External laptop GPU

[Exia 00]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and I was looking for some advice from anyone who may have used this equipment before - http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

 

I have just purchased a Lenovo G500 laptop which comes with a i3 3110m processor and 4GB ddr3 ram and a AMD 8570m GPU for when i'm out and about, however I found the item above and i'm curious to see how well it would work. It seems you have to attach the PCIe device to your mini PCI slot inside the laptop and then attach the GPU (AMD r280x for example) into the external PCIe slot with a power supply.

 

I have a desktop gaming rig which has served me well for years, however if this device works as well as it says it does, I may retire the desktop and use this untill I can built a far better mATX rig.

 

What do you guys think? Is it worth the experiment?

 

I already have a spare PSU to run the device and GPU and the AMD r280x is waiting to be purchased to replace my old HD6890, so even if this doesn't work, it will go into the desktop rig.

 

It would be cool if this was reviewed by the Linus Tech Team so we can all get a good idea if this is worth the £36.00 price tag

[Delphi1662]

As far as I know the egpu solution runs on 1x (2x if you use a expresscard with the mpcie) but this shouldnt affect the 280x much, and you'd need to disable the onboard gpu drivers. If your using the mpcie your also practically bolting the laptop to your desk imo since to take it with you youd need to unscrew the cable from your laptop 

[lani100]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and I was looking for some advice from anyone who may have used this equipment before - http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

 

I have just purchased a Lenovo G500 laptop which comes with a i3 3110m processor and 4GB ddr3 ram and a AMD 8570m GPU for when i'm out and about, however I found the item above and i'm curious to see how well it would work. It seems you have to attach the PCIe device to your mini PCI slot inside the laptop and then attach the GPU (AMD r280x for example) into the external PCIe slot with a power supply.

 

I have a desktop gaming rig which has served me well for years, however if this device works as well as it says it does, I may retire the desktop and use this untill I can built a far better mATX rig.

 

What do you guys think? Is it worth the experiment?

 

I already have a spare PSU to run the device and GPU and the AMD r280x is waiting to be purchased to replace my old HD6890, so even if this doesn't work, it will go into the desktop rig.

 

It would be cool if this was reviewed by the Linus Tech Team so we can all get a good idea if this is worth the £36.00 price tag

For that price it's worth a shot imo.

But there's a large document which can be found online to check if your laptop is compatible.

[Exia 00]

As far as I know the egpu solution runs on 1x (2x if you use a expresscard with the mpcie) but this shouldnt affect the 280x much, and you'd need to disable the onboard gpu drivers. If your using the mpcie your also practically bolting the laptop to your desk imo since to take it with you youd need to unscrew the cable from your laptop 

 

Yes i have to get the mPCIe version as the G500 doesn't have an express card port, however Once i have the laptop and checked out the space inside, I'm thinking of finding a way of extending one of the mPCIe ports via a HDMI port and place it on the side of the laptop, if thats possible anyway. That way I can unplug the laptop a ot easier than taking the back off.

 

For that price it's worth a shot imo.

But there's a large document which can be found online to check if your laptop is compatible.

 

Thanks, I managed to find a list but only for the laptops that have been confirmed working by customers. Mind you, there were at least 5 different Lenovo laptops shown to be working, so hopefully mine is too.

[Delphi1662]

Yes i have to get the mPCIe version as the G500 doesn't have an express card port, however Once i have the laptop and checked out the space inside, I'm thinking of finding a way of extending one of the mPCIe ports via a HDMI port and place it on the side of the laptop, if thats possible anyway. That way I can unplug the laptop a ot easier than taking the back off.

Also remember that you are most likely going to sacrifice the wifi card for this unless your laptop has 2 of these. 

I'd love to know how feasable this is as well as if the onboard gpu will work like before after you unplug since in some of the instructions I've seen them ask you to uninstall the original drivers I just want to know if the new drivers will kick in for the laptop screen when you unplug it 

[Exia 00]

Also remember that you are most likely going to sacrifice the wifi card for this unless your laptop has 2 of these. 

I'd love to know how feasable this is as well as if the onboard gpu will work like before after you unplug since in some of the instructions I've seen them ask you to uninstall the original drivers I just want to know if the new drivers will kick in for the laptop screen when you unplug it 

 

I think i'm lucky, this laptop has bluetooth installed which is normally connected to a second mPCIe port, so this would be better to lose than wifi i suppose. I think i'm gonna get this and see how well it works. Looks like it might be a good idea to build an enclosure to contain the PSU, GPU and board together, that could be fun to design.