Running an E-GPU on linux

Support Graphics & Display
1

Good morning,

An E-GPU means external graphic processor unit. Its vocation is to connect in general to a laptop without a dedicated GPU to increase its computing power tenfold, whether in 3D modeling or in-game. With the democratization of the Thunderbolt protocol, became possible to connect this kind of device to any computer diposant of this connection. Seeing the prohibitive prices of E-GPU all done (exceeding 600 EUR) while the graphics card is not even included I set out to make a DIY. With the help of a dedicated electronic board (TH3P4G3) SFX power supply, fans, soldering, 3D printing and a GTX 1660 bought second hand, I was able to reproduce this device fully functional at least on Windows. My computer supposed to host the device is a Framework Laptop 13 with 4 thundebolt ports. By connecting the device the board is well detected. I was able with the Manjaro control panel to install nvidia drivers with the automatic installation function of propritetary drivers. The concern is that when I play a game, the performances suggest that the APU is used. Not the GTX 1660. Under windows I could manage this kind of parameter in the nvidia control panel. It also allowed me to eject the graphics processor cleanly. I have no idea how to generate this kind of parameter on windows.

Thanks in advance for the help.

2

The same control panel exist with Manjaro

3

I was not a current. Is there a particular program to install or it is in the system settings ?

4

may you post the output of

inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --width

make sure the egpu is connected

5

It is installed when you install the driver…

nvidia-settings

If not then install using

sudo pacman -S nvidia-settings
6

You need to format your post, so that it will be readable !

What you provide so far is a wall of text :wink:

Welcome to Manjaro! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

  1. Please read the information behind this link. It will help you to post necessary information.
  1. Please press the three dots … below your post and then press the :pencil2:
  • If you give us information about your system, we can see what we’re talking about and make better suggestions.
  • You can do this by using inxi in a terminal or in console.
sudo inxi --admin --verbosity=8 --filter --no-host --width --repos
  • Personally identifiable information such as serial numbers and MAC addresses are filtered out by this command
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  1. Copy the output from inxi (including the command) and paste it into your post.
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Have you already :mag: for your problem in the forum ? (Wisdom lies in asking → listening → reading :wink: )

7

The best place to start is the Arch Wiki: External GPU - ArchWiki

Without knowing exactly what software stack you’re using I can’t point you at the exact place to look, but it’s all fairly clear and well documented.