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My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

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kony
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My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#1 Post by kony » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:34 am

At the end of 2013 I have purchased T430 laptop with i5-3320m and integrated graphic card which is quite powerful for an integrated chip, however, still not powerful enough for someone who enjoys playing computer games, including the new ones. Hence why I have recently assembled external graphic card setup with MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II which lets me play games such as Divinity: Original Sin or Alien: Isolation on maximum details. My eGPU kit consists of four parts: the graphic card itself, adapter, ATX power supply and a case to fit it all in for convenience. Of all the adapters I chose PE4L 2.1b as it has a good opinion and was already tested by many people before. For a GPU I bought GTX 560 Ti because it's a powerful but at the same time an inexpensive card. I was limited to Nvidia because ATI doesn't support anything resembling Optimus technology which would allow me to display the output of the eGPU on the laptop's internal screen instead of an external monitor. As the power supply I got Fortron FPS350-60MDN, while it's not very powerful in general, it does have a great 12V line which is all that matters for an eGPU anyway (19.5V, while my GPU is only 170W, so even a 15V would be enough, it leaves space for further upgrade to an even more demanding card in the future). Finally, I got a SilverLight SG05 Lite as the case to put everything inside so as to avoid potential damage to the hardware and a mess on a desk.

ImageImageImage



When I purchased T430 I instantly installed Linux Mint on it and used it ever since. Which is why it was the first operating system I tried to use my eGPU in. Nvidia doesn't make Optimus technology available on GNU/Linux systems, however, there's open-source Bumblebee which serves the same purpose. I followed the instructions for Ubuntu 13.10 to install Bumblebee and executed a command:
sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia primus linux-headers-generic primus-libs-ia32
Having open-source drivers Nouveau already installed, I proceeded to test a few games. Unfortunately, the performance in all the games was extremely disappointing, regardless of graphic settings and how demanding the games were. Kerbal Space Program, Left 4 Dead 2 and Depths of Peril all were displayed with only 8-10 frames per second, while Depths of Peril, being a low-demanding game, was running fine on maximum settings on Intel HD 4000. Afterwards I installed the newest Nvidia's linux drivers (340), but there was only a slight improvement of two more frames per second. Then I tried older 331 drivers and when I hadn't seen improvement, I removed all the drivers and libraries and repeated everything with no avail.

ImageImageImage



Because I couldn't use my eGPU on Linux Mint, I installed Windows 7 and updated it. Afterwards I installed Nvidia's 347 drivers and tested some games, but this time I had another issue - I had high frame rates but every few seconds the image would freeze for a second. The issue was present in all the games I have tried: Divinity Original Sin, Alien Isolation, Left 4 Dead 2, and so on. I tried all the available settings and nothing would help. Finally, in Killing Floor game and Valley benchmark I noticed the issue is restricted to DirectX, as in OpenGL I have a stable and satisfying performance. In the Valley I had 40 FPS with drops to 2 FPS in DirectX on Ultra details, while in OpenGL I had stable 30-35 FPS. It was a bit bewildering, but that meant the problem clearly pertains to the software and not the hardware. I installed the 340 drivers and restored the default settings in Nvidia Control Panel, then tried running Valley benchmark again - this time everything worked as it should. I had stable ~35 FPS on Ultra settings with no AA and 1600x900 resolution. Then I tested games and they were also running with high performance. A few days later I tested performance using various versions of the Nvidia's driver and this is what I found out: The best drivers for GTX 560 TI are 331. 340 gives a few FPS less than 331 (in Divinity Original Sin and Fallout New Vegas), 347 there's an issue of freezing every few seconds, and 314 works similarly to linux drivers - performance is extremely low and games run in about 10 FPS.

