DIY eGPU experiences

[bjorm]

Your original questions asked whether it is "pointless" or not. So, I answered the question.
...

thanks a lot for this answer

[Cabaal]

I, and a few others, have had this detection problem as well, and nando suspects it might be that the expresscard end of the cable unhinged itself. So far, all of us were running the eGPU perpendicular to the laptop, and in doing so twisting the cable and exerting a force at the expresscard end. Do you also have this same placement of eGPU resulting in twisting of cable? BPlus is working on reinforcing it atm

Hey Sivikchen,
yes I have the same placement over here. Do you have stuttering issues too? Is there a workaround or do we have to wait for nando?

Setting SW2 to 2.5, I've played with SW1 but got no real result.

[fujian]

It was my first diy build and was a full day to finish it. I wanted something portable and small which could work as a notebook stand to not further take space.
In the end I was to lazy to integrate my docking station to have important ports like usb and network...

[lazyboy]

Hi, I have the eGPU hardware from HIT and just recently reformatted my computer, losing the egpu setup software. Seeing that I have bought the hardware from HIT, do I still have to pay to obtain the software again?

After doing two eGPU configurations, I'm in the same boat as you.
Can you give us an update?


+

I've decided to upgrade my setup. The new card and PSU will be transferred into a desktop which I'll build when Ivy Bridge CPU's will comes out.

I'm looking at these two cards:
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
OR
Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Is the 2GB version worth the extra cost? I'm playing @ 1920x1200.

Additionally, I'd appreciate your help in finding a suitable PSU.
As I mentioned, the PSU will power a desktop in a few months so I need something that will be able to handle that load.
Having the option to SLI in the future is nice, but not a must.

Thanks!

[Kallogan]

It was my first diy build and was a full day to finish it. I wanted something portable and small which could work as a notebook stand to not further take space.
In the end I was to lazy to integrate my docking station to have important ports like usb and network...

Very nice enclosure.
What is the gpu inside ? How about the psu ? i'm curious cause it's damn small.

[User Retired 2]

It was my first diy build and was a full day to finish it. I wanted something portable and small which could work as a notebook stand to not further take space.
In the end I was to lazy to integrate my docking station to have important ports like usb and network...

REALLY like this idea of having a DIY eGPU enclosure that doubles up as a notebook stand. Can you elaborate in your post how you did this? Eg: started off with some stand, cut fan + mount holes, added the PE4L, etc.

After doing two eGPU configurations, I'm in the same boat as you.
Can you give us an update?

If you bought your gear from HIT on or after November 1st 2011, then it gives you entitlement to the software for freely as part of your purchase of the hardware. Please contact HIT to organize if you satisfy that criteria.

If not, then please donate to acquire Setup 1.1x.

Given how easy is is to make a DIY-expresscard-to-pci-e adapter, you can appreciate the software side has been more complex and time consuming to sort out. The resultant Setup 1.0x software was provided freely until the honor system to recoup costs became unworkable (piracy-by-user-as-proxy by commercial vendors + cost blowout). Consider that Villagetronic had far more $$resources to play with yet had not resolved the error 12 issue until they perused our solution and plundered the first bootdisk implementation of it (and/or referred their customers to Setup 1.0x).

Setup 1.x has now had over 2 years now of fixes and development gone into it, with many refinements to bring it up to near commercial grade in quality. Donations means more development can happen and costs recouped. It's still in negative cost territory. Please donate if you have the means to do so to support the effort. It's a reasonable $15 donation (with coupon) for NBR users.

[lazyboy]

nando4 your hard work is very much appreciated.
I had no idea that "in the old days" there was an honor system where users where asked to donate for the use of the software.

[sivikchen]

Hey Sivikchen,
yes I have the same placement over here. Do you have stuttering issues too? Is there a workaround or do we have to wait for nando?

Setting SW2 to 2.5, I've played with SW1 but got no real result.

I have no stuttering issues to speak of with the PE4L plugged in, but I haven't had it plugged in very long (the fan on the 9800gt is blowing at max speed). Bplus has informed me that they may have a solution this week or the next. They're currently looking at using a gigabit expresscard enclosure to prevent the twisting force directly on the cable-EC2C connection.

[kizwan]

I'm looking at these two cards:
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
OR
Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Is the 2GB version worth the extra cost? I'm playing @ 1920x1200.

If you look closely, the 2GB card have reference (standard) clocks, while the 1GB card is OC-ed. So, better get the 1GB card. Unless you're running software like 3ds Max Design, most likely you will not needed the 2GB of VRAM. 1GB is more than enough. There is no significant performance increase with higher VRAM.

[User Retired 2]

nando4 your hard work is very much appreciated.
I had no idea that "in the old days" there was an honor system where users where asked to donate for the use of the software.

Setup 1.10b4 released

Speaking of which, I've just pushed out Setup 1.10b4 to HIT and the HTML online help to Palda.

HIT maintain an update list so 'donated' users will get this as a free upgrade. HIGHLY recommend doing so as compact has a critical bug fixed. Previous versions resulting in failed wifi/sata and perhaps chainload too.

The htmlhelp has been extended and will encompass a lot of the FAQ/Troubleshooting text currently on the Setup 1.x page now being merged. Means the online help and Setup 1.x help are all synced and viewable with either browser into the single location. Yay!

See the history.txt on the Setup 1.x page for fixes and new feature details.