ATARI VCS meets Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB Graphics

[Rob Merritt]

Glad someone did this. I was seriously thinking about it and now I don't have to.

[hoagtech]

This is the reason I joined these forums. Congratulations on your external GPU work btw. 

 

A couple of questions for this noob. 

 

Are you using a standard EGPU external enclosure? 

 

Do you give up access to wifi or is their a way to bridge the PIC -e to allow both? 

 

You mentioned 4 lanes of bandwidth. Is this bottle necking the potential of the external GPU?

 

IF the External is unplugged, will the VCS still function or do you need to replug the power source back into the VCS instead of the external PSU? 

 

Do you use a Pico psu or a full size ATX to power your card and are you powering both the console and the card with the external GPU? 

 

Finally. Are their wire routes to fully enclose your VCS after connections? 

 

Sorry for Askhole blast but color me intrigued to say the least... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andymanone]

On 2/4/2022 at 7:42 PM, hoagtech said:

This is the reason I joined these forums. Congratulations on your external GPU work btw. 

 

A couple of questions for this noob. 

 

Are you using a standard EGPU external enclosure? 

 

Do you give up access to wifi or is their a way to bridge the PIC -e to allow both? 

 

You mentioned 4 lanes of bandwidth. Is this bottle necking the potential of the external GPU?

 

IF the External is unplugged, will the VCS still function or do you need to replug the power source back into the VCS instead of the external PSU? 

 

Do you use a Pico psu or a full size ATX to power your card and are you powering both the console and the card with the external GPU? 

 

Finally. Are their wire routes to fully enclose your VCS after connections? 

Hi Hoagtech,

 

sorry for delayed answer, but I´ll try to respond all your question as good as possible:

 

1. No, I have used the card without housing.

2. I don't do without WIFI directly, I just use a commercial USB mini dongle for WIFI/BT instead. 

3. 4 lanes: Yes this limits the performance, but it is still amazingly good

4. no, anyway I wouldn't risk that, because the GPU then takes power only from the VCS and the VCS doesn't provide enough.
The VCS and the GPU are each powered separately

5. I use a full ATX power supply, because the GTX 1060 consumes up to about 130Watt, a Pico-PSU can't do that or only with difficulty.

6. the GPU-DOCK HDMI to NGFF M.2 cable is very thin, you could lead it out of the VCS case without much modification

I hope I could help you a bit to answer your questions...

 

Cheers.,

andY

[marss]

Can you do a video, please ?

[andymanone]

On 2/9/2022 at 10:58 PM, marss said:

Can you do a video, please ?

Hi marss,

 

the system is currently not installed, so it would be a big effort to rebuild all and make a video.

 

But what are your specific questions?  Maybe I can answer them this way....

 

Cheers,

andY

[marss]

Hi and thanks for replying,

A video would be interesting for realizing the impact of an EGPU on games benchmarks  

[hoagtech]

It finally clicked and I was able to comprehend the whole dock station setup. 

 

I was rummaging through my old business PC's and found a PNY GTX 1060 6GB OC and robbed a 600w ATX power supply from it. 

 

 

 

I have this lo-pro Wi-fi bluetooth usb as my router is close by: 

 

 

I bought this configuration of Beast EXP 8.5 with NGFF HDMI connector. 

 

 

I'm wondering the benefit of the NGFF over the standard m.2 NVME port to HDMI connector used for our internal SSD. I feel like it be less "dongly" not using a Wi-fi bluetooth usb adapter. 

 

I received my recommended 32GB 3200 mhz ram in today and will be able to test the Egpu dock in the next few days when it arrives. 

 

Fingers crossed 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by hoagtech

[hoagtech]

I did a little more research and it seems that having the Dell 220w DA-2 USFF PSU as a cord would make for a much cleaner setup akin to the Xbox PSU. 

 

 

I looked up the Peak wattage of the 1060 OC at 179 watts so it should fit the bill for the bulky power cord. 

 

 

The problem I have is I cannot find the 8 Pin to 8 Pin and 6 Pin to output from my Dock to external power input on my GPU. 

 

and the combo I bought only has the power input from ATX supply. 

 

Does anyone know where to buy the 6 pin to 8 and 6 pin Beast output adapter for the Beast?

 

 

I would like to use the Dell cord because I plan on using this Beast case and reinforcing it with L brackets and nut bolt sets. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by hoagtech

[hoagtech]

I guess I cant edit and add to my post.. 

 

I found the Beast output connector. It was a pain and google did not like my search queries on this one.. 

 

They stopped including this cable in the beast eGpu kits years ago for some reason.. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Cable-Laptop-External-Independent/dp/B07P8VD11J

 

With this. I can power the 1060 with a power block and a single cord coming from the Atari. 

 

 

[hoagtech]

Happy day guys. 

 

I finally received my Beast dock and was able to install the NGFF connector inside the case.. 

 

First I had detach the grill clip in the back vent. Ran my cord through and snipped and 1/16" path. 

 

 

 

After re-casing. I have a cute little "GPU tail" 

 

 

 

I'm still waiting on the Beast output cord so I can run my Dell power brick instead of my 600w ATX. Ill be sure to update when I receive it and the eGPU case. But I love the thought of  A single cord going to the GPU and a single cord going to the Atari.. So this is what the setup will look like when it arrives 

 

 

Until then. Here is my ATX setup working in my adorable but powerful Atari VCS..

 

 

I'm proud to rock the VCS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by hoagtech

[marss]

So nice?

[Clint Thompson]

It looks like these are out of stock out, with the dock.

 

any suitable 3rd party places to find one? I’m in the U.S. though 

 

**EDIT: will this do the trick?

 

 https://www.newegg.com/p/0DS-01NH-00065

Edited May 31, 2022 by Clint Thompson

[andymanone]

15 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:

It looks like these are out of stock out, with the dock.

 

any suitable 3rd party places to find one? I’m in the U.S. though 

 

**EDIT: will this do the trick?

 

 https://www.newegg.com/p/0DS-01NH-00065

Yes, seems to be the proper one...

 

Cheers,

andY

[digitalbilly]

can you confirm that dual display works?

[Thanone]

On 1/21/2021 at 11:15 AM, andymanone said:

Hi guys,

 

like promised, here is my first successful PoC, connecting a NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB to the ATARI VCS ?.

The monitor is directly connectet to the HDMI GTX Port and it works fine and for the very first test, 

better than accepted ?.)

 

I´ve tested it with a PALIT KalmX GTX 1050 TI 4GB and a Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, which I just had at hand,

but it should works of course with other/newer PCIe cards too.

 

Each graphic cards are properly recognized at boot time and works well, as far as I can see....

 

(See some Screenshot attached)

 

Cheers,

andY

 

 

 

absolutely INSANE love it, keep up the good work.👍