ImageImage



I am extremely satisfied with this setup as I am able to play modern games in maximum details on my T430. With eGPU it's not really a mobile hardware, but I play games only in my room anyway, when I need to take my laptop with me somewhere else I just disconnect the external GPU and use HD 4000. After all, outside I only need the laptop for simple tasks such as writing.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

dr_st
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#2 Post by dr_st » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:49 am

Definitely a very neat setup. :thumbs-UP:

Out of curiosity, how does the integrated Ivy Bridge GPU handle these games?
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#3 Post by emeraldgirl08 » Sat Feb 07, 2015 12:26 pm

Very nice of you to share your experience with the setup! :thumbs-UP: Before I had finalized my decision to build my desktop I had considered a similar setup. I then weighed all the pros and cons relative to my situation and decided an mATX would be the way to go. I do have a question- if you run the games on an external monitor versus the internal monitor is there a perceptible improvement in game performance?
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kony
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#4 Post by kony » Sat Feb 07, 2015 4:31 pm

dr_st wrote:Definitely a very neat setup. :thumbs-UP:

Out of curiosity, how does the integrated Ivy Bridge GPU handle these games?
Which ones? I didn't even attempt to run DOS or AI on iGPU as I'm pretty sure they would be unplayable. Probably the same with FNV. KSP runs fine on medium details on HD 4000, not going below 30 FPS at any time, so eGPU just allows me to change settings from medium to high (I'm way more limited with CPU in this game as it's very demanding in that regard!). DoP runs on high on iGPU. L4D2 runs good too, but only on low details (high on eGPU). KF is unplayable on iGPU (while running great on eGPU) as it has annoying drops.
emeraldgirl08 wrote:Very nice of you to share your experience with the setup! :thumbs-UP: Before I had finalized my decision to build my desktop I had considered a similar setup. I then weighed all the pros and cons relative to my situation and decided an mATX would be the way to go. I do have a question- if you run the games on an external monitor versus the internal monitor is there a perceptible improvement in game performance?
I don't have external monitor to test it, but in theory there should be in some cases. Anyway whether there is loss in performance and how great it is (in comparison with desktop) depends on the game, there's a limit of data transmission CPU<->GPU through Express Card slot (and it's twice as limited when using an internal monitor), so games that require constant streaming of textures from CPU to GPU will lose performance, games that just load them at once will not or not much. In short, generally open world games will have disappointing performance while games that are divided into areas will run fine (note that Fallout New Vegas and TES games are not open-world games from a technical viewpoint as they just load areas in chunks, even if it's not noticeable).

Here's also a video how Serious Sam 3 runs on this setup:
http://youtu.be/tBeSykzECx4
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#5 Post by dr_st » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:53 pm

kony wrote:Which ones? I didn't even attempt to run DOS or AI on iGPU as I'm pretty sure they would be unplayable. Probably the same with FNV. KSP runs fine on medium details on HD 4000, not going below 30 FPS at any time, so eGPU just allows me to change settings from medium to high (I'm way more limited with CPU in this game as it's very demanding in that regard!). DoP runs on high on iGPU. L4D2 runs good too, but only on low details (high on eGPU). KF is unplayable on iGPU (while running great on eGPU) as it has annoying drops.
Thanks. I was mostly looking for frame rate comparisons for a few given games (doesn't matter which ones) on the same settings, as to judge the relative power of the GPUs.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#6 Post by yell » Sun Feb 22, 2015 11:00 am

Thank you for posting your investigations. I had the same hickups with my gtx460 connected to my x230 after installing the latest nvidia driver.
I didn't even get the idea that this might be driver related and changed the PSU. I even suspected a faulty graphic card.
After I found this thread and installed the older driver version 331, everything works fine. Thanks again!

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#7 Post by kony » Sun Feb 22, 2015 3:55 pm

yell wrote:Thank you for posting your investigations. I had the same hickups with my gtx460 connected to my x230 after installing the latest nvidia driver.
I didn't even get the idea that this might be driver related and changed the PSU. I even suspected a faulty graphic card.
After I found this thread and installed the older driver version 331, everything works fine. Thanks again!
You're welcome! I'm glad it was useful to someone.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

kony
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#8 Post by kony » Wed Aug 19, 2015 6:57 am

It seems that the future looks good for external eGPUs: http://gizmodo.com/heres-the-box-that-c ... 1724958260
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

Hans Gruber
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#9 Post by Hans Gruber » Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:12 am

Very cool little mATX setup.
:beer: T43p,T61,X200,X200s,x201,T500,W500,T510,T410,T410s,T420s,T430,T430s :parrot:

