• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

External GPU for Laptop (eGPU)

Would be quite expensive to do at present. You'd need a thunderbolt 2 enabled laptop and external GPU + PSU to plug in. Not really worthwhile.

I upgraded my alienware M17x R3 myself from a GTX560M to a GTX780M (CPU i7 2960XM) and to be honest it absolutely chews any game at 1080p. Don't currently see the need for an external GPU on laptops unless you are driving an obscenely high res, which I wouldn't expect.
 
ViDock's have been around for ages, give it a google. Allows you to connect and power a high(ish) end GPU in an external dock, and connect via expresscard. It works quite well I think, but obviously it has its flaws.

One of the major manufacturers was prototyping something like this too, can't remember who but there were GPU docks on display at one of the conventions.
 
Basically, intel won't approve anyone to use thunderbolt for anything unless they make it work for Apple as well. Apple then require hefty validation etc and a premium on the product so no-one bothers or you get products like the sonnet thunderbolt bridge card which retail at £600.

Asus/Silverstone are trying to get one sorted at the moment (google Asus SG station 2) but, again, Intel won't validate it and it seems to relate to a lack of Apple support. It's ******* stupid tbh. They'd actually have a decent use for thunderbolt if they'd pay Apple off and let folks develop cheaper solutions for PC. Not rabidly anti-Apple but it seems in this case their association has basically killed the standard/made it stupidly expensive like Apple stuff in general.

Nvidia cards on an optimus enabled laptop with an expresscard 2 slot (_fairly_ common) can run the cards at close to full speeds. Optimus compresses the PCIe stream, the card can decompress. It's a slight overhead but we're talking like 80% of desktop performance via a plug in laptop card... it's not to be sniffed at.

There's massive threads on notebookcheck about eGPU (just google eGPU and it will be one of the first that pops up).

Alternatively: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-[version-2-0].html is, I think, the live thread for it.

In fact, here's a full forum dedicated to it: http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/
 
Last edited:
So has anyone here attempted this?

I'm tempted to take a punt on the ExpressCard root.

I have a Dell Precision M6500 which is my day to day workstation (work jobbie). I don't have a specific gaming rig as I don't have that much time to justify one, so when I do play stuff, it is on that which is starting to show its age a bit now with stuff coming out. The GPU in it can be upgraded, but its too much of a cost to get a 5000M, and there is a chance that it wouldn't work.

So I would need to get a PE4H-EC2C ver2.4, which is about £50~£60, and then a GPU, maybe a 660 GTX at about £100 max, plus a PSU with a 12v rail for this to work. The added bonus of this is that if work decide to upgrade the laptop, i get to keep the eGPU and possibly use it on the new laptop.
 
Update time... I decided to give this a punt. I have ordered a PE4L 2.1b card, which should hopefully turn up in a week (coming all the way from Taiwan). A chap at work has a 670GTX that he said I can borrow for testing, plus I have managed to source an old PSU out of a disused PC at work.

My M6500 has 8GB of RAM, so in preparation I have performed a DSDT override to hopefully remove any potential Error 12 messages from the Device Manager once I plug it all in.

I shall update once all the kit arrives. So far I have spent about £50 on the PE4L.

Whats the best app to benchmark my system given that I only have a DX10.1 compatible GFX card at the moment? 3D Mark vantage?
 
I built an eGPU for my MacBook a little while ago. Whilst it did work, it was quite a pain in the arse to run (manually space consuming and having to power it off when I needed to reboot).
I had the same PE4L card and a express card to thunderbolt connector.
Nvidia Experience picked up my 770 GTX nicely in boot camp and Battlefield 4 run pretty smooth at Ultra settings (this was on a late 2013 15'' Retina MBP w/gt 750m). I didn't have to do anything to get it working, literally plugged it in, powered it up and booted into Boot Camp.

As I still had my gaming PC, I ended up sticking my 770 back in and using Steam Streaming from my mac.
 
Ok, an update. The PE4L turned up today, and I hooked it all up, installed the drivers and let the machine do the rest. After a couple of reboots, the card was showing up and appears to be working.

I need to have a play now to see what sort of improvement I have got.
 
Update...
http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/7563-17-dell-precision-m6500-evga-670-gtx.html

After getting a PSU that could power the GPU properly, I have been able to run 3d mark successfully against the setup now.

Running the Cloud Gate test...

Without eGPU:
Graphics Score 9833
Physics Score 2441

With eGPU
Graphics Score 33221
Physics Score 2365

I would say that is a marked increase. Assetto Corsa now runs like a dream :D

I now just need to figure out why PhysX isn't working properly.
 
Last edited:
What's the internal GPU in your laptop? If it's an AMD one then PhysX will stay disabled.

How's it working for you so far? Is latency fine?

I wish this was more popular, it's so expensive to do at the moment :(.
 
I will do once I get my own PSU. Had to beg for one off of one of my colleagues just so I could prove the tech as I didnt want to have to buy one if it wasn't going to work.

My actual GPU in the laptop is a built in ATI one, so I guess that is now technically an AMD card.

I quickly played Assetto, and it was fine. There didnt seem to be any latency, but then I am only a casual gamer... and when I say casual, I mean I only play 2 times a month maybe.

Edit:

Its not that expensive... I have only spent £58 on the PE4L. This card uses the existing Express Card port on my run Dell M6500. I havent had to buy a special laptop, its just my normal work lappie. The GPU and PSU I borrowed, however if I buy the GPU, that will be about £100, and a PSU and case to put it all in is probably another £60~£80 (as I dont have any laying around), so thats £230 all in for an eGPU that works on my work laptop. I don't own a gaming rig, and don't game enough to warrant building/buying one.
 
Last edited:
shankly1985 said:
Looks very good idea haaa Can you run heaven bench? post scores here?
Click to expand...

Here you go...

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS:
16.9
Score:
425
Min FPS:
6.7
Max FPS:
60.4
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU M 620 @ 2.67GHz (2660MHz) x2
GPU model:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 9.18.13.4052/ATI FirePro M7740 8.911.3.4000 (2048MB) x1
Settings

Render:
Direct3D9
Mode:
1280x720 2xAA windowed
Preset
Basic
Click to expand...

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS:
25.3
Score:
637
Min FPS:
3.2
Max FPS:
71.2
System

Platform:
Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit
CPU model:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU M 620 @ 2.67GHz (2660MHz) x2
GPU model:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 9.18.13.4052/ATI FirePro M7740 8.911.3.4000 (2048MB) x1
Settings

Render:
Direct3D11
Mode:
1600x900 8xAA windowed
Preset
Extreme
Click to expand...

Not sure what this means as I haven't run that benchmark program before.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom