So I just hooked up a 2GB 5850 to my laptop...

RamonGTP said:
By the OP's own admission, he can't use the 5850 to it's potential.
Click to expand...

No one thought you would be able to use it to it's full potential. But even so, what it will be at is most likely faster than a gaming notebook he would've got. If the OP runs some test's this weekend and post's them, we'll see then.
 
wow theres a first time for everything lol

although i would be concerned with accidentally having that card fall of that table lol
 
RamonGTP said:
That was my first reaction until I thought about it... Most people want laptops for portability, this device arguably makes portability even less manageable than having a desktop computer. Then there is the bottleneck issue. How much better, if at all, would this perform then having a laptop with a real mobile GPU in there?
Click to expand...
i think for the upgrade factor. I change video cards way more than any other component.
 
also, how does the PSU know to turn on? doesn't it need to be plugged into a motherboard?
 
Blahman said:
also, how does the PSU know to turn on? doesn't it need to be plugged into a motherboard?
Click to expand...

Cyclone said:
Power supply is just a regular computer PSU with enough wattage to make your vid card happy. Sapphire recommended 500W for my card so I got an Antec 550W. Power hooks up to the PE4H using a regular old floppy 4-pin connector. With the PE4H you get an extra little piece that hooks up to the PSU so you don't have to do the paperclip trick to get it to power up, just a switch - nice extra.
Click to expand...
Probably that. :p
 
pxc said:
Probably that. :p
Click to expand...

Yep, looks like this:

GSSzp.jpg
 
A 5850 on 1x should beat a Mobility HD 5870 in all games and be about the same as the new GTX480M, but that's a 100W GPU that can't really function in any normal "laptop". If you get a laptop with a i5 or i7 dual core CPU then this saves you a couple hundred and lets you get a smaller and lighter laptop that get's better battery life. The i7 620M runs all the way up to 3.33Ghz with turbo and has 4 threads so a mobile CPU like that should really be able to run games nicely.
 
Last edited:
Zink said:
A 5850 on 1x should beat a Mobility HD 5870 in most games but be slower than the new GTX480M, but that's a 100W GPU that can't really function in any normal "laptop". If you get a laptop with a i5 or i7 dual core CPU then this saves you a couple hundred and lets you get a smaller and lighter laptop that get's better battery life. The i7 620M runs all the way up to 3.33Ghz with turbo and has 4 threads so a mobile CPU like that should really be able to run games nicely.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if this solution beats a GTX480M. Laptop parts are severely gimped in comparison to the desktop parts. This is quite impressive. Makes gaming reasonable while having a portable laptop. I wonder if it would be possible to do something similar to what SoftTH does and feed the output back into the laptop's display.
 
This is seriously impressive.

It reminds me of ATI's "XGP", which AMD have been touting for a while without really seeing any adoption from manufacturers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iqrm_2Gqu8

I think it's a shame XGP hasn't taken off, it seems very useful to me.

But anyway, aside from that, I do wonder about the actual effects of using only a PCI Express 1x link. I know the Techpowerup review that has been linked to says that you get about 75% of the performance when using only 1x instead of 16x but, rather disappointingly, the review only shows average framerates. We don't know what is creating those averages - for example, is the 1x average fps only 75% of the 16x average fps because the maximum framerate is lower? Or is it because you, perhaps, get massive stuttering from time to time resulting in terrible minimum frame rates? I personally would fear that the latter is more likely, and if so it's a shame because this would be far more detrimental to the gameplay experience than, say, a lower max framerate.

I hope the OP can give us some detailed benchmarks explaining exactly what happens to the gameplay experience as a result of this bottleneck.
 
I am genuinely impressed! Despite all the bottlenecks 70% 5850 > Intel Integrated. A true plus for somebody that only needs 1 computer and, needs the ability to have that machine on the go as well as game. This also affords the weight savings of not having to lug around a gaming laptop because they're typically boat anchors with large screens.

shane
 
Bricks have been shit.

Nicely done.

but a 550W power supply was hugely over kill. Sapphire suggests 550 because they expect it to be powering, you know, the rest of the computer.

I'm way past my bed time... but I'd love to see some benchies for this setup at some point. Just make a pass at 3D mark.
 
Last edited:
MrWizard6600 said:
Bricks have been shit.

Nicely done.

but a 550W power supply was hugely over kill. Sapphire suggests 550 because they expect it to be powering, you know, the rest of the computer.

