external graphics card to laptop USB 3.0

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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hi,

I recently got 2 external monitors for my HP Pavilion DV6 6053ea. Things are running pretty good but I was wondering could I add an external graphics card to my laptop via something like

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laptop-16Pins-Powered-Adapter-Connector/dp/B00X74KQCS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446582200&sr=8-2&keywords=laptop+pci+usb+adapter

and a modest graphics card ? My two monitors display ok @ 1920 x 1200 but I was wondering what it would be like with a boost from an external graphics card.
 
Solution
The Intel HD 4600 is not used in most laptops, they mainly have the Intel HD 4400 graphics core since most relatively inexpensive laptops use "u" model CPUs like the i5-4210u. The HD 6490 is more powerful than the Intel HD 4000, but less powerful than the Intel HD 4400. Each graphics core generation increases performance by roughly 15% - 20% so the Intel HD 4400 will not be much of an improvement over the your Radeon. The Intel HD 5500 would provide better performance increase.

I suppose it depends on how much you want to spend on a new laptop.
That is actually for a desktop motherboard to convert a PCIe-1x slot (see that tiny card with the USB port) so that it can physically fit a card that has up to a PCIe-16x interface; the riser card connects to the PCIe-1x port using a USB cable. The speed would still be limited to PCIe-1x. It will not work with a laptop's USB port.


The EXP GDC Beast Laptop External Independent Video Card Dock is what you need to connect an external GPU to the laptop. It is not guaranteed to be compatible with all laptops.

http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP_8EYQ-2RA
 

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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thanks, My HP Pavilion DV6 6053ea laptop doesn't have a PCI port (only USB 3.0 and 2.0) so maybe it wouldn't work ?

I was looking for a graphics boost to play some of the lesser games (take settersonline - it works smoothly on my laptop but not so on external display). Apart from that the two external monitors connected work fine but the mouse doesn't move around perfect - its a bit laggy not as smooth. I'm not sure if that's a graphics problem.
 
The part you selected will not work.

The EXP GDC Beast that I suggested could work. You need to open up your laptop and disconnect the WiFi card (sometimes referred as WLAN) from the PCIe port so that you can connect the EXP GDC Beast to the laptop using the provided cable. It may not be compatible with your laptop because maybe there is not enough room to fit the cable connector to the PCIe port. Obviously, doing this means you cannot use WiFi to connect to the internet. If you want to connect to the internet, then you need to run a cable to your modem.

If you watched the linked video I provided you will need to a monitor, PC power supply and a graphic card for this setup to work. The graphics card would send a video signal to the monitor not to your laptop's screen.


Other than that setup, the only thing you can do to get better graphics is to buy a new laptop with a good graphics chip. Either way it is going to cost you money if you want better graphics performance. Settlers Online should work fine on both your laptop's screen and the external monitor. However, if you are running the game at a higher resolution on your monitor, then that is the cause of the lag. You would need to lower the resolution to be the same as the laptop's screen to get the same performance. That may be the cause of mouse lag as well.
 

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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I opened the laptop up and remember the WIFI. I guess I could remove it without too much trouble but I would lose WIFI and it wouldn't make my laptop very portable.

I think its the Intel Graphics 3000 that is doing the graphics for my external screens - they are doing their native resolution @ 1920 x 1200 under control panel but if I load up Intel Graphics and Media control panel - it has 1920 x 1080p. I thought the AMD Radeon 7400M would be doing the graphics.

Maybe I will have to wait to get a new laptop with a better graphics card but the laptop is flying apart from a bit of a disconnect from what I see on screen and how the mouse moves around.
 
The Radeon HD 7400m probably kicks in when you start playing games. For better game performance lower the games' resolution. The Radeon HD 7400m is actually a family of GPUs that ranges between the low end 7430m that is not much more powerful than the Intel HD 3000 to the 7490m which is a little more powerful than the Intel HD 4000. Definitely not powerful enough to play the vast majority of games at 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 resolution.

 

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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I put the resolution down to something like 1600 and it made no difference when playing settlersonline - mouse was not really matching up. I use Visual Studio, SQL Server and lots of browser windows and everything is accurate/responsive/. Its only the game + eleborate flash web pages.

My graphics card is : AMD Radeon HD 6490M according to

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004UFOUUW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

where I bought it but is listed as 7400M under device manager. If its not much more powerful than Intel 4000 I shouldn't expect much. I think it would be cheaper for me to buy a new Pavilion laptop and swap my SSD and 1080p screen into it than upgrade the graphics card.

 
Yeah, current generation Intel HD graphics cores are definitely more powerful than your 6490m. Of course it's best to buy a laptop with a dedicated GPU if you want to play games.

The latest and greatest from Intel (that is not in extremely expensive CPUs) is the Intel HD 530 in most Skylake generation CPUs (excluding "u" model ultra low voltage CPUs) which is basically equal to a nVidia 920m and Radeon R7 M260.
 

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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what about Intel HD Graphics 5500 or Intel HD Graphics 4600 .. would they offer much/big improvement in graphics, my two monitors are only 24" 1920 x 1200 and im not looking for high fps
 
The Intel HD 4600 is not used in most laptops, they mainly have the Intel HD 4400 graphics core since most relatively inexpensive laptops use "u" model CPUs like the i5-4210u. The HD 6490 is more powerful than the Intel HD 4000, but less powerful than the Intel HD 4400. Each graphics core generation increases performance by roughly 15% - 20% so the Intel HD 4400 will not be much of an improvement over the your Radeon. The Intel HD 5500 would provide better performance increase.

I suppose it depends on how much you want to spend on a new laptop.
 
Solution

aindriu80

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Oct 17, 2011
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Thanks for all your help. I don't think HD 4400 will be worth it, I would need a bigger jump maybe to HD5500.

I plugged one of the HDMI monitors out of the USB 3.0 adapter and into my HDMI slot on the laptop and things are running a lot faster now. Thanks for all your help !