How fast is mini PCI Express?

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Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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Also, how does it compare to a full sized PCI express in terms of data rate (bandwidth)?

Bonus question, is there a SIMPLE way to figure out how much bandwidth a GPU will require?

Is a mini PCIe adequately quick enough to use a GPU as a peripheral?

Finally, is there any way to make a mini PCIe work fast enough to be as good performance as a GPU on PCIe 8x or 16x, like a super fast cable or something?
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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OK, I thought so. Thanks for your help with that. But how fast does data need to travel to and from a GPU? I know there are a lot of variables, but roughly, are we talking 5gb/s, 10gb/s, 40 or more? Realistically does any cable other than thunderbolt work to a good standard? My laptop doesn't have thunderbolt :(
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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OK, so 32GB/s Max is fine for almost all CPU's to run off, and from what I've seen 8x seems to show very little difference in performance so 16GB/s bi directional is fine. This means 8GB/s per direction.

1GB/s (which I believe my laptop uses as its rather modern) compared to the average rate of 8GB/s doesn't sound promising to me, but does this mean I'd only be getting an eighth of my moneys worth with a card?
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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Anyone second what TJ hooker said? That doesn't sound too bad to me... would bandwidth issues cause stuttering, like a blood clot when a blood vessel is too narrow? Or will it be steady just not as powerful?
 

bignastyid

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Mini pci-e is mainly used in things like laptops and all in ones, but there are desktop boards (usually itx) that have them. They are maiy used for wireless cards. There are 1x pci-e video cards but they are fairly low end models due to bandwidth limitations. The op is looking at using an external gpu.

 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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I want to connect a GPU to my laptop via a mini PCI to PCIe adapter. So I was just wondering as I've heard it done before, but I'm nervous about putting the money and effort into it as I'm not sure if mini PCIe will cut it. I've heard time and time again that bandwidth is an issue so hence why I'm asking this.

I don't want to buy a GPU and not feel any performance benefit. I don't have a thunderbolt port either which would have been ideal.
 

k1114

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He is trying to do an egpu and has 2.0 not 3.0. This is going to be lower than 1.1 x4 and puts it to about 60% of the gpu. If you get a 980, you'll get about a 960 performance and that can still play high or ultra at 1080p depending on the game.
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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I think I'll take the plunge anand do it, my friend has a 960 and if I can get that kind of performance and still keep my laptop I'm onboard! Just wondering, would this work good with an R9 390? I love the strix design and specs seemed promising. Will I have BIOS issues?
 

TJ Hooker

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Apr 15, 2014
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Maybe this is stupid of me to say, as you probably already know this, but just in case:
You're going to need to buys a PSU to power the external graphics card (will potentially need to paperclip the mobo power connector to trick it into turning on). You'll also need an external display.
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
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I'm not sure what you mean Sprados, are you suggesting I buy fans? It should be well ventilated enough, its not even with the rest of the components so shouldn't overheat.

My mistake, I didn't read the bottom paragraph, is that so? Which GPU would you suggest? I prefer AMD over NVIDIA because everyone seems to use nvidia. I intend to keep the card for a later desktop build too.
 

Charlie A

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Mar 20, 2016
57
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4,580
Hi TJ Hooker, where u been all these years? Jpking aside, im aware of the PSU, but what's this about the mobo? I wasn't sure about an external display, I mean I have one, but is it a necessity? Can't you just use the laptop screen as an output?
 

bignastyid

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If you are running a mobile apu like k1114 posted getting a high end gpu will be a waste of money. Of it its already half crippled from the 1x bus the slow cpu will hamper it aswell. With an old 5000 series apu you should go for something like a gtx 950, and still cant garantee you see it's full potential.
 

k1114

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He has a Lenovo G505S. I've already mentioned that the apu would be a bottleneck.

Nvidia cards are less tdp but that should not be a problem with an egpu. Since sprados is saying to stick the gpu into the laptop's pcie, I don't think he understands that laptops don't have pcie and that this is an egpu setup.

I thought you were aware that you needed an external monitor. Optimus with nvidia could use the laptop's display but you are then creating more of a bottleneck with sending the video back to the laptop. It can also be finicky to get to work.

This is just becoming a mess. Are you sure you can't just sell that laptop, add the money you'd spend on the psu+gpu+adapter and get a laptop with a better gpu? In many cases this nets you better performance since you don't have bottlenecks and you don't have the hassle of setting it up.
 
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