Hello everyone.
Thank you for those whom created this Forum and each member, is has been really pleasant to hear and know the possibilities we have in upgrading our laptops with a highend GPU.
I have learned a lot, so let me share my experience with an Asus G73sw bought it in 2011 and until today running great.
I have changed some parts of my laptop like:
CPU: i7 2630QM (2.0 to 2.5Ghz)——>i72860QM(2.5Ghz to 3.6ghz)
Memory ram: 16GB ——-> 24GB (can go up to 32GB thanks to the new CPU)
Dedicated GPU: Same GTX 460m
HDD: 2 Unit
a- (replacement) SeaGate ST750 7.200rpm (Hybrid) - 750GB.
b- (original) Seagate ST9500 7.200rpm - 500GB.
eGPU: PCE164P-N03 v.006 - Asus Strix Rog GTX1080ti oc
PSU: CoolerMAster RS-500-asaa
OS: Windows 10
Partition: GPT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps
1- I modded my Bios Chip for PCiE to be hotplug capable, this laptop has UEFI boot mode but no UEFI Firmware, it was confusing what Bios editor to use.
(I thought using the nvidia-error43-fixer, but I felt it was tedious to unplug and plug the eGPU to the Laptop after Bios had boot up to recognize the GPU.)
I used AMIBCP version 4.53, since my Bios is from America Megatrend Inc. lower than v.4.55 works for Legacy Bios, higher versions are for UEFI.
I made a dump of my Bios but it wasn’t necessary, the Asus support site has the bios update, that Bios File Update can be used. I used the lasted version 205. The AMIBCP 4.53 opened the file instantly and you could edit anything at will except bringing the menu CHIPSET to the Bios Menu, somehow it doesn't comeback even if use alter the Acess/use from Default to “USER” doesn’t appear after flashing, but you can enable or disable any feature easily.
I enabled HotPlug “PCIE PORT #2” for mini-PCIE port and saved the file, then flashed with Easy Flash that is in the Bios Menu.
2- Removed the Wifi-Card and replaced it with the eGPU mini Adapter that has the mini usb 3.0 entrance.
3- Hooked the GPU to the eGPU Board (PCE164P-N03 v.006), connecting all the cables to the PSU COOLERMASTER RS-500-ASAA,
a- 6 pins cable that comes with the PCE164P-N03 v.006, I plugged this one one of the SATA Power Cable to the eGPU adapter itself.
b- I bought 2 cables adapters for 6 pin to 8 pin convertor PCiE and plugged it to the PSU from the 2 6pins - PCiE Power source.
This 2 PCie 8 pins connectors will go directly to the GPU.
c- Bridged the P1 (Motherboard) Connector / 20+4 Pin, to stay on permanently. pin #16 (in my case) - Green Cable to any Black Ground cable.
4- I left only one end of the USB 3.0 cable without connecting.
(Is not necessary to plug it later if you have Hot Plug enabled on Mini-PCiE Port, I did learnt my mistake, keep it plugged all before powering up the PSU)
5- Now time to fire up all,
a- I turned on first the PSU.
b- 2ndly Turned on my Laptop, when the Bios post ended I plugged the USB Cable 3.0 to the Board.
c- Windows boot up without problem and could check my "Device Manager" and found an unknown Display.
d- Trying to install the Drivers, Successfully It did install the drivers but I forgot to disable windows automatic Driver Update and went from Nvidia
Driver 391.35 (my internal GPU works with this one and I wanted to keep it enable.) to Nvidia Driver 456.71.
e- The Device Manager asked me to reboot. I did so and my Laptop got some kind of hiccup, then the laptop screen splashed with random colors blocks, I switched off
and turned it on again, and it did boot up, sadly I got error 43. I didn't know why and how. I try all fixes and solutions you could imagine for a couple of hours, nothing
solved the issue with the nvidia-error43-fixer for windows register, I thought buying Nando`s eGPU Setup 1.35 but it wasn't for my case.
f- Verifying the cables, I swapped almost all the power cables to another entrance, specially the 6 pins PCIE, I felt they weren't reliable, by LUCK my 6pin to 8pin cable adaptor
had the SATA male Power cable, so then swapped then and I did power again, 1st the PSU, 2nd my Laptop, after windows boot up the 2nd Benq screen go on, I checked
Device Manager and found GTX 1080ti installed with no errors and GTX460m disable. Since windows installed 456.71 Driver 460m wasn't supported and was disable (the internal LCD works normal).
