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)
HDD: SSD kingston 480 GB link
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.
Pending: Add my system information and expected eGPU configuration to my signature to give context to my posts