External Graphics Card Help

radiantjet

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Jun 14, 2013
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Hello! This summer I am enbarking on a project of mass complication, of which I have no experience.

I am trying to build an external graphics card for my laptop. I know, I would much rather purchase a desktop, but I am stuck with what I have.

My Specs:

Model: Asus u56e
Ram: 6gb
Graphics card: Integrated Intel hd 3000
Operating system: Windows 7 home premium.
Processor: Intel Core i5-2430m CPU @2.40GHz (4 CPUs)

So, First of all, is this even possible to do on integrated graphics?

Also, I found this website: http://www.techradar.com/us/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/how-to-make-an-external-laptop-graphics-adaptor-915616

I am a little confused on the parts I will be needing to buy. What card do I get? Cooling system? Cords?

And is this a problem that I could go to the nerds at best buy and have them help me out?

Thanks in advance and I look forward to your answers!












 
Since you don't have a PCMCIA slot or a thunderbolt port, you are kind of out of luck. The only other way you can do this is by disconnecting your wireless adapter and using that pci express x1 slot. The problem is since it is only a x1 slot the bandwidth is vary limited and you probably won't be able to use a good enough video card to justify doing this.

The people at best buy will have no idea about any of this.
 
Thanks for the reply Zenkor! According to this website: http://forum.notebookreview.com/e-gpu-external-graphics-discussion/418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html#firststeps

3. If don't have an ExpressCard slot. Can I still do use a eGPU?

Yes, if have an accessible mini PCIe (mPCIe) slot via the underside covers that works with your wifi card, as show here, then could use a PE4L-PM3N or PE4H-PM3N mPCIe setup. The example Dell XPS15 L502, Acer 1810TZ, HP 2510P and Lenovo X61T below all use a PM3N mPCIe-based eGPU.

NOTE: WWAN mPCIe slots with only USB pins connected (pin 36+38) rather than PCIe pins (23, 25, 33, 35) cannot do a eGPU.

USB-to-ExpressCard adapters cannot be used since they uses just the 480Mbps USB pins on an ExpressCard slot.

mini PCI slots can't be used. Can see the difference between mini PCI and mini PCIe here.

Would this mean there is a slot INSIDE of my laptop? Would this replace the wifi card and disable the internet connection?
 
Yes it would involve removing your internal wireless adapter, at which point you would have to get an external usb adapter to use wifi. Yes this is inside your laptop directly attached to your motherboard.