DIY eGPU experiences

[llamas612]

Hey Essenar, you have a Lenovo E420 right?

I happen to have an E420 as well, and I was able to get my GTX 460 working without any issues. I saw apac's old post, and actually ended up pre-emptively purchasing the 1.x setup software thinking that I would need to do all of that compaction stuff. However, turns out, it worked fine without any of that hassle!

I just plugged in my eGPU and turned the computer on. Then it installed the standard VGA adapter. Then i restarted my computer and then installed the modded Verde drivers, and the card worked like a charm. I didn't have any serious issues and now it works pretty well.

I was a little disappointed to see very little performance gain from a the PCIe 1.0 to the 2.0 in Sandy Bridge, but from what I understand (and maybe someone can get more specific), I think the extra bandwidth helps a lot when using an eGPU on an internal screen, so that's definitely a plus.

[Snake105]

x1.Opt-internal LCD is faster than your 4500MHD iGPU in most cases but is going to be slower than running x1.Opt-external LCD since part of the precious x1 1.0 bandwidth is being used to carry the data to render on the internal LCD.

Only way you'll see faster performance using the internal LCD is by a system upgrade - either a Sandy Bridge x1.2Opt capable notebook (double the bandwidth) or a notebook with a faster dGPU (eg: Acer 3830TG with GT540M). Cheapest performance fix while retaining your X200 is to get an inexpensive s/h external LCD. I guess another solution would be to get a 2530P instead of the X200 and overclock the pci-e bus (up to 25%) shown in these details. Changeover costs would be pretty low. The same pci-e bus overclock is not possible on a X200 as it uses a SLG PLL that doesn't allow pci-e bus overclocking. Still it's only going to be a slight performance increase. A SB notebook would give noticably better frame rates using x1.2Opt internal mode.

OH.. and you'd need a PE4L 2.1b to get the faster x1.2Opt performance on a Sandy Bridge notebook.

Do you think if i upgraded to a GTX 460 or better would increase framerates dramitically?

[User Retired 2]

I was a little disappointed to see very little performance gain from a the PCIe 1.0 to the 2.0 in Sandy Bridge, but from what I understand (and maybe someone can get more specific), I think the extra bandwidth helps a lot when using an eGPU on an internal screen, so that's definitely a plus.

Not sure what makes you disappointed unless you as you're commenting on 3dmark6/vantage/11 results. Those are not bandwidth-centric.

pci-e 2.0 sees 20-45% improvement in real-gaming according to Khenglish here when using an external LCD. DMC4s4dx10 went from 149.8 to 217.33 (45.1%)!!

The internal LCD mode can see a up to a doubling of FPS as can be seen by my results.

So pci-e 2.0 is a significant performance improvement over pci-e 1.1. It makes no sense for someone with a SB notebook to skimp and choose a pci-e 1.1 compliant device (PE4L 1.5 or PE4H 2.4) over a pci-e 2.0 compliant device (PE4L 2.1 or PE4H 3.0) when for an extra $30 or less can see up to double the performance.

Do you think if i upgraded to a GTX 460 or better would increase framerates dramitically?

Your internal LCD results are being bandwidth constricted. A faster video card isn't going to help much.

[Essenar]

Hey Essenar, you have a Lenovo E420 right?

I happen to have an E420 as well, and I was able to get my GTX 460 working without any issues. I saw apac's old post, and actually ended up pre-emptively purchasing the 1.x setup software thinking that I would need to do all of that compaction stuff. However, turns out, it worked fine without any of that hassle!

I just plugged in my eGPU and turned the computer on. Then it installed the standard VGA adapter. Then i restarted my computer and then installed the modded Verde drivers, and the card worked like a charm. I didn't have any serious issues and now it works pretty well.

I was a little disappointed to see very little performance gain from a the PCIe 1.0 to the 2.0 in Sandy Bridge, but from what I understand (and maybe someone can get more specific), I think the extra bandwidth helps a lot when using an eGPU on an internal screen, so that's definitely a plus.

Wow! Can you PM me your exact steps? Did you get the 2.1b or the 1.5? I'm going to make a custom enclosure in class using a $100,000 Laser cutter and acrylic plastic. We're making a robot and I'm just going to buy some good acrylic and make my own enclosure. Maybe I'll make a few extra to give out for cost + shipping to anyone with a similar set up: (Corsair VX450W + PE4L + GTX 560)

[captainvera]

Two more days! And I suspect they wouldn't really release anything on a Friday...

*hyper with anticipation*

I think i was lied to ^^ i don't think it will be released this week... I asked them again today and they told me "for more info, please get in touch with our marketing team: Marketing Department: 1-626-913-0828 Press 2 usmarketing@msi.com" but i have already sent an email to that adress a three days ago and still have no answer...

[minnus]

I think i was lied to ^^ i don't think it will be released this week... I asked them again today and they told me "for more info, please get in touch with our marketing team: Marketing Department: 1-626-913-0828 Press 2 usmarketing@msi.com" but i have already sent an email to that adress a three days ago and still have no answer...

*depression*

Thanks for keeping at it though. I may be tempted to call that number...

[captainvera]

Thanks for keeping at it though. I may be tempted to call that number...

I thought about it, but unfortunately i don't live in the US...

But if you do call, let me/us at the forum know

[llamas612]

Not sure what makes you disappointed unless you as you're commenting on 3dmark6/vantage/11 results. Those are not bandwidth-centric.

pci-e 2.0 sees 20-45% improvement in real-gaming according to Khenglish here when using an external LCD. DMC4s4dx10 went from 149.8 to 217.33 (45.1%)!!

The internal LCD mode can see a up to a doubling of FPS as can be seen by my results.

So pci-e 2.0 is a significant performance improvement over pci-e 1.1. It makes no sense for someone with a SB notebook to skimp and choose a pci-e 1.1 compliant device (PE4L 1.5 or PE4H 2.4) over a pci-e 2.0 compliant device (PE4L 2.1 or PE4H 3.0) when for an extra $30 or less can see up to double the performance.

Yea you're right. Honestly, I think i'm giving way too much weight to benchmarks, and even then, its really impressive what i've been able to do with this eGPU. So far I havent had any real issues with games on their highest settings (although I've only tried a few). And I guess I should've made clear that the Internal LCD FPS increase is really important to me as I don't use an external LCD (except when i decide to hook my laptop to my TV).

Whats even crazier is looking at the price of high end gaming laptops and realizing that we're getting similar or better performance for a much more reasonable price. Even more than that, we dont need to deal with a bulky 12 lb, 17 inch laptop if we want to have a decent gaming experience.

Wow! Can you PM me your exact steps? Did you get the 2.1b or the 1.5? I'm going to make a custom enclosure in class using a $100,000 Laser cutter and acrylic plastic. We're making a robot and I'm just going to buy some good acrylic and make my own enclosure. Maybe I'll make a few extra to give out for cost + shipping to anyone with a similar set up: (Corsair VX450W + PE4L + GTX 560)

I have a PE4L 2.1a. It wasn't working at first, but as per the suggestions in this thread, I was able to get it to detect my card by shorting those wires. I also have a PE4L 2.1b that HWTools graciously sent to me, but I haven't tried that one yet.

Honestly, my steps were as straightforward as I mentioned. I was actually shocked at how easy it was. I really thought it was too easy to have worked that way but it did.

I just hooked put my PE4L as usual. Then I powered up the eGPU, and plugged it into my laptop (the laptop was off at that point). Then i turned my laptop on, and it detected the card. Windows installed the Standard VGA adapter. Then I shut off my computer. Then turned it back on. Then I installed the Verde Drivers which was modded with kizwan's nvam.inf. At that point, the whole eGPU worked. I was immediately able to play games and run benchmarks. I've even overclocked my eGPU with no issues.

Everytime I use my eGPU, I always start with my computer shut off, and the eGPU plugged in and powered on. It doesn't seem to work if I plug the eGPU in while Win7 is already running, and I haven't tried to see if putting Windows to sleep, then hooking up my eGPU and then waking my computer back up will work. For me, I set apart time to play games, so if i want to use my eGPU to play games, I don't mind wasting the minute or two it takes to restart my computer.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I purchased my E420 recently (Feb 2012 i think). The instructions that apac gave, were written in 2011. There is a possibility that I have an updated BIOS or something. I dont mind getting more information on my laptop if you need it.

Oh and good luck with your enclosure. It sounds like you'll be able to make a really good one. Be sure to post pictures. I wish I had a good enclosure.....

[ghopesc]

	

		

			

			
				
				
Hi.

i'am new to this forum and intend to buy a thinkpad L520. There aren't much experiences with this series and the egpu, so i want to ask you if there are any disadvantages to buy L-series? Does it have expresscard 2.0?

In the post above i can read that its working with an external display - thats great! But whats about the performance? Or is it usually about 80% from the desktop performace?

What are the differences between PE4L and PE4H? 
Are there performance-differences and which gpu ist most cost-efficient and can render bf3 in high details with 1680x1050?

I've already read the faq, but i'am not a native english speaker.. so i maybe missed some details ;)
			
		
	

Hi

it`s working with an external screen and 3 gb of ram. I didn`t get more to work nor did anyone I know (until now I know of 3 L520 users including me).
Same problem with internal screen, not working yet but I`m working on that.
If you choose a L520 with Sandry Bridge and a PE4L 2.1 than you will have expresscard 2.0.
I`m playing BF3 on high with 1680*1050 with a GTX 560 Ti. I have no Idea how much faster the gpu would be in a Desktop PC. In 3dmark06 I got a value around 16200 (don`t remember the exact value).
If you have more question just ask.

[bjorm]

little OC. first result, reference. two lasts, with mV moved from 1037 to 1075.

external: (900/2100 vs 950/2200 vs 1000/2300)

3dm11: 4194 vs 4395 vs 4604

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vantage doesn't "feel" OC, Heaven breaks down always on 23 benchmark part, beside what OC was used.