DIY eGPU experiences

[Crystal1988]

^ I know.. but it would be better then nothing. It would be a PCI-E 1x 2.0 against a 4X 2.0 of ThunderBolt.. In the first case we would have loss goin from 15% to 60% (referring to scaling in desktop setup) in respect to 16X.. with ThunderBolt or Light Peak we would have loss going from 5% to 30%. But it's still better for those who cannot achieve 1x 2.0 but only 1.0 (loss arriving to 80% in worst case scenario/applications)

[danenick1212]

Over at Slashdot they are having a discussion on TB external GPU setups and their feasibility/use. I figured I'd chime in over there with a link to our thread in hopes of some new traffic and interest.

[User Retired 2]

a link to our thread in hopes of some new traffic and interest.

requested a external video graphics devices section on NBR

I've asked Charles, the head moderator, to create a new section on NBR along the lines of "external video graphics devices". Then could have a specific discussion like TB development, individual's implementations, a troubleshooting guide, etc, instead of trying to encompass it all in one thread.

I hope he agrees. Would make positions available for summary page editors of some sticky threads too.

[Karamazovmm]

nope pcie standard is bidirectional.

a pcie x1 1.0 has at least 2 + 2gbps bidrectional chanels.

a pcie x1 2.0 has at least 4+4gpbs channels

its still too slow.

What I saw from benchmarks using x4 slots the performance difference ranged from 0-50%, being the latter number only felt on direct ports, like COD, the former being the standard. There was only a handfull games that went for a 10% decrease, the range from 11-49% was completely empty on the games tested

That was one of the reasons that I bought a mbp 13

EDIT: I forgot that when you have a x16 lane layout, the pcie lane is 2x higher, thus when you get a pcie x1 2.0 its indeed 4 + 4gbps bidirectional channels. Thus all the numbers are in a config of 1 per lane

[Crystal1988]

You're right... so Thunderbolt would be only a 2X 2.0 (8+8-- near 20)?

[Kossel]

Hi, after many of reading I finally got my pe4h 2.4a kit and a MSI 460gtx 1G cyclone today. and started to DIY my egpu.

my spec is: xps m1330 | T7300 | 4gb ram | 8400gs | win 7 pro |

what I did:
1- I plugged everything then first powered on PSU and video Card
2- turned my notebook on. win 7 detected a new display adapter, so I installed the driver from the driver cd (ver. 266.58)
3- rebooted and in Device Manager shows not error (says 8400gs and 460 gtx works correctly)

I stuck there and don't know what to do.

1- how do I switch to make notebook use 460gtx instead of 8400gs in my internal display
found in pre-purchase FAQ---> almost not possible without optimous

2- I tried to plug an external display and nothing happens.(can't detect) how to use external display?

3- I read this FAQ and this so I uninstalled my 8400gs's driver (275.33) then I tried to force it to use the driver come from the cd (266.58) and windows says cannot find a suitable driver.

can someone tell me am I missing or what's next?

PS: which version of ExpressCard comes with my m1330? 1.0?

thanks

[User Retired 2]

3- I read this FAQ and this so I uninstalled my 8400gs's driver (275.33) then I tried to force it to use the driver come from the cd (266.58) and windows says cannot find a suitable driver.

PS: which version of ExpressCard comes with my m1330? 1.0?

There are XPS1330 examples on the first page so we know others have got it to work.

The FAQ item you note asks yoi to to load the NVidia Verde driver + modded nvam.inf from here which will provide a unified driver for both the 8400GS and GTX460. Internal LCD won't work on your system since it's not Optimus capable so ensure an external LCD is attached to your GTX460.

The XPS1330 has an expresscard 1.0 slot. You'd need the latest Sandy Bridge systems to get a expresscard 2.0 slot.

[Karamazovmm]

You're right... so Thunderbolt would be only a 2X 2.0 (8+8-- near 20)?

since the cable (or the adapted connector) only supports 2 channels, it doesnt matter if you buy the mba (eagle ridge, 2 10gpbs bidirectional channels) or the mbp (light ridge, 4 10gbps bidirectional channels)

Only if we had a cable (or the adapted connector) that supported all the 4 channels it would really matter.

since the mdp can have a bandwidth of:

1.62, 2.7, or 5.4 Gbit/s data rate per lane; 1, 2, or 4 lanes; (effective total 5.184, 8.64, or 17.28 Gbit/s for 4-lane link); 1 Mbit/s or 720 Mbit/s for the auxiliary channel.

So you see its either the adapted connector or the cable that wasnt done to provide the entire bandwidth that the controller can provide.

You do realize that Im hoping so much that Im wrong on all these accounts

[Crystal1988]

That's not what I mean.

At the moment, TB cable supports 10 Gb/s bidir (or less since mdp tb cable seems slower), and it's claimed to be 4X PCI-E .. but 2.0 it's 16 Gb/s bidir while 1.0 it's 8 GB/s bidir. That's my doubt... It's not a real PCI-E 4x 2.0 but a 1.0 or 2X 2.0 with actual cable technology..

[Crystal1988]

Wait... what is this??? O_O http://download.intel.com/pressroom/...Pro_materials2 What would mean with Sony's implementation?