DIY eGPU experiences

[flekx]

Nando4,

What is your predicted time frame before DIY eGPU solutions will be available for the thunderbolt setup. Also, do you think it will be worthwhile to wait (performance wise)?

I also noticed that you wrote that the 2560p could have it's CPU swapped and was compatible with the new Ivy Bridge series.

Thanks!

[kevmanw4301]

I second the E6220, I got mine for $430. Absolutely beautiful.

[flekx]

@kevmanw4301

Does it have an unsoldered CPU, like the 2560p?

[User Retired 2]

Nando4,

What is your predicted time frame before DIY eGPU solutions will be available for the thunderbolt setup. Also, do you think it will be worthwhile to wait (performance wise)?

I also noticed that you wrote that the 2560p could have it's CPU swapped and was compatible with the new Ivy Bridge series.

Thanks!

Performancewise, Thunderbolt is superior. Is it worth the wait? You decide. A IB Lenovo S430 with a TB port be available in May/June for $779 RRP. Probably scared the market into lowering it's SB prices in anticipation.

So as suggested, if you can get a budget system like a 12.5" Dell E6220 then I'd I'd just jump in on a PE4L 2.1 + GTX460, then look to upgrade to IB notebook + TB + Keplar once it becomes a proven working solution and affordable.

Yes, the 2560P can upgrade to a SB i7-quad. It's yet to be seen whether Intel will make their Ivy Bridge CPUs backward compatible with Series-6 mobile chipsets. They tend to not do that therefore encouraging system updates rather than upgrades.

[Kallogan]

I don't know about thunderbolt tech. I mean pci 1x 2.0 optimus pci compression gives near 4x performance without compression i guess.

And also, internal lcd gaming is only possible if optimus is engaged, right ? And Optimus only engages on 1x link if i understood right ? So no internal lcd gaming with thunderbolt ?

[SimoxTav]

Performancewise, Thunderbolt is superior. Is it worth the wait? You decide. A IB Lenovo S430 with a TB port be available in May/June for $779 RRP. Probably scared the market into lowering it's SB prices in anticipation.

So as suggested, if you can get a budget system like a 12.5" Dell E6220 then I'd I'd just jump in on a PE4L 2.1 + GTX460, then look to upgrade to IB notebook + TB + Keplar once it becomes a proven working solution and affordable.

Yes, the 2560P can upgrade to a SB i7-quad. It's yet to be seen whether Intel will make their Ivy Bridge CPUs backward compatible with Series-6 mobile chipsets. They tend to not do that therefore encouraging system updates rather than upgrades.

From my point of view, we're not going to see a mass production release of a TB adapter before 8-10 months due the timings to receive intel schematics and work on them (ViDock already asked for those, 3 months ago and got no answer probably because Intel wants to favor biggest partners first). So anyway getting a SB Quad notebook + a Kepler GPU via PCIe 2.0 1x could be a more than good solution for now (check the performance in my videos, you won't be disappointed with the newer kit ). I hope only that with the release of commercial eGPU solutions, nVidia will open their Optimus compression also on larger bandwidth, to boost the performances even more.

[User Retired 2]

I don't know about thunderbolt tech. I mean pci 1x 2.0 optimus pci compression gives near 4x performance without compression i guess.

And also, internal lcd gaming is only possible if optimus is engaged, right ? And Optimus only engages on 1x link if i understood right ? So no internal lcd gaming with thunderbolt ?

Thunderbolt = x4 2.0 + Displayport input
Expresscard 2.0 = x1 2.0 (approximates to x2 2.0 with Optimus' pci-compression)

So TB could allow the desktop video card's Displayport output to be fed directly in to drive the internal LCD, much in the same was as muxed switchable dGPUs do. That feature will depend on whether the notebook manufacturer adds a mux for that facility.

If not, then NVidia Optimus can drive the internal LCD so long as there is an active Intel 4500MHD, HD, HD3000 or X3150 iGPU in the system. There is no link width condition for it to work. It's the pci-e compression that engages only when it detects a x1 link. The compression won't activate on x2/x4/x8/x16 link widths.

[Kallogan]

Thanks for clearing this up. Thunderbolt is promising then. But either way, it's not for tomorrow. Not to mention that it will be far less underground than actual egpu solutions

[kizwan]

Hello!

Can i use eGPU and with what PCI-E Express speeds?

You can use eGPU but your notebook have 6970M. At the moment, eGPU can run at PCIe x1/x2/x4 link, depend on the PCIe ports arrangement.

Do you have some more information about these problems ? I was under the impression that some recent BIOS update (1.24 ?) had solved the TOLUD issue. I was just about to buy one, but now I'm not so sure (trouble-free egpu is a strong requirement for me).

You can go back several pages. You'll find one or two post regarding this.

I don't know about thunderbolt tech. I mean pci 1x 2.0 optimus pci compression gives near 4x performance without compression i guess.

And also, internal lcd gaming is only possible if optimus is engaged, right ? And Optimus only engages on 1x link if i understood right ? So no internal lcd gaming with thunderbolt ?

The issue regarding Optimus only engaged at x1 link is only true for eGPU. Native Optimus notebook work just fine at x16 link. mPCIe ports, including ExpressCard slot, are only x1 link. So, to get let say x2 link, we need to ganged together two PCIe ports to form one x2 port. It seems Optimus incompatible with this kind of configuration. With Thunderbolt, you don't have to worry since it's single connection. Optimus shouldn't have problem with it.

[kevmanw4301]

I do not know if it is soldered or not, but I won't be replacing the CPU. Maybe try searching or asking Dell. I'll probably try putting a quad in it eventually.