Are there any external graphics accelerators?

[Berryracer]

I've never heard of one, but my friend at work told me that if you have a laptop with average graphics capabilities, that they sell a device which you connect via USB to your laptop and it gives you superior graphics

is there such a thing?

 

[HeXen]

no. I know they make one that allows you to use 3 monitors from a laptop, perhaps that is what he is referring to. Otherwise, a USB graphics card would be very low power plus the latency, I don't think it could work if they tried without some kind of special high speed port designed for it.

There is this:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/04/amds-ati-xgp-external-laptop-graphics-platform-goes-legit/

 

[KingFatty]

Yes, there are some options to get powerful GPU performance externally:

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/107589.aspx#imgn_0

You can get external PCIe boards that interface with the laptop via a cable, then plug a traditional GPU into that expansion board. Haven't looked into this recently, but it's a thing to consider. Also may interface over higher bandwidth connections than USB 2.0, so you can get good performance.

 

[Emulex]

Thunderbolt,displayport (can chain several displays), expresscard, usb 3.0, usb 2.0,wifi apps.

Workstation/Server - nvidia sells an external case and network bridge to house 2 - 4 quadro cards in its own chassis.

Many options!

Latency? You probably wouldn't game hardcore off external solutions. would suck. even TB is latent due to immature drivers. Fine for design but latency might not be so critical