Add A Graphics Card To Your Laptop Or Mini PC With This M.2 GPU Dock!
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- Опубліковано 26 кві 2021
- n this video I show you how to easily add an external Graphics Card “GPU” to your Laptop or mini PC using this awesome M.2 Graphics card dock from ADT-Link!
I test out a Radeon 5700XT on a cheaper 3500U powered laptop and I also test out an RTX 3060 on the new MINSforum H40 powered by the Ryzen 4500U
This dock supports boot delay and the DA-2 USff DELL 12V/18A/220W power supply, or a standard ATX power supply so it makes it super easy to power your eGPU.
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Dell 8pin power supply DA-2 USFF - ebay.us/7gMVLg
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Two M.2 slots, such luxury! And x4, so much bandwidth!
Hey jeff , how is your project on rasp pi is going
Lol 🤣
Three ports, he says!
Keep up the great work, Jeff!
You have singlehandedly made me try to recompile a linux kernel.
...which got me thinking whether this dock be used with a computer that does NOT have a single M.2 port? In other words, for example - use an M.2 to USB 3.0 adapter to connect to the computer and the GPU etc as shown in this video. Or have I been watching too many Jeff Geerling videos 😃 Keep up the great work, guys? Perhaps you guys should consider doing a collab video on getting something like that to work in case there might not be a straightforward way to do that...
Alternate title: "Turn your laptop into a desktop"
😂
Actually i never use my laptop on my lap, so i cant complain. Also im using an exp gdc for my "lap"top
yip this would be great if you bought very cheap laptop with decent cpu and it had broken screen and maybe keyboard ect but motherboard still worked fine then made or bought a cheap pc case to house it
@@ETAPRIME is there a way to connect an ext.gpu to a smartphone somehow
@@AndroidFerret No, smartphones don't work like that : )
Pro tip with the laptop setup, they make HDMI dummy plugs (google it, you will find a bunch) that you can plug into the external GPU. It will trick the GPU into thinking it has a working monitor plugged in. With that set up, you go into display settings and set the GPU to have the same resolution as the laptop display then set the the laptop and GPU to duplicate each other with the GPU set as the primary display adapter. This way a game that loads wont even look at the integrated graphics and load on the correct GPU, but since the laptop display is duplicating whatever is showing on the external GPU you will see the game/desktop as though it was running on the internal GPU. Now you don't need the external monitor.
Thanks for sharing this tip :D really appreciate it
Bruh , ty
Yo! Thanks for the info 👍😁
Top flite info ty!
@@charmerabhi same here!
I think an interesting test would be to run benchmark tests on a normal PC between connecting a GPU through the PCIe slot and an M.2 X4 slot.
That would really tell us what the performance drop off of this setup is.
@DaKrawnik because most people that are watching this video aren't interested in doing this nor do they understand it.
why would you do that?
That's the reason i watched this video but unfortunately no comparison like this. The performance drop would be very interesting
It's very weird indeed that he didn't do that.
@@robertlee6338 lllll
Pretty impressive! I bought a mini PC as backup after crashing my main computer, now I can make a side project to transform it into a decent gaming backup.
Thank you for this! I was actually thinking about how this could be accomplished this very morning!
This... kinda makes me question why we don't see computers with external M.2 slots... that could be insanely useful.
Yea this gave me the idea to find or make an m.2 extender, and put a small hole in my bottom case, allowing the extender to slip through, and a second divot in the bottom to flushly seat the cable. With that i can swap between my dual boot and this set up (if i get a graphics card worth the same as my computer)
Maybe because it can be dangerous to plug and unplug m.2 on turned on notebook?
@@CholsreaRedstoneit would be interesting to see! If you'll do it post a video!
@@nomars4827 it would be dangerous to do so while it was on unless we modified how we use m.2 slots, having a variant for external connections, similar to usb ports
@@CholsreaRedstone I found out that there are such cases which work through Thunderbolt connection via USB-C. It also has same bandwidth of 4 PCIE lanes. You can also find a video where a guy connected GTX 4090 to usual laptop.
