DIY eGPU experiences

[kizwan]

Im sorry, this is my model info
HP dv5t-1000
Intel Core 2 Duo 9400
Nvidia 9600M GT
4GB RAM

Sorry, I can't find your notebook specification. Please post screenshot of AIDA64 (Chipset \ South Bridge). In addition to that, please examine physically whether your notebook have mPCIe port or/and ExpressCard slot.

I have looked and looked for answers that I need and I am getting a splitting headache and haven't found it so I am going to ask. I have a Sager NP9280 running an i7 975 Extreme @ 3.33GHz with 6 gigs of ram @ 1333MHz.
My question is when my stuff arrives what is the best way to hook it up?
I ordered a ExpressCard External Graphics x16 kit with the Express Card Adapter and the mPCIe card. I also ordered a Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC Power Supply and an MSI N560GTX-M2D1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card..I have read that some people are having troubles on their laptops but I haven't seen anyone use one like mine. Not sure if I will have any problems or not..Any advice would be appreciated..I hope I didn't double post..

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W PSU is good choice. It able to supply plenty of power & can drive any GPU. The method use to connect the eGPU is varied between different notebooks.

• Some notebooks required you to boot into windows & then connect the eGPU.
• Some notebooks required put to sleep before connecting eGPU.
• On some notebooks, eGPU just work out-of-the-box. Meaning, just connect & it just works.
• On some notebooks, eGPU must connected before boot. This to allow BIOS to initialize & allocate the required memory & I/O resources for eGPU. This is true for notebook with dynamic max TOLUD. However, few notebooks with dynamic max TOLUD unable to utilized this because they refused to boot with eGPU already connected.

I don't know what method suitable for your notebook. First step you need to do is connect the eGPU, power on your notebook & boot into windows. See whether eGPU is detected or not. If detected, write down any error code you see in Device Manage. Post the error code here or refer to eGPU Troubleshooting FAQ page.

I hope I didn't mess up since I already ordered everything.HA HA HA. If it doesn't work I guess I will be building a desktop system...Can I use the optimizer or not? I have read so much stuff that I am not sure if I can or can NOT use the optimizer..Is there something I can use or am I just to use normal drivers and software? I was hoping I could use the loop back to use the internal monitor.

Do you means Optimus? Your notebook doesn't have Intel HD Graphics for Optimus setup to work. You can play games using eGPU on the internal screen but only in windowed mode. Performance won't be great & you still need external monitor. Since, your notebook can't do Optimus setup, the best setup you can do is eGPU x2 link setup. This will require two PCIe ports. x2 link required either [PCIe port#1 & port#2] or [PCIe port#3 & port#4] or [PCIe port#5 & port#6].

From the AIDA64 screenshot, one of the mPCIe port where the wireless card connected is PCIe port#3. However, firewire device is connected to PCIe port#4. So, x2 link with [PCIe port#3 & port#4] is not possible. x2 link with [PCIe port#1 & port#2] also not possible because ethernet device is connected to PCIe port#2. Look like only [PCIe port#5 & port#6] can do x2 link IF PCIe port#5 & port#6 are physically available. Meaning physically available in the form of two mPCIe ports or mPCIe+ExpressCard. You'll need to check this to know for sure.

[Hollywoodbad]

I guess there is not anything I can do right now but to just keep reading and get prepared. What is wit this? TODUS? Might have spelled that wrong.. I think that's the right thing you need to see??? Thanks for the help..

[kizwan]

According to the Device Manager screenshot, the first PCI bus with 8 digits memory address is 0xC0000000 which means TOLUD is 3GB. If TOLUD is equal or lower than 3.25GB, you will be able to use eGPU with 4GB++ RAM. For example, if TOLUD is 3.5GB, you won't be able to use eGPU with 4GB++ of RAM because there isn't enough PCI space (PCI memory range). The solution for TOLUD 3.GB or higher is reducing the RAM to 3GB or less only.

I think you already read enough. Now, you'll need to check out whether is there any mPCIe port available on your notebook. Meaning you'll need to disassembled your notebook. Your target here is to find PCIe port#5 & port#6. If there is another mPCIe port(s), you'll need to figure out their PCIe port #. You can plugin the wireless card to the empty mPCIe port & check with AIDA64 which PCIe port it turn up. You also need to identify the PCIe port # for the ExpressCard. You can plugin any ExpressCard device & check in AIDA64 what is the PCIe port #.

[Wally33]

@nando4
are we better off having an x1 PCIe link at gen 2 speed (5Gbit/s) or an x2 PCIe at gen 1 speed (2.5Gbit/s)?

