Looking for any advice on an external graphics card for my laptop

[duckslayer]

have a laptop with:
Intel core i7-6500U @ 2.50HT 2.59 GHz
Ram 12 GB
System type 64 bit, x64 based processor

I would like to get an external graphics card instead of purchasing a new gaming computer. Can anyone offer me any suggestions or tell me if it is or isn't a good idea with the laptop have?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

Depends. Your mileage may vary.
I will assume this current laptop doesn't have a dedicated GPU.
The processor inside that laptop is fine if you are looking at performance similar to an older budget gaming PC.
I would say your best purchase for an external GPU is to get an older GPU on the cheap that will be a match performance wise for that CPU.

Something like a 750ti or a 1050 2GB. (not a 1050ti, unless you are willing to pay the little bit extra for one.)

You of course would also need to invest into the eGPU adapter, whether it's just a PCIe adapter to plug it in and you buy a basic PSU to power it or you get an all in one option.

Otherwise, if you feel inclined to invest about $800 - $1,000 you can get a nice and affordable modern gaming laptop that will last you for quite a long while as long as you take care of it and do proper regular maintenance with keeping the entire cooling system free of dust build up to avoid overheating, throttling and overall the degradation of the hardware inside of it.

I can't recommend any sort of eGPU solution since I don't have the slightest clue as to what laptop you have and therefore I don't know what kind of connectivity solutions it offers for using an eGPU.

But as for a budget gaming laptop, I can refer you to these two different posts that will tell you what offerings are available and give you pros and cons to them to help you decide on one.

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/sub-1000-gaming-laptops

http://www.ign.com/articles/the-best-cheap-gaming-laptops

 

[photonboy]

Thunderbolt or USB3 Type C connector?

Unless you have a high-speed connector there's no point going down this road. Even then you would need to investigate what is the maximum graphics card you can get before the bandwidth bottleneck kicks in.

MOST laptops don't have a sufficiently fast connection.

PCIe adapter?
I'm not clear on where that would plug in to a laptop.
https://trickiknow.com/external-graphics-card-for-laptop-egpu-setup-guide/

Some mPCIe slots are INSIDE the laptop.

Anyway, to be clear some of these methods are far too slow. Like ExpressCard slot likely.

Screen?
Does this method require an external monitor or can it send a signal back to the laptop screen?

Links: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2984716/laptop-computers/how-to-transform-your-laptop-into-a-gaming-powerhouse-with-an-external-graphics-card.html