External Graphics Cards (eGPU)
External Graphics Card - Smart solution for smaller PCs
Do you want the ability to play video games on your old laptop, or do you just want to connect your notebook to a proper screen? Then it could be that an external graphics card can help you with this.
All modern computers have a graphics card in them, either as a separate component or built into the motherboard itself, and they help the computer convert information into graphics that you can see on the screen.
Therefore, the graphics card is also among the most important components when you build a gaming PC, as it is often the quality of the graphics card that sets the limit for what games you can play and how high the graphics can be.
If you have a regular laptop, the graphics card may not be a big priority since they take up quite a lot of space, and the laptop should ideally be as compact as possible.
To get a good gaming experience on your laptop, you may need to connect an external graphics card to the laptop so you can achieve the same high graphics quality as with a regular PC.
4 Things to Consider When Buying an External Graphics Card
If you want an external graphics card for your laptop or notebook, you should make a few considerations to ensure you get a graphics card that fits your laptop.
Below, you can find some examples of considerations you can make to gain a better understanding of what to look for when purchasing an external graphics card, so you can find one that matches your needs.
#1 - What Can an External Graphics Card Be Used For?
There are several advantages to having an external graphics card available for your laptop, as you can then gain greater access to different screens.
For example, if you want to use your laptop to showcase presentations on a large screen or with a projector, it can be problematic if your laptop only has USB ports.
Regular monitors rarely use USB connections, as they are not designed to be good for transferring video and audio signals in high quality.
Here, you can use your external graphics card as an intermediary between your laptop and the monitor, where you can connect the graphics card to your laptop via USB and connect the graphics card to the monitor via its own ports.
When the graphics card receives the video signal from your laptop, it will be processed, and the quality will be enhanced, giving you a much better and sharper image on the screen.
This increases both the quality of the presentation and allows you to use regular monitors and projectors with your laptop, even if you do not have the right ports.
If you want to use your laptop to play video games, it can be challenging if you do not have a proper graphics card or a gaming laptop.
A gaming laptop can quickly become very expensive, as the compact components inside cost more than if you were to get them for a PC.
Here, an external graphics card can help you since you can also get larger graphics cards with lots of power behind them, allowing you to enjoy a really good gaming experience just like on a regular PC.
Ultimately, this can be a cheaper solution than having to buy a completely new gaming PC or gaming laptop, as you only need to purchase the graphics card itself and not all the other components on top of that.
#2 - Resolutions Supported by the External Graphics Card
When you buy an external graphics card, you should also consider which resolutions it should support to ensure that you get the image quality you desire.
Generally, a larger resolution means you get much better image quality on your screens, and it gives you an even better experience since you can get a very sharp and beautiful picture on the screen.
A larger resolution on the graphics card is also an indicator of how powerful the card is, and can help you consider whether the graphics card is good enough to play games on.
Examples of resolutions you can find graphics cards for:
- Full HD (1920 x 1080)
- 2.5K HD (2560 x 1440)
- 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
- DCI 4K (4096 x 2160)
- 8K (7680 x 4230)
It is also important that you investigate which resolutions your monitor can use, as if you have a monitor that can only support a Full HD resolution, it would be a waste of money to go after a graphics card that can support a 4K resolution.
Unless you also plan to get a new and better monitor afterward, a significant part of the power that your graphics card has will go to waste.
That is why it is important to consider which resolutions the graphics card should support, ensuring that the graphics card and your monitor are compatible so that no features go to waste.
#3 - Ports on Your External Graphics Card
Do you need to use the external graphics card to connect to a monitor or projector?
Then you should investigate which ports the devices use to ensure that you can connect with the external graphics card that you want to purchase.
Most monitors today use HDMI ports, as it provides one of the best possible image qualities since the port is designed to transfer video and audio signals in high quality.
Examples of types of monitor ports:
Depending on which ports your devices use, the graphics card you purchase should have ports that fit those so that you do not end up with a graphics card you cannot use.
Therefore, it is important to investigate which ports your monitor and devices use so you can get an external graphics card with matching ports.
#4 - External Graphics Card for Gaming
If you want an external graphics card for playing video games, you may need a specially built box for your external graphics card.
You can get a box that has a slot for a large graphics card, as well as a built-in power supply, allowing you to install the graphics card you want to use yourself.
Here you will need to buy the graphics card separately, but you don’t need to worry about it being a dedicated external graphics card, as the box can accommodate regular graphics cards.
This allows you to buy one of the newest graphics cards on the market, which you can then place in the box, connect the power supply, and link it to the monitor.
In this way, you can keep up with the latest developments in game graphics, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money upgrading to a new laptop or PC.
However, you should be aware that if the graphics card is used in this setup, you will likely lose about 5 - 10% of the card's efficiency since it is not directly connected to your computer.
You should therefore consider what matters most when you need a graphics card: Is it to save money and compromise on quality, or do you need the best possible, no matter the cost?