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#10 Post by a.akhtarirad » Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:50 am

hi

Thanks for your useful information.
I made a egpu combination with T430 + gtx680.
it works great and thanks for optimus I can use also my laptop display which is really a big advantage.
I have also a Samsung 23 inch full hd monitor.

my test:
3dmark 06: 1280x1024
laptop display : 16824
Samsung : 19285

sniper elite iii max details;
laptop display(1600x900) : 32fps
Samsung (1920x1080) : 42fps

I test also sniper elite in desktop pc using amd 640 x4 cpu and I get 61 fps on the same Samsung monitor. comparing with 42fps in egpu means I reach around 68% of performance of the card in the egpu .

regards

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#11 Post by Hans Gruber » Wed Sep 16, 2015 12:36 pm

The GTX 680 is still a beast of a card. I have a GTX 970 in my desktop PC. My backup card for another system build is a AMD 7950.
:beer: T43p,T61,X200,X200s,x201,T500,W500,T510,T410,T410s,T420s,T430,T430s :parrot:

kony
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#12 Post by kony » Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:02 am

I wrote a description about how particular games work on my setup:


All of the games were tested on internal monitor in resolution 1600x900 and turned off antialiasing. Frames per second were counted by Steam. The graphic card used with the egpu setup was MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II. Windows 7 64bit, Nvidia drivers 340 or 331.

Alien: Isolation - works fine
Works on maximum graphic details with about 60 FPS, albeit has infrequent drops, of which the highest ones were to about 35 FPS, so it is the most convenient to play with FPS limited to around 35 FPS for fluent gaming experience.
http://i.imgur.com/oQ0aZOU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/KQhQKFB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/u7zGLT0.jpg

Anno 2070 - works great
On maximum graphic settings (without vsync and AA) FPS is within 45-60 range, drops to around 30 FPS when on double speed and far off camera.

Assetto Corsa -  works great
On High pre-set the game has >55 FPS during a race with three AI opponents, albeit it had a rare dropdowns to 45 FPS. When racing with a maximum amount of AI, the game's frames annoyingly dropped when multiple AI controlled cars were displayed.

Armed Assault 2 (aka ArmA 2) and ArmA 3 - barely playable
Regardless of graphic settings games have drops to around 20 FPS. The performance is disappointing and playing these games with such low frame rates is inconvenient. The average FPS is about 25.

Betrayer - works fine
FPS never goes below 30 on medium-high graphic settings.
http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc ... D42A7339D/
http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc ... F3AAA502B/
http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc ... FA0BC8316/

Cities:Skylines  -  works fine
FPS never went below 30 FPS on medium graphic settings.

Divinity: Original Sin - works fine
The game works on maximum graphic settings with stable 30 FPS and with no drops, which makes it perfectly playable. On the screenshots some effects such as Depth of Field are turned off, but that is only because of my personal preferences as I dislike such effects.
http://i.imgur.com/gUBDjUm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DQFFE9V.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ltE6BEH.jpg

Dragon Age 3 -  works fine
On medium pre-set the game works fine enough and is playable. The game's benchmark shown average of 33.7 FPS and minimum of 26.8 FPS. I did not measure FPS in-game, but it seemed to me that the FPS was corresponding to the benchmark's results.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 - unplayable
On minimum graphic settings the game runs with 15-20 FPS, on maximum with 8-12. Therefore the game is unplayable.

Fallout: New Vegas and The Elder Scrolls series – works great
Stable 60 FPS on maximum details

Grim Dawn -  works great
FPS never went below 40 FPS on maximum graphic settings.

Hitman: Absolution -  works fine
FPS never went below 30 FPS on maximum graphic settings.

Kerbal Space Program - works fine
The game works fluently on maximum graphic details with around 35-50 FPS. Using integrated Intel HD 4000 the game runs stable on average graphic settings with 60 FPS (but has drops to thirties on Kerbal), whereas on eGPU it never goes beyond ~50 FPS regardless of graphic settings.
http://i.imgur.com/UNGhVNB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UagUeEV.jpg

Left 4 Dead 2 - works great
The game works with stable 60 FPS on maximum graphic settings.

