DIY eGPU experiences

[kizwan]

kizwan, my PSU is indeed the problem, as I tried it on a friends 750w PSU and it worked perfectly. I should have the 600w supply you reccomended by the end of the week.

In the meantime, my mPCIe adapter is finally in (since when was presidents day a big enough deal to close the post?!) so I'm going to start working on my x2 setup. My motherboard has an extra mPCIe slot, but it doesn't seem to be connected or powered. When I run the card 1x through the mPCIe where my wireless card is, it works fine.

I would really like to keep using my wireless card though, so if I can, I'd like to make that extra slot work.

Please let me know if there is a way. If not, will 2x simply take care of itself if I have my card plugged in through both express card and wifi slot?

x2 only possible with any of these combinations:-
PCIe port #1 & #2
or
PCIe port #3 & #4
or
PCIe port #5 & #6

Use AIDA64 to identify (Motherboard > Chipset > South Bridge):-
1. PCIe port number for the ExpressCard. When you connect eGPU to ExpressCard, it will show up in AIDA64. So, you'll know PCIe port number for ExpressCard.

2. PCIe port number for wireless card.

3. Moved wireless card to the empty mPCIe port. Then check in AIDA64, where the wireless card turned up now.

Ok so I plugged in the gtx 560 via sonnet adapter to my macbook pro. The card appears, but I have error 12 (even though my TOLUD is low enough -.-). Does anyone have the link for the necessary BIOS?

You need to do PCI compaction to fixed Error Code 12. To do this, you need eGPU Setup 1.x. Since you're using Vidock, you can either contact Villagetronic support to fixed this problem or buy eGPU Setup 1.x from HIT. Please go to first post & click Setup 1.x icon to know more information.

I checked it with Aida64, and I gues eventhough I forced G2 on port4, it is still x1 speed. What shall I do?

It will always running at x1. The difference is the bandwidth. You should use GPU-Z instead. If GPU-Z report "@ x1 2.0", your eGPU is running at PCIe x1 2.0 (or G2).

hey kizwan,

nvidia has just released a new driver r295, and I would like to have a modded one. Can you do it?

Sure, whenever I updated Verde driver on my notebook later.

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!

If you're using PE4H v2.4, eGPU is running at x1 1.0 (5Gb/s concurrent). Disabled iGPU will disabled Optimus too & performance will reduced because it's now running at raw PCIe x1 speed.

[Fardavid]

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.

I could update to 295.73 without any issue. I have the same card as you.

[Fardavid]

It will always running at x1. The difference is the bandwidth. You should use GPU-Z instead. If GPU-Z report "@ x1 2.0", your eGPU is running at PCIe x1 2.0 (or G2).
raw PCIe x1 speed.

Thanks, I'll try that when I'm at home again...

The thing is that I tried some test, and some of them were quite better than before (I'll post the results later), but some of them was the same. That is why I'm not sure if it really goes at x1.2...

[Fardavid]

By the way, when I make a screenshot by setup 1.x, where is it saved then? I don't find it...

[ajbutch123]

I hope you guys don't mind when I bring up stuff that CAN'T be done... but I'm just gonna keep shooting questions as they pop into my head till you tell me to knock it off...

Anyway my question right now is: I have been researching hybrid SLI and was wondering if there is a way to tie it in with an egpu? That might be the way to make the older machines use the internal display instead of having to use an external monitor.

yeah... I'm tired and that most likely won't work, so let me know what you think!

[kizwan]

Thanks, I'll try that when I'm at home again...

The thing is that I tried some test, and some of them were quite better than before (I'll post the results later), but some of them was the same. That is why I'm not sure if it really goes at x1.2...

FPS should almost double.

By the way, when I make a screenshot by setup 1.x, where is it saved then? I don't find it...

In V:\DIAG\ folder

[borealiss]

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

right click on "computer" in the start menu, go to properties, go to device manager, and you should see it there.

i've managed to get this working without the diy egpu setup. what i do is when the drivers are installed for my 560gtx, but with code 12, i disable the iGPU in device manager. your video should go to a lower resolution immediately. after this, i restart. once it's back up, i uninstall the 560gtx. after that, i unplug it from the sonnet adapter, rescan for new hardware changes, and you should see all the devices (audio included) associated with the nvidia card disappear from the device manager tree. plug it back in. rescan for new hardware changes. while your iGPU is disabled and not taking up any resources, you should see windows start to look for and eventually install the nvidia drivers. after it's done, reboot. after you're in windows again, device manager should still show the iGPU disabled, but the 560gtx is enabled. unfortunately, you cannot output video from the 560gtx while the iGPU is disabled, i don't know why. reenable the iGPU. it should tell you that you need to restart your machine. reboot back into windows. after that, you should have both the 560gtx and the iGPU enabled. if you have an external monitor hooked up to the egpu, i suggest you set that as the default output monitor and not output anything to the internal LCD.

now whenever you shutdown (standby is disabled by the sonnet adapter, which sucks) disable your iGPU. this should kick you back to a lower resolution. if you were outputting to an external monitor via egpu, it should kick you back into the internal LCD. then shutdown. whenever you want to start using your egpu, boot up. after the mac "chime" and the white screen goes black, plug in the egpu, and boot into windows. you should see a lower resolution from previously disabling the igpu. go into device manager and enable the igpu. you should also possibly see code 12 on your egpu. after enabling the igpu, you should require a restart. reboot, unplug, plug the egpu back in before windows comes up (before the splash screen), and when windows comes up, it should be outputting to an external monitor via your egpu.

i know this sounds super cumbersome, and this took me a looonnng time to figure out, but it works 100% of the time for me. after you get the initial drivers installed, disabling the igpu and reenabling only takes about a minute. since the mba is ssd, boot times are pretty fast.

ideally what this gives us is an MMIO resource map that we can use to create a pci.bat file for the diy egpu setup program. i have major stability issues that i'm trying to work out.

attached is the MMIO map from device manager of a working egpu+igpu config for the macbook air.

[brandonnn]

hello i am wondering if this would work on an dell insipiron 1545 with:
4gb of ram
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family
running windows vista home premium
Intel 2.1 ghz dual core processor

[kizwan]

Dell Inspiron 1545 eGPU implementations:-
DIY eGPU experiences
DIY eGPU experiences
DIY eGPU experiences

You will need to upgrade to Win 7 because if I'm not mistaken, Vista doesn't support two graphic cards from different vendor.

[Cabaal]

Hi Guys,

I just ordered a PE4H v2.1 in order to use it for my Lenovo X220.

Do you have any recommendation concerning a decent graphics card and power supply? It should have enough performance for playing BF3 at 1920 and for the future!

Thank you!