DIY eGPU experiences

[Kallogan]

It's funny cause in my case i get the error 12 if i plug the Gpu before i boot windows and don't get it if i plug it in sleep mode

[borealiss]

My TOLUD is fine, but I get code 12 error too unless I have the eGPU on when I boot windows. If I just plug in, I get code 12, but if I have in from boot time (and I mean before boot time, literally plug in and turn on eGPU, and then turn on laptop) then there is no code 12. If you aren't starting with it on from boot this is probably your problem. If you are then may god (or kizwan and nando) help you.

I had a different experience on my mba. If i powered on the system with the egpu plugged in, it wouldn't boot windows. i did have to have the sonnet adapter hooked up from boot. when windows came up, i plugged in the expresscard and the egpu powered on immediately. i went to "scan for hardware changes" in device manager and it found it right away.

if you are getting code 12, look at your MMIO allocation in device manager. i think you need at least 512MB free contiguous. i disabled my iGPU and the next few devices listed at consecutive memory locations, disabled then reenabled my 560 gtx, then rescanned for changes. windows detected it again and then started outputting to the secondary monitor via egpu. skyrim and everything else worked fine. problem is this is a very non-deterministic way of getting windows to remap MMIO resources for each device, and it can change. i think the diy egpu setup is the way to go and am working on that right now.

[EpicBlob]

I had a different experience on my mba. If i powered on the system with the egpu plugged in, it wouldn't boot windows. i did have to have the sonnet adapter hooked up from boot. when windows came up, i plugged in the expresscard and the egpu powered on immediately. i went to "scan for hardware changes" in device manager and it found it right away.

if you are getting code 12, look at your MMIO allocation in device manager. i think you need at least 512MB free contiguous. i disabled my iGPU and the next few devices listed at consecutive memory locations, disabled then reenabled my 560 gtx, then rescanned for changes. windows detected it again and then started outputting to the secondary monitor via egpu. skyrim and everything else worked fine. problem is this is a very non-deterministic way of getting windows to remap MMIO resources for each device, and it can change. i think the diy egpu setup is the way to go and am working on that right now.

Same issue with my macbook pro. Do you know were I can find the MMIO resources? And good to know that it's working. What settings are you able to play skyrim on? Even on 1.1 with a 560, should be able to get ultra

[carage]

It appears that nVidia may have changed something in the latest 295.73 WHQL drivers that is preventing me to update the drivers for my GTX 560 TI.
It was working perfectly via expresscard with my W520 before I attempted to update the drivers.

[borealiss]

It appears that nVidia may have changed something in the latest 295.73 WHQL drivers that is preventing me to update the drivers for my GTX 560 TI.
It was working perfectly via expresscard with my W520 before I attempted to update the drivers.

In device manager, you can view resources by type, i think. there should be 4 categories, one of them being memory range. expand that in the tree and it'll show you which devices map to which MMIO addresses. the iGPU takes up 256MB, so i figured if i disabled that and disabled a few to get to the next 512MB boundary, it would work, and it did. the problem is i didn't verify that it mapped into this space. i should've captured the MMIO mapping when it was running.

[borealiss]

also, this was at pure 1x speeds. over the sonnet connector, this is probably less than true 1x speeds because my envy 15 runs faster, probably 15% or so. that's hooked up to a 1x wifi expansion slot.

i want to try to get optimus enabled for this, but right now i'm having problems with just getting it to consistently work. one step at a time.

skyrim ran at high settings with AA and AF set to 4x, shadows at medium, 13xx by 7xx.

[carage]

I reverted back to 295.51 beta drivers now.

[primoxtian]

I'm at a bit of a loss trying to understand how to correctly use Setup 1.x. I'm not able to enable the eGPU after waking from sleep like those with the expresscard slots. With PM3N it stays at a black screen after the sequence. It's my understanding that Setup 1.x will remedy this somehow? I read the tutorial but I'm still a bit confused.

[primoxtian]

Great stuff. Can you please do a detailed writeup and add benchmarks in your above post so I can include you on the first post? See Pre-purchase FAQ's 5. (Performance) What affects the performance of a eGPU? for ideas on how to maximize performance. Best way would be to wait for pci-e 2.0 compliant PE4/PE4L-PM3N (mPCIe) scheduled for April release per the update.

Intel locked down the Series-6 chipset preventing multi-lane DIY eGPU implementations. Only Series-5 and older chipsets are x2/x4 capable with the right port layout.

I'll do a detailed write-up as soon as I work out the kinks! I'm surprised at how well it works at x1 speed. What about the USB port on the PE4H 2.4a? What is it's purpose if not to increase bandwidth, only for a keyboard/mouse? How can I tell if I'm using x1 1.0 or x1 2.0? Would you recommend leaving my current setup with Optimus or do you think I might gain some performance by disabling the iGPU?

Thank you kindly for your help!

[EpicBlob]

Where do you find the MMIO in device manager? Sorry, new to windows