Metro 2033 - barely playable
Similarly to ArmAs, regardless of graphic settings the game has drops to around 20 FPS, although the average FPS is 30-40 depending on the grapic settings.
http://i.imgur.com/xzU2Bh7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ncpFBzv.jpg

Pillars of Eternity -    works okay
FPS around 30 FPS on maximum graphic settings, but there were some drops to about 25 FPS.

Serious Sam 3 - works great
On high/high/high settings the game's frame rates never go below 43 FPS.
http://i.imgur.com/pKdeUZm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/v5AQPAg.jpg

Starcraft 2 - works great
Graphic settings:
Textures: Ultra
Pre-set: High
FPS never goes below 45 FOS when playing a 6-player match, including larger battles.

The Long Dark and The Forest - unplayable
Both games run with about 15-20 FPS regardless of graphic settings. Even lowering the resolution did not give significant boost to performance. They are playable, but with such low FPS it is very inconvenient.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#13 Post by QWERTY Andreas » Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:56 am

You can get higher performance by:

- Lower the color depth
- Disable hardware
- Lower the bandwith of other hardware, like network adapters.

What do you get in 3Dmark?
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#14 Post by antilaggedboy » Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:55 am

@Kony

I hope you still visiting this forum regularly since I'm starting to build an eGPU system, and we have similar laptop (ThinkPad T430 i5-3320M, HD 4000, 8GB RAM) :P

Some question:
1. Did you encounter error 12 (This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use)? If so, how did you overcome the issue? Since I've counted my TOLUD (and its around 3.5 GB) and it seems that i might encounter this situation, requiring DSDT override or setup 1.30.

2. How does your system going after 1 year+? Any recent games you have played? How are their performance?


Thanks!

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#15 Post by kony » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:32 pm

antilaggedboy wrote:@Kony

I hope you still visiting this forum regularly since I'm starting to build an eGPU system, and we have similar laptop (ThinkPad T430 i5-3320M, HD 4000, 8GB RAM) :P

Some question:
1. Did you encounter error 12 (This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use)? If so, how did you overcome the issue? Since I've counted my TOLUD (and its around 3.5 GB) and it seems that i might encounter this situation, requiring DSDT override or setup 1.30.

2. How does your system going after 1 year+? Any recent games you have played? How are their performance?


Thanks!
I did not have error 12, everything just worked from the start although I have 8GB of RAM. T430 seems to work very well with eGPUs, at least PE4L. It was just Plug&Play basically. I just had to install... Windows and drivers as you can read in my original post. I did not play any othwr new games on it beyond the ones I already wrote about. I want to play The Witcher 3, but I think I should upgrade my GPU before that, becausr 560Ti is pretty weak nowadays anyway. I don't know when I will upgrade though and twitcher3 is the only new game I want to play, so I hesitate with the purchase of the card, because buying a new GPU just for one game feels like a waste of money.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#16 Post by Summilux » Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:17 pm

That's a nice review/feedback Kony, thank you for posting it :wink:
Had to Google "PE4L V2.1" to understand how you connected your external GPU setup to the Thinkpad; so apparently it's going through the ExpressCard port.

For my part, the X220's fan is intolerable when it whines during heavy CPU usage, so I'm rather considering a fanless desktop for playing games.
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kony
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#17 Post by kony » Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:57 pm

Summilux wrote:That's a nice review/feedback Kony, thank you for posting it :wink:
Had to Google "PE4L V2.1" to understand how you connected your external GPU setup to the Thinkpad; so apparently it's going through the ExpressCard port.

For my part, the X220's fan is intolerable when it whines during heavy CPU usage, so I'm rather considering a fanless desktop for playing games.

Desktop is obviously a much better choice than eGPU setup and I recommend going for it if you have a possibility. It provides a bit better performance, and a stable performance - as can be seen in my tests, it's not always the case with eGPU because some games just have issues with the limited bandwidth to 5Gbps on ExpressCard. Perhaps the future of eGPU lies with Thunderbolt 3 which allows 40Gbps of bandwidth, which shouldn't be an issue anymore. However, for now eGPU is just a nice alternative for those who cannot afford having a desktop computer, nor want to buy an expensive gaming laptop.

Recently, however, Dell released an interesting new Alienware laptops that are capable of using external GPU, which could be a great option for those who like to play new games as it isn't limited by bandwidth as ExpressCard is and should provide a great performance in all games.

