits end. Admittedly, I lack the level of technical knowledge that so many of you clearly possess, but I would be extremely grateful to anyone who would be willing to work with me to help me overcome this last hurdle.

System specs:
Intel i7 cpu q 740 @1.73GHz
8.0GB RAM
GT435M iGPU
256GB SSD
Windows 7 x64

Any further information or screen shots will be provided upon request.

Thank you in advance!

[nefx]

Guys. I have X220T+P4EH+GTX560 940*2400 and i bought new 27" WQXGA monitor. I know what P4EL 2.1 faster than P4EH, but is this difference cost 70$ for upgrade? I wainting USB 3.0 version but it will avaliable only in the end of 2012( In 2013 i think thunderbolt will be better than usb 3.0. And i know nobody now upgrade P4EH>P4EL 2.1. And nobody buy P4EH.

[UdoSiebert]

Please uninstall the driver for eGPU. Try boot without the driver installed. See if it still hangs using the procedure. If it doesn't crash, re-install the driver.

Hi kizwan,

sorry for the late answer to your solution. I had some work to do and the eGPU System wasnt reachable.
I tested your hint today with no success. Windows hangs the symbol starts connecting. Even if i disable all additional components like USB, WLAN and LAN error 12 still happens. But it works fine with only 2 GB Ram installed.
Anything else i can do?