After all the trouble I manage to turn it on, now next is to disable windows Automatic update and try again the Nvidia Driver 391.35 to see if my Dedicated GPU can be enable (no so necessary though).
I Did some test with some games, "WarZone" COD, was playable. Very fast and clear, before I couldn't even open the game, the GTX460m didn't meet the minimum requirements.
So far no noise interference, Boot ups fine anytime, Put it to sleep and wakes up fine. Nothing to complain so far.
----------------------------------------Down Below you can see other details.--------------------------------------------------
CUDA-Z Report
Version: 0.10.251 64 bit http://cuda-z.sf.net/
OS Version: Windows x86 6.2.9200
Driver Version: 456.71
Driver Dll Version: 11.10 (27.21.14.5671)
Runtime Dll Version: 6.50
Core Information
| Name | GeForce GTX 1080 Ti |
|---|---|
| Compute Capability | 6.1 |
| Clock Rate | 1683 MHz |
| PCI Location | 0:3:0 |
| Multiprocessors | 28 |
| Threads Per Multiproc. | 2048 |
| Warp Size | 32 |
| Regs Per Block | 65536 |
| Threads Per Block | 1024 |
| Threads Dimensions | 1024 x 1024 x 64 |
| Grid Dimensions | 2147483647 x 65535 x 65535 |
| Watchdog Enabled | Yes |
| Integrated GPU | No |
| Concurrent Kernels | Yes |
| Compute Mode | Default |
| Stream Priorities | Yes |
Memory Information
| Total Global | 11 GiB |
|---|---|
| Bus Width | 352 bits |
| Clock Rate | 5505 MHz |
| Error Correction | No |
| L2 Cache Size | 48 KiB |
| Shared Per Block | 48 KiB |
| Pitch | 2048 MiB |
| Total Constant | 64 KiB |
| Texture Alignment | 512 B |
| Texture 1D Size | 131072 |
| Texture 2D Size | 131072 x 65536 |
| Texture 3D Size | 16384 x 16384 x 16384 |
| GPU Overlap | Yes |
| Map Host Memory | Yes |
| Unified Addressing | Yes |
| Async Engine | Yes, Bidirectional |
Performance Information
| Memory Copy | |
|---|---|
| Host Pinned to Device | 251.482 MiB/s |
| Host Pageable to Device | 343.034 MiB/s |
| Device to Host Pinned | 393.709 MiB/s |
| Device to Host Pageable | 379.831 MiB/s |
| Device to Device | 152.397 GiB/s |
| GPU Core Performance | |
| Single-precision Float | 13.6495 Tflop/s |
| Double-precision Float | 447.529 Gflop/s |
| 64-bit Integer | 999.902 Giop/s |
| 32-bit Integer | 4628.74 Giop/s |
| 24-bit Integer | 3482.81 Giop/s |
Generated: Sat Jan 30 23:56:09 2021
I had made some changes and improvements, not drastic performance but more stability.
- Removed old memory 1333Mhz --->> Left the 1600 Mhz memories Games seems to load a bit faster.
- Bought a New PSU - Old PSU 550W ----->> New PSU Corsair 850Mhz Result no more crash on games and benchmarks.
- Changed 1 HDD ---->> to SDD Samsung Evo 870 Games plays smoother when loading.
Some Benchmarks
- High Quality *(Running with an compatible driver Nvidia 391.35 for both Dedicated GPU and Egpu seems to score better on High quality bech).
Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
| FPS: |
154.8
|
| Score: |
3900
|
| Min FPS: |
25.7
|
| Max FPS: |
302.4
|
System
| Platform: |
Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64bit
|
| CPU model: |
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz (2494MHz) x4
|
| GPU model: |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M 23.21.13.9135/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 27.21.14.5671 (4095MB) x1
|
Settings
| Render: |
Direct3D11
|
| Mode: |
1920x1080 fullscreen
|
| Preset |
Custom
|
| Quality |
High
|
| Tessellation: | Disabled |
- Ultra Quality *(Running with driver Nvidia 466.11 EGPU only, seems to score better on Ultra quality bech).
Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0
| FPS: |
151.0
|
| Score: |
3804
|
| Min FPS: |
19.7
|
| Max FPS: |
255.0
|
System
| Platform: |
Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64bit
|
| CPU model: |
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz (2494MHz) x4
|
| GPU model: |
Microsoft Basic Display Adapter 10.0.18362.1/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 27.21.14.6611 (4095MB) x1
|
Settings
| Render: |
Direct3D11
|
| Mode: |
1920x1080 fullscreen
|
| Preset |
Custom
|
| Quality |
Ultra
|
| Tessellation: | Disabled |
|
|
||
Gaming 92%
Nuclear submarine
|
Desktop 79%
Battleship
|
Workstation 73%
Battleship
|
| PC Status | Overall this PC is performing as expected (49th percentile). This means that out of 100 PCs with exactly the same components, 51 performed better. The overall PC percentile is the average of each of its individual components. |
| Processor | With a good single core score, this CPU can easily handle the majority of general computing tasks. Additionally this processor can handle very light workstation, and even some very light server workloads. Finally, with a gaming score of 73.4%, this CPU's suitability for 3D gaming is good. |
| Graphics | 126% is an outstanding 3D score, it's the bee's knees. This GPU can handle almost all 3D games at very high resolutions and ultra detail levels. |
| Boot Drive | 91.5% is a very good SSD score. This drive is suitable for moderate workstation use, it will facilitate fast boots, responsive applications and ensure minimum IO wait times. |
| Memory | 16GB is enough RAM to run any version of Windows and it's more than sufficient for nearly all games. 16GB also allows for very large file and system caches, software development and batch photo editing/processing. |
| OS Version | Windows 10 is the most recent version of Windows, and the best to date in our opinion. |
| System | Asus G73Sw (all builds) |
| Motherboard | ASUSTeK G73Sw |
| Memory | 12 GB free of 16 GB @ 1.6 GHz |
| Display | 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors, 1920 x 1080 - 32 Bit colors |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| BIOS Date | 20110210 |
| Uptime | 0 Days |
| Run Date | Apr 17 '21 at 19:30 |
| Run Duration | 142 Seconds |
| Run User | JPN-User |
| Background CPU | 2% |
PC Performing as expected (49th percentile)
Actual performance vs. expectations. The graphs show user score (x) vs user score frequency (y).
| Processor | Bench | Normal | Heavy | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Intel Core i7-2860QM-¥ 48,705
CPU 1, 1 CPU, 4 cores, 8 threads
Base clock 2.5 GHz, turbo 17,433,824 GHz (avg)
Performing way above expectations (96th percentile)
|
73.4%Very good
|
71% 119 Pts |
49% 376 Pts |
29% 431 Pts |
|
Graphics Cards |
Bench | 3D DX9 | 3D DX10 | 3D DX11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
Asus(1043 2044) 1.5GB
CLim: 675 MHz, MLim: 625 MHz, Ram: 1.5GB, Driver: 391.35
Performing above expectations (76th percentile)
|
6.67%Terrible
|
6% 9.43 fps |
7% 9.33 fps |
|
CLim: 1999 MHz, MLim: 2752 MHz, Ram: 11GB, Driver: 391.35
Performing below potential (15th percentile)
|
126%Outstanding
|
122% 190 fps |
131% 138 fps |
|
| Drives | Bench | Sequential | Random 4k | Deep queue 4k |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Samsung 870 EVO 1TB-¥ 12,462
620GB free (System drive)
Firmware: SVT01B6Q
SusWrite @10s intervals: 375 442 424 297 423 414 MB/s
Performing way below expectations (8th percentile)
|
91.5%Outstanding
|
94% 416 MB/s |
107% 35.4 MB/s |
263% 352 MB/s |
Seagate Momentus XT 7200 RPM 2.5" 750GB-¥ 15,578
189GB free
Firmware: SM12
SusWrite @10s intervals: 73 70 73 72 72 73 MB/s
Performing below expectations (22nd percentile)
|
43.3%Average
|
52% 70.6 MB/s |
145% 1.03 MB/s |
|
Verbatim STORE N GO 8GB
2GB free, PID 0302
Operating at USB 2.0 Speed
SusWrite @10s intervals: 1 3.4 3.6 3 3.6 3.6 MB/s
Performing as expected (56th percentile)
|
3.92%Terrible
|
7% 6.68 MB/s |
14% 1.23 MB/s |
|
| Memory Kit | Bench | Multi core | Single core | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Samsung M471B1G73DB0-YK0 2x8GB
2 of 4 slots used
16GB SODIMM DDR3 1600 MHz
Performing above expectations (68th percentile)
|
54.6%Above average
|
54% 19 GB/s |
45% 15.7 GB/s |
58% 69.1 ns |