DIY eGPU experiences

[captainvera]

Yes. I have the Sonnet Echo adapter and Vidock 4plus working with my 2011 macbook pro 13inch under Windows 7. There is another person who has it working (but I forgot his username).

How is that working for you? what GPU do you have? i saw that you now have 14.6k 3dmark06 what did you have at the beggining, before the eGPU?

[Sensenmännchen]

I didn't found anyone running benchmarks with two identical GPU but different VRAM size to create a comparison report. Or someone did already running the benchmark but didn't share the result here. Anyway, I don't think higher size of VRAM can increased the performance of eGPU. I don't think it will eased the limited bandwidth. Unless, the software you're using really can use higher size of VRAM, e.g. 3ds Max Design which have requirement 256 MB or higher video card memory, 1 GB or higher recommended. With 3ds Max Design, you may see improvement when running with 2GB of VRAM than 1GB of VRAM.

I just read this in a test from Computerbase.de that says that "if" the VRAM is full the GPU needs to adress extra memory(RAM). In that (one single case) case the the perfomance of the GTX460 1GB dropped on 9% (of the x16 performance). If you'd increase the output-resolution (to >1920x1080) this enormous performance drops might happen more often.

I don't say that a bigger VRAM garantees always a higher performance but if you have 2GB VRAM you are "on the safe side".

[captainvera]

I looked around the thread and i came to a conclusion about a possible way to make a DIY thunderbolt EGPU:

Buy a PEH4 wich can provide a pcie 2.0 x2

and then a Express card thunderbolt adapter

(this as a high chance to be completely stupid, as it comes from someone with no experience)

You could then use a express card 54 and an express card 34 from the PEH4 to the thunderbolt adapter ( if they both fit).

(and then all the normal procedures, obviously)

would that work? if not, why?

[kevmanw4301]

I think that would work, but you could only plug in one thing, making it PCI-E x1. you could possible use a PE4L 2.1 and one of these to use an eGPU on a Mac, but other than that, it has no use yet.

Also, there's no price yet.

[EpicBlob]

I checked online and the 36dmark06 score is 2550, so a HUGE performance boost. I am using a gtx 560 1gb. I personally love it, was able to play most games great. On Battlefield 3 on high settings and 1440x900 rez and 48 person multiplayer server, I was able to get 57 kills in a match using a sniper (so I give it a green light). Because of the limit in bandwidth, there were some micro stutters, but waay better compared to my intel hd 3000.


Btw, the sonnet echo adapter caps the bandwidth at 1.0, so the highest you can achieve is a 1.1 pcie link.

[flekx]

Hey guys. I'm having some performance issues with my eGPU implementation. I've heard good things about it from other members but my own implementation has not been as successful.

My parts list:
EliteBook 8460p, iGPU (HD 3000)
i5-2410M (2.30 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
PE4L ( PCIe Adapter ver2.1a ) - Engineering Sample
560ti HAWK @ 1000/2200 w/ Verde 295.73
and a CX 430

My experience is exclusively with Battlefield 3, because it's the only thing I play. I run it at 1920x1080, with everything on low. When I first load up the game I have amazing performance. 50+ with it sometimes reaching up past 70 fps. However, once I start moving around, I start to experience micro-stutters and then the fps starts to spike around. Sometimes it's really smooth and then I turn a corner or I move my view around a little and I'm seeing it dip into the 30s, 20s and sometimes sub 10. I've tried messing around with the resolution but it doesn't seem to noticeably impact performance. I play bf3 competitively so severe micro-stutters is completely unacceptable.

Any thoughts on this issue?

[carage]

When is PE4H V3.0 coming out?
VillageTronic claims they plan to announce the ViDock G4 in the next couple weeks...

[Khenglish]

Hey guys. I'm having some performance issues with my eGPU implementation. I've heard good things about it from other members but my own implementation has not been as successful.

My parts list:
EliteBook 8460p, iGPU (HD 3000)
i5-2410M (2.30 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
PE4L ( PCIe Adapter ver2.1a ) - Engineering Sample
560ti HAWK @ 1000/2200 w/ Verde 295.73
and a CX 430

My experience is exclusively with Battlefield 3, because it's the only thing I play. I run it at 1920x1080, with everything on low. When I first load up the game I have amazing performance. 50+ with it sometimes reaching up past 70 fps. However, once I start moving around, I start to experience micro-stutters and then the fps starts to spike around. Sometimes it's really smooth and then I turn a corner or I move my view around a little and I'm seeing it dip into the 30s, 20s and sometimes sub 10. I've tried messing around with the resolution but it doesn't seem to noticeably impact performance. I play bf3 competitively so severe micro-stutters is completely unacceptable.

Any thoughts on this issue?

I assume it does this even without the overclock? Instability can cause bad performance.

[zamaro]

Hi all, am selling PE4H v2.4a + 60cm Flat mini-HDMI + EC2C +SPB087 ExpressCard to PCI-E Adapter on ebay at this link and in this auction link here

Condition is unboxed/new bought from HWTOOLS\Taiwan, reason for sale: I have a PE4L as well so PE4H is not needed , sold at free\international shipping.

[bjorm]

Hi Everyone,

Dell Vostro 3450, i3-2310, 4GB, 6630M + ViDock4+ + Gigabyte GTX460 OC + 295.73 (from NVidia homepage).

I was wondering if I'd be able to run it. I made it but don't know if effects are optimal.

1. Everything pluged in. Restart Win7. Device was found. Drivers (windows update) downloaded and installed. Driver 295.73 installed.
2. No option to run on external monitor (dell u2312hm).
3. Restart with Vidock unplugged. Standy. ViDock plugged in. Wake up and everything flow to the external monitor.
4. 3dM06 ~ 12,5k (SM3.0 <7k). (1280x1024 --> 1280x768 --> 0,2k points ... less! )

after that, i downloaded DIY eGPU experiences, put into proper folder, run setup. restart win7. restart ViDock4+, run 3dm06 and clone earlier result.

and now questions: is this result correct? how can i check if stuff is running with optimus? does anyone see any error in my algorythm of turning whole stuff on?

thanks in advance and greetings from Poland