DIY eGPU experiences

[Warwickeo]

Is the BF3 beta playable @ 1920x1080 and low details?
20-30FPS avg @ high/ultra is a bit choppy, but for myself I don't need quality
Would be awesome, if you could test that. Might get a GTX560Ti again for my x220t again

[pappu6600]

Hello nando4, kizwan today I received ASUS HD 6750 1Gb DDR5 Graphic Card. I'm starting all over again from scratch. First thing I want to ask is which cable I should use to supply power to eGPU? I'm confused since I have three options:

1. External 5V/12V power supply cable x1 - Comes with PE4H Kit.

2. Floppy Adapter - Comes with Corsair CX430

3. 1 x Power cable - Comes with Asus HD 6750 1Gb DDR5 Graphic Card

I'm little conscious with this point since my XFX ATI Radeon HD 6570 DDR5 2Gb Graphic Card is damaged and still in the service center.

Thanks.

[Khenglish]

Hello nando4, kizwan today I received ASUS HD 6750 1Gb DDR5 Graphic Card. I'm starting all over again from scratch. First thing I want to ask is which cable I should use to supply power to eGPU? I'm confused since I have three options:

1. External 5V/12V power supply cable x1 - Comes with PE4H Kit.

2. Floppy Adapter - Comes with Corsair CX430

3. 1 x Power cable - Comes with Asus HD 6750 1Gb DDR5 Graphic Card

I'm little conscious with this point since my XFX ATI Radeon HD 6570 DDR5 2Gb Graphic Card is damaged and still in the service center.

Thanks.

It really doesn't matter how you power the PE4H as long as you use the floppy connector. I personally use the cable that came with the PSU, but using any adapter will be fine. You also really can't go wrong when connecting the 6 pin connector since you have a single 12V rail PSU. Make sure use the 4 pin floppy connector and the 6 pin connector.

Basically just plug things in any way that the connectors fit and power will not be an issue.

[pappu6600]

Thank You Khenglish for reply. But I don't get what is meant by '6 pin connector'?

Thanks.

It really doesn't matter how you power the PE4H as long as you use the floppy connector. I personally use the cable that came with the PSU, but using any adapter will be fine. You also really can't go wrong when connecting the 6 pin connector since you have a single 12V rail PSU. Make sure use the 4 pin floppy connector and the 6 pin connector.

Basically just plug things in any way that the connectors fit and power will not be an issue.

[kizwan]

@pappu6600,

Like Khenglish said, you'll need a floppy power connector for the PE4H & 6-pin PCIe power connector for Asus HD 6750. The cable came with PE4H & Asus HD 6750 are adapter in case your PSU don't have that kind of connector. Since Corsair CX430 PSU already have floppy & 6-pin PCIe power connector, you don't have to use the adapter that came with PE4H & Asus HD 6750. BTW, with Corsair PSU, the 6-pin PCIe power connector is labeled with "PCIE" on the cable/connector.

[Mjolner]

Is the BF3 beta playable @ 1920x1080 and low details?
20-30FPS avg @ high/ultra is a bit choppy, but for myself I don't need quality
Would be awesome, if you could test that. Might get a GTX560Ti again for my x220t again

Honestly it is hard to tell. In operation metro the outdoor area hovers at around 30 fps on mediumish settings at 1080P. Inside the tunnels is better with the framerate hitting 50 pretty often, but the flames and other particle effects lower the FPS some. However, I am not entirely sure if this is due to the x1 interface itself. In BFBC2, I would average 35 fps for periods of time on all high settings at 1080P (with 50+ fps common as well). However, the GPU usage would only hover around 60%, which I attributed to the x1 bandwidth bottlenecking the card. In my desktop, my GTX 560 Ti very rarely goes below 95% usage in BFBC2. However, in BF3 the gpu seems to pretty much stay at 99% load the entire time.
This load is being measured by EVGA Precision, and I am not exactly sure how it measures it; if a saturated x1 link somehow shows up as 99% load then I would not be able to tell how much performance I would be missing, but if the load percentage was independent from the pci-e lane I would expect to have around 60% usage, which I am not seeing. Of course I only have an i5 CPU, so that is probably holding be back some as well.

Most importantly, the demo seems to be only DX11 if you have a DX11 card; I can't find any way to force DX10 which I think would provide a significant performance increase, as DX10 played a lot better in BFBC2 with my eGPU setup than DX11 did. Also, if the apparent mouse lag wasn't there it would be perfectly fine and playable; I don't notice any sot of mouselag in BFBC2 despite the low framerate. It could be just because the weapons have a bit more realistic handling in BF3 but I am not really sure. Because this is a beta, there could also be some issues with my particular mouse or game issues that are causing this.

[Blackett]

Next Year's Optical-Fiber Thunderbolt Cables to Be Compatible with Existing Devices.

Source

The cost of active optical cables will likely be very high, hence, they will barely be bundled with actual devices.

- adding Thunderbolt to ur existing system will be VERY pricey (even missing out the coasts for the pcie expansion box ...)

Edit:
Interesting review of a Thunderbolt product

[pappu6600]

Hello Kizwan, I tried to run eGPU last night with original drivers. eGPU gets detected in dos, device manager, catalyst manager. In display settings, I selected to 'extend my desktop to this monitor' and I saw laptop wallpaper in crystal clear quality on Samsung Sync Master B2030 LCD.

That is it! There after don't see anything like desktop icon, navigating folders, game running on laptop. LCD screen remain static to Laptop wallpaper.

I tried to uninstall original driver and installing DNA driver for XP. But same sequence repeats. I don't understand what to do now, please help.

Thanks.

@pappu6600,

Like Khenglish said, you'll need a floppy power connector for the PE4H & 6-pin PCIe power connector for Asus HD 6750. The cable came with PE4H & Asus HD 6750 are adapter in case your PSU don't have that kind of connector. Since Corsair CX430 PSU already have floppy & 6-pin PCIe power connector, you don't have to use the adapter that came with PE4H & Asus HD 6750. BTW, with Corsair PSU, the 6-pin PCIe power connector is labeled with "PCIE" on the cable/connector.

[kizwan]

@pappu6600, I don't have XP here but probably you'll need to set one of the display to be primary in Control Panel or Catalyst Control Center.

[pappu6600]

By default 'Plug and Play Monitor on Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family' is primary. I don't get 'one of the display to be primary'. Should I make Asus HD 6750 as Primary?

Thanks.

@pappu6600, I don't have XP here but probably you'll need to set one of the display to be primary in Control Panel or Catalyst Control Center.