Question about EGPU

[Mr.Blueboy]

I'm new to the forums here so give me some slack.

I have a 2015 Dell Latitude E5440 with an i3 4030U @1.90Ghz with Intel HD 4400 2Gb graphics.

I was wondering if, or how well hooking up a GTX 600 or 700 series Gpu up to my wifi card slot.

Also, how much bottlenecking would I experience?

I am also worried about the GPU possibly not working.

Before I get too far, what are your thoughts?

I am aware of this video.

 

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=EXP+GDC&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

[Metallus97]

First: Wellcome to the forum!
 

Now about your question: Connecting a GPU via the WiFi miniPCIe interface is pretty janky and def. not a recommended solution. The next problem is, that the i3 in your laptop is not really enough to support games. Also I guess the connection between the miniPCIe slot (where the Wifi cards goes) and CPU is not really fast. More like a x2 or x4 connection.

 

I do not recommend you doing this. Save up this money sell your Dell and get a laptop with a better CPU and GPU . (I know such setups are badas and cool and all but in the real world horrible to work with.)

This will result in a much better gaming experience compared to janky setups and a very slow i3  

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

1 minute ago, Metallus97 said:

First: Wellcome to the forum!
 

Now about your question: Connecting a GPU via the WiFi miniPCIe interface is pretty janky and def. not a recommended solution. The next problem is, that the i3 in your laptop is not really enough to support games. Also I guess the connection between the miniPCIe sort (where the Wifi cards goes) and CPU is not really fast. More like a x2 or x4 connection.

 

So did not recommend you doing this. Save up this money sell your Dell and get a laptop with a better CPU and GPU

This will result in a much better gaming experience compared to janky setups and a very slow i3  

+1 on this, you can get a pretty BA rig for about $700 these days

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ypsmRJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ypsmRJ/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($154.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($66.65 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot - Viper Elite 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($110.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Team - L5 LITE 3D 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($37.99 @ Newegg Business)
Video Card: *PowerColor - Radeon RX 580 8GB Video Card  ($204.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - H500 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair - Air Series White 2 pack 52.2 CFM  120mm Fan  ($19.49 @ OutletPC)
Other: Hard drive from your laptop
Total: $730.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-27 11:14 EDT-0400

[Metallus97]

2 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

-snip-

Thanks bro. 
Idd make some changes to his configuration but is pretty decent for the price.

If you want more advice on a new system or laptop ask us in the related subforms

[Ross Siggers]

It's laughable how many people pan EGPU's instantly due to 'poor performance'.

If you're on a budget they're amazing. Far too many comments saying "wait and save until you can get xyx", the hardware to run an EGPU is not expensive aside from your choice of graphics card, and if it's not for you? Well, you can sell the card and not be significantly out of pocket at all. I already had a spare GPU so my setup cost was less than £50 all said and done.

 

For those worried about performance loss via the non-thunderbolt connectivity, you can argue you're just as limited by having a low-mid range laptop in the first place, so to me that point is moot. People who go for EGPU setups are always the ones who aren't at the top end of the hardware market. And that's fine. For almost the cost of the card alone, you can have somewhat comparable performance unless it's a cpu heavy game. When I first set mine up, I was using an 2gb HD6950 via expresscard. Yes, that ancient format, and you know what? It works like a charm. 

Here are some hard figures.
 

 

 

So obviously, the score with the EGPU blows the laptop out of the water, as it only has Intel 4000 onboard graphics, notice I'm running it in super low resolution compared to the EGPU result.

 

For comparisons sake, I also threw an SSD into the old PC that I pulled the graphics card out of. Despite being hella old, the top-end Phenom II is still more powerful than the i5 in my laptop(passmark scores of 5733 to 4112 respectively). You could also debate the DDR2 ram playing a part, but generally, Superposition is a GPU test more than others. Had I wanted to seriously compare the two systems I'd have run a wider range of tests, but that wasn't the aim.

 

 

The laptop running with the EGPU was 15% down from the full desktop system with the same card. To me, that's not bad considering the amount I ended up paying for the EGPU setup, and the nature of how it's connected.  For the record I was using an EXP GDC Beast v8.0, and my power was coming from a DELL DA2 power brick, they can be had really cheap and it looks like Linus is using the same thing.

Things I will note;

- The fact you're using an internal connector will make it a tad more in depth to set up. I'm fortunate that thinkpads kept expresscard longer than most manufacturers. It makes my laptop still 100% portable by just unplugging it, I still take mine out and about a lot.
- If you don't already have a spare graphics card, I can see how this would be a slightly larger investment. But compared to a full desktop build, it's still a bargain.

- Make sure to use an external monitor, to maximise your bandwith. My laptop sits in a dock, powering two monitors, I never use the EGPU back out via the laptop screen. There's a noticeable performance hit.

- As Linus experienced...your mileage may vary, depending on what laptop you're using. I've heard of good results upsing HP laptops, and obviously Lenovo Thinkpads. But not every single laptop out there has been tested, despite the compatibility list growing by the day.

P.S. The video makes a negative point of having to reboot whenever you add/remove the graphics card. Personally I don't see how that's a negative...Linus has done other, partially successful videos on hot swappable pci-e. Expecting this adapter to do it where far more expensive hardware can't is just silly.
 

[Mr.Blueboy]

Thanks for the information! I guess I will wait a year or two to get a decent gaming machine.