DIY eGPU experiences

[DarkCrimson]

Didn't anyone tried DIY Vidock on a first generation HP HDX ?
I still can't seem to get the card recognized. The setup is PE4H v1.0a + EC2C + an old ATI X300 + 300w Fortron PSU. The PICe slots are shown by Everest as epmty, no matter if I boot up without the Vidock plugged in, or with it, or puting the system in standby and then powering the Vidock. I assume that the HDMI cable is ok, because the LED turns on of the PE4H when I plug the cable in it. Further more, if I plug a flash drive in PE4H's USB port it gets recognized and functional.

Did I miss something? Guys, help will be appreciated.

[sunneh]

If you are using the 258.96 retrofit Optimus drivers then I would suggest use the proper GTS450 desktop drivers to confirm if the flickering has gone away. The GTS450 uses a new GF106 chip which I believe will need the latest Optimus drivers to be updated to work correctly.



I found a 12V 150W AC adapter on ebay for US$47. So with the right GTX460 which consumes < 150W at peak, eg: a slightly underclocked MSI GTX460-OC, you could do a portable setup with a tiny footprint like described for a GTS450 here. A DIY enclosure could house it all easily.



If you do add a 'makebatch \config\pci.bat' then study the pci.bat for the 36-bit compaction, V1=32 then, you'll find it configures your pci-e port bridge window and does some other things. I would simplify it to *only* configure your PCI bridge and test your pci.bat. Have a look at \scripts\bridge.bat to see which pci config registers should be written to which you can then use to simply your pci.bat.



Either that or your HD5870 or PSU is faulty. Worth testing the HD5870 in a desktop or connect to another system via the DIY ViDock to confirm if the problem follows the DIY ViDock hardware or the notebook.

I've did some intensive testing, and the only driver the works properly atm with the GTS450 is the office 260.63. Anything older won't install properly even with modified inf files. I am patiently waiting for the modified 260.63 with the optimus drivers.

[Soyaku]

I went back to 260.63, but still experience flickering / weirdness when playing games but not on the desktop. Do you experience this as well, or does it work normally?

(I don't have an Optimus setup, so that isn't an option for me.)

I KNOW it's not overheating, it's really cool to the touch. I'm guessing there's something I'm doing wrong, guess I'll be having to wait as well.

[sunneh]

I went back to 260.63, but still experience flickering / weirdness when playing games but not on the desktop. Do you experience this as well, or does it work normally?

(I don't have an Optimus setup, so that isn't an option for me.)

I KNOW it's not overheating, it's really cool to the touch. I'm guessing there's something I'm doing wrong, guess I'll be having to wait as well.

I believe that you can force optimus with a modfied INF file, which is what i am waiting for. The fact that it isn't over heating and you are experiencing flickering might mean that you have a loose connection Expresscard, DVI, VGA, etc.,. Or that you might be experiencing some bad artifacts from a bad video card. A final possibility could also be from a faulty power supply not providing adequate amperage on the 12v rail.

Easiest way to test would be to pop it into a desktop and see if you run into issues.

[Gershom]

Hi nando,

I'm a bit confused on question 2 in your mini faqs. Here are my pci ports:



"The best way to identify your port layout is to insert a expresscard e-sata card and see what port it reports as being on, then checking too the wifi card. If have multiple mPCIe slots, worth swapping the wifi aiming for a port1+2, port3+4, port5+6 setup."

Are you saying it is possible to swap the ports? For example, move my 3 and 4 to 5 and 6? So I'd be able to create a x4 link with 1-4?

Thank you

[Soyaku]

sunneh, after much troubleshooting, I think I've finally accepted that I've gotten a defective video card. The artifacts are happening and the card did seem to be overheating in some areas that it shouldn't be.

It's a shame that I won't be able to celebrate FF14 at launch. Oh well!

I'll RMA this one and get a new one and then re-post back here my success/failure once again. I at least have the drivers done properly now.

Thanks!

Edit: The card IS NOT broken, I'm using a 400w PSU with a 12v rail that is only at 15amps. It needs 20amps to run properly. Everything is just fine, gonna buy a new PSU and report back here! Thanks sunneh!

*Facepalm again.*

[ruhtraeel]

Your expresscard slot is port5, so could do a x1E ATI implementation which would get you a dx9-centric 3dmark06 > 10k with a HD5770. Now before you swap your GTX460 for a HD5770 consider perusing the following info for real-life performance between the a ATI HD5xxx and NVidia GTX4xx DIY ViDock solution:

8-22-10 NVidia Optimus for speed+internal LCD
7-16-10 HD5750 versus GTX460 / GTX470@x2 <- Real world gaming performance
4-14-10 x1E versus x1 benchmarking and here

NVidia are working on an external graphics solution. We may well see them unlock the Optimus performance tweak to net you a 3dmark06 of > 10k with the GTX460. Has been requested here. A x1 1.0 Optimus setup even has better benchmark results than a x2 1.0 non-Optimus setup as shown here.



Your M1330+HD5870 DIY ViDock connectivity should be as follows:

- connect the mini hdmi cable linking the PE4H and EC2C
- connect a floppy molex from the PSU to the PE4H
- connect 2xpci-e power leads from the PSU to the HD5870 (or use molex leads and pci-e adapters)
- connect a HDMI cable linking the HD5870 to your LCD

HAHAHAHAH!

Nando, thank you very much.

I didn't have an HDMI cable attached from my 5870 to my monitor, only the VGA from my laptop to the monitor. That may be what is wrong.

EDIT:
My monitor doesn't have HDMI. Will DVi work?

[Mjolner]

I have a lenovo y460, and according to Everest port 4 is free, while port 3 is not listed (ports 1,2, and 5 are taken up). Is the missing port the expresscard slot? Is it supposed to show up if not in use?

Also, has anyone tried to run an external setup powered by one of these?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101044
It has 6 and 8 pin pci-e leads, but no molex leads (except one that is supposed to go to the main psu to turn it on, hopefully this could be hotwired). What type of power connector does the PE4H use? Does it need to be hooked up in order for the video card to work (with power coming from the slot itself), or can the video card be run entirely on 6/8 pin power alone? Sorry for the probably already answered questions, but this is a huge amount of information to sift through.

[Skiddy]

Hi Nando,

I have a HP 2540P, which is close to what you have. Do I understand correctly that a PE4L + an Nvidia GT4xx is the best solution for me, with possibly optimus? I read on the official vidock compatibility list that I will have to limit my RAM to only 2GB, though?

[avlan]

If you have GMA X3100, then probably there is no chance to activate Optimus.