Hello everyone,
I'm new here and I didn't think that one day I will go for an eGPU (It was a fun project).
I upgraded the system prepping for the eGPU.
System specs
Previous Specs(original):
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo P7550 2.26 Ghz
RAM: 2x 2GB DDR3 PCS-8500S 1066 Mhz
GPU: ATI4650 DDR3 1GB dedicated (Soldered on the Motherboard, can’t be removed)
HDD: SSD kingston 120 GB
Current Specs:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9900 3.06 Ghz link
RAM: 2x Hynix 4GB DDR3 PCS-8500S 1066 Mhz, operating at 557Mhz link
GPU: ATI4650 DDR3 1GB dedicated (Soldered on the Motherboard, can’t be removed)
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease Paste link
eGPU hardware
EXP GDC eGPU 8.5 (not sure about at the sub model letter).
Expresscard cable.
Used a PNY GTX660 2GB GDDR5 performance edition.
EVGA - 600W ATX 12V/EPS 12V 80 Plus Power Supply - Black (I admit, it was an overkill)
Hardware pictures
I will be updating it later.
Installation steps
Note: i didn't experience Error 43 nor 12, or any other error codes that others have seen(lucky me i guess).
-I had my doubts that the DIY eGPU Setup 1.35 software will make the eGPU work.
-After i installed the eGPU and ran the following tests (On windows 10 64Bit):
Test A: (Failed)
1- connected the Expresscard to the laptop and to the HDMI port on the dock.
2- Booted up windows 10, nothing detected in device Manager.
Test B: (Failed)
1-Removed the expresscard from the laptop.
2-Booted windows.
3-Connected the expresscard, nothing detected in device Manager.
Test C: (Failed)
1- Removed the expresscard from the laptop.
2- Disabled ATI GPU in device manager.
3- Turned off laptop laptop.
4- Connected the expresscard.
5- Booted back windows back, nothing detected in device Manager.
Test D: (Failed)
1-Turned on the ATX switch
2-Booted up, nothing showed up.
3-Tried to hotplug the expresscard, it gives noise of detecting a new hardware but nothing shows up.
4-Tried to put it in sleep and hotplug the expresscard. only noise of detecting a new hardware, but nothing on device manager.
5-Disabled my ATI4650, hotplug the expresscard, shows noise but no new hardware.
6-Reboot with the ATI4650 disabled and hotplug it, now it shows the eGPU on the device manager as a “microsoft basic display adapter”.
7-Installed the driver for 2015 (not realizing that there is a dec 2019 driver) and rebooted.
8-Now it shows only blackscreen.
Test E: (Success)
1- Downloaded the software that Nando provided.
2- Installed “eGPU-Setup-mount” and “setup-disk-image”.
3- I disabled the ATI4650 from device manager
4- On the eGPU enclosure i enabled the PTD switch.
I tried both 7 and 10, this time no blackscreen at boot time. (Best option that later worked for me was 10 seconds) (sometimes, still happens, so i have to unplug the expresscard and replug it back in at bootmenu)
5- As a result of installing the software mentioned above now you get a second entry OS at boot time, which is going to be the DIY eGPU.
6- I Followed the steps from the video that Nando provided.
7- Final configuration file, on the bottom right (startup.dat) should look similar to that on the video.
8- I Rebooted to windows and the GPU is now fully detected.
9- Ran Passmark, but i got worse result from previous test with ATI4650 and the GTX660 (probably because of the 1x speed).
10- Previously, i was not able to run a game called “Livelock” on ATI4650, but now i am able to.
11- Installed the dec 2019 driver 441.87 (26.21.14.4187)
Test F: (Success)
-Because of the sudden stutters and freezes that I was experiencing in windows 10 in game, I decided to install back the 120GB SSD.
-Tried the same steps in Test E for the DIY eGPU Setup 1.35 software but that made both the internal an external monitor freeze when windows completes the boot up.
-Instead of "on-demoted" option, I used the off option.
-36Bit PCI compaction, I initialized the eGPU.
-Booted up in windows 7 and surprisingly im able to use Both GPUs (ATI4650 and GTX660).
Benchmarks
On Window 10 Passmark bench mark test was failing at DX9 (freezes with 9 FPS at some point) but works well with DX10,11 and 12.
Comments
Remaining issues(windows 7 & 10):
(windows 7 & 10) 1- On every reboot, i have to unplug quickly the expresscard until i get to the boot menu and plug it back. (if kept plugged-in it causes blackscreen hang).
(windows 10) 2- Since im not able to use the internal monitor of the laptop for the GTX660, im using the monitor i have which uses a resolution of 2560x1440 (Samsung). i get sudden stutters and slow downs on youtube if i watch anything on 720p. and if i want good performance i have to drop to 480p. (dropping down the resolution to 19xx X 1080 kinda fixes the issue.
(windows 7 & 10) 3-Sometimes, the game im playing i.e Livelock, R6V2 or even H.A.W.X will drop a blackscreen/freeze but i can hear the game in the background and any clicks from my mouse.
(windows 10) 4-Can't enable the ATI4650 at all and it has to remain disabled for this setup to work.
(windows 7 ) in the game "A hat in time" if i kept the FPS capped at 30 and played a bit with the graphics settings, i got good results.
An updates on pictures?
To do: Create my signature with system and expected eGPU configuration information to give context to my posts. I have no builds.
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