DIY eGPU experiences

[furythree]

have they released any vidock parts for usb 3? i dont think we'll see many thunderbolt (affordable ones) systems anytime soon
and unless it can be done with the new MBA released yesterday. usb3 would technically be faster than mpcie no?

[narcoticx2]

Early results...

Studio 1555, P8700 2.53GHz, 4GB ram
External GTX460 768MB via EC at x1 link speed
3dmark06 5102

About what was expected, going to try get higher though i'm pretty happy with performance in games (the synthetic benchmark doesn't really reflect the improvement you see on screen) as i'm playing at 1080p now with excellent fps, the occasional jitter when loading to the gfx card.

[mavrik13]

Big thanks to Nando and Kizwan for their help with getting my eGPU up and running... couldn't have figured it out without you guys.

Laptop: x220
CPU: i5-2410m (2.3ghz/2.9ghz)
Ram: 6gb
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1gb
PSU: Corsair VX450w (leftover from my now-dead desktop)
PE4L

3dMark06: 14708
3dMarkVantage: 10197

SC2 runs great at High/Ultra settings with 1680x1050.

If anyone has any other benchmark requests/questions, please let me know and I'd be happy to run them.

[mangos47]

Early results...

Studio 1555, P8700 2.53GHz, 4GB ram
External GTX460 768MB via EC at x1 link speed
3dmark06 5102

About what was expected, going to try get higher though i'm pretty happy with performance in games (the synthetic benchmark doesn't really reflect the improvement you see on screen) as i'm playing at 1080p now with excellent fps, the occasional jitter when loading to the gfx card.

3dmark06 seems to suffer a lot due to the x1 link limited bandwidth.

my GTX460 eGPU on x2 link only score less than 9k in 3dmark06, even lower than 3dmark vantage. but when I play Crysis 2 on ultra setting, dx11, high-res texture, the beginning scene show 20-30 fps by fraps. It's quite playable though I can feel the occasional lag. I'd say 3dmark06 definitely under-estimate the gaming performance of eGPU. I'll try to do some more gaming benchmark with fraps and update for general reference.

[mangos47]

Big thanks to Nando and Kizwan for their help with getting my eGPU up and running... couldn't have figured it out without you guys.

Laptop: x220
CPU: i5-2410m (2.3ghz/2.9ghz)
Ram: 6gb
GPU: EVGA GTX460 1gb
PSU: Corsair VX450w (leftover from my dead desktop)
PE4L

3dmark06: 14708

I am downloading RE5 benchmark, and will post that when it is done. If anyone has any other benchmark requests/questions, please let me know and I'd be happy to oblige.

nice score! looking forward to more gaming benchmarks. I'm very tempted to get an SB thin&light laptop with eGPU running on Optimus which appears to be the best performance achievable right now.

[Gil3]

It's a long list but I immediately checked Lenovo G560.

• Specification: http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/...0datasheet.pdf & http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/WW...N2010_engl.pdf
• Based on the specification, there are two sub-model of Lenovo G560:-
  
  1. Intel® HD graphics
  2. NVIDIA® GeForce® G310M
• If you want to get this model, make sure you get the one with Intel® HD graphics. This is because Lenovo G560 can't do x2 link. So, Lenovo G560 with Intel® HD graphics will allow you to setup x1.Opt (x1 Optimus) with GTX460. You'll get better performance with x1.Opt & Nvidia graphic card.
• The specification mentioned the ExpressCard slot is optional. So, make sure you check it before buying.
• Remaining issue is the maximum of RAM you can use when using eGPU. I don't know what is the TOLUD value on this notebook.

I'll post information on the other notebooks when I have them later (no promise).

written:

Card Reader 5-in-1 Card Reader (SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD)

I do not know what that means ..
It has a ExpressCard slot?

[kizwan]

@Gil3, that is Card Reader. NOT ExpressCard slot.

[Gil3]

@Gil3, that is Card Reader. NOT ExpressCard slot.

There's something strange ...
Trying to see if this laptop has an ExpressCard slot I first look for this model in other stores and I found that according to other stores this laptop has an ExpressCard slot but not INTEL HD. These INTEL GMA 4500 .. so I was afraid that the data is not reliable.

Later I tried to see how the ExpressCard looks and I've seen that looks like this:

Or this:

Then I noticed what you saw in the first picture (of the ExpressCard slot). I sew this: "SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD" above the ExpressCard slot which is exactly what was on the Information about the model in this store:

Card Reader 5-in-1 Card Reader (SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD)

So I searched on Google Images that:
SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD

Then I found this:

Does this mean that
SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD = ExpressCard slot

?

[kizwan]

SD / SD pro / MMC / MS pro / XD is NOT ExpressCard slot.

Please see the picture below. The Blue one is ExpressCard 54 & the Red one is Card Reader.


For eGPU, what do you need is ExpressCard 34 slot:-


For Optimus to work, you'll need Intel HD Graphics or Intel GMA 4500 or Intel HD 3000. Intel 4500MHD & Intel GMA 4500 are the same Intel HD GPU.

[jeffi85]

The reason for my bluescreen was the PSU! A new PSU and all is working very well.

Now I wonder that the performance is not as well as it could be I think. I did a benchmark test GTA IV. Here the details:

Statistiken
Durchschnittliche FPS: 34.09
Dauer: 37.52 Sek
CPU-Auslastung: 95%
Systemspeicher-Auslastung: 43%
Videospeicher-Auslastung: 73%

Grafikeinstellungen
Videomodus: 1920 x 1080 (60 Hz)
Texturenqualität: Hoch
Qualität Schatten: Hoch
Reflexionsauflösung: Hoch
Qualität Wasser: Sehr hoch
Texturenfilter-Qualität: Anisotropisch x4
Nachtschatten: Aus
Sichtdistanz: 25
Detaildistanz: 31

Hardware
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Service Pack 1
Grafikkarte: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470
Video-Driver Version: 275.33
Soundkarte: Lautsprecher (Conexant 20585 SmartAudio HD)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU M 620 @ 2.67GHz

How can I check if my Optimus driver is working properly?