As for me though, I'm content with my eGPU setup for now. I have had gaming laptops before and I don't really want them again - they have great performance, but the build quality is very disappointing and they fail too often. I don't really want to go back to the times of dead motherboards and screens, so I will stick to business laptops - probably Thinkpads, unless Lenovo goes full retard with them. I need a reliable machine. When I finish studying and perhaps one day have a stable job in one place, then I will build a good gaming desktop. For now, as I'm constantly changing place of living every few months, I have to stick to laptops ;)
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#18 Post by antilaggedboy » Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:20 am

Hello guys, finally I had completed my shopping list for eGpu. The list are:

- Laptop (T430 i5-3320M, 8 GB Ram)
- GPU (Zotac GTX 560 Ti)
- PE4C V3.0
- PSU (430w Simbadda Sim Cool SZ-430 WP4)

First thing I've done is to connect 20 pin ATX power cable from PSU to PE4C. Then, additional dual 6 pin from GTX 560 Ti are connected to the PE4C with provided 8 pin to dual 6 pin cable. With laptop shut down, I inserted the express card interface to the laptop, and power it up. Everything is buttery smooth until this point (no error, entered Windows 7 successfully), practically plug-n-play. Nvidia 364.72 driver installed successfully.

Until I tried to play some games.

When i started Fallout New Vegas, everything is smooth until the game loaded, where the GPU suddenly cranks the cooling fan to max (horrible whirring sound) + extra crackling sound from the PSU, then BSOD (haven't got a chance to take a picture of what is written on the BSOD). This is also happens with Richard Burns Rally. I currently cannot test other games since only these two I had in the moment.

Do I have faulty PSU? That crackling sound whenever the GPU is exposed to 3D processing makes me believe its coming from the PSU.

Any help appreciated.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#19 Post by axur-delmeria » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:01 pm

^ Isn't that a generic PSU that comes with cheap PC cases? Throw it away immediately.
I would suggest getting a good PSU, like the Seasonic M12II EVO 520.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#20 Post by brchan » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:48 pm

axur-delmeria wrote:^ Isn't that a generic PSU that comes with cheap PC cases? Throw it away immediately.
I would suggest getting a good PSU, like the Seasonic M12II EVO 520.
I agree! Never trust those generic power supplies since they often fail and damage other components in the process. Silverstone and particularly Seasonic, make some of the best PSUs in addition to most upper end Antec and Corsair ones.
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#21 Post by antilaggedboy » Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:30 am

Okay then, higher quality PSU it is..

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#22 Post by antilaggedboy » Mon Apr 18, 2016 8:38 pm

After Googled around for a bit I decided to prioritize certain aspects in terms of PSU for my eGPU setup:

1. Enough power to deal with current GPU (GTX 560 Ti) and also have room if I wanted to upgrade to newer, more powerful GPUs (GTX 800-series or even 900-series, who knows :) )
2. Good quality, long lasting, not going to blow things up.
3. If possible should be small (preferably not in ATX form factor), planning to built a sleek casing for the system.
4. No additional soldering/cable cutting/duct taping. I've seen lots of peoples using XBOX 360/Dell DA-2 PSU, looks very neat and compact, but sadly I'm not confident with my soldering skills.
5. Less than 50 USD

Some PSUs I've came across:
- Seasonic SS250SFD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151062

250w, small-ish in size, reputable brand.

- Dell/Delta DPS 220UB-A http://www.amazon.com/DPS-220UB-A-PS-52 ... B009F7SXIA

220w, slim size, reputable brand, but looks like the cable is too short?

Any opinion/experience with said PSUs? Or any other PSUs I should look at?

