DIY eGPU experiences

[kizwan]

Interesting stuff.

Does anyone knows if this is possible on a Sony VGN-SR25G ?
The current LCD is spoilt and im currently using it on an external lcd monitor (15") instead.

It does have a ExpressCard™/34 x 1.

Sony VGN-SR25G
(((http://www.sony-asia.com/product/vgn-sr25g)))

Is this sufficient for the setup?
1) PE4L v 1.5 + EC2C +Swex or PE4L v2.1a ??
2) 500w PSU ?
3) HD 5770 from desktop

Current Specs: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8400
Ram: 4GB
OS: MS Vista 32 Bit

Appreciate if anyone can advise.
Thank You

Please refer to Pre-Purchase FAQ >> "2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU?". If you don't understand, please point which part you don't understand. I will try to explain it to you.

I see you have Windows Vista. You will need to upgrade to Windows 7. Vista doesn't support two graphic cards with different vendor at a time. Base on the information I found, ATiAMD & Nvidia have included in their driver switchable graphics support for Vista but they only work with Intel GMA graphic card (iGPU). If your notebook have discrete GPU (dGPU) instead (ATiAMD/Nvidia), you will need to upgrade the OS to Windows 7.

I checked your notebook specification, I found it have Intel GMA 4500MHD iGPU, right? You will be able to do x1.Opt setup with Nvidia Fermi desktop graphic card. Opt=Optimus provide PCIe data compression which boost performance over PCIe x1 link. For Optimus to work, you need to upgrade the OS to Windows 7. The kit you need is either PE4H v2.4 + EC2C or PE4L v1.5 + EC2C package. Don't buy the latest PE4L because your notebook can't utilized it anyway.

You can use external monitor. In fact you will get better performance on external monitor.

[kizwan]

Hello, i have a SF311 Samsung Laptop With these specs.

i3 2310m
4 Gigs Ram DDR 1330
Windows 7 64 bits
Intel HD

My Problem is that I dont know if my laptop is Compatible with the DIY vidock, Or in other words, do i have an Expresscard Slot?.

This are the types of Cards my laptop Can Read
Secure Digital (SD) / Multimedia (MMC) / Secure Digital (SDHC)

total noob Here Please help me.

First of all, it is DIY eGPU. ViDock has no relation to this project.

[kizwan]

Hello, i have a SF311 Samsung Laptop With these specs.

i3 2310m
4 Gigs Ram DDR 1330
Windows 7 64 bits
Intel HD

My Problem is that I dont know if my laptop is Compatible with the DIY vidock, Or in other words, do i have an Expresscard Slot?.

This are the types of Cards my laptop Can Read
Secure Digital (SD) / Multimedia (MMC) / Secure Digital (SDHC)

total noob Here Please help me.

First of all, it is DIY eGPU. ViDock has no relation to this project.

You should know whether your notebook have ExpressCard or not. Is this you notebook? If yes, it doesn't have ExpressCard slot. Please read Pre-Purchase FAQ >> (read these)
1. "1. How does a DIY eGPU differ from a Villagetronic ViDock3/4?"
2. "2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU?"
3. "3. I don't have an ExpressCard slot. Can I still do use a eGPU?"

If you're noob, it is time to learn. Point which part you don't understand & I'll try to explain it to you.

[Brownie-uk7]

Thanks for the replies to far.

I installed Everest to check my setup and it seems that on my HP DV6 I have an mini PCIe which the WiFi is using. But from what I see then the Bus Type for this connections is PCI Express 1.0 x1. From what I understnad then this is the slower one.

Can someone tell me what kind of performance loss I would see from a top graphics card using the Bus Type? I think I read this somewhere in the thread already but can't seem to find it again.

My laptop is pretty new and the 6770m card does a pretty good job anyway so if the performance leap is not so great then I would look at building a PC.

Thanks for any info here and keep up the thread. V cool ideas here

[suo]

I posted a while back, and it's taken me a while, but here are my final results with eGPU (at least with this current setup).

Specs:
14" Lenovo T400
Intel T9400 (ICH9M) w/ Switchable Graphics: Intel 4500MHD & ATI HD3470
NVIDIA GTX 460 768 MB (Zotac Synergy Edition)
Windows 7 / 64 Bit
8 GB DDR3 10600 RAM
80 GB SSD

eGPU setup:
PE4H
Generic ancient 250W power supply
Thinkpad Dock
2x 1920x1080 LED Monitors connection from the 460

3dMark06 Scores:


Installation steps:
1. Disabled the switchable graphics in the bios. Make the computer boot Integrated and turn detection for switchable graphics OFF. Otherwise even the correct Optimus driver fails to recognize the correct 4500M.
2. Installed Verde 275.33 + nando's nvam.inf (64-bit) driver (see Optimus guide here). At first, the installer would throw the error: "The graphics driver could not find compatible hardware." Updating the existing integrated display driver with the device manager did not work. The fix was to install the GM45 specific driver for Win7/64 bit. I uninstalled the existing ATI driver and manually navigated to the unzipped directory to install the new driver. The pure Intel driver was then recognized by the installer.
3. Upon restart, disabled all the NVIDIA sound drivers for maximum bandwidth.

No issues reported with hibernation, sleeping, or pci-compaction with the 275+ Verde driver. No Error 12 or Error 43 either. It works perfectly in the past week or so since I've completed the setup. SC2 and Dota 2 both run on ultra with no noticeable lag.

FYI, my computer is very similar to another member's. See his post here.

