Why don't external GPUs exist?

[Tommy B]

This just struck me when I ordered an external sound card for my new laptop as the built-in sound was awful.

How come they don't do this with graphics? Hell, I'd happily pay £400 for an external GPU if it turned my laptop into a gaming machine.

As it happens, the graphics card is the one thing letting me new laptop down. It's an 8400M GT which I thought would be up to the job in most games but it does struggle.

Before people say there'd be no point, I strongly, strongly disagree. It would give notebook users the option for portability, but power at their desk.

 

[Tommy B]

I prefer Laptops. I absolutely love this laptop to bits. I don't see why you'd want a desktop PC and a huge monitor for browsing OCUK/viewing holiday snaps/ordering DVDs/listening to music etc

Unfortunately, I've paid the price. For the £1299 I paid for this laptop, I could have got an awesome gaming machine, but I get so much satisfaction from the laptop and it is extremely fast and powerful in everything it does except graphics. It's also completely silent which is really, well, relaxing to be quite honest. It's nice just to sit up at night and browse these forums in silence without it sounding like they're filming the texas chainsaw massacre simultaneously.

The other thing is it's convenient. I can shove my lappy in a case, take it down to my mates, and we can have a good lan/internet game of UT2004. I wish we could do this with the newer games but it simply isn't powerful enough. Anyways, I'm off to Uni in September. Who knows what'll happen. I might ditch it and meet some guys who can show me how to assemble a PC myself, or I might sell it on and buy a better one when the technology comes available. I'd love to get my paws on Crysis though, which will be impossible with this laptop.