In this article, we will introduce external graphics cards and we will teach you all the steps of choosing, installing and setting them up.
Ever since they were created, computers have provided many benefits to humanity and are doing many things. Apart from doing obligatory tasks and making things easier, computers also provide our entertainment (from playing games to other entertainment).
Doing these things by them has made them become a very important and inseparable part of most of our lives. According to this increasing need for computers, laptops were made so that we can use the advantages of computers in transportation and in different places. Laptops are portable and you can use them anywhere.
The only problem that laptops have that has prevented them from dethroning desktop computers is their power. Laptops cannot use the best parts due to their size and battery usage. Because, for example, the 3090 graphics card has very large dimensions and it is not possible to fit it in laptops. Even if we don’t have this problem, this card consumes so much power that it can’t be supplied by the battery at all. Even if we don’t have this problem (!) the very high temperature produced by this card is unstoppable!
The problems mentioned above have caused laptops to use specially designed graphics cards that have lower power compared to other cards. One way to solve these problems is to use an external graphics card.
What is an external graphics card?
As mentioned in the introduction, the big advantage of desktop computers over laptops is hardware power.
The main reasons for not using powerful graphics cards of desktop computers in laptops are divided into three general categories: dimensions, power consumption and their high temperature. The general idea of an external card is to solve these three problems so that we can use desktop graphics cards in laptops and solve one of the longest and biggest weaknesses of laptops.
External graphics cards, as their name suggests, are external graphics cards. That is, basically, the graphics cards are desktop computers and are connected to the laptop with special connections and are not present inside the laptop. This has caused the main existing problems to be solved.
- These cards are placed in devices called external graphics card docks. These docks have large and different dimensions, which solves the first problem (cards being large for use in laptops).
- Also, these docks use the desktop computer model of card graphics. These models have high power and are made with special fans. This will also solve the second problem (high temperature).
- Docks are directly connected to electricity and can supply any amount of electricity that the card needs to solve the third problem.
How does an external graphics card work?
The main part that allows us to use external graphics cards is called dock. In short, a dock is a power supply with a motherboard that is built and designed only to support graphics cards. The graphics card is installed on the dock through the PCIe port and the power cables are connected to it. Then the dock is connected to your laptop through USB Type C or Thunderbolt port.
The laptop recognizes the connected graphics card and from now on sends the necessary information to it and receives the output images from it.
How does the external graphics card perform compared to other cards?
It is easy to assume that the performance of graphics cards that are connected externally will be lower than those used in desktop computers.
The more accurate answer is that these cards are connected through Type-C and Thunderbolt ports, although these ports have improved over the years and are currently among the fastest ports for data transfer, but still this speed is lower than the PCIe port in computers. A desktop is used, it is less. This low speed and the fact that the processor has to do an additional work step makes the performance of external cards to be 10-15% lower than desktop cards.
Is it reasonable to use external graphics cards?
In answer to the question, we must say that it depends on you! Certainly, the use of external cards has a much better performance than the internal cards of laptops, but you should pay attention to the fact that the price will be very high for you. You have to pay for a laptop, buy a powerful graphics card, which always has a high price. There are also the costs of building or buying a dock and you will pay a very high cost in total.
The main question is whether this amount of money is worth buying or not? Who is it suitable for? In general, we can recommend the external graphics card to two categories of people:
The first group are those who are not satisfied with the performance of their laptop card graphics and are looking to sell it and buy a complete case. These people can increase the power of their laptop by using an external graphics card instead.
The second category is those who need both the high power of computers and the portability of laptops. If these people don’t use an external graphics card, they have to buy a laptop and a complete case, which will have a much higher price than the external graphics card.
A few important points
If you want to use an external graphics card, you should pay attention to several points:
- Just as when buying a case, you should pay attention that the parts do not limit each other, you should also pay attention to this point here. If your laptop’s RAM is less than 8GB and your processor is more than 3 years old or has low power, upgrading the graphics card will not help you much, because its power will be limited by your other components.
- This method is still not well established and may be problematic for different laptops or models. Before buying, it is better to do a little research about the used model and your laptop and see if they work well together. For this purpose, you can use the egpu.io site, on this site users present their own ideas about different combinations.
