GPU for old laptop

[ILI-BIG]

Hi. I have Toshiba Satellite P305-S8915 with Core 2 Extreme X9100 8GB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 3650. I want to play old and less demanding games. I found exp gdc expresscard for installing desktop GPU in laptop. But what GPU should i use?

 

[MidnightStars]

Honestly, I do not think you could play anything outside of browser or Flash games with that CPU. Even with a 4090, it will get severely bottlenecked by that CPU. Your best bet would be to do what you can with it for what it is.

[ILI-BIG]

5 minutes ago, MidnightStars said:

it will get severely bottlenecked by that CPU.

X9100 have great performance for older games.

[johnno23]

you might be lucky finding some older second hand parts for it but they are from a laptop released in 2008. 

So risks are involved as it could be a case of "buy and pray" that any compatible graphics options even work.

I like that you are trying to breathe a little extra life into old hardware to make it usable but reading some reviews it was a very mediocre laptop on release and even CNET stated spend more for better on other brands.

 If that gdc expresscard is cheap enough I would still stick to using a GPU from around the same period. However you might need to research things. Many laptops have an extremely limited bios and communication with the GPU might be problematic. 

Personally I find it difficult to define at what point it makes sense or is simply a waste of money. However if you fall into the category of Hobby project and fun and have the funds to play around with such solutions it would be negative of me to say don't do it. I can only say if the items are affordable and you can achieve your goal then financial costs are secondary. 

[ILI-BIG]

I bought this laptop in 2009. It still performing quite well. It way better than today's dual core laptop without hyperthreading. 

[ILI-BIG]

I think GTX 1050 Ti best option. More powerful GPU will not increase performance because of PCIe 1X

[ILI-BIG]

 

On 6/13/2023 at 6:41 PM, 8tg said:

The cost of a gpu, psu and expresscard adapter as a whole will cost more than just buying a used mobile workstation 

Shipping will cost more than used laptop's price