Purely a hypothetical scenario, just wondering.

Theoretically the bandwidth would be the same, right?

[User Retired 2]

@nando4
are we better off having an x1 PCIe link at gen 2 speed (5Gbit/s) or an x2 PCIe at gen 1 speed (2.5Gbit/s)?

Purely a hypothetical scenario, just wondering.

Theoretically the bandwidth would be the same, right?

Same bandwidth, but Optimus' pci-e compression engages only on a x1 link which gives approximately doubling of bandwidth. So we have:

x1 1.0 Opt ~= x2 1.0 / x1 2.0
x1 2.0 Opt ~= x2 2.0

We're still waiting for a pci-e 2.0 compliant PE4L/PE4H to be delivered this/next month to see how much better gaming is.

[avlan]

@nando4
are we better off having an x1 PCIe link at gen 2 speed (5Gbit/s) or an x2 PCIe at gen 1 speed (2.5Gbit/s)?

Purely a hypothetical scenario, just wondering.

Theoretically the bandwidth would be the same, right?

x1 2.0 has wider bandwidth than x1 1.1 without Optimus.

[Martype]

hi, in the faq there is something described to solve the error 12 problem, but i can not figure out what is meant by this:

"So the workaround is to change the 20 to be D0 and let Win7 have it's way. This can be done by adding two additional lines between your pci.bat and startup.bat to override compact's allocation. This setting will override any further re-runs of compaction as well.

Code:
setpci -s 2:0.0 BASE_ADDRESS_5=d001
setpci -s 0:1c.1 1c.b=d0 1d.b=d0"

What is meant by adding these lines between startup.bat and pci.bat?

Greetings

hi nando, could you give a short explanation, please? :-)
greetings

[JordanM]

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?

I've read that you need to downgrade the bios to 1.11 to get around the TOLUD issues, but is it true that the newest x220 systems can not downgrade all the way to 1.11?

Would it be easier to just buy an older one from the lenovo outlet site?

[prosetheus]

Hi All,

First of all I'd like to express my immense gratitude to this amazing community and the incredible innovations being done and tested here on a daily basis (Nando, Kizwan, Khenglish etc). You guys rock! Also many thanks to the people giving back such valuable feedback.

Its ironic that I discovered this eGPU thread by mistake as I came to this forum after my 8600m gt betrayed me. The gpu got screwed and I tried the heatgun fix and it worked, but only for a short time will it work.

Long story short, my laptop is:

Newegg.com - ZT Element S1017i-15 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5850(2.16GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT

C2D 5850 (2.2 ghz)
4 gb ddr2 ram
8600 m gt
intel PM965 chipset (from the above link)
Expresscard and a crapload of other ports.

I do have an expresscard slot but from what I've been trying to figure out from the forums, it is recommended that I change my CPU (processor).

Could anyone help my out a bit? I just need to know if my dying system can buy me some time as from the looks of the situation and if there is an eGPU solution that can work for me, as I would like some time to see where the Thunderbolt/Lightpeak train is headed.

In case that you guys think I should just dump this laptop and get a new one, what is the most future proof route (I will have to get a new latop by end of nov. due to time constraints IF i have to buy one).

Should I wait for thunderbolt/lightpeak next year or
wait for the impending USB 3.0 version supposedly coming soon?
Or simply go for Sandy Bridge with HD3000 and x1 2.0?

Much much thanks in advance.

[kizwan]

Hi prosetheus,

Getting a Sandy Bridge notebook with Intel HD 3000 iGPU is good idea. x1 2.0 support will be available soon. The device is almost ready but still need testing first before they can be available. Until the device is ready, you can do x1.Opt where Opt=Optimus will provide good performance via PCIe x1 link.

Using eGPU on your current notebook might be a solution to the dying 8600M dGPU. However, since your notebook doesn't have Intel GMA 4500MHD iGPU, you can't do x1.Opt setup. So, to get the best performance, it's advisable to do eGPU only if your notebook can do x2 link setup. x2 link will require using two PCIe ports which either:-
- [PCIe port#1 & port#2]
OR
- [PCIe port#3 & port#4]
OR
- [PCIe port#5 & port#6]
There is also one thing to consider which might cause inconvenience. Where the boot screen will be displayed? On some notebooks, boot screen will appear at internal screen while on few notebooks, boot screen will appear at the external screen (connected to eGPU) instead. For the former, eGPU will only take over after booting into windows.

CPU upgrade consider optional. Upgrading CPU can increased overall notebook performance.