Man you're a life saver. I was worried when I saw that my newly purchased VivoBook flip didn't have a thunderbolt 3 type c.
So many forums say things like it's impossible to use an external GPU on a laptop or mini-PC because there's no interface or because PCIe x2 isn't enough. It's great to see this setup!
Thunderbolt 3 is how I connect my eGPU to my mini PC and my HP spectre laptop.
I think the method in this clip is still supposed to be faster though.
I was trying to do this with a Dell AIO a few years back. They had some kind of lock on the M.2 slot to only allow certain devices. While there were a LOT of customized firmwares out there to unlock various M.2's on lots of machines, they didn't have one for my particular machine. So the whole project was a "no-go". I did pick up an alienware graphics accelerator for ridiculously cheap that I wanted to gut out (just needed the shell since most are prohibitively expensive) to stick the adapter into...has been sitting in a box of forgotten projects ever since.
Great vid. Concise, too the point and an easy how to explanation.👍
back in my day we use the wifi slot ... woah the future is now
Im using this about 2-3 years already. Follow tablettech
for the next maybe we can use ram slot....maybe
@@midiskykiller1794 bro pcie 4 is faster than ram. Even fastest ram ddr4 3200mhz is only 25.6gb/s meanwhile pcie is 32gb/s.
@@handcannon9814 oh i see......thank you for the information.
so its mean M.2 X4 slot is faster right than ram?
MOOOORE
WE NEED MORE SUCH VIDEO.
M.2 NVMe eGPU is the future of Cheap External GPU solution
I wondered this, glad to see it's finally here. Also waiting for a USB 4 adapter for the M.2 slot.
I came here to comment the same or thunderbolt over usb-c.
This could be the answer to my laptop gaming needs. It looks so simple to do even me who’s not very tech savvy could do it
This makes me think of possible enclosures to fit this build into. A sandwich style SFF case like Ghost S1, but smaller than mini ITX only tall enough for these NUC-style boards. Like the NUC extreme but more custom.
Very educational, & informative as well. You sir have a new subscriber. Keep up the great work..
Really impressed with the mini PC performance. I have a 3060 and in most of the GPU heavy games and benchmarks you are getting the 85%+ of the cards performance. For instance a graphics score of 10,000 in Timespy would be an amazing result for that card, so a 9070 is pretty damn impressive with that setup.
Literally thought of my motile laptop when I saw this then noticed you was using one lol dope
Great video! The Golden standard would be a DIY homemade thunderbolt solution but this is still awesome and has greater compatibility.
I'd love to see either a weaker or stronger GPU used in the same system. See if the bottleneck means there's little difference between say a 3060 and a 1050 Ti or a 3080.
1660 super isn't bottlenecked by it so 1660 super and 3060
I'm glad you mentioned to limit power to the GPU manually. You would have to do this with most new cards with a small 200W PSU.
But why have a small PSU? It's not the expensive part here anyway.
How do you limit the power to the gpu manually? I have a Intel NUC10 i7 windows 11 Pro. TIA
@@giancarlodeassis1839heavy undervolt with msi afterburner for example (for nvidia)
Nice!
This is a great way to have a highly portable gaming setup on the fly.
Had to grab one of these! Thanks for the vid!
I'd love to see this on that GameCube PC build!
his gamecube build already has thunderbolt 3, so he could just use an egpu enclosure.
@@chibilawl this would be a lot cheaper though.
DUUUUUDE.......😲😲😲😲☹
This is awesome. What a massive improvement this could make to so many of our retro gaming systems.
Funny that I've got my old msi 980ti just laying around in it's box.
