External GPU options for laptop

ver01@ · 22 Oct 2018 at 13:39

Used one a couple of years ago with a Mac and seemed to be more than enough for casual gaming. Work laptop however is a Dell and I was wondering if I can connect it to an external graphics card when at home. Looking at port options it seems to have USB3, HDMI and Display port.

MiSJAH · 22 Oct 2018 at 16:16

ver01@ said:
Used one a couple of years ago with a Mac and seemed to be more than enough for casual gaming. Work laptop however is a Dell and I was wondering if I can connect it to an external graphics card when at home. Looking at port options it seems to have USB3, HDMI and Display port.

USB3 doesn't have the throughput for a eGPU, you would need Thunderbolt 3 as a minimum.

ver01@ · 22 Oct 2018 at 20:50

USB-C?

ver01@ · 5 Nov 2018 at 12:45

Got one with TB3 so will give it a try.

Psycho Sonny · 5 Nov 2018 at 13:55

ver01@ said:
Got one with TB3 so will give it a try.

what did you go for in the end? I have a spare 1070 and looking for an EGPU thing to dick it into.

i have USB-C which I think is just another name for thunderbolt. it's all very confusing tbh the difference between them as they are the same port.

ver01@ · 5 Nov 2018 at 14:08

Got a HP omen accelerator. Expected it to be smaller TBH but it's ok. Have just installed the card (1060) and sorting out drivers etc on the laptop.

Psycho Sonny · 5 Nov 2018 at 15:40

ver01@ said:
Got a HP omen accelerator. Expected it to be smaller TBH but it's ok. Have just installed the card (1060) and sorting out drivers etc on the laptop.

Don't think I'll bother. They are all quite expensive and tbh I'd never really use it. The game I want to play will likely run on integrated anyway just with low settings.

ver01@ · 5 Nov 2018 at 15:50

It does work and I now I don't have to buy a dock for the laptop which would have been at least £50. In my case it was a saving as I don't need the desktop any more and have sold most parts already.

ver01@ · 6 Nov 2018 at 22:34

Really impressed with the transformation. From playing at 768p at low detail and 30fps to 1440p high detail and 60fps. The only thing is that I can hear a fan while previously my setup was silent as the laptop is fanless.

willhub · 7 Nov 2018 at 12:52

Is all USB-C Thunderbolt? I had a USB to USB-C adaptor and plugged an external HDD into USB-C, it performed slower than USB 3.0?

hardkore · 7 Nov 2018 at 21:00

Thunderbolt and usb type C use the same connection but both are different beasts.

ver01@ · 7 Nov 2018 at 21:47

It is usb-c without any adaptors. Is there any way i can test the speed of the connection without installing a hard disk in the Accelerator?

ver01@ · 10 Nov 2018 at 08:02

From some quick benchmarks it seems that the GPU is underperforming by 15-20% when using the external monitor. Not sure how much of that is related to the CPU difference between the desktop and laptop (i7 4770 vs m7) but seems a good compromise.