DIY eGPU experiences

[Khenglish]

Haha, well, now I have actually read +/- 100 pages of this thread

Running the lenovo t61p, t9500 core2duo, one stick of 2gb memory, quadro 570m gfx, win7 32bit.

Tried the diy vidock tool, but no external gfx detected there, only the intel wifi and turbo mem.
Tried hotplugging, sleep etc, but no card.
Tried switching up the jumpers on the PE4L, but nothing.
Tried the 8800gts card, the 260gtx card and the 460gtx, with 3 different laptops, nothing recognized, not in the Setup tool 1.x, no "ping" when in win7.
The USB-port on the PE4L, did however work.

I really don't understand how to make use of the Setup tool, but I would imagine that for there to be anything to do with it, it should detect the presence of the card?

Starting to think this is beyond my capabilities, but I might try another mini-HDMI, just in case. baaaaaah.

@tpro, yes, I know, 1x pcie, it's prolly all overkill, but I really wanted to see if it was able to perform somewhat better than the quadro 570m


anyone?

thanks

What you described in your earlier post about what happens when you power the card on sounds abnormal. If the card is not connected to the laptop or if it isn't detected the fans should spin at 100%, which is loud. If it is detected they will spin at 40%, which is practically silent. The card should be detected even if you do not have enough resources for it. I would try a different power supply if possible. If you don't have a stronger one you can also have multiple power supplies work together to power the card. ex. one plugged into the pe4L, one into the graphics card. You may even be able to plug your laptop's power supply into the Pe4L to test things out.

[darkcond0]

Just want to confirm that the 460 setup with the 203W Xbox adapter WORKS! More details to come in the following days... power + mobility! Can't wait to make a case for it.

More details please

[pttyboy92]

Hey guys,
I currently have a Gateway P-6860fx with an nvidia 8800m gts. For about 5 months now, my gfx card broke (it displays but the vram is **** up so it shows blue and red lines, and I cant even run any game cause the drivers wont properly install). I was thinking of getting a $800 desktop over the summer, but when I saw this, I was amazed how cheap this solution was. For only about $200 i can finally play games again with a gtx 460.

First off here's a couple of things I already have.
1)A samsung 1600x900 external monitor
2)Vista 64-bit
3)4gb Ram
4)Intel T9300 2.5 Ghz
5)An ExpressCard Slot (1.0)

I should also note I have a chipset with ICH8M.

Now a couple of questions?
1)Is it possible for me to do 2x instead of 1x, and how?(Theres a pic attached that should show you the slots I have available)
2)What should be the steps to install the whole thing considering I have a dedicated nvidia GPU already in it?
3)Is it a good idea to disable the broken gpu after i install the gtx 460?

[Rizzett]

Hello there guys! Ever since my implementation back in December, I've tried to update my Nvidia Drivers up from 258.96 Optimus.
Every time I try to do this, I encounter Code 43 Error. I have tested two 260.xx, Nautis' 265.xx and Nando's 266.xx drivers, I even followed Nautis' guide to mod my own inf.files and all I got was the same error as a result.

I've tried different pci compactions and hot-plugging methods. Today I was reading about setting the PCI Reset Delay slider switch to the 0sec position, #1 on the board, but the slider only moved between #2 and #3 on the board.

So I forced it a bit and you can guess the result... yes i broke the little slider and it is stuck in #2 (7 seconds) I really don't know if this will be really important down the stretch for newer drivers but I'm just putting all my recent info here.

If anybody has an idea as to why my drivers won't update please lend me a hand

[User Retired 2]

ICH8M[/B].

Now a couple of questions?
1)Is it possible for me to do 2x instead of 1x, and how?(Theres a pic attached that should show you the slots I have available)
2)What should be the steps to install the whole thing considering I have a dedicated nvidia GPU already in it?
3)Is it a good idea to disable the broken gpu after i install the gtx 460?

To use Vista native NVidia drivers will require your 8800GTS active and using a NVidia driver. If it's defected to a point where that is not possible then you'll need to use XP drivers for the GTX460 instead, sacrificing Aero and DX10 support.

Details on how to confirm if your system is x2 capable are covered in (Performance) Can my system do a PE4H x2 or x4 link as shown in PCI-E Scaling Analysis? on the first post.

Every time I try to do this, I encounter Code 43 Error.

I've tried different pci compactions and hot-plugging methods. Today I was reading about setting the PCI Reset Delay slider switch to the 0sec position, #1 on the board, but the slider only moved between #2 and #3 on the board.

So I forced it a bit and you can guess the result... yes i broke the little slider and it is stuck in #2 (7 seconds) I really don't know if this will be really important down the stretch for newer drivers but I'm just putting all my recent info here.