@DaKrawnik 🤣 at least it's better than crap graphics, if ya had the money for a more balance set up you wouldn't be running a cheap laptop and a GPU like this
The 980 ti is still a beast tho, I mean if you don't use it how about lending it to me for the rest of my life xD
@@yuniundbiney I've now sold it 🤣
@@gerthinatorgaming5952 I mean I would have given you 20$
You are talking about your gtx 980ti and i am struggling to find a decent one. I love that card XD -.-
very helpful in my oppinion for mini PC Upgrades!
Excellent video, I've been waiting for a setup just like this! I have a Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet with a passively-cooled 4.5W Core M. It would be interesting to see how it performs using an M.2 connected GPU. Thanks for the idea!
core m is from an era without nvme
Even if you could make it work the cou is such a bottleneck i remember when I had one I had to make my own CPU headsink to maintain higher CPU clocks
This dock is awesome! I’m working on an enclosure for this now. Great video
Can you share a link? I'd love to see progress and for enclosures to become standard!
@@thethoughtfraud779 me too
I kinda wish that they'd make these with an extra connector that is small and close to the m.2 side that you could easily cut a hole for, that way you could detach it and move the machine easily, whether laptop or mini pc. Though, it might be a problem if someone tried to hot-swap it.
This was my exact thought too. If someone is motivated, you could maybe cut the ribbon cable in half, and solder some ports to it, but without seeing it in person, IDK how plausible that is (or if you can get compact male/female connectors to support the necessary amount of wires)
Wow this is awesome!! Thanks ETA
I remember doing this in 2011 with a Sony Vaio Z... Amazing how nothing has significantly changed and implementation hasn't significantly improved in that time...
Awesome video!
*How does this compare to using an eGPU over thunderbolt 3?*
I have an Intel NUC connected to a 5700xt in a razor core x chroma
Great stuff Prime, I've been following for just under a year. I would appreciate it if you would do an episode featuring the egpu dock from this episode with the beelink gt mini pc you featured in the past. I just got the i5 version with 16gb/512gb brand new for under $400. If you only have the ryzen model from the previous show that's cool, but the ultimate would be a head to head. I would watch that over and over again.
Keep up the great work
did you do this gpu for the beelink? just got one a couple of months back and this has me very curious!
@@tefoonez not yet, I'm thinking of using a 1650 super
@@brad7207 good luck buddy
This would actually solve one of the primary issues with one of my theoretical shrunken builds. Finding a good m.2 adapter.
i installed an exp gdc beast on my old toshiba satellite i3 laptop and i am using it right now works perfectly fine, thanks for the video
Yessir! Yet another cool video!
I just purchased a mini PC for the sole purpose of playing my game. I didn't want to destroy my laptop. It has the exact same specs as my laptop and is a pretty nice little unit for under $200. I have noticed some issues and was just telling my husband I wanted to find a way to do this! Thank you for making my research easy. This is perfect. ❤️
How much did your computer costed?and how much mini it is?
WOW! ✋😮 It was very technical and practical. ✋😌 Thank you.🌷
Love that Standoff idea!!!!! Definitely going to use that..
Just Wow. ETA - You are always thinking outside the box, and always finding Awesome Technology Solutions, I love your Channel 👍😎👍
Yeah use something you can't get.... It's not new or viable in this climate.
@@patrickryan7829 - Ok Thank 🙄
@@PhillyCableDave it's more expensive than buying a better laptop.... For worse performance.
Shame you didnt post this back in the days when you could buy a gpu!
Still, future generations may use it if the world ever functions correctly again xD
Ooooooof, now I have a reason to buy a gpu. Thanks prime! I literally just bought this week's anbernic because of you. Hahah
That is really crazy tho. A mini PC doing that. Building an enclosure around the GPU, that would look so cool.
Always make sure that your Powersupply provides enough juice to power the GPU. Not meeting wattage requirements can trip overcurrent protection or fry the PSU if it doesn't have working safety mechanisms.
