DIY eGPU experiences

[junusa]

ORB - World of Performance
I got like 7500 on the benchmark with
lg p300
t8300
4gig ram
win7 64bit
it's good overall... I think cuz I'm not an expert on these stuffs
for DMC4 I got max around 170fps and the lowest 44fps

The problem is that I'm afraid that I might have disconnections again with this laptop and graphic card when I turn off the computer

[User Retired 2]

ORB - World of Performance
I got like 7500 on the benchmark with
.. it's good overall... I think cuz I'm not an expert on these stuffs
for DMC4 I got max around 170fps and the lowest 44fps

Can you post all the benchmark screenshots (3dmarkvantage, RE5, dmcv4) and re-do 3dmark06 in your post above? Your 3dmark06 of 7500 is unusually high for a T8300-2.4+GTX460@x1 without Optimus. Was that at 1280x1024? Other benchmarks will clue us in if it's accurate.

If you right click on the desktop, go to NVidia Control Panel -> Manage 3D Settings, do you have a "Preferred Graphics Processor" as shown below? If so, then Optimus enhancements are active which would explain the faster performance. This would be unusual given your primary video card is a 8400M GS.

[rajivk2005]

Have you done a test to see if that's not just a warning message by doing one of the pci writes in the output pci.bat file and then doing a read back to see if the data has changed?

setpci -s x:x.x yy.b (initial read)
setpci -s x:x.x yy.b=aa (write)
setpci -s x:x.x yy.b (read again -> has it changed?)

If setpci is still having problems try using the 'pt PCI wconf' to do the PCI write instead. You'd just have to convert from the setpci command syntax to the 'pt PCI wconf' syntax. Do a 'help setpci' and 'help pt' if need more assistance or refer to \help\pt.txt and \help\setpci.txt from within Windows.

list of 'pt PCI' commands:
rconf [bus device function size register] (read config register)
wconf [bus device function size register data] (write config register)
dconf [bus device function size] [start stop] (dump config registers)
lconf [< filename] (load config registers - format same as dconf)

Tried using pt PCI probe to list all the devices. got "PCI BIOS not found" error.

[junusa]

My control panel looks different, so I made it to just gtx460 and only one display, but still got the same result.... I'm downloading the resdient evil 5 bench and 3dmark06

[bsoft]

I have a few quick notes about this setup. I am not an electrical engineer (I have a CS degree) but I do have a EE minor.

DO NOT do the "fuse bypass":

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gami...ml#post6641790

There is ZERO reason why your PCIe card should be pulling more than 10A (the fuse limit) at 12V through the PCIe connector. The PCIe spec is 75W through the connector - any additional power needs to come through one or more PCIe power connectors.

If you have a graphics card that uses a PCIe power connector, you should connect your 12V adapter or PC PSU directly to the graphics card. DO NOT connect the power connectors on your card to the floppy connector on the PE4L/PE4H - those connectors are not designed to supply that much current and could overheat.

I also have some concerns about the schematics for the PE4L that I looked at. It seems that when you have JP4 closed (which is the case if you are using a 12V power supply connected to the barrel connector and not a PC power supply), the PE4L could draw as much as 3A from the laptop, which is 3x as much as the ExpressCard specification allows. There is a fuse in the EC2C but it appears to be bypassed.

It's possible that this is a mistake in the schematic or that I am misinterpreting this. I've sent an email to bplus (who designed the PE4L for clarification). Until I get a response, though, it would seem that the safest course of action is to use a PC power supply connected to the floppy power connector on the PE4L, and to leave JP4 open and JP3 closed. In this configuration the PE4L doesn't use any power from the laptop which should greatly reduce the risk of overcurrent.

Also note that the USB port on the PE4L supplies +5V (from the power supply) if you use a PC power supply rather than +3.3V (from the laptop) if you use the barrel connector. The USB specification requires 5V. Some devices may work with +3.3V, but others may not.

Note that if your PCIe graphics card does not use much +3.3V power (and you don't use the USB connector), it's likely that you won't exceed the 1A ExpressCard specification anyway and things will work fine. But if something goes wrong you could damage your laptop.

Hopefully the schematic is just misleading or wrong and the fuses will actually do their job.

[junusa]

ORB - World of Performance
3dmark06
dmc4 benchmark IMAG0042.jpg
resident evil bechmark IMAG0044.jpg

[bsoft]

FYI, it looks like F2 isn't even there on my PE4L (contrary to the specs), so it can only draw 1.5A. I would still recommend using a PC PSU and leaving JP4 open.

[ashura]

Visiting this thread for the first time in a while and I'm surprised at the performance of the new nVidia cards. Am I understanding this correctly? In a desktop an ATI 5850 is better than a GTX 460 but in a x1 DIY Vidock setup the 460 is much better than the 5850?

[jamesbond007]

yup. That is the case so far. If you see the devil may cry scene 4 benchmarks for direct x 10 you will see that most of the 460 are on par with the 5850 and even higher if they have optimus. Even in x2 the 460 beats the 5850 in the resident evil benchmarks.

[ashura]

Thanks. Guess this 5850 w/ Accelero Twin Turbo's going on craigslist!