I have been out of the realm of computer gaming since 2007, and for the most part did my gaming on Consoles (Xbox) due to ease. I recently got a job were I could bring in my own laptop to do things when there is downtime. I found out that Command and Conquer was remastered, so I wanted to play it... unfortunately, when it was released, it required a computer that handles DX12 to play correctly. Since then, it's been patched... and eventually, I was able to play. However, I acquired a laptop that had slightly better power, but did not have a dGPU capable of handling DX12 games. I searched and found out about the EXP GDC, which eventually lead me to eGPU.io. I knew the RX580 was overkill, but I was afraid that if this didn't do what I wanted it to do, I'd be stuck with a video card. So, my contingency was that if it didn't work out, I'd just throw in an extra $300-400 and build a budget pc.
System specs Dell Latitude E6410, Samsung S22E200 External Monitor, Intel i7-620M, Intel HD Graphics, 8GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro
eGPU hardware EXP GDC @ 1x EC, Gigabyte RX580 8GB
Hardware pictures
https://i.imgur.com/8ZxGC1Xl.png https://i.imgur.com/JwCHb8Fl.png
Installation steps
Acquired
-Dell Latitude e6410 for free
-Samsung S22E200 Monitor for free
Ordered
-Gigabyte RX580 8GD GPU
-EXP GDC eGPU Dock
-Male to Male 8-Pin Power Cable
-Dell DA-2 Power Supply
-EXP GDC Honeycomb Enclosure (PIECE OF JUNK!)
-DVI to HDMI cable
1. Received all parts required.
2. Attached GPU to eGPU dock.
3. Attached Output power to GPU
4. Plugged in DA-2 PSU into Dock
5. Turned switch to ATX-on
6. Plugged in EC to HDMI port on Dock
7. Plugged in HDMI cable into GPU and other side into Samsung FP TV in living room
8. Turned on Laptop and loaded into windows
9. Hotplugged EC into slot
10. Downloaded RX580 drivers
11. Rebooted laptop
12. Computer immediately displayed on TV, and cut out internal monitor
13. Loaded windows and ran TimeSpy
14. Brought to work
15. Plugged in DVI-HDMI cable into monitor
16. Monitor did not power on - determined defective
17. Acquired another monitor and plugged it in - works great!
Benchmarks
Timespy
Total 2567
graphics 3483
physics 1031
Passmark - https://www.passmark.com/baselines/V10/display.php?id=129970430120
Comments
This thing works great. I haven't really pushed it yet, but I started playing older games (Half-Life, HL2) and they play great at the highest settings. I will probably start trying newer games, but I'm content for now. All in all... I'm glad I tried this and I'm very happy with the outcome! Looks cool on my desk, too!
I wish that I bought a different case for the dock... it's cheap acrylic, and the sides do not snap in, they just more or less sit in the slots.
I tried to fiddle with things a bit to get the internal monitor to work while I was waiting for another monitor. I noticed that there would be an error 12 when no external monitor was interfaced. I tried using DIY eGPU 1.35 to clear it out, but it didn't work. Seems like nVidia cards don't really have this issue, but AMD does. I never tried the ghost monitor adapter, but after reading many posts... that probably would've worked, and apparently works like crap.
I noticed that this computer has a PCI-e slot @ x16 speed available... is there a way of tapping into that? Or is that something that's reserved for onboard graphics?