He has plenty as long as he doesn't go into rtx 70 territory 200w should be fine
Thanks for the indepth setup guide and the product links. In this way, these amd based mini PC's can be turned into a solid gaming rig. Would you please test it with some mini PC with desktop class apu like R7 4750GE or R5 4650GE? The performance should be Higher considering those CPUs have higher power limits.
I knew about this thing 2 years ago from techtablets channel.previously using this with my mi notebook air+gtx1060. Now on my 3400g asrock a300. No issues.
The 3060 lined up perfectly with the dock
Just sat down to take a shit and see this uploaded 30 seconds ago. Perfect timing!
😂😂😂
Yes
I hope you enjoyed your shit
@@AuroraAce. I'm shutting rn
And wipe phone no need washing
Nice, i love these EGPU solutions. Would there be a difference with thunderbolt, or is the M.2 x4 just as good?
When u can utilize x16 that'll be the day...but for used laptops with shit mobile gpu like old sager laptops with gtx 770m or old-school crap like that this method is cool
What's not cool?
Gpu price shit circus show going on now...buy your tickets!
This is a great option. Thanks for sharing
amazing never thought of this
That's so cool!
Now all I need is finding a gpu!
😢
It's bad out there, but not impossible. I get tips on inventory releases and managed to get a 3070 in my shopping cart, but didn't actually have the money, and had to abandon it (just wanted to see if the tip was accurate).
9:01 "Preparing automatic repair"
@@bland9876 he probably turned it off while it was running
@@bland9876 1. You start the PC, Windows is booting... 2. You turn it off while Windows is starting 3. Do this a few times 4. Enjoy automatic repair
@@bland9876 We are all just human beings
That's a nice workaround to put an eGPU, seems more portable.
seeing this reminded me for some reason of what some people are doing with their nintendo wii's, cutting the circuit board away and using just the smallest amount of board necesary connected to another board, in order to have portable games consoles that play all wii and GC games natively, in tiny form factors like 'altiods mint can', imagine having a M.2 graphics card, that is just a tall memory stick or something, that can play games at 1080p60hz med settings for most games.
How bout a Dual M.2 to PCIe Adapter for dual purpose.
"Dual purpose"?.... you mean dual GPU, like SLI/CrossFire. If so, I actually think running 2 identical adapters would work just fine, even adding an SLI bridge might work. Having an integrated adapter only makes sense if you want to combine 2 M.2's into a single x8 slot.
Closer and closer to a future where I don't need to have two separate computers anymore. Just need this with a nice convenient/accessible way to plug it in.
the nice and convenient way is thunderbolt, this implies opening your laptop every time you need to plug in....
@@_Digitalguy Yeah, if there is a thunderbolt dock that can supply power, ethernet, and eGPU that would be perfect for me. Currently already using a thunderbolt dock, but I've read that you can't plug an eGPU into the dock, because its just too much latency to the CPU
@@dalethepalemale6855 but is it a dock specifically made for eGPUs?
@@_Digitalguy No its a dock for power, ethernet, displayport, USB, etc. What I would like is to still have those features plus an eGPU, but currently its not possible I think.
@@dalethepalemale6855 It is possible. The Razer Core X Chroma has 100w power, 4 usb and ethernet. Display port is in the GPU itself, which sticks from the enclosure just like from a desktop (there are several, depending on the GPU, my 2070 super for instance has 3 + 1 HDMI)
Amazing 👏 thank you very much!
Please a video on chrome os in virtual box and your content and information is great and the way you explain i love it
PCIe gen 4 M.2 in a nutshell : I'M BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE WITH YOU ALL
This is very cool. What's not cool is when you spend $1500 on a laptop with Nvidia, then Nvidia decides to make your non removable video card obsolete and not update the drivers anymore.
So i bought an mini pc beelink u59 that has an new intel processor, thanks again to your video i know it will run nice with egpu.. just waiting it arrives
Very good! You save thousend of my money! Thanks a lot.
Now I just need to find a graphics card in stock.
It's definitely a clunky setup right now, but with this functionality in M.2, hopefully ease-of-use improvements are a few iterations away.
