A video card is one of the most important elements of a laptop. Since the laptop is a mobile version of the computer, all its components are compact and located inside the laptop. But some users, wanting to increase the power of their device, connect discrete graphics cards (external). This is a great way to increase equipment performance, but their disadvantage is size, as they are designed for computers.
Can I connect an external video card to a laptop
Most laptops are not designed to connect these devices to them. But in reality, you can still connect the video card to a laptop. And at the same time it will work stably and efficiently, in some cases significantly increasing the performance of the laptop.
Why do I need an external graphics card
Before you figure out how to connect an external graphics card to a laptop, you should find out if this makes sense. In fact, the aforementioned device will increase productivity only in a number of cases, in other options it can only interfere with the stable operation of the laptop or even reduce its performance.
Next, we will consider under what conditions the operation of an external video card will be the most productive. What you should pay attention to:
- CPU power is the main criterion for the effective operation of a video card. In a laptop with a processor like Core i3, i5 and i7 from Intel, for example, there will be the highest performance.
- Performance depends on the amount of RAM in the laptop: the maximum effect will be achieved in cases where the RAM is more than 4 GB, and the laptop does not have an internal graphics card.
- The presence of an internal will be effective only if it supports the work of two video cards.
- The power of the power supply and its quality greatly affects the performance of the video card.
Now that the reader knows whether it is possible to connect the video card to a laptop and why it is needed, we will examine how this can be done.
Dock station
The first connection method has its pros and cons. First, we clarify the advantages of this method.
Pros:
- Connection does not take much time, is intuitive.
- The dock connects to the laptop using USB or Thunderbolt. The second method is more efficient, since Thunderbolt is the fastest port at the moment. But there is a problem with the fact that this port is not present on all laptops.
Of the shortcomings, only one can be noted. And this, unfortunately, is the price, since at many docking stations it can be higher than that of good video cards.
Having examined the pros and cons, it remains to understand how to connect a video card to a laptop. This is not at all difficult to do:
- First, we fix the video card in the dock, and then with the help of Thunderbolt we connect it to the laptop.
- After the user connected the video card to the laptop, it remains to install the drivers, since without them the system will not even understand what kind of equipment was connected.
Mini PCI Express port
When answering the question of how to connect an additional video card to a laptop, one should not forget about the method described below. To connect using this method, you need to remember that laptops are not designed to perform these actions, but many of them are equipped with a mini PCI Express port, which allows you to connect an external video card. To find out if this port is in the user's laptop, you need to unscrew the bottom cover of the laptop and find it.
The disadvantage of this method is that with the normal functioning of the laptop, this port is used for the Wi-Fi module, so you will have to sacrifice wireless Internet. If mini PCI Express is present in the user's device, then you will need to purchase a special EXP GDC adapter. You can order such an adapter in any online store. Now it remains to consider the instructions for connecting a video card.
- Turn off the laptop, then remove the battery and wait a couple of minutes.
- We remove the back panel of the laptop.
- We connect one end of the cable to the mini PCI connector, the other via HDMI to the adapter.
- We connect the video card to the adapter through a special connector for this.
- Now you need to connect the adapter to the power source.
- Carefully lay the wires and close the back panel cover.
- Install all the necessary drivers for the video adapter.
- We go into the BIOS system and turn on the UMA Graphic mode.
USB here, here and the video card
USB is the most convenient portable input in the world. How to connect a video card to a laptop via USB? To do this, when connecting to a laptop, it should be understood that this is not an external hard drive and it is so easy not to connect it. It is also worth noting that there is only one way to connect a video card via a USB port. This can be done using the dock. For this, instead of the Thunderbolt port, we use a USB port.
Father and son: graphics card from PC to laptop
Personal computers conquered the whole world at one time, but they were replaced by mobile laptops. How to connect a video card from a PC to a laptop? If the user has a personal computer and laptop, and for some reason he decided to connect a video card from the PC to the laptop, then there is no difficulty in this. It should only be noted that not all computers are equipped with an integrated graphics processor that will allow you to display an image on the device’s monitor, so in this case you have to choose between two devices. Also, to connect a video card, you need a docking station or an EXP GDC adapter. Consider the connection instructions:
- Turn off the computer.
