DIY eGPU experiences

[User Retired 2]

Edit : Also just from scanning other post by AMD users, (yuutsumi) My internal GFX is ATI HD3200, in the main screen it says video... (ATI) but when i do atiflash -ai from the menui list it states no adapter found. It also does this for Nvidia

included atilash is the latest version. If it doesn't detect your integrated HD3200 then I would guess that ATI didn't want you to try to flash it? Something to ask ATI about.

If 'nvflash --list' and Setup 1.0e3 don't show the GTX460 then it means it's not on the PCI BUS. Try each of the folllwing, rebooting the system with EC2C out of the system and the mini HDMI cable unplugged after each test to see if can get the GTX460 detected:

1. Plug in mini HDMI cable. Power on DIY ViDock. Plug in EC2C. 'nvflash --list'
2. Plug in mini HDMI cable. Plug in EC2C. Power on DIY ViDock. 'nvflash --list'
3. Plug in EC2C. Power on DIY ViDock. Plug in mini HDMI cable. 'nvflash --list'

[kizakisu]

Your dmcv4.scene4 results for a T9300-2.5+GTX460 are about 13FPS or 18% faster than a non-Optimus setup with the same hardware. I expect 3dmark06 to be two or more times faster. Optimus accelerates DX9 performance.

Can you update your post with additional system details? RAM, Win7 versions and optional Everest port layout. Try setting your LCD refresh to 59Hz/60Hz to get the required 1280x1024 resolution option necessary to do a 3dmark06/3dmarkvantage run.

ram 2 gigs
windows 7 ultimate 32 bit
my monitor cant go under 60hz and cant do 1280x1024
everest

can my system use opt ?

[Adjai]

It works! I'm so happy! xD

With the latest catalyst drivers i had no Code 12. But it didn't work anyway.

Now i just use my good old laptop drivers, plugin my 4870, get the Code 12 error, boot up with diy vdock bootdisk, press 7, switch to my external monitor, and go happy fragging at high settings!

Performance index went to 7,2 from 4,6!

Thx!

[ualwayslose]

Hey I tried all 3 methods and gtx 460 is still not detected

[fishy8082]

So I tried 1.0e3 and it works very well on the MBP. It still crashes when entering edit.com, but that is not suprizing. I retried every type of compaction. Compaction usually makes it through unless I try 36 bit on graphics card 1 which always yeilds no solution. I have not seen "pci alloc valid = yes" regardless of the compaction method I use. This time around I was not rebooting on every attempt because the keyboard never crashes. Does rebooting between compactions have any effect? Do I have to apply the settings every time I do a compaction or does the compaction process do that for me? I belive I found a method in 1.0e2 which provides "pci alloc valid = yes" but that method using 1.0e2 still generated an error 12 or 35. I attempted to use the video card state method to get the settings while running on 2gb and reapply when running with 4gb. It seemed to have no effect. When I attempted this method, I saved both graphics cards settings one after another in the same session/boot. I then rebooted and loaded the settings on both cards and attempted to chain boot. Is this the proper method? So far I get error 12 on 4570 (the external card).

Thanks again

[ualwayslose]

Well after experimenting around, I managed to get the results I wanted. Without doing anything wtih DIY VIDOCK since i still could not get it to detect my GTX 460, I decided to just hotplug my GTX 460 with my system turned on. It actually ended up detecting my GTX 460, and I am able to have both my internal LCD and my GTX 460 monitor on same time.

EDIT: Well I got the internal monitoring working using ultramon... I was looking at chunguns method however I cannot figure out what to do for his X-gaming shortcut or im not quite sure i understand the instructions.

EDIT: MINOR ANNOYANCE - once I have hotplugged my GTX 460 and it is detected, if I sleep my system, then resume with GTX ON or OFF, the system will not resume

[avlan]

Well after experimenting around, I managed to get the results I wanted. Without doing anything wtih DIY VIDOCK since i still could not get it to detect my GTX 460, I decided to just hotplug my GTX 460 with my system turned on. It actually ended up detecting my GTX 460, and I am able to have both my internal LCD and my GTX 460 monitor on same time.

EDIT: Well I got the internal monitoring working using ultramon... I was looking at chunguns method however I cannot figure out what to do for his X-gaming shortcut or im not quite sure i understand the instructions.

EDIT: MINOR ANNOYANCE - once I have hotplugged my GTX 460 and it is detected, if I sleep my system, then resume with GTX ON or OFF, the system will not resume

Looks like mine problem :> Boot your Windows, connect power on DIY ViDock. Wait until detected, then try to reboot system (if won't configure it or get error code 43) with connected and powered DIY ViDock (or disconnect and connect it after bios POST if have blacklisting or other issues). It should be detected and configured properly.

[ualwayslose]

Looks like mine problem :> Boot your Windows, connect power on DIY ViDock. Wait until detected, then try to reboot system (if won't configure it or get error code 43) with connected and powered DIY ViDock (or disconnect and connect it after bios POST if have blacklisting or other issues). It should be detected and configured properly.

If I boot with DIY powered on, then it disables my IGP and only uses the GTX 460. What i wanted is for both the IGP and GTX to work, and so far only way I have found that is to boot to windows, then power on DIY and it detects and everything works (though i cannot sleep, system will hang. Also I did not have to do anything with DIY SETUP.exe)

Well I have tested the dummy LCD thing everything works fine, getting like 20-25 FPS on my games (Medal of Honor, Bad Company 2, Heroes of Newerth, Starcraft 2 Maxed out) ~only works with windowed mode. (Compare to 40-60 FPS when running off External Monitor/ 10-20 FPS on ATI HD3200 Low Settings). However what I did find is that on Starcraft 2, if you have windowed mode, then bring it back to internal LCD, if you go to options then do windowed mode(fullscreen) it will make it fullscreen (still playable), so thats nice.

[avlan]

No idea why mine isn't detected so well. For me it takes about 5-20 minutes to detect GTS450, then reboot and it's working (or not). The same was with HD3850 and 6600GT (error code 43).

[Adjai]

Here are my 3DMark06 results:

3DMark06 Benchmarks

Version: Basic Edition 1.2.0

Tests

SM 2.0 Graphics Test: 2 of 2
CPU Test: 2 of 2
HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Test: 2 of 2
Feature Tests: 0 of 7
Batch Size Tests: 0 of 6

Settings

Resolution: 1280 x 1024
Anti-Aliasing: None
Filtering: Optimal
HLSL VS Target: 3_0
HLSL PS Target: 3_0
Repeat Tests: Off

Setup 1

GFX: ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCI-E x1 @ Core: 750MHz & Memory: 900MHz
CPU: AMD Athlon II M300 @ 1995MHz
MEM: 4080 MB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Results

3DMark Score: 8087
SM 2.0 Score: 3777
SM 3.0 Score: 4159
CPU Score: 1580

Setup 2

GFX: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 PCI-E x16 @ Core: 500MHz & Memory: 667MHz
CPU: AMD Athlon II M300 @ 1995MHz
MEM: 4080 MB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Results

3DMark Score: 2902
SM 2.0 Score: 1062
SM 3.0 Score: 1154
CPU Score: 1595

Setup 3

GFX: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 PCI-E x16 @ Core: 700MHz & Memory: 878MHz (Overclocked)
CPU: AMD Athlon II M300 @ 1995MHz
MEM: 4080 MB
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Results

3DMark Score: 3736
SM 2.0 Score: 1413
SM 3.0 Score: 1543
CPU Score: 1595

The CPU is really bottlenecking me but i'm getting an AMD Turion II Ultra M640 @ 2600MHz next week. Will benchmark these as well and post them here.

Gr. Adjai