I hope they will make m.2 slot like an SD card slot.
Or you just pull that board from the laptop and put everything into a hand built case for a nice sleek package since it's not like people who do this will be removing the back plate to connect and disconnect just to take the laptop out of the house.
with a 50 cm cable you could get it off the desktop (its an option for the ADT set)
That is cool man!
if you can get pci-e gen4 X4 with this m.2 adapter you can actually destroy thunderbolt 3 4 and maby even thunderbolt 5 when it comes to a actual egpu like this setup. thanks eta for pointing out still the fastest egpu solution even if its not neat as a thunderbolt cable to a finished egpu box!
Manufactors should plan a specific space on the laptop side to easily access a these free port for extension, like an opening with a removable plastic part.
I know Intel can use Thunderbolt 3/4 but in the futur it might be awesome to directly access PCIe slot potentially higher than 4x.
Check out Asus flow x15
@@feeblemonster8174 thanks! Never saw it before.
Looks like a pciE + usb-c combo to have the GPU directly using pci-e and the I/O of the external case using usb-c.
Quiet nice concept, hope the idea expand to other model /brand.
@@LetsListenToMus1k
I now own a great gaming laptop that I plan to use for at least 7 years. I’m thinking of modding it in a way that would give me the option to quickly connect and disconnect a egpu to make it better in the future.
Yes they should just have an m2 port on the side of the laptop like you would with usb or thunderbolt.
I don’t understand why that isn’t done, I mean thunderbolt has its uses for things besides egpu set ups so why not add a pcie 4.0 4x m2 slot on the side just for that? I don’t want to fiddle with my laptop to do this, it’s a hassle and I don’t want to have to remove an ssd if I have two in there.
Simply give me a m2 port on the side. Also with this the internal gpu should be disconnected and that external m2 slot should be greater than 4x, that’s assuming the 4x limitation of m2 is from the cpu and not connector. If it’s the connector that’s fine but if not it should be greater than 4x.
It would be interesting to experiment and see how low you have to go with the GPU before the PCI 4 slot wasn’t to bottleneck?
Yes
I had no idea that device existed. It's amazing..
Very cool stuff 👍
That's cool! Now I can put all these gpus laying around into use.... :((((((
please do this with the chiwi larkbox really would be interesting :)
larkbox use sata
Great video!
Thanks for sharing !
Hi prime, let's say I'm using more powerful gpu, rtx3080, can i use 2 of that 220w dell power adaptor on the m.2 external graphic dock? Or is it meant to be equipped with 1 dell power adaptor only?
Not supported AND 2X isn't enough power even if it was
One only, I would personally just pick up a cheap 400 watt ATX PSU
Ok will do and thanks for the reply.
Is it possible to use the laptop display or it can only work with a monitor plugged directly to the gpu?
Yes it is but you need to configure it properly for this, you lose 15-25% performance, it's very buggy, but I did it for a couple years, get the shortest cord you can find. I tried to edit the dsdt but ended up going with egpu software from nandeva0 on eBay. It was unstable at any temperature above 40c but I could run a lot more games than what my Intel integrated supported.
That is supper cool this can be done.
What would be nice, is that laptop manufacturers offered external M.2 slot plug-ins on the side of their units
I just hoping to use the built in monitor for the laptop. Is it even possible?
there are ways to still use the gpu while routing the display through the onboard port/monitor sometimes. gonna take an fps or latency hit but it's been done before
Yes but it sends the video back over the same link so bandwidth can be an issue
They need to make one of these as a gaming box with intergrade psu. just to keep it all neat in one package. Maybe a flex psu to keep down the size.
I been wondering how to turn the $200 mini pcs without thunderbolt into discrete gpu capable units. Thanks man. You helped me. Now my truck mini pc will have discrete graphics so I can play some newer games
That is cool it can work on my Lenovo legion 5 that’s has a 2nd m.2 ssd slot
I already have this setup as a daily driver. Mini pc with i7 8750H from AliExpress, and this ADT Link also from AliExpress.
