DIY eGPU experiences

[Khenglish]

Is there anyone who experimented with the HM57 chipset?

I have a dell Inspiron n4030 with i3 330M processor, 4G RAM, ATI HD4330 512 vram graphics support. No internal graphics support.

I think HM57 has PCI e 2.0 x1 (5 ports. Not sure). In my case #2 And #3 ports are occupied with wifi adapter and card reader. and #4 is used by the express card though its not mentioned.

PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #1 Empty
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #2 In Use @ x1 (Dell DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Network Adapter)
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #3 In Use @ x1 (Atheros AR8132 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller)
PCI-E 2.0 x1 port #5 Empty

Am i out of luck that i can't use Vidock? If i am not then what i use? I dont have any HDMI port. Still i have the ability to use? How??

It looks like you can move your wifi from port 2 to 5 so you can do an x2 link with ports 1 and 2.

[Gamer90]

It looks like you can move your wifi from port 2 to 5 so you can do an x2 link with ports 1 and 2.

As i am not that good with these handy things, just asking switching the wifer adapter from port 2 to 5 is quite easier? like simply open and set it in port 5.

One more thing setting up a vidock, does it disable my video card?? Like, cant the two card work side by side??

Can i use my internal LCD??

What should i order?? PM3N-EC2C or PE4H or PE4L? ( Just can't figure it out what's suitable)

As i have no HDMI port how would i connect it in??

[tymt]

hi

I was searching for an external pci-e slot device and I found this thread, but I'm not looking to plug a GC but a pci-e 1x capture card. It may be a dumb question but it should work right ?

[MikjoA]

I think so, maybe you just need PE4L rather than PE4H

[zyrn]

Hi, I was peeking into this forum and saw that DIY Vidock might solve my problems. However, as I was looking through the first post I got quite confused and therefore perhaps someone could give me a bit guidance. I have a Vostro 3300 (HM57 & 1x34mm Expresscard; I also tried searching AIDA64 for available PCI-E ports but couldn't find the right place) - what items should I order and at which speed is my system capable of running the external graphics? Thanks beforehand!

[MikjoA]

When you look into AIDA64 in the Chipset, you have to check that you are looking into Southbridge and not Northbridge.
Then you will see the available PCI-e port.
I'd advice you to buy a PE4H 2.4 pack including the EC2C (expresscard adapter) and swex (and a long mini hdmi... because 30cm is so small ). You may probably need the EC2C if you want to make a X2 link.

[zyrn]

Here's the pic.


Can a x2 link be made? (Vostro 3400 is under the "Systems not capable of a higher performance x2 1.0 pci-e link" list in the first post.)

[tymt]

I think so, maybe you just need PE4L rather than PE4H

I thought so, I planned on taking PE4L-EC2C.

thanks !

[MikjoA]

As i am not that good with these handy things, just asking switching the wifer adapter from port 2 to 5 is quite easier? like simply open and set it in port 5.

One more thing setting up a vidock, does it disable my video card?? Like, cant the two card work side by side??

Can i use my internal LCD??

What should i order?? PM3N-EC2C or PE4H or PE4L? ( Just can't figure it out what's suitable)

As i have no HDMI port how would i connect it in??

oh man... Could you please read the first post carefully ?
I won't answer all you want because some people made a lot of great work on post 1, the answers you are looking for are in...
There is a special explanation for Internal LCD stuff.
There you will also find what is best suitable for your laptop.

Now, DIY Vidock won't disable your primary graphic card. But they can't work together side by side. However you may need to use Setup 1.0X (Again read post 1) to disable yourinternal graphic card to make the DIY Vidock work properly. You will chose then at every reboot if you want to enable or not your internal graphic card.

If you have an Intel HD Graphics, or GMA 4500 X3100, you can use nvidia optimus feature with a fermi card to overboost performance.

You do not need an HDMI port to run the DIY Vidock.

[Gamer90]

When you look into AIDA64 in the Chipset, you have to check that you are looking into Southbridge and not Northbridge.
Then you will see the available PCI-e port.
I'd advice you to buy a PE4H 2.4 pack including the EC2C (expresscard adapter) and swex (and a long mini hdmi... because 30cm is so small ). You may probably need the EC2C if you want to make a X2 link.

In case of a lacking of a HDMI port with the laptop whats the solution to connect in the vidock?? please see my posts just earlier.