My Thinkpad T430 & eGPU - EXP GDC V8 Expresscard - Experience

[tudoranadi]

Hi thinkers,
First of all I would like to take a moment and write my history with this experience. Last year I had a Dell Precision M4500 (i7-720QM and nVidia Quadro FX880M) which it had to be my eGPU machine. But using FL Studio alot, the cpu didn't kept the pace so I had to make a change. My research got to my Thinkpad T430 because Ivy Bridge platform can get you up to 90% of peak performance of your eGPU solution. When I had my Dell M4500, I have ordered the EXP GDC V8 Expresscard solution at a pretty fair and decent price (Christmas sales) from Banggood.
Shipping to Romania was quite long, almost 2 months. In the meantime bought from a local guy, a Dell DA-2 220W power adapter which I heard it is plug'n'play. After arrival, I found out that I don't have the PCI-E power adapter for the graphic card, in my case a Gigabyte Radeon 6850 OC 1GB. That's the only card I have so,
I was aware that I might need a display monitor. After another months of searching, found out on Banggood the holy PCI-E adapter specialy for EXP GDC solution. To be assured , bought 2 cables (just in case :p ) because the shipping was 1 month and 2 weeks (long, I know!). Well, last night I was dying to fire it up, so I put my Panasonic TV ( don't have a display monitor, lame, I know...) and put all cables and adapters together, the expresscard in T430 and fire it.

My specs :

i7-3610QM, 16GB HyperX Impact CL9, 1600x900, Intel HD4000 iGPU, Windows 7 64bit.

After Windows loaded, my Radeon 6850 was found in Device Manager but I got the famous "Code 12" error. The device cannot start because it does not have enough resources.
After 5 minutes of google-ing I found the solution!

Solution : Shutdown your T430, put the expresscard in the laptop and the most important thing, DISCONNECT the display monitor from the graphic card. Start you laptop and let Windows load. The magic will happen, your graphic card starts with no errors. After that, install the drivers from AMD website. I have installed the Crimson drivers.
Connect the monitor to the graphic card and voila! , you have a fully working eGPU solution on your Thinkpad T430.

Still didn't found a solution for the following issue.
In device manager, I had the Radeon 6850 and Intel HD 4000. When I started my Steam or Origin games, the main GPU was Intel HD 4000. My quick solution was to disable from device manager, the Intel HD 4000 iGPU. Maybe someone found a solution to install AMD Enduro (Switchable graphics) like Nvidia Optimus?

I will post later this day, some pics with my tests.
So far I have tested Furmark and i got 35 FPS. Battlefield 3 on ultra setting at 1280x720 (the maximum resolution of my TV) runs flawess. GTA V needs more tweaking. My i7-3610QM cpu got maximum temp of 80 degrees C in games.

Edit 1 :
Here are some pictures of my setup including the docking station (is the 170W version with USB 3.0)
http://imgur.com/a/DpV6t

So, this is thinkers!
Thanks for reading!

[shane1027]

Hey, nice work! I'm looking to do something similar with my t430s, possibly using the thunderbolt port instead (though those enclosures are much more expensive...)

Also, I couldn't help but notice that your sig includes a spinning platter drive :0

If you're invested in making the most out of this eGPU setup, snag an SSD for ~$45 - $90 depending on capacity, and watch those framerates jump way up!!

[tudoranadi]

Thanks!

As far as I know, a better HDD or SSD doesn't give you more FPS but faster load times in games.
For better frames , I want to invest in a better GPU like a Geforce GTX 760 or better, a Geforce GTX 970.

A SSD is in my plan but I don't rush.

GTA V Benchmark : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNgH61pOkA

[eduardojgg]

Hi!

Thankyou for this!!!!: "most important thing, DISCONNECT the display monitor from the graphic card. Start you laptop and let Windows load. The magic will happen, your graphic card starts with no errors"

[Bionicman]

Hello, sorry for reviving and hijacking a dead thread. Just hoping someone would give some new insight. I am currently trying to run EXP GDC beast 8.5c powered by AC Adapter DELL ADP-220AB. The GPU is Geforce MSI750TI connected through the expressCard slot in Thinkpad T420 with 8GB ram on win7. I receive the famous code 12 error. I will try to list what I have tried and what is different in my case compared to other happy end cases. The EXP light shines green, the GPU vents work nice.

1. The laptop boots with black screens if the expressCard is plugged in. I switched the small button on the EXP GDC which delays its function by 7sec or 15, but that didn't affect the booting process.
2. If I plug the expressCard during or after win logon, the device manager doesn't detect it usually. The expressCard remains plugged in, then:
3. If the machine is put into sleep/hibernation and than woken -> OS recognizes the device and at first it appears as Standard VGA adapter.
4. I installed a late (474.11) nvidia driver for 750Ti, but the code12 error remains. Note that after the driver installation a restart is necessary, but that can't be completed normally thanks to (1). So after I install the driver, remove the expressCard, log in, plug in expressCard, sleep the laptop, wake it and then the device appears as the 750Ti.
5. In BIOS booth mode Legacy or both doesn't change anything.

Following the advice mentioned in this topic, I left the VGA cabel detached from the GPU when booting. However this brings me back to point 1. -> restarting with plugged expressCard causes black screen always. If I plug the VGA cabel after all the steps in (4) are completed, the code12 doesn't disappear.
This EXP GDC has been working in a X220, so I hope it should work eventually.