DIY eGPU experiences

[kizwan]

What are the chances of that cable being bad? I ordered this stuff online and only received one with the package...I don't think I'll be able to find one around my city anywhere.

On the scale of 1 to 10; 1=less likely & 10=most likely; I say 3. You can buy mini-HDMI cable from DealExtreme. However, it might take a month to arrived at your doorstep.

As far as the IRQARB error goes; I am pretty sure it is the card itself. I have read all sorts of things telling me that it could be safely ignored but in this case I'm thinking it shouldn't be.

You shouldn't worry with this error because even IF this error related to the eGPU, this error is not the one preventing the card from detected. The eGPU is missing in the Device Manager means the eGPU is not detected at all. For the time being, you'll need to get eGPU detected first. After that, then we can worry with the error message in Event Viewer.

[cosmo_trouble]

Well I hope it will be a matter of plugging in an atx power supply and having it work. Let's hope. I'll let you when it's done.

[Slagatron Prime]

Just ordered an HP 6460b with an i5-2540 and a 500gb HD (not that that matters for eGPU purposes) off of HP's refurb site. Thanks to Nando for the link to the refurb site for this great deal! Can't wait to get it in and for the 2.0 compliant adapter from Bplus to be released so I can set it up and hopefully give you guys some good data along the way. Hopefully this notebook coupled with the 2.0 Express connection, the fast i5, and a GTX-560ti will post up some good numbers. Cheers!

[damogari]

Hi damogari,

Very nice to see that you and I have a very similar set up. The only difference being the GPU, mine is GTX 460.

My eGPU worked straight away on my 4330s when I plugged the laptop in when windows has already booted. (8GB ram) no errors 12 when installing the drivers. Have you tried that the simple plug and play method yet? Also try stopping windows booting up by pressing F8 during post as suggested by Nando4, that method also worked for me. Good Luck!

Thank you for help!

So I try to hot plug egpu to laptop, and...

IT WORKS!!

too easy to be real, so I try 3dmark06, and get this:



and all things connected



thank you so much for help, and thanks to community on this board!

[JordanM]

I've been researching for awhile now and just stumbled upon this thread. I was hoping someone here could lend some advice.

I'm planning on buying the x220 for school, but if I want to try an e-gpu setup in the future would you recommend i3, i5 or i7 ?

[MuF]

to JordanM: x220 has TOLUD issues - you can't use more than 3GB in order to be able to connect eGPU.

to all: could I install 2x4GB into x220, install 32bit windows and use eGPU?
I've tried running 4GB in my 8510p win 32b windows xp - in windows I saw 3GB of RAM but I could still attach rest of the RAM to a RAMdisk to utilize it. Couldn't be something like this done with x220, 8GB RAM, eGPU?

[cosmo_trouble]

Well, it works wonderfully with the desktop power supply. I am wondering if the power supply I purchased is bad, or if something else is up. The power supply I bought was recommended in this forum here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gami...html#pros-cons

You'll see the 5670 (My card) listed and a link to an ebay search for a 72W power supply.

The adapter I ended up with is listed as a Mini-ITX power supply, is it possible that this adapter is incorrect for this application? I can't think of any reason a 12V DC signal would be any different other than the poles being reversed...

Anyway, the system works great with no need for Setup 1.x; I just boot to windows directly, drop into sleep mode and plug the card in. When I resume from sleep both cards work great in dual head mode.

I tested a few games and they looked great.

Now I need to find a permanent solution to my power woes, I'd really like to find a solution that does not involve a desktop power supply. It's really the reason I went after the card I did...It has very low power consumption.

I'll keep everyone posted, and I'll get some benchmarks run soon!

Thanks for everything.

[cosmo_trouble]

The port requirements to do x2 are covered in the first post. You'd need to confirm that have an accessible mPCIe+expresscard or mPCIe+mPCIe that map out to port1+2, port3+4, port5+6 or port7+8. Do that by attaching a device to the mPCIe and expresscard slot and seeing what port number they appear on in Aida64.



PE4H DC jack does 15-19V to 12V regulation with the power being used to drive the slot [up to 75W]. A PE4L doesn't do any DC voltage regulation hence could split the 12V line so could attach the 6pin pci-e connectors as well. This is why there aren't any > 75W PE4H implementations using the DC jack.

A GTS450 requires up to 106W of power so it has an additional 6pin pci-e connector.

You could technically do the 12V power splitting idea with a PE4H but you'd be modding the PE4H to pass-thru 12V input OR would be using the floppy molex 12V+GND as input. Your 19V AC adapter would need to be replaced by a 12V unit if wishing to try that.

The simplest solution is to use a ATX PSU with your PE4H OR a get a PE4L so can split a 12V/120W AC adapter's power.

So...according to this post I can't make a PE4L work with a 12V DC adapter?

Is there a way to have this work with just a DC adapter? without buying too much more?

The adapter I have is designed for a mini-ITX motherboard; it makes 12V at 6.6A (~80W).

I don't mind making some mods to the board if needed...has anyone tried this? Do I need that 5V rail if I just try and get it hooked up to the floppy drive connector on the PE4L?

If all I need to do is connect the 12V and Ground to that floppy connector, wonderful!

Anyone with some experience with this please let me know!

[gamblor420]

Hi everybody, I have a p7805u gateway laptop and was wondering if I would see notable improvements over my stock 9800mgts graphics card if I were to use one of these egpu methods. I have seen 2 other members ask the same question, but not really get solid responses. Can someone please clarify this for me? Thank you in advance!!!

[ptuy]

Hello fellow laptop-dudes!

I own a Lenovo T500 type:2243-7RG
I have an ExpressCard slot, and then of course 2x mPCIe - the wifi and wwan slot.
My chipset is: Intel GM45/GM47

I've got 4gb DR3, Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, and a Seagate Momentus XT 500gb harddrive.

Will it be possible to play BF3 on my laptop with an eGPU?
Can I use a relatively new gfx, like gtx560ti?

Has anyone had an eGPU setup on a T500 before?

i'm all new in this, so bare with me.

Rasmus