DIY eGPU experiences

[600X]

I still don't get it. If I want a 1.2 Optimus Connection, then all I need is the newest (Stock) Drivers and a 500 Series Card???

[User Retired 2]

I have a 2010 HP Pavilion dv7-4177nr and do not have a PCI slot...is there any other way to interface an external desktop gpu? I like others I would love to upgrade my gpu to play modern games and this thing is only two yrs old!! but without another way to hook it up I don't see how I can take advantage of interfacing a PCIe with this unit. All I have for external connections is 4 usbs 1 HDMI 1 vga 1 e-sata and 1 rj-45 and 1 card reader for sd type micro discs. And the mini pci on board is for wireless usage. Just my luck to have an expensive fairly new un-upgradeable gpu clunker....grrrr

AMD chipset + CPU = poor eGPU candidate. Suggest sell up and get a better eGPU candidate systems form the thin-and-light link in my sig. eg: a 17" Dell Vostro 3750 offers a GT525M dGPU and a iGPU + expresscard slot for eGPU purposes.

I still don't get it. If I want a 1.2 Optimus Connection, then all I need is the newest (Stock) Drivers and a 500 Series Card???

The following ingredients are required for a x1.2Opt link:

1. A Series-6 system (Sandy Bridge) or Series-7 (Ivy Bridge) notebook with an expresscard slot^.

2. A pci-e 2.0 compliant PE4L-EC060A 2.1b

3. A NVidia Fermi or Keplar class video card. A s/h GTX460-1GB OC edition with 336 cores being great bang-per-buck.

4. A power supply to drive your video card. A 203W XBOX360 a good to mod for for < 198W video cards and providing portability. Or any ATX PSU with sufficient power on the 12V rail if don't need portability.

5. Latest NVidia desktop video drivers. They provide the ability to drive the internal LCD upon detecting a Intel 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or HD4000 iGPU. When the iGPU and x1 link is found, pci-e compression engages gaining anywhere from 20-333% better performance over a x1 2.0 link without compression.

^ a PE4L-PM3N 2.1 will be released in coming weeks so could use a less convenient mPCIe slot instead of the expresscard slot. Useful for systems like a Sony Z2 which don't have an expresscard slot

[600X]

Wait a minute: So If I have the old PE4H v2.4, I am only getting 2,5Gbps of Bandwidth, right? I've got an X220i and a GTX550Ti + latest Desktop Drivers.

In that case, it would be a good thing. Or am I already getting the full 5Gbps, which would be bad in my case? Or do I need the PE4L for that?

[carage]

Thank you, Nando!
Thank you, nVidia!
Thank you, Lenovo!
Thank you, Intel!
Thank you, M$!
Thank you, Google!

Here is the results of my GTX 670.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...Hc&output=html


All I can say there is indeed major difference of whether Optimus is engaged or not. Before Optimus was engaged, GTX 670 was good. After it is engaged, it is phenomenal. See the link for yourself.

Test Platform:
Lenovo ThinkPad W520 (i7 2820QM, 8GB DDR3 1333)
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Driver: 301.34

I will be giving my beloved GTX 560 Ti, which has served me well for over a year now, to my friend this weekend.
So I will try to reinstall it tomorrow and run through the same bundle of tests for comparison purposes if I can manage the time. Fingers crossed.

[600X]

@carage

How did you engage Optimus?

[carage]

@carage

How did you engage Optimus?

I just set the primary display to integrated graphics inside the BIOS and left on OS detection for Optimus. This disables the onboard Quadro 1000M then Optimus turned on itself inside Windows.

[600X]

So basically, you don't have to do anything at all. How do I know if it works or not? I don't have any Graphics Card in my X220i to turn on.

[Kdia8015]

Yes, standby = sleep mode.

For your situation power on the eGPU, then hotplug the EC2C into the expresscard slot. It should result the system making a 'found new hardware' beep. If not, flip the switches on the PE4L itself: SW1 to 1-2 positon (0 seconds) and SW2 to 2-3 (x16) and try again. If still no go:

- test your eGPU with an ATX PSU, rather than DC adapter if you are using one of those.
- ensure your bios has the expresscard slot enabled. Lenovo has an option to disable it.

Hi Nando, it is still a no go.
My setting is T420s PE4L 2.1b MSI GTx560Ti + Corsair cx430 PSU + external monitor
Checked Bios. Power-express card (Auto or Generation 1 both tried)
I/o express card is enabled ( sure its working, as I have a express card slot SD card reader)
Display- Digital on Lenovo

The problem is the device can not be detacted at all no matter what combination of SW 1 & 2 positions are.

The facts are: video card spins all the time.
Sw1: 1-2 position - only power light one (green)
Sw1: 2-3 position - both power and detect lights on. Power green, detect yellow.
So I can't see the flag light on at all, but not sure if that is expected to be on.
I even tried with connecting power cable to video card and PE4L both and seperately.

Without the eGPU, power pe4l I have detect and power on. Again one yellow one green
Can you please tell me am I miss anything or the PE4L is faulty?

I did as you said: sleep mode, power Pe4l, hot plug, resume but no tone no device found.

Thank you all for looking at this matter. Appreciate any insights and advice!

[moss8448]

so where do we stand on being able to connect a desktop gpu to a notebook with no pci card slot?

[carage]

So basically, you don't have to do anything at all. How do I know if it works or not? I don't have any Graphics Card in my X220i to turn on.

I assume it comes with an integrated Intel graphics core on the CPU of your X220i?