- To use docks, your laptop must have a Type-C or Thunderbolt port and this is one of the prerequisites. Of course, it is recommended to use Thunderbolt if possible.
- Of course, you can also connect some of these docks through the M.2 slot. This will minimize the performance loss, but since you have to unscrew and tighten the laptop every time you use it, it defeats the whole purpose of using an external graphics card.
To use docks, your laptop must have a Type-C or Thunderbolt port and this is one of the prerequisites. Of course, it is recommended to use Thunderbolt if possible.
Of course, you can also connect some of these docks through the M.2 slot. This will minimize the performance loss, but since you have to unscrew and tighten the laptop every time you use it, it defeats the whole purpose of using an external graphics card.
- Some companies, such as Asus and Alienware, officially made and released several external dock models exclusively for their laptops. These models sometimes have special features, for example, the Alienware model uses a dedicated port to minimize performance loss.
- The second category is the use of docks made by third-party companies. For example, Razer has released a dock called Razer Core X that works with almost any laptop and is among the best.
- The third category is manual dock construction. In this method, you don’t use a dock-like case and you just connect the power and the card together and then connect it to the laptop.
How to make an external graphics card dock?
Considering the removal of the other two options, the only option left for us is to make an external graphics card dock. Of course, it should be noted that even if the other two options were possible, we still suggest its construction, which will have a much lower price.
You will need a few pieces to make a cartographic dock:
- A cartographic!
- A suitable power supply with suitable power and cables for the selected graphics card
- A laptop with a USB Type-C or (preferably) Thunderbolt port
- External graphics card board (such as R43SG-TB3)
The steps for making an external graphics card dock are as follows:
- Install the graphics card on the board.
- Connect the 24 pin power cable to the board.
- If your graphics card needs additional power (it has a 6- or 8-pin power port), connect these power cables as well.
- Connect the Thunderbolt cable to the board and plug the other end into your laptop.
- Install the necessary drivers for the graphics card.
- Up to this point, you are done and this step is optional. In this section, you can do a little cable management and show your taste!
Note: Sometimes you may receive various errors after performing the above steps. Some of these errors can be solved by connecting the card to the hub and the hub to the laptop.
What features should a suitable laptop have for this?
The laptop you choose for this work must have some special features, which we will discuss below, and at the end we will also introduce some laptops for you.
Port: The most important feature that your laptop should have is a Thunderbolt port. All these processes occur through this port, so its presence is mandatory. Of course, you can also use USB Type-C, but Thunderbolt will be a better option. The best option is to use Thunderbolt port 3 or 4, which are not particularly different from each other.
Processor: This part of your laptop is responsible for all the activities of your system and controls everything. For this reason, if your processor is weak, it will limit the performance of your graphics card. In general, it is recommended that your processor is no more than 3 years old.
RAM: RAM is one of the critical parts that can limit the performance of your system. It is better that your laptop RAM is more than 8 (and preferably 16) GB.
Display: Wouldn’t it be a shame to have a 3070 graphics card attached to a 1366 x 768 display with a 60Hz refresh rate? It is better for your laptop to have a good and high-quality screen to have the best experience.
Storage memory: When you come to an external graphics card, the speed and power of the laptop are very important to you. With SSD, your laptop will be faster and this speed will improve the performance of your system.
Recommended laptop:
Surface Pro 8: Surface is the best in all departments except graphics cards! Best screen, best sound system, etc. Also, by combining Surface with an external graphics card, you will have a touch screen with pen support at the same time with high power, which is an almost impossible combination! Also, the dimensions and weight of the surface make it a very good option for this.
What features should a suitable graphics card have for this?
There are definitely graphics cards that are more suitable for doing this and will be a better option. In this part of the article, we introduce the features that you should pay attention to when choosing to buy a card to do this.
Power: Of course, if you choose a card that is weaker than the laptop’s own graphics card, the whole process will look silly. Also, don’t go for the best cards on the market like 3090 and 6900XT, these cards require high CPU power, which your laptop will probably not be able to handle and will limit the performance of the card.
Power consumption: ready-made docks usually come with a power supply, and of course, if you want to make your own, you must also choose a power supply. This power supply, like all power supplies, has a maximum power and a limited number of cables. Make sure your PSU is capable of handling your chosen card.
Comment here