kizwan Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 DIY eGPU implementation: 15" Dell Studio 1557 + ATI Radeon HD 5870 @x2Link:- DIY eGPU Experiences DIY eGPU Implementations Specification:- Dell Studio 1557 + 4GB DDR3 PE4H-EC2C package (+ 2xPM3N cards for x2 link) eGPU: PowerColor ATI Radeon HD 5870 @x2 link Corsair CX500 V2 500W (12V/34A) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Method (x1 setup):- - Power ON the notebook with eGPU already connected & powered ON. - Using modified drivers: D.N.A. Method (x2 setup):- - connected everything - power on eGPU - power on system - set x2 on Port1 using Setup 1.x - Reboot (using Reboot command in Setup 1.x) - boot into windowsOR can use automated script in STARTUP.BAT:- With the above script, only need to:- - choose Setup 1.x at Windows/Setup 1.x boot menu - choose first option to use STARTUP.BAT - it will reboot automatically - finally, choose Windows at boot menu.DRIVER:- - Using modified drivers: D.N.A.OR - dGPU HD4570 use mobile driver where driver is installed manually in Device Manager. eGPU HD5870 use desktop driver (using the .EXE file). :: enable disk caching to improve performance call speedup lbacache :: enable x2 on port1 call iport x2 1 :: wait for HD5870 to be attached :: call vidwait 60 1002:6898 :: check that it's a x2 link call iport scan :: give a prompted countdown for 7 seconds call wait_e 7 "Confirm link is x2 - if not hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and try again" :: run result of last PCI compaction call pci :: chainload to MBR :: call grub4dos mbr :: need to reboot to re-detect the eGPU reboot First PCI bus with 8 digits memory address = TOLM11 On (first gen) Intel i7 quad-core processor, this register is called TOLM, not TOLUD. Boot without eGPU connected (0xC8000000: TOLM=3.125GB):- Boot with eGPU connected (0xA8000000: TOLM=2.625GB):- eGPU ATI HD5870 @x1 link Setup:- eGPU ATI HD5870 @x2 link Setup:- Updated eGPU setup in mATX casing:- BENCHMARKS DirectX 9 3DMark 06 (1280x1024) RE5 (1280x800-variable) x1 link:- Result: 13157 x1 link:- x2 link:- Result: 13556 x2 link:- DirectX 10 3DMark Vantage Devil May Cry 4 (DMC4) x1 link:- x2 link:- x1 link:- x2 link:- DirectX 11 3DMark 11 Heaven Benchmark v2.5 Basic x1 link: Result x2 link: Result Detailed Scores x1 link x2 link 3DMark Score P3156 P3659 Graphics Score 3220 3667 Physics Score 3391 3868 Combined Score 2520 3335 GraphicsTest1 15 FPS 18 FPS GraphicsTest2 18 FPS 19 FPS GraphicsTest3 21 FPS 23 FPS GraphicsTest4 8 FPS 9 FPS PhysicsTest 10 FPS 12 FPS CombinedTest 11 FPS 15 FPS x1 link | x2 link FPS: 22.7 | 28.3 Scores: 572 | 714 Min FPS: 13.2 | 13.8 Max FPS: 60.0 | 71.2 Hardware Binary: Windows 32bit Visual C++ 1600 Release Mar 1 2011 Operating system: Windows 7 (build 7601, Service Pack 1) 64bit CPU model: Intel® Core i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz CPU flags: 1595MHz MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE41 SSE42 HTT GPU model: ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series 8.850.6.0 1024Mb Settings Render: direct3d11 Mode: 1920x1080 fullscreen Shaders: high Textures: high Filter: trilinear Anisotropy: 4x Occlusion: enabled Refraction: enabled Volumetric: enabled Tessellation: normal GAMES EXPERIENCE Games Settings FPS (average range from lowest to highest) DirectX 9 DirectX 10 DirectX 11 x1 link x2 link x1 link x2 link x1 link x2 link DiRT 2 (with *x1 link* setup, choppy/stutter) (with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly) Resolution : 1280x800 Refresh Rate : 60 Multisampling : 4xMSAA VSYNC : Off (ALL) : (Preset - High) Inbuilt:- Min:12.5 Avg:14.2 17 - 19Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4 Inbuilt:- Min:17.1 Avg:26.3 32 - 34Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3 N/A N/A Inbuilt:- Min:12.5 Avg:15.4 17 - 24Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 Inbuilt:- Min:20.3 Avg:26.6 32 - 37Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (with *x1 link* setup, very lag with DirectX 10 & 11) (with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly) Resolution : 1280x800 Overall Quality : Advanced Level of Detail : High Texture Quality : High Shadow Quality : High Effects Quality : High Anti Aliasing : 8x Anisotrophic Filter : 16x VSYNC : Off HBAO : Off 39 - 60Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6 57 - 80Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 25 - 35Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 39 - 50Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 22 - 30Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7 38 - 50Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5 Need for Speed: Shift (with *x1 link* setup, choppy/lag when too many cars & effects at the same time) (with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly) Resolution : 1280x800 Refresh Rate : 60hz Anti-Aliasing : 0xAA Windowed : On Texture Filtering : Anisotrophic 16x V-Sync : Off Car Detail : High Shadow Detail : High Track Detail : High Motion Blur : High Texture Resolution : High 16 - 72Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3 33 - 74Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7Pic 8 N/A N/A N/A N/A Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (with *x1 link* setup, steady FPS & microstutter) (with *x2 link* setup, game running smoothly) Resolution : 1280x800 High Resolution Textures : On Motion Blur : On Shadow Level : High Anisotropic : On 23 - 40Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7Pic 8Pic 9Pic 10Pic 11Pic 12 34 - 45Pic 1Pic 2Pic 3Pic 4Pic 5Pic 6Pic 7Pic 8Pic 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A Left 4 Dead 2 (with both x1 & x2 setup, game able to running with stable 60FPS most all the time. FPS capped at 60.) Resolution : 1920x1080 Anti-Aliasing Mode : 4xMSAA Filtering Mode : Anisotropic 8x Wait for Vertical Sync : Enabled (Double Buffered) Shader Detail : Very High Effect Detail : High Model/Texture Detail : High Multicore Rendering : Enabled Paged Pool Memory Available : High 60 60 N/A N/A N/A N/A Summary/Conclusion:- When compared with Nvidia games experience on x1 link, the ATI graphic card unable to deliver comfortable performance when running on x1 link. This issue can be fixed with x2 link. Fortunately, Dell Studio 1557, just like Studio 1555 & 1558, can support x2 link configuration (PCIe port 1 & 2). Also it seems, there are enough PCI bus space to support SLI/CFX configuration. So, my next plan are:- To get two PM3N (mini-PCIe) card to drive HD5870 on x2 link. [[Update 24 August 2011: Ordered 2xPM3N mini-PCIe cards]] (Optional) Get a PM3N card & Nvidia GTX460/470 card for x1.Opt link configuration on Asus K42JV notebook. (Wish) Get a PE4H-PM3N package & another HD5870 to setup CFX configuration on Dell Studio 1557. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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