2018 15" Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme (GTX1050Ti) [8th,6C,H] + RTX 2070 @ 32Gbps-TB3 (AORUS Gaming Box) + Win10 [prasys]  

Nice build! We found a performance culprit with many Intel 8th gen H CPU laptops. The Thunderbolt 3 connection is routed through the PCH chip which doesn't have any cooling at all. Here are some examples of similar configurations [ASUS ZenBook Pro, Dell XPS 9570]. Your Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme's Thunderbolt 3 is routed the same way unfortunately.

Posted by: itsage

Nice build! We found a performance culprit with many Intel 8th gen H CPU laptops. The Thunderbolt 3 connection is routed through the PCH chip which doesn't have any cooling at all. Here are some examples of similar configurations [ASUS ZenBook Pro, Dell XPS 9570]. Your Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme's Thunderbolt 3 is routed the same way unfortunately.

Yep - that's what I plan to do. I would need to cool the PCH , probably to cool it later on. Will let you know the results later . I will also attach my benchmark performance so that you can get a comparison on how well the graphics card performs compared to iGPU , 1050Ti

Very interesting! I'm looking at having a similar build, but I really want to have it plug & play. When you uninstall then reinstall the dGPU drivers, does this then mean that if you're out & about you can no longer use the 1050ti?

Posted by: Leon Woodward

Very interesting! I'm looking at having a similar build, but I really want to have it plug & play. When you uninstall then reinstall the dGPU drivers, does this then mean that if you're out & about you can no longer use the 1050ti?

I can still use the 1050Ti. In fact in NVIDIA Control Panel , it gets assigned as a dedicated GPU. In games such as WoW , I can even use the GTX 1050Ti to render and use the RTX2070 to output it instead

@prasys Can you run HWiNFO64 and take a screen capture of your PCI Express Root Ports? Best to have to the eGPU connected and expanded.

Posted by: itsage

@prasys Can you run HWiNFO64 and take a screen capture of your PCI Express Root Ports? Best to have to the eGPU connected and expanded.

Done. I've even uploaded CUDA-Z screenshot (since I can finally upload attachments)

Thank you! I did not know the X1 Extreme has Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller. 🙂

Great job!
Can I also connect my TB3 Docking station to the second port?
My setup is Aorus 2070 rtx Gaming box TB3 Thinkpad Dockingstation and X1 Extreme with 1050 ti.
Also is there a way to select which port will charge my computer. For example I have 135w charger, also 135w charger on my docking station but going through TB3 and not dedicated charging port and 100w on Aorus?  I would like that he always charges from the power connector.

Can you tell me what hot swap capabilities you are getting?

Can you plug the gpu in after boot and it will change from 1050ti to egpu? What happens if you unplug it?

Or do you have to boot with egpu plugged in?

Thanks

Posted by: @goran_milovanovic

Great job!
Can I also connect my TB3 Docking station to the second port?
My setup is Aorus 2070 rtx Gaming box TB3 Thinkpad Dockingstation and X1 Extreme with 1050 ti.
Also is there a way to select which port will charge my computer. For example I have 135w charger, also 135w charger on my docking station but going through TB3 and not dedicated charging port and 100w on Aorus?  I would like that he always charges from the power connector.

I think it might work , I have another USB-C dock. It works , so I don't think it is a problem 

I think your computer decides where for it to get the power. If I have 2070 and power cord , it will use it from the adapter 

Posted by: @jnrjedi

Can you tell me what hot swap capabilities you are getting?

Can you plug the gpu in after boot and it will change from 1050ti to egpu? What happens if you unplug it?

Or do you have to boot with egpu plugged in?

Thanks

For some strange reason , I can't seem to be getting the PC to boot with eGPU. It will be just stuck in BIOS , infinite loop. I have to hot plug it for it to work properly 

If I unplug it , it will just fall back to Intel iGPU , but some games will crash - others like World of Warcraft gracefully switches to 1050Ti .

I have X1 extreme (Generation 1) and I got the AORUS RTX2070 for deep learning.  I just plug it in and and it works immediately. I install one of the firmware to improve the memory bandwidth. 

My problem is that my Windows 10 is on insider running 1903 19025.105

So far the utility app just updated recently still does not run in this Windows 10. 

As long as if you turn on the box and if the fan is running, Windows 10 will recognize.

Has anyone tried having 2 eGPU to the 2 TB3 ports of X1? I wonder if it is possible to have 2 eGPUs so I can do distributed GPUs. Just a crazy idea.

