External graphics card? - Hardware & Software

Well, I just got this new samsung netbook ( 10.1 inch screen ) and im fine with it except I can't play any of my steam games. This was a gift and I looked around google for a way to upgrade the graphics, and it said something about external graphics card. I was wondering about these things: -How much does it cost to get an external graphics card? -How do I make it work? -Can my comp even use an external graphics card? Computer Specs: Intel Atom 1.6 ghz cpu Intel GMA 3150 100 GB hard drive Can someone give me some links to some external graphics cards?

600mhz cpu? forget gaming

Woops, forgot the 1 in 1.6. I played tf2 with almost no lag on my 1.7 ghz desktop so This should be no problem either.

First result that I found on Google [url]https://www.mln.com.au/product/?itemID=481&typeID=[/url] Your netbook needs PCI express though, and this looks quite expensive Oh wait, it's an Australian site, but whatever

[url]http://www.amazon.com/ARKVIEW-USB-DH88-Multi-Display-External-Displays/dp/B001B7H39W%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIHCIMKAMJ3H6VQ3Q%26tag%3Degraphicscard-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001B7H39W[/url] I found that while searching. You need a vga cable i think and plug it into my netbook. Does the video card go inside the box? and what the hell do i do after that? I have some tv's that have a vga / dvi cable so I might be able to use that. Shit I am so confused.

You misunderstand the use of a netbook. They're designed for portable writing/light web browsing, not gaming. The Intel Atom is a [I]very[/I] weak CPU (it has about half the performance of a Pentium M at the same clock speed, which was made almost a decade earlier.) You also have limited RAM, and limited upgrade paths for that. Even if you had a decent GPU, you would still have terrible performance in games due to the weak CPU (which is non-upgradeable) so don't bother. The solution that Antdawg posted is ridiculous at best. You're basically stuffing a desktop GPU into an external enclosure and crippling it by putting it on an Expresscard adapter. The PCIe 16 lane slot it's designed to use has a throughput of 8192 MB/s, while Expresscard only has 1 lane at 500 MB/s. The card will basically be starved to the extreme for bandwidth, and will have abysmal performance for a ridiculous pricetag, with a GPU that's 5 generations old. The solution you posted is even worse, because it's not a real GPU, it's basically a dumb frame buffer. USB frame buffers are terrible because they [I]far exceed[/I] the bandwidth limits of the USB bus. A somewhat bearable resolution of 1280x1024 with a 24 bit resolution at a 60 Hz refresh will use 225 MB/s of bandwidth, while USB 2.0 only has 60 MB/s of available bandwidth. That's 375% of the maximum. What basically starts happening on the display is that the screen won't update properly and you'll get only portions of the screen updating at a time and causing general headaches. If you want to play games, buy parts and build a proper desktop machine and don't waste hundreds on useless solutions that aren't going to work.

[QUOTE=bohb;31107696]You misunderstand the use of a netbook. They're designed for portable writing/light web browsing, not gaming. The Intel Atom is a [I]very[/I] weak CPU (it has about half the performance of a Pentium M at the same clock speed, which was made almost a decade earlier.) You also have limited RAM, and limited upgrade paths for that. Even if you had a decent GPU, you would still have terrible performance in games due to the weak CPU (which is non-upgradeable) so don't bother. The solution that Antdawg posted is ridiculous at best. You're basically stuffing a desktop GPU into an external enclosure and crippling it by putting it on an Expresscard adapter. The PCIe 16 lane slot it's designed to use has a throughput of 8192 MB/s, while Expresscard only has 1 lane at 500 MB/s. The card will basically be starved to the extreme for bandwidth, and will have abysmal performance for a ridiculous pricetag, with a GPU that's 5 generations old. The solution you posted is even worse, because it's not a real GPU, it's basically a dumb frame buffer. USB frame buffers are terrible because they [I]far exceed[/I] the bandwidth limits of the USB bus. A somewhat bearable resolution of 1280x1024 with a 24 bit resolution at a 60 Hz refresh will use 225 MB/s of bandwidth, while USB 2.0 only has 60 MB/s of available bandwidth. That's 375% of the maximum. What basically starts happening on the display is that the screen won't update properly and you'll get only portions of the screen updating at a time and causing general headaches. If you want to play games, buy parts and build a proper desktop machine and don't waste hundreds on useless solutions that aren't going to work.[/QUOTE] Say that to my shitty amd 1.7 ghz processor that goes on a drr1 motherboard that can play tf2 just fine.

[QUOTE=FuryBlitz;31108874]Say that to my shitty amd 1.7 ghz processor that goes on a drr1 motherboard that can play tf2 just fine.[/QUOTE] I [I]really[/I] doubt that, unless you're running in 800x600 or something. My oldest gaming rig that I still have from 2004 (Athlon XP 3200+, 1 GB DDR-400, Radeon 9800 Pro) has trouble running Orangebox engine games above 30 fps.

[QUOTE=bohb;31108932]I [I]really[/I] doubt that, unless you're running in 800x600 or something. My oldest gaming rig that I still have from 2004 (Athlon XP 3200+, 1 GB DDR-400, Radeon 9800 Pro) has trouble running Orangebox engine games above 30 fps.[/QUOTE] It ran on 1080 x 800 You can doubt but it still worked

[QUOTE=FuryBlitz;31109828]It ran on 1080 x 800 You can doubt but it still worked[/QUOTE] Yeah, no.

[QUOTE=FuryBlitz;31108874]Say that to my shitty amd 1.7 ghz processor that goes on a drr1 motherboard that can play tf2 just fine.[/QUOTE] Clock frequency isn't everything, you know. My old HP desktop from 2004 has got an AMD CPU at 1,6 GHz. It's still notably faster than my Compaq Mini's Intel Atom at the same frequency. Also, 1080x800? What kind of resolution is that? Do you by any chance mean 1024x860?

[QUOTE=FuryBlitz;31109828]It ran on 1080 x 800 You can doubt but it still worked[/QUOTE] Your definition of works and our definition of works is different. A game for me is working correctly running at least at 1680x1050 on all high settings at 60 or more fps. A netbook wont play tf2, by the time you rig up some crazy external gpu you could have a decent new desktop that will play it much better.

You should listen to bohb, unless you have a PCI slot for your netbook you will not be gaming on that any more than at 5 FPS even that is optimistic for your situation.

Buy a desktop and shove the rig in your back. Problem solved. And besides, they won't be selling a netbook for cheap if it had the processing power of a gaming computer.

[QUOTE=huckleberrypie;31146074]Buy a desktop and shove the rig in your back. Problem solved. And besides, they won't be selling a netbook for cheap if it had the processing power of a gaming computer.[/QUOTE] with that amount of upgrades its gotta look something