EXP GDC Laptop External PCI-E Graphics Card

DISCLAIMER:DO NOT setup or perform modification to your equipment without taking proper precautions for preventing electrostatic discharge. I would highly recommend building this in an ESD safe environment and with the proper personal protection. Modifications to your system / using your system in a way that the manufacturer did not intend will likely invalidate any warranty you have - USER BEWARE.ADDITIONAL HARDWARE:I would recommend the purchase of the following pieces of equipment:--- REQUIRED ---Dell DA2 220W 8-pin Power Supplyhttp://www.amazon.com/Dell-Replacement-Adapter-OptiPlex-Compatible/dp/B00ECOILA6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447523096&sr=8-1&keywords=dell+da2+220--- Required for GPU's that need more than 75w of power / if your GPU has external power connectors (6-pin, 8-pin etc) ---EPower 450W Dedicated GPU Power Supplyhttp://www.amazon.com/EPOWER-ATX12V-EPS12V-Supply-EP-450CD/dp/B013XFJXS8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_23_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=31mzDJOePGL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0ZX0G182AD5NZQS8GG0RANDhttp://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Hard-Disk-Power-Supply-Drive/dp/B00RFK99W8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1447528829&sr=1-1&keywords=12V+5V+HDD+power+supplyor get creative with a USB to 2.5in HDD adapter and a SATA to 4pin Molex power adapter for the sense circuit to switch the EPower PSU on with the system. Lots of other ways to accomplish this too.Tested OS's:Windows 7 Professional and aboveWindows 8.1 Professional and aboveWindows 10 Professional and above (1507,1511,1607)MY SETUPS:Primary - Using "Akitio Thunder2 PCIe Box" with EPower Dedicated PSU (custom Molex and 5v sense)Dell Precision M3800Core i7-4712HQ / 16GB RAMInternal GPU: Dell NVidia Quadro K1100MTested External GPU: Zotac GTX 970, ASUS DirectCUII GTX 680Secondary - Using EXP GDC Beast (ExpressCard54) and Dell DA-2 220w PSUDell Precision M6700Core i7-3740QM / 32GB RAMInternal GPU: Dell NVidia Quadro K5000MTested External GPU: Zotac GTX 580, Asus DirectCUII GTX 680, Zotac GTX 970SETUP INSTRUCTIONS:DISCLAIMER: TAKE ALL PERCAUTIONS - IF YOU DONT KNOW: ASK, RESEARCH, OBSERVE - DO NOT MAKE GUESSES WHEN WORKING WITH ELECTRICITY.1) Connect GDC Power SupplyConnect the Dell DA2 power supply to a standard wall outlet, 'clean' power is recommended - use a UPS with power conditioning. Then connect the 8-pin end of the Dell DA-2 to the GDC's 8-pin port.2) Connect GDC to LaptopEnsure your laptop is OFF (not standby, OFF.) - hot-plugging the Express card interface can cause problems on some systems, it's worth testing but if you are less technical, always plug in while the laptop is OFF.Plug the HDMI end of the adapter into the GDC's HDMI port. Then plug the ExpressCard54 into a compatible slot.3) Power your GPUFor GPU's without extra power connectors, get started! Move on to next step.For GPU's requiring LESS than 200w in power, use the included "6pin to 8pin + 6pin PCI-e power" cable to connect your GPU. If you are using the Dell DA-2, you will not need to add additional power for the GDC to function.For GPU's requiring MORE than 200w in power, set-up your EPower external PSU and wire appropriately. Refer to the above disclaimer if you have questions.4) System Specific SetupYour results may vary. In my specific case it was VERY easy to get my GTX580 onto my precision M6700. I would not recommend attempting to use two different manufacturers of GPU for your setup. For instance, my laptop has discrete graphics made by NVidia and I am using a NVidia GTX580; I do not have any issues on this setup. I plugged in an ATI HD7750 and the NVidia and AMD drivers did NOT play well. As soon as the card had load I blue screened. If you have discrete graphics already in your system, keep it the same manufacturer. NVidia with NVidia. AMD with AMD.Drivers: Ensure the driver revisions (ForceWare versions) are the SAME or as CLOSE as you can get them. In my case, I have a Quadro K5000M and a K1100M in my laptops, finding the same driver versions of the Quadro and GTX series can be annoying. I am currently running ForceWare version 372.54 for both my Quadro and GTX cards with NO problems.5) PerformanceThe M3800 over Thunderbolt 2 with the GTX 970 is by far the highest performing with no stability issues - all issues experienced were driver related. BUS utilization lower than 10% at all times. 3DMark TimeSpy score of 3174, better than 24% of all results. 3DMark Firestrike score of 7998, better than 53% of all results.The M6700 over the EXP GDC with the Asus DirectCUII GTX680 works very well and I have no stability issues - at first, was the worst setup with the worst performance / reliability. Clean Power is REQUIRED. Low noise environment is REQUIRED. Do not be forceful or bend the HDMI connector while it's inserted into the ExpressCard slot. Isolate from other high-power components and do NOT use in a high-humidity environment. BUS utilization around 40-90%, shows that the ExpressCard link is the performance bottleneck. 3DMark TimeSpy could not run cleanly without artifacts - apparently a Nvidia driver bug as reported by another user and a FutureMark Staff member named "Jarnis" on the FutureMark forums, should work with other GTX680's. 3DMark Firestrike score of 6183, better than 40% of all results.Overall Impressions:I'm thrilled. Just game'd on both laptops the other night with my wife for 20-hours straight and had NO issues, dropouts, crashes, anything. Both setups have been performing perfectly since the driver issues were resolved in the beginning of the year with the 353 and above releases.I've now been using eGPU's for the last three years and have watched a number of my co-workers and friends drop upwards of $4K on new hardware while all I will need to do is buy a new GPU every few years - I'd rather spend the $$$ on a laptop with a GREAT processor, as much memory as I can fit and a stunning SSD. All the workstation performance and mobility with a high-performance gaming experience only an ExpressCard or Thunderbolt2 port away.ExpressCard Tested with:Dell - E6430, E6420, M6700, M4700HP - Elitebook 8560wThunderbolt2 tested with:Dell - M3800Let me know if you have questions.[EDIT 2016-09-25]Added tested ForceWare versions.Added GTX970 and GTX680 to tested GPU's with EXP GDC Beast.Revised setup instructions for external power supply.Added disclaimer.Added M3800 Thunderbolt2 comparison.Clarified power requirements.

