Is It Possible to Run a Desktop GPU On a Laptop?

[ShadowValentine]

I don't know if this is the right section, but it involves graphic cards, so I'm gonna run with it. I've heard there's some sort of accessory that can be used to run a desktop GPU on a laptop? A friend of mine has a Toshiba Satellite C665 (http://m.mytoshiba.com.au/web/products/details.aspx?p=4717&d=specifications&state=&n=true) which has decent specs but a shoddy graphics card. Would it be possible to run a desktop GPU on this laptop, and if so how?

 

[jaqie]

There are very expensive e34/e54 to pcie adapters with housing, but e34 and e54 are pcie x1 v1 slots, so the performance would only be better than say, intel gma960 or so. That has a discrete video card already built into the system (contradiction in terms, blech)... and no e34/e54 slot either, so I'm afraid your friend is stuck with that until they switch to another laptop.

 

[wilds]

I just read this article:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...harges-macbook-air-graphics-performance-by-7x

Thunderbolt 2.0 seems to have helped but the PCIe x4 is bottlenecking the GPU. There is no good 3rd party accessory that is affordable to yet; especially for this particular laptop.

Cheap solution: Overclock the GT 315M and hope that you can manage a decent FPS boost.
I would recommend MSI Afterburner since it usually has higher clocks unlocked. Upgrading to the most recent drivers from NVIDIA/Geforce can help too.

I would tell your friend that if he wants to game to sell his laptop, save his money, and build a desktop, OR buy a laptop with a decent GPU.

 

[Greenlepricon]

I just read this article:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...harges-macbook-air-graphics-performance-by-7x

Thunderbolt 2.0 seems to have helped but the PCIe x4 is bottlenecking the GPU. There is no good 3rd party accessory that is affordable to yet; especially for this particular laptop.

Cheap solution: Overclock the GT 315M and hope that you can manage a decent FPS boost.
I would recommend MSI Afterburner since it usually has higher clocks unlocked. Upgrading to the most recent drivers from NVIDIA/Geforce can help too.

I would tell your friend that if he wants to game to sell his laptop, save his money, and build a desktop, OR buy a laptop with a decent GPU.

I really don't recommend OC'ing laptops. It can be really dangerous and I doubt you'll see a 10% boost without hitting thermal limits.

The best advice IMO is don't try to turn a laptop into an investment for more than casual gaming. Hooking up a full out gpu is way more expensive than just building a cheap desktop, and will not get you nearly the same performance.