- Turn off the power supply.
- We are waiting for a couple of minutes.
- We unscrew the bolts of the side cover of the system unit.
- We open the cover and disconnect all the wires connecting the video card and the motherboard, and also do not forget that in the video card mounting slot it is most often tightly fixed with a clip that should be disconnected.
- We unscrew the bolts securing the rear panel of the system unit.
- We get the video card.
- Using a dock or adapter EXP GDC connect to a laptop.
- We find on the Internet the necessary drivers for this video adapter.
- We carry out the procedure for installing drivers.
- We reboot the laptop and, if necessary, go to the BIOS to enable UMA Graphic mode.
Ways to connect a discrete graphics card to a laptop
How to connect a discrete graphics card in a laptop? After the user installed an external (discrete) video card on the laptop, it remains only to connect it. There are three ways to do this:
- Using a special program that is installed with the video card driver.
- Through the device manager.
- Via the BIOS system.
Special program
This method looks like this:
- Open the program: for this you need to right-click on the desktop and select the necessary utility from the list.
- In the "Power" section, select the program that should be run from an external video card.
- We save the added changes and reboot the laptop.
device Manager
Let's try the second method:
- Open the device manager.
- We go to the "Video Adapters" section.
- Turn off the internal video adapter.
- Reboot the device.
BIOS
And finally, the last one:
- We start the BIOS system.
- Go to the Config or Advanced section.
- In the Graphics Device section, select Nivida optimus.
How to choose a discrete card
A discrete (external) video card is a very important component of a laptop, so its choice must be approached with all responsibility and understanding. When choosing a graphics card, you must pay attention to the following factors:
- CPU power. The greater the processor power of the video card, the faster the video card processes and displays the image on the screen, which allows you to watch a smooth picture during games.
- Manufacturer. The most popular video cards are AMD and Nvidia products. With similar parameters and build quality, AMD manufactures products a little cheaper than its competitor Nvidia, which increases the price-performance ratio.
- Type and amount of video memory. The best options for video memory are DDR3 and DDR5. The first type of video memory is suitable for those users who do not pursue performance, and the second option is suitable for people who are fond of computer games or working in complex graphic editors. There is still DDR4, but it is not recommended to buy it, since it is much more expensive than DDR3, but it is much worse than DDR5. This leads to low demand for this type of video memory. The amount of video memory will depend on the detail of computer games, so it is recommended to choose video memory with memory sizes greater than 1 GB.
- Tire width It affects the bandwidth of the video card, that is, with what speed the video card will transmit and receive information between the processor and the video memory. The higher the discharge width of the bus, the greater the throughput. This factor affects the performance and price of the video card. The range from 64 bits to 128 bits is suitable for budget ones, mid-range video cards need from 128 bits to 256 bits, and for powerful ones it requires from 256 bits to 512 bits.
- Video outputs. The video card can be equipped with various video outputs, allowing you to display the image on various devices. VGA, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (latest format).
- Cooling. It is of three types: passive, active and water. Passive cooling system is suitable for weak graphics cards that are installed in office computers. The principle of operation of the passive cooling system is that the generated heat is transferred to a radiator, which dissipates this heat. An active cooling system is designed for more powerful graphics cards. The principle of this cooling is that heat from the radiator is dissipated by coolers, which increases the cooling rate. There is also a water cooling system that allows you to work at higher temperatures. The principle of such cooling is that heat is not dissipated by radiators, but by a tube filled with liquid.
Conclusion
After considering the positive and negative sides of the external video card, we can say with confidence that it is only necessary to connect it to the laptop if the user can correctly select all the necessary components. There is nothing complicated in the process of connecting a discrete video card, but this procedure is very expensive (both in time and in cost), and it looks a bit strange, because a laptop should be mobile and compact, not a transforming robot. In this article, a detailed answer was given to the question of how to connect a video card to a laptop.