Cheers,

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#23 Post by axur-delmeria » Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:34 pm

I wouldn't go below 300 watts, especially if I plan on upgrading the graphics card in the future.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#24 Post by kony » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:50 pm

antilaggedboy wrote:After Googled around for a bit I decided to prioritize certain aspects in terms of PSU for my eGPU setup:

1. Enough power to deal with current GPU (GTX 560 Ti) and also have room if I wanted to upgrade to newer, more powerful GPUs (GTX 800-series or even 900-series, who knows :) )
(...)
- Seasonic SS250SFD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151062
So you say that you want to have a PSU that will have a "spare" power in case you want to upgrade... and then you choose one that provides only as much power as 560 Ti will need, but even slightly more power consuming card will be too demanding for it?
axur-delmeria wrote:I wouldn't go below 300 watts, especially if I plan on upgrading the graphics card in the future.
He's building eGPU, not a whole unit. How does it matter if total watt it can provide is 450 or 250? Only 12v line counts and 300 watt PSU might have just as well weaker 12v line than 250 one.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

axur-delmeria
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#25 Post by axur-delmeria » Tue Apr 19, 2016 4:11 am

How does it matter if total watt it can provide is 450 or 250?
Generally, a higher output unit can put out more amps on the 12v rail.

On the other hand, I should have said that high-end GPUs use the 12v rail and that getting a PSU with a beefy 12v rail is important.
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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#26 Post by antilaggedboy » Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:47 pm

kony wrote:
antilaggedboy wrote:After Googled around for a bit I decided to prioritize certain aspects in terms of PSU for my eGPU setup:

1. Enough power to deal with current GPU (GTX 560 Ti) and also have room if I wanted to upgrade to newer, more powerful GPUs (GTX 800-series or even 900-series, who knows :) )
(...)
- Seasonic SS250SFD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151062
So you say that you want to have a PSU that will have a "spare" power in case you want to upgrade... and then you choose one that provides only as much power as 560 Ti will need, but even slightly more power consuming card will be too demanding for it?
In essence, I'm trying to say that I want a PSU that have enough power (in terms of wattage and 12v amperage) for newer more powerful card, IF I wanted to upgrade later in the future. In my understanding newer card will consume more power, but it seems that it is not true for most case, since for example 750 Ti requires much less power (60w) as well as 970 (145w). So whatever PSU can power 560 Ti could power most newer cards, no?
axur-delmeria wrote:
How does it matter if total watt it can provide is 450 or 250?
Generally, a higher output unit can put out more amps on the 12v rail.

On the other hand, I should have said that high-end GPUs use the 12v rail and that getting a PSU with a beefy 12v rail is important.
How could we know if a PSU 12v rail is enough? Simply looking at the label sticking on the PSU?

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#27 Post by kony » Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:15 pm

antilaggedboy wrote:In my understanding newer card will consume more power,
Why would it? What would be the point of advancing technology, if everyone would just add MORE POWER to achieve greater performance? You can do that, of course, and hence we have less and more powerful cards within one generation (but some are just rebrands). Your line of thinking is beyond my comprehension though.
How could we know if a PSU 12v rail is enough? Simply looking at the label sticking on the PSU?
Yes.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#28 Post by antilaggedboy » Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:03 am

kony wrote:
antilaggedboy wrote:In my understanding newer card will consume more power,
Why would it? What would be the point of advancing technology, if everyone would just add MORE POWER to achieve greater performance? You can do that, of course, and hence we have less and more powerful cards within one generation (but some are just rebrands). Your line of thinking is beyond my comprehension though.

.
That is my initial thoughts, yes. But then I realized newer cards are more powerful in terms of processing power, but consume less electrical power. You are right.

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#29 Post by antilaggedboy » Wed Apr 20, 2016 9:17 am

Finally, after getting many inputs, I decided to go with Corsair CX 430. I know, its just an average PSU but at least its 12v rail is powerful enough for my 560 Ti.
Games no longer crashes, just running smoothly. Couldn't be happier right now.

BUT

It seems that the PSU produces crackling when running GPU intensive apps (GPU benchmarking, gaming). The sounds are very electric-y (not really a physical e.g. cooling fan colliding with something else). Brief investigation shows it "suffered" coil whine. Many commented it is not a dangerous thing, but hell its annoying.

Anyone have similar experience?

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Re: My T430 with GTX 560 Ti

#30 Post by kony » Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:26 pm

My GTX 560 Ti also produces a loud coil whine. Yeah, it's not dangerous, just annoying.
My T430 with GTX 560 Ti (Now with GTX 670)
T430: i5-3320m, 8 GB, SSD + HDD, 1600x900.

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