The PCI Reset Delay slider setting in a non-0second position means you've never been able to get a "configured" NVidia PCI dump AND your resume-from-standby has been in an unconfigured state, hence the error 43 you're seeing.

To correct this requires setting the PCI Reset to 0 seconds. Problem is your slider is stuck in position 2 (7sec) so now will need to either cut the track OR remove capacitor C1 as shown in the image above so it behaves as if it was position 1 (0sec delay).

[Rizzett]

The PCI Reset Delay slider setting in a non-0second position means you've never been able to get a "configured" NVidia PCI dump AND your resume-from-standby has been in an unconfigured state, hence the error 43 you're seeing.

To correct this requires setting the PCI Reset to 0 seconds. Problem is your slider is stuck in position 2 (7sec) so now will need to either cut the track OR remove capacitor C1 as shown in the image above so it behaves as if it was position 1 (0sec delay).

So this pretty much was my problem all along, I'm glad i started to read today, but i just had bad luck/rushed my strength on that tiny switch haha.

Ok so I'll try to somehow move the "switch" with a Stanley knife or something, if it doesn't work I'll just cut the track on the board.

Thanks again Nando for your troubleshooting, let's hope i don't have many more setbacks

[NewbieKid]

Hey nando, can USB 3.0 be used for vidock? At least will it be possible in the future if currently we cant do it? Since the HP DV6 has 2 usb 3.0 ports and I am probably getting that in May, it would be good if both of those ports can be used for docking in the future when the 6770m becomes obsolete

[audun_bohn]

What you described in your earlier post about what happens when you power the card on sounds abnormal. If the card is not connected to the laptop or if it isn't detected the fans should spin at 100%, which is loud. If it is detected they will spin at 40%, which is practically silent. The card should be detected even if you do not have enough resources for it. I would try a different power supply if possible. If you don't have a stronger one you can also have multiple power supplies work together to power the card. ex. one plugged into the pe4L, one into the graphics card. You may even be able to plug your laptop's power supply into the Pe4L to test things out.

Thanks, I will try this later today, though I have a Corsair HX modular 520watt running the PE4L + 8800gts, which did fine with the gtx260/core2duo 3ghz stationary comp.

Q1: Since the usb on the PE4L works, am I right in assuming the mini-HDMI cable is intact?

Q2: The 1-2/2-3 switches on the side of PE4L, both left in the 1-2 position, is this right?

Q3: The JP3/JP4 switches. Are Harmonic Inversions instructions correct? http://harmonicinversion.com/product...category_id=25

Anything else I might do to troubleshoot? The card(s), as mentioned, does not get detected, not by Everest, not by Win7, and not in the Setup Tool 1.x.


Thank you for your effort(s),


Audun

[audun_bohn]

First of all, for being a dumb f***.

When I got the PE4L, I read on the board, thinking the 1-2/2-3 switches should stay at pos 1-2, so I moved both to that position, making for 0 sec delay, and the other switch to x1 operation (as opposed to x4, x16 etc).
Spent all of yesterday trying to find out why the laptops couldn't detect the card.

Today, I tried to switch it back to x4, x16 etc mode, and whooomp - there it is. Flawless victory

Hotplugged the gtx260 to an old Asus comp, win7 installed drivers, prompted reboot, rebooted, and it all worked.

Thanks for all suggestions, in the end, only my own stupidity to blame.

If any more benchmarks etc. is welcome to the database, I can test the gtx260, 8800gts and the gtx460 with 3-4 laptops.

Thanks,

Audun

[User Retired 2]

Hotplugged the gtx260 to an old Asus comp, win7 installed drivers, prompted reboot, rebooted, and it all worked.

Thanks for all suggestions, in the end, only my own stupidity to blame.

If any more benchmarks etc. is welcome to the database, I can test the gtx260, 8800gts and the gtx460 with 3-4 laptops.

Congratulations on sorting out the issue.

If you have an Optimus-capable 4500MHD/HD system then can please identify if the GTX260 and 8800GTS get the x1.Opt performance tweak? You'll know if you see the Optimus features the NVidia control panel AND your 3dmark06 exceeds 8k. x1.Opt has so far only been confirmed to work on Fermis.

Hey nando, can USB 3.0 be used for vidock? At least will it be possible in the future if currently we cant do it? Since the HP DV6 has 2 usb 3.0 ports and I am probably getting that in May, it would be good if both of those ports can be used for docking in the future when the 6770m becomes obsolete

It's been requested from hwtools with no details on when and even if it will happen. They mentioned it required USB 3.0<->pci-e bridging. I figure we'll see a Thunderbolt port version quicker than a USB 3.0 one since it looks like it's x2 2.0 via a mini DP cable. Regardless, you can still do a mPCIe implementation via your wifi slot. A SB DV6 providing a x1 2.0 mPCIe slot.