I've been messing with this on and off for about 2 and a half weeks with my lenovo y580 with nothing working. I've tried to connect it to a different screen, tried a radeon 7970 and gtx 680, adjusted the switch's position, and so on. The light turns blue and my PSU + GPU power up but no display anywhere not even the Lenovo or Windows splash screens and I can't figure out why, I've followed different video tutorials and read through forums with no luck. I haven't tried nando's setup 1.3 but I also don't get the ability to see boot options or anything at all when this is plugged in. Very disappointed in the purchase if not solved I will have to ask for a refund of some sort.

Please reference the following like or google "DIY eGPU" before you proceed to buy this adapter:[...]/Pros:+ Extends life of laptop using mini-PCI-e port INSIDE your laptop or you can buy one for expresscard users.+ When it works correctly, it really works!+ With DIY eGPU, you should be able to make this work for nearly any setup... but it will take some time to get familiar with.+ RECOMMENDED GPU:NVIDIA: nVIDIA GTX 670 (Optimius is supported, allowing you to use your Laptop screen instead of external monitor) or betterATI: ATI Radeon HD 7770 (or better but requires external monitor connection)Cons:- Doesn't work out-of-box for all laptops, since some manufactures love to blacklist the mini-PCI express card during boot if it is anything other than WIFI. If this happens try using DIY eGPU software (not included and must be purchased separately --- see link) otherwise, sell it on ebay and get your money back.- Think of this as a DEBUG tool, if any, and not a commercial solution to eGPU. You are better off with thunderbolt solutions on that end since the vendors there have more compatible products.- No "good" manual available for this product.

The item can work with some laptops. However, and the reason for only 2 stars; this item does not work with HP Laptops (as well as some others). Make sure you check your model of laptop before buying. Some laptops do not support this item, when using the mini PCI-E Wifi chip slot. I hope this helps.

Not bad. Working with my RX480 4gb card. Afterburner does not have access to core woltage and power usage. No at all/And id does not hold high core clocks. I have to decrease Core clock of my Grafics card to about 1000 in order to make it work without shutting down. I guess it does not support high Power drain of the graphics card. I tried different PSUs 600W and 500WBut if your Graphics Card drains more than about 150W, this device will shut down/ Thats why you need decrease you GPUs core clock in order to have less power drain... And again you wont have any access to core voltage through this device.:(