Been running for about 4 months now. I7 8750H and rx 570 combo. Great for daily task and "light" gaming 😁👌
Awesome! You used the exact same ADT? i bought an intel based i9 mini pc and seller tells me this cannot be done. But then it is possible on intel based too?
@@steinbauge4591 same ADT, but different mini PC. Mine is older version which had 2 m.2 slot and 1 HDD slot but fewer usb slot and a weaker CPU.
So I still can use nvme SSD and ADT link simultaneously. And yes, it's still working today !
@@ero-samairianto625 Great! Thanks for answering. Now my storage slots are SATA but there are setups for ordinary pcie mini ports. Only works with some 'moderate' gpu like GTX 1080.
@@ero-samairianto625 Thx again, this was useful input as the seller now informs me the 2 slots I have are NVME, 1 also supports SATA. Seems their techs just assumed egpu was not possible on this one (ofc an assumption that potentially loses them business)
Would be funny if you could use it on sbc/pi. Too bad we can't, at least not yet.
A hat to add m.2 to the pi seems to exist.
Btw if anyone is interested, Jeff geerling did a video about this very thing a few days ago.
@@bland9876 ayyy you have the same name as me
I love the fact that you are always looking into do some nice connections, with anything possible!!! I like that. Many blessings bru!!!
This is very interesting I have a mini PC with a 5th generation Ryzen 5 and it plays great but I need a little bit more gpu power to play some games more smoothly
This'll give a second life/purpose to a lot of units purchased as pandemic stopgap solutions.
Anything that denies these silicon gangsters more revenue is golden in my book.
Test it with Ubuntu, please.
Exp GDC pcie adapter .. we used that for decades now its not a thing.. but still a good way to go since that was my first setup
M.2 port is for internal components of a laptop, there is a limitation to plug the GPU externally, still it works deliver great graphics performance.
Next: Add A Graphic Card to Your two-way pager!
You miss a very importend Information it only work with M.2 NVME Slot an not M.2 SATA Port, I think you the normal user this information is helpful.
Yeah too many people use the word M2 and don't realize that some people don't know that M2 can also be SATA
100% appreciate your video. Im pestering minisforum to add a 2nd nvme to this model.
My objective is to add a sfp+ 10gbe network card, 2x 2.5" drives in raid 1 and 1 nvme cache and have it be a mini low power NAS
Question, curious how much power the dell adapter is using at idle from the wall
RX 570/580 would also be a good shout. My RX 580 8GB at stock rarely hits over 135w, unless stress tested.
If you can pick one up cheap these days. But for that first type of PC, might be sweet with that Dell PSU.
What is the GPU performance difference between using the "M.2" slot and directly connecting to "PCIe" slot on the Motherboard on a normal PC?
Usually the M.2 slot is more limited in bandwidth which can prevent the GPU from reaching full performance.
@@ants288 well back in the day this solution much more limited bandwidth because it only have mSATA version 5Gb/s slot
Dremel.
You can just cut a slot in the bottom cover panel of a laptop, nearly the size of a cooling vent slit.
the issue is that if you carry your laptop around a hole big enough to conveniently plug this is is going to leave part of the internals exposed
@@_Digitalguy Seems like a good idea to 3d print a custom dust cover for that hole.
1.) Did you use the Dell DA-2 USFF power supply with the RTX 3060?
2.) If so, did you have to perform any manual or software based power limiting?
3.) If not, what ATX power supply did you use?
4.) Does the Dell DA-2 USFF power supply come with the necessary 8-pin adapter cable?
5.) If not, would you please provide a link to the cable that you used in your video?
Your videos are inspiring me so much that i buyed an laptop intel iris xe samsung book x35 and it has m.2 slot so i can put eGpu on future.
Thank you, please bring some Iris Xe on your future videos too. Mine is 1135g7