Should a eGPU be used to make a laptop VR ready?

[Presper]

I've recently bought a Rift VR headset, however when I tried to install it today the HDMI wouldn't connect to my Laptop. I've discovered that it doesn't have a dedicated port to the graphics card, making VR impossible. So I'm wondering what eGPU would be the most cost effective and most compatible with my Laptop to make it VR ready.

The laptop is a ASUS GL753VE the specs are here

I've so far found a few
PowerColor Thunderbolt 3 eGFX Enclosure Model GAMING STATION
This seems to be the best, I only question if there are better options
ASUS External Graphics Card Dock Model ROG XG STATION 2
This is made by ASUS, but it doesn't seem to be compatible. And its quite expensive.
Akitio Node - Thunderbolt™ 3 eGPU macOS High Sierra and Windows compatible
This one is cheapest, but it doesn't have much info. Might be too good to be true.

I also have a few questions regarding this.
-Would this increase my laptop's graphical capability due to there being 2 GPUs?
-Would this investment make my Laptop more future proof in regards to a GPU?
-Are there any other methods to make a Laptop such as mine VR ready?
-Would this venture be a waste of money? Should I just return my headset?

 

[Grubbernaught]

This is going to be expensive.

You are going to have to purchase a gfx card to put into that enclosure and I would recommend nothing less that a 1070 although you could get away with a 1060 6gb in a pinch or AMD equivalent (580+?).

Looks like your laptop has a dedicated 1050ti which probably doesn't quite have the grunt for VR, but I am very surprised that it will not run at all from the hdmi port.

I am sure you should be getting some output to it.

Are you sure it is all connected correctly?

I can run both the vive and rift from my laptop integrated ports (Gigabyte P57) that has a dedicated 1070 along with the Intel integrated gfx in much the same way your laptop should.

However should you go the eGPU route, it will definitely improve all round gaming performance (dependent on what card you install).

It won't act as a multi-gpu setup but will just run as a single faster gpu bypassing the onboard stuff.

As you will be able to upgrade the card in enclosure it will definitely make it more future proof, but as stated above, this is going to be a costly venture.

 

[Justinus]

IIRC on laptops with Nvidia Optimus, the display outputs are routed through the iGPU to allow the seamless switching. VR won't work because the display output is not directly from the dGPU.

 

[Grubbernaught]

IIRC on laptops with Nvidia Optimus, the display outputs are routed through the iGPU to allow the seamless switching. VR won't work because the display output is not directly from the dGPU.

Working just fine on Gigabyte P57 with optimus, but I suppose this may not always be the case.

*Edit: It may be that the hdmi on the P57 is routed directly from the dGPU and you are totally correct.

 

[Justinus]

Working just fine on Gigabyte P57 with optimus, but I suppose this may not always be the case.

*Edit: It may be that the hdmi on the P57 is routed directly from the dGPU and you are totally correct.

Good point. Some laptops deliberately route the external display ports fron the dGPU, bypassing optimus specifically to make it VR compatible.