Please add this data to the reference table. I also hope this post will be informative for anyone dealing with the tricky switchable graphics issue with this generation of Thinkpads. Special thanks to nauto et all for the excellent guides and continued support in this thread.

[blizzard2012]

Please refer to Pre-Purchase FAQ >> "2. How can I check if my notebook is compatible with an eGPU?". If you don't understand, please point which part you don't understand. I will try to explain it to you.

I see you have Windows Vista. You will need to upgrade to Windows 7. Vista doesn't support two graphic cards with different vendor at a time. Base on the information I found, ATiAMD & Nvidia have included in their driver switchable graphics support for Vista but they only work with Intel GMA graphic card (iGPU). If your notebook have discrete GPU (dGPU) instead (ATiAMD/Nvidia), you will need to upgrade the OS to Windows 7.

I checked your notebook specification, I found it have Intel GMA 4500MHD iGPU, right? You will be able to do x1.Opt setup with Nvidia Fermi desktop graphic card. Opt=Optimus provide PCIe data compression which boost performance over PCIe x1 link. For Optimus to work, you need to upgrade the OS to Windows 7. The kit you need is either PE4H v2.4 + EC2C or PE4L v1.5 + EC2C package. Don't buy the latest PE4L because your notebook can't utilized it anyway.

You can use external monitor. In fact you will get better performance on external monitor.

Hi Kizwan,

Thanks alot for your reply.

Upgrading it to windows 7 would be challenging though as the Sony website
does not say its windows 7 compatible but im going to give it a try anyway.
(((http://www.sony-asia.com/support/faq/446617)))

It says on Device manager that it is a Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family . You could be right though.

Can you explain what does the x1. and x2. setup means?
So in other it would more advisable to use a gfx with Opt technology than my current HD5770, correct ?

What are the difference between both kit besides bandwidth?
(PE4H v2.4 + EC2C or PE4L v1.5 + EC2C package)
Will both work on my setup ?

Thanks Again

[kizwan]

PCIe port on notebook is called mini-PCIe port (mPCIe). ExpressCard also connected to PCIe lane. A mPCIe/ExpressCard port only support PCIe x1 link. So, x2 setup means to ganged up two mPCIe ports or mPCIe+ExpressCard to form PCIe x2 link. This means there will be two physical connections to eGPU. This where PE4H come to play.

Yes, x1.Opt setup is advisable than x1 link setup with HD5770. The Optimus performance is equivalent to the x2 performance. In some games it even better. You'll also get acceleration on internal LCD but since yours faulty, you can use external monitor. The performance on external monitor is better than internal LCD.

PE4H have four PCIe x1 ports while PE4L have only one PCIe x1 port. Optimus only need one PCIe x1 port. So, you can use PE4L. PE4H can support x1/x2/x4 setup. PE4L is cheaper than PE4H. PE4L is smaller than PE4H. Either PE4H or PE4L, they should work on your notebook.


TOLUD is 0xC0000000 (3GB). This means you can use 4GB or more RAM with eGPU. Only if TOLUD is more than 3.25GB, you will not be able to use 4GB or more RAM & eGPU at the same time because of insufficient PCIe space to accommodate eGPU.

[behappy111]

Hi,

I have an Acer Aspire 4937G with Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 4GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce G105M. It has an expresscard slot.

I took the attached screenshot in device manager with Vista loaded.

Qn1. Am I right to say that my TOLUD is 3GB (C0000000)? The first entry with PCI bus is 000A0000 but there isn't anything with an "A" on the pre-purchace FAQ.

I'm using Vista at the moment but my dad has a netbook with Windows 7 whose hdd I plan to borrow whenever I game i.e. when I'm using the eGPU. Otherwise I plan to use the hdd with Vista and the G105M gpu.

Qn2. Will this work and does the TOLUD change with the change in OS?

I'm planning on getting the PE4H-EC2C ver2.4 Package Contents, a 600W PSU (ENP600AWT) and Sapphire HD6850 1GB DDR5.

Qn3. After assembly, do I just need to switch on the laptop and let windows update to download the drivers i.e. does it work automatically or do I have to do something else?

Qn4. What is error 12 in simpler terms and will I run into it?

Thanks!

[bjorm]

hi, I decided to resell ViDock4+ because of his disadvantages. I've already got GTX560Ti DirectCut TOP from Asus, power supply Tagan TG380 (+12V * 22V = 264W - I'm aware it can be a too little in stress and I'm searchong for something stronger). I have to make a choice between PE4H and PE4L and despite I know that PE4L should work properly with E6320 (through ECPC) I can't imagine how to install a GPU on this panel??? on photos it looks like a lot smaller than socket in PE4H. could anyone explain me what is wrong in my deduction?

[thaatz]

Hi,
so i just recently purchased a PE4H from harmonic inversion technology and I have chosen USPS shipping. There is no estimate for the shipping time, and I dont have a tracking number. I have sent a few emails to HIT (admin@harmonicinversion.com) but have never received any response. Has anyone who purchased from HIT used USPS shipping? If so, about how long did it take? Contacting HIT is incredibly difficult. I have tried using the "contact us" link on their website, and I have also tried emailing them at admin@harmonicinversion.com and support@harmonicinversion.com multiple times, never once receiving a response. I have not yet called them however. Should I just call?

Also, since setup 1.x is supposed to come with my purchase, where would I get the download? Do I contact nando every time or is it on the HIT website when I log in?

Thanks