DIY eGPU experiences

[mattlach]

So does anyone know if there is a sleeker solution for power supply than a ATX power supply pulled from a computer.


I was thinking something like this would do the trick, but the most I can find are ~60 watts

[Faruk]

So does anyone know if there is a sleeker solution for power supply than a ATX power supply pulled from a computer.


I was thinking something like this would do the trick, but the most I can find are ~60 watts

If/When a low-profile GTS460 card comes out, I plan on buying a mini-ITX desktop case to use as a housing. It might not exactly be easy to carry around, but at least it would look sleek on my desk! I could stick it under my secondary monitor.

[Faruk]

By the way, it would be interesting to see if i5/i7 laptops benefit more from Optimus, since disabling the graphics chip would mean less heat produced in the CPU, which *might* allow TurboBoost to crank up the clockspeed.

[ithildin]

So does anyone know if there is a sleeker solution for power supply than a ATX power supply pulled from a computer.


I was thinking something like this would do the trick, but the most I can find are ~60 watts

You can combine that small PSU with a regular notebook power brick to supply the PE4H/L. My first setup involved a 90W 12V laptop power adapter connected to my PE4H + one of these small SATA/IDE power bricks to provide the extra power on the PCI 6-pin connector on the card. This setup was sufficient to power a Sapphire Vapor-X HD5750 1GB.

That powersupply does seem like it would work - it has 2 12 volt rails, so when connecting it - you need to use a separate rail for each input to the card. good luck!

This is not correct - it's not easy or recommended to combine both rails of a standard ATX V2.x PSU to power the same GPU. Firstly, the second 12V rail (12V2) is meant to provide the CPU with clean power, undisturbed from power drains from other components. Thus, it's only connected to the 4-pin ATX plug so you can't tap into it unless you make a custom plug adapter. The 12V1 rail was designed to power everything else, hence all the juice available via the 4-pin IDE molex, SATA and 6-pin cables come from this single rail. Second, if the PSU is a dual independent 12V rail PSU (unlikely), connecting both rails to the same component might throw off the voltage regulation and fry the GPU. Despite the standards. ATX PSU internal designs and part quality can vary wildly so it's difficult to know for sure what to expect, particularly with cheap PSUs.

Here are some tips I used to find an adequate PSU for my GTX 460. If you are looking for a standard 12V dual rail ATX PSU to power a DIY Vidock GPU, don't choose the PSU based on total watt rating. Choose one that is efficient (e.g. 80 Plus certified, PFC) and provides enough current on the 12V1 rail:

Current (in Amps) x Voltage (in Volts) = Power (in Watts)

That Thermaltake model is spec'd at max 14A for 12V1 which means 168W max 12V power on that rail. This is sufficient to feed a GPU that has only one 6-pin PCI connector (75W PCIe bus + 75 PCI plug = 150W max) like an HD 5770. So far, all Geforce Fermi cards come with at least two 6-pin connectors - that is 225W (3x75W) max requirement. For these you will need a PSU with at least max 19A on 12V1 rail to be on the safe side. High quality single rail PSUs or good dual rail ones should do the trick. Thermaltake PSUs are usually good stuff but that particular model will not cut it with a power-hungry Geforce GTX 465 or 470 card (might be fine with a GTX 460 though).

For my GTX 460, I went for a Corsair 400W CX single rail PSU which costs slightly more than the Thermaltake 430W, is 80 certified, has PFC but can pump 32A on the single 12V rail (max 384W) which is more than plenty for the Geforce. It's also quiet and doesn't pop/hiss/whine under strain.

[flaunt]

Hey all, I experimented around with recording some starcraft 2 offscreen using my iphone 4, and uploaded the results to youtube- Ill try and get a better recording or some fraps recording eventually, but the video does show the excellent performance of the DIY vidock. Im using a geforce GTX 460 1gb card connected to my dell XPS M1330 T8300 @2.4Ghz.

All settings are maxed out and im running at 1440x900 resolution. See video comments for more info, but basically average around 45-60 FPS in normal 4v4s! Im EXTREMELY please with this setup, my laptop by itself could only run it on low settings. (huge upgrade)

Here is the video: (again sorry about the poor recording/shakycam):
YouTube - laptop DIY vidock - Starcraft 2 Ultra Settings
--Just uploaded, so its still processing.

[zzilong]

Sweet, after some troubles remedied by playing with the jumpers, I got it hooked up and benchmarked.

Heres my system and 3dmark06 result:

Lenovo x201 i5 @ 2.4Ghz
RAM 4gb
PE4L with ATI HD 5670
Windows 7 Pro x64
3dmark06 score 6098

[User Retired 2]

YouTube - laptop DIY vidock - Starcraft 2 Ultra Settings

Good stuff. Your SCII vid is linked from the first post.

Did you run the audio via the NVidia controller or your notebooks soundcard? Turning off the NVidia audio controller so you using the notebook's audio card will have a bandwidth sparing effect, increasing your SCII FPS.

Lenovo x201 i5 @ 2.4Ghz
..
3dmark06 score 6098

Thank you for posting your result. While the HD5670 is an upgrade to the Intel HD IGP, spending another US$230 on a GTX460-768MB + ATX PSU to allow a NVidia Optimus setup would give you a significant boost yet again. You'd also be able to run your 3D games/apps using just your internal LCD, all managed transparently by NVidia Optimus. Features which would make your X201 a gaming-capable pocket rocket.

Hybrid graphics systems - can switch off the discrete NVidia graphics

Sony owners can rejoice. I've released Setup 1.0e2 with the ability to turn off your discrete graphics (Intel pci-e ports -> discrete [on/off]) so can run a NVidia desktop card with no contention issues with the onboard NVidia gpu. Can also enable/disable the IGP as well (Intel pci-e ports -> IGP [on/off]).

Setup 1.0e2 will be rolled to to an official 1.0f release once I get some feedback.

[kevenp]

Hi thx for your time to answer my question and nice job with all support that you give in this forum.

I want buy gtx 460 768 or 1gb graphic card and i wanna know if I could buy a 400w micro-atx case for support only the graphic card and PE4H

I search the smallest (dimension) PSU possible have you any idea thx in advance.

[avlan]

Sweet, after some troubles remedied by playing with the jumpers, I got it hooked up and benchmarked.

Heres my system and 3dmark06 result:

Lenovo x201 i5 @ 2.4Ghz
RAM 4gb
PE4L with ATI HD 5670
Windows 7 Pro x64
3dmark06 score 6098

Any benchmarks?

[kizakisu]

Hi thx for your time to answer my question and nice job with all support that you give in this forum.

I want buy gtx 460 768 or 1gb graphic card and i wanna know if I could buy a 400w micro-atx case for support only the graphic card and PE4H

I search the smallest (dimension) PSU possible have you any idea thx in advance.

if the power supply has the correct ports 2x6pin for the card and a floppy pin for the pe4h