I'm way past my bed time... but I'd love to see some benchies for this setup at some point. Just make a pass at 3D mark.
Click to expand...

Yep a tiny 250 watt server rack PSU with enough amperage would have worked just fine.
 
One thing to keep in mind, the 70% performance is an average number, it varies widely be game. Some as high as ~95% full speed. Others fail utterly (stalker - clearsky barely managed 1/3rd full speed at 2560x1600. It'd be interesting to see a retest of the games that struggled the most with a 2GB card to see if the extra ram helps. MY gut feeling is that it probably would since loading new textures into the GPU is probably the most bandwidth intensive activity in the game and being able to hold more on board should help alleviate that problem.
 
Cschill1290 said:
Molex to pci-e converters?
Click to expand...
Each molex chain is only rated for 2A of power; vs the 6A you get on a 6pin PCIe cable. PSU designers err on the side of caution though and most cards don't draw maximum power levels anyway so you're generally safe if you have each plug on a different molex chain but you are running the PSU out of spec and if it does melt the insulation and burn and the firemarshal discovers the fact you're going to have a fun time getting anything out of your insurance.

Your standard 250W server PSU will also only provide about 150W on the 12v rail; so you're going to be pushing the limit of what it can provide period. You also need to consider that if you draw a very unbalanced load from a PSU that nearly maxes out one of the rails your voltages tend to get rather fubar. Unless you have a ~30W resistor to plug onto the 5V rail you probably shouldn't be doing this with anything smaller than a 350ish watt PSU. This will also have the advantage of being about 10x quieter than a 1U server PSU. High speed 40mm fans are obnoxiously loud.
 
DanNeely said:
MY gut feeling is that it probably would since loading new textures into the GPU is probably the most bandwidth intensive activity in the game and being able to hold more on board should help alleviate that problem.
Click to expand...

Hopefully, that's the case the majority of the time... Unfortunately, not all games are that smart about resource loading. Fallout 3 and Oblivion are particularly bad about it, they only load what's in the immediate area no matter how much extra v-RAM you have to give.
 
This is pretty cool, if manufactures pushed on using this and making it widely available (and a bit more plug and play) a lot of people would consider getting laptops over desktops. I know the only reason I built a desktop instead of a laptop was because I wanted power for gaming and didn't want to lug around 8lbs of machine everywhere.
 
Latop CPUs are not very suitible for CPU intensive appications.

"Desktop Replacemnt" laptops are a fail.
 
Builderbobftw said:
Latop CPUs are not very suitible for CPU intensive appications.

"Desktop Replacemnt" laptops are a fail.
Click to expand...
Blanket generalizations are a fail. :p

As is pushing personsal requirements as the end all for everyone.
 
Very interesting. I could see something like this very useful for having a notebook work with multiple monitors at home.
 
I really love your modifications. This is the kind of projects that [H] is about. Enjoy your setup because it looks nice, particularly with the monitor arm! I really need to get a monitor arm and a bigger desk.
 
l337 5upr3m3!1!! There needs to be some kind of [H] award for this.

They were working on this for a while over on notebookreview.com I think in the hardware or gaming section, nothing that new, but to see someone actually doing it. Need some pictures or videos up of you gaming or some more benches.
 
That's awesome, I'm tempted to try this on my laptop. My 8800 mobile is dying and I've baked it twice so far.
 
Thats awesome OP Glad its working for you.

For you guys wondering how it works and stuff the guys at notebookreview have a DIY guide which I am pretty sure the OP followed.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/397667-lets-figure-out-how-make-diy-vidock.html

I am just disappointed that the OP got all the credit when there was a lot of work put in from the people at notebookreview.
 
He does give credit to NBR - particularly nando4, who started the thread that was linked, though moral hazard wrote the guide (which is linked in nando4's thread).
 
^ Yes I see that, but everyone is making it seem like the OP is the one who did it first, the engadget article does not even list the main people involved in making it happen. Just the OP who followed the guide and made a post about it on a more popular forum.

nando4 and moral hazard should both be getting the praises about this. not the OP.

Thats the only issue I have since they put in alot of time and work into making this happen.

I guess I should blame engadget since they did not do there homework, but whoever tipped them from this forum did not mention NBR, I have sent an email to them and commented in the comments.
 
I saw your posts on Engadget and agree that it should have been mentioned on their description.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top