DIY eGPU experiences

[User Retired 2]

enclosure almost done. only few holes for air circulattion, EC, and PSU cable and it should work I will try PSU and GPU make more stable, by some cable/fire or so.

Nice one. Can I ask that you put a link to it in the post in your sig, or move that detail into it? Makes it easier to find that way.

Hi,

im getting a new HP EliteBook 8560w with NVIDIA Quadro 1000M graphics for work and im looking into building a eGPU for some gaming. Would this laptop support an eGPU even if it does not have Optimus support?

8560W=bad choice for an eGPU as it has no active iGPU. The better choice from the HP stables is an iGPU-only 8560P. Or else look at NVidia dGPU-equipped Lenovo T520/W520 or Dell E6520/M4600. All of those have a primary Intel HD3000 iGPU so when using a Fermi/Keplar eGPU, the NVidia driver will engage pci-e compression giving 20-333% better peformance. The iGPU-only versions with a slight edge on better eGPU integration as the dGPU needs to be disabled with only the T520/W520 having a bios option to do that. The Dells require Setup 1.x pre-boot software to disable the dGPU.

...but i think that this problem cannot be solved.
so in my mind the eGPU is nice for users with intel chip and without nvidia dGPU onboard

It could probably be solved. There is an experimental Video cards.Hybrid gfx->dGPU on-demoted item in Setup 1.x you could try. The idea there is to give the eGPU a higher bus priority then the dGPU in the hope that the NVidia driver will choose it over the dGPU for Optimus functionality.

Unfortunately I never had a iGPU+dGPU system I could attach a eGPU to test that or devise a neater solution. Best I managed was to boot Setup 1.x on a shop display notebook, disable the dGPU then chainload windows and confirm the dGPU wasn't showing in Device Manager.

[LoneNF]

enclosure almost done. only few holes for air circulattion, EC, and PSU cable and it should work I will try PSU and GPU make more stable, by some cable/fire or so.

I will also try fasten GPU to this alu to avoid undesirable movements.

Good idea! There are some smaller and thinner "poker set" suitcases, that would be good for the portable eGPU version with xbox PSU.

[can nabis]

would be a nice idea but it doesnt work

[nedro]

Hello everyone!

I have just ordered Lenovo T420s with proper configuration for 1.2Opt eGPU. Hell yeaaah!

Now I want to buy PE4L ver2.1b from Bplus (www.HWtools.net ??????????) but I just can't find 2.1b on their website. Newest revision I can find is 2.1a - which as far as I have read from previous posts needs soldering to work in PCIe 2.0 mode.
Where can I order 2.1b? Please help me. Also I have question about cable lenght - anyone having any issues with longer cable than the standard 60 cm? I plan to buy it with 100cm.
Thanks in advance for reply.

Cheers!
Nedro

[bjorm]

Good idea! There are some smaller and thinner "poker set" suitcases, that would be good for the portable eGPU version with xbox PSU.

i use case for CD's. small mod was made, to fit it togheter. now, it is almost perfect fit. maybe 2 or 3 cm less in lenght.

Nice one. Can I ask that you put a link to it in the post in your sig, or move that detail into it? Makes it easier to find that way.

will be done. another pics gonna be added when enclosure will be finished
making few, necessary holes gonna make this enclosure not so sweet as in pictures

Hello everyone!

I have just ordered Lenovo T420s with proper configuration for 1.2Opt eGPU. Hell yeaaah!

Now I want to buy PE4L ver2.1b from Bplus (www.HWtools.net ??????????)

order 2.1a. 2.1b is new sstock version where is no need to solder anything.
i use 60cm cable, it is not so convenient but i can live with that

[dr43]

8560W=bad choice for an eGPU as it has no active iGPU. The better choice from the HP stables is an iGPU-only 8560P. Or else look at NVidia dGPU-equipped Lenovo T520/W520 or Dell E6520/M4600. All of those have a primary Intel HD3000 iGPU so when using a Fermi/Keplar eGPU, the NVidia driver will engage pci-e compression giving 20-333% better peformance. The iGPU-only versions with a slight edge on better eGPU integration as the dGPU needs to be disabled with only the T520/W520 having a bios option to do that. The Dells require Setup 1.x pre-boot software to disable the dGPU.



It could probably be solved. There is an experimental Video cards.Hybrid gfx->dGPU on-demoted item in Setup 1.x you could try. The idea there is to give the eGPU a higher bus priority then the dGPU in the hope that the NVidia driver will choose it over the dGPU for Optimus functionality.

Unfortunately I never had a iGPU+dGPU system I could attach a eGPU to test that or devise a neater solution. Best I managed was to boot Setup 1.x on a shop display notebook, disable the dGPU then chainload windows and confirm the dGPU wasn't showing in Device Manager.

Thanks for your answer!

Unfortunatly i dont have any choice since its my work giving me this laptop. The idea is to use an eGPU at home and have the Quadro card for my work related 3d. Is it at all possible to get an eGPU with good gaming performance or should i just forget about it?

[User Retired 2]

Thanks for your answer!

Unfortunatly i dont have any choice since its my work giving me this laptop. The idea is to use an eGPU at home and have the Quadro card for my work related 3d. Is it at all possible to get an eGPU with good gaming performance or should i just forget about it?

A 8560W is not the best candidate for a DIY eGPU due to the aforementioned lack of iGPU. You'd get x1 2.0 link width (no compression) with a PE4L 2.1 and a AMD/NVidia card. It's gaming performance would depend on the bandwidth requirements of the game.

Is there no way your work can give you a cheaper iGPU-only 8560P if it's a HP house or swap with someone? There you could consider a GTX560Ti+PE4L 2.1b+xbox360PSU+small enclosure that could be used near a power socket to meet your 3D work requirements.

Prior to the Keplar release, the GTX560Ti had the most powerful CUDA after the high-end Quadro desktop cards. It's considerably more powerful than a 8560W's FX1000M. You'd save you work $$ by not ordering the undesirable (for eGPU purposes) FX1000M.

[UdoSiebert]

I cant get rid of that error 12.
I tried all of your suggestions like DSDT override, using the setup 1.x and so on. But the eGPU will only work with 2 GB RAM installed.
The fujitsu hangs after 5sec if i tried to use the PCI Compaction.

Can anyone help me?

[ujkman]

Hi Nando4,

As you suggested I have updated the latest AMD Radeon HD6450 driver, but still no luck. Please see the attached screen shot, where I can not see the 2nd monitor. It is only showing the laptop monitor. Please advice.

Thanks once again.

Replied by Kizwan:
You need to install the driver for dGPU. Even though the external monitor is connected to eGPU, windows will failed to pick it up if you do not install the driver for dGPU.

Hi Kizwan

Thanks for the quick response. My laptop’s dGPU only works with Window’s generic driver. If I install any (oldest or latest) nVidia driver for my dGPU, then I get startup error during the boot. So, I thought, I will use eGPU to extract the good quality video and game to an external monitor. But it seems that the eGPU won’t work if dGPU is broken or not have the latest driver for dGPU. I think it is a good lesson for non-technical person (like me) to know that eGPU only works with an active dGPU (please let me know if my assumption is worng).

Thanks for your input.

[Javier Gusfraba]

Damn ,now that i read all this im ready to get started on my diy egpu but i have 1 question ..
can i use the pe4l 2.1a with an expresscard 1.0 format? or do i need the pe4l 1.5? the reason i ask is on bplus the 1.5 is actually like a dollar more
specs are:
t7300
ich9m
4500 hd
3 gb ram
dell lat e5400

correct me if im wrong but it seems 1x opt is the connection of choice for my specs?