@georgeffm

IMHO , it should still work , you can link 2 eGPUs and the system would see it. Even TensorFlow can run on 2 GPUs , you can schedule certain part to do it in the built-in 1050Ti and some of it in the RTX 2070.

Thnx @prasys, 

My Extreme X1 (Gen1) is causing problem again!!!!

Now it fails to recognize the RTX2070 gaming box again.

I am close to returning this gaming box.

could you please send me link where it is possible to combine using both the GTX 1050 and external RTX 2070. Thanks you. 

If I decided to give up eGPU, I will have to build a deep learning PC. 

@georgeffm

https://jhui.github.io/2017/03/07/TensorFlow-GPU/

You'll need to do some work (TensorFlow) to split the task. IF you just use default , it will just use whatever is the most powerful GPU that it can find 

Again , like I've mentioned - it can get wonky. Now in order for it to work properly again. you need to

1. Unplug the RTX 2070 power cord

2. Wait for 2-3 minutes 

3. Replug it in

If you are going to unplug the device , do not unplug after shutdown. Unplug it before. Also it is better to use the NVIDIA GPU tool to 'DISCONNECT' the eGPU. If it is being disconnected and the next time you plug it in , it works 

If you want to do deep learning stuff , better invest on the cloud instead of doing it in your machine. cheaper , faster and easier 

@prasys, thx again for your generous tips.

I had the problem comes and go. Your tip is new, using the NVIDIA GPU tool to disconnect, I have not done so and now I will take that seriously

I feedback to the technical support and now a new thunderbolt software is released. Other Lenovo laptops are using newer 2019 software except Lenovo X1 extreme gen1. Not sure if this is important for my case.

I also notice that after getting a tunderbolt update from Windows 10 update instead from Lenovo, it recognises again. 

==> I also not sure if this is important. I got a bargain used RTX 2070 gaming box. 

==> It used to be that the fan will turn on without light on when the power supply is plugged in. Now, the fan no longer runs without the light on even the power supply is plugged in. I suspect the used unit may be faulty. 

I have searched almost all internet website. It is still tricky to keep the eGPU works in reliable way. I am not sure if Windows 10 insider program keep tracks of keeping the eGPU working or Lenovo is working with Microsoft on that. 

There are just too many ways that the eGPU will not work and there is not enough diagnosis software provided e.g. by Gigabyte to support this troubleshooting.

Finally, thanks again for your feedback.

Most people doing deep learning has accepted that cloud solution is simply too expansive.

@prasys

To get the RTX 2070 eGPU connected, the GTX 1050 has to be disabled. 

Are you able to keep both GPU enabled without conflict?

Posted by: @georgeffm

@prasys, thx again for your generous tips.

I had the problem comes and go. Your tip is new, using the NVIDIA GPU tool to disconnect, I have not done so and now I will take that seriously

 

I feedback to the technical support and now a new thunderbolt software is released. Other Lenovo laptops are using newer 2019 software except Lenovo X1 extreme gen1. Not sure if this is important for my case.

 

I also notice that after getting a tunderbolt update from Windows 10 update instead from Lenovo, it recognises again. 

 

==> I also not sure if this is important. I got a bargain used RTX 2070 gaming box. 

==> It used to be that the fan will turn on without light on when the power supply is plugged in. Now, the fan no longer runs without the light on even the power supply is plugged in. I suspect the used unit may be faulty. 

 

I have searched almost all internet website. It is still tricky to keep the eGPU works in reliable way. I am not sure if Windows 10 insider program keep tracks of keeping the eGPU working or Lenovo is working with Microsoft on that. 

 

There are just too many ways that the eGPU will not work and there is not enough diagnosis software provided e.g. by Gigabyte to support this troubleshooting.

Finally, thanks again for your feedback.

Most people doing deep learning has accepted that cloud solution is simply too expansive.

Yep updating TB3 is important. It keeps it stable. I am trying with DCH drivers to see if it gets any better . Also have you tried updating the gaming box to Version 1.3 , it does fix a lot of weird bugs (not 100% solved)

As for your 2nd question , I can get both GPU to work at the same time. Even make my 1050Ti as PhysX. The problem I have is that if I don't use the 135W adapter , the PC will just throw some random error or shut off the 1050Ti. I am guessing there is not enough juice to power both. Otherwise , it works fine.

Follow my steps of getting the drivers installed. I still think that you are using Lenovo or some mobile drivers , I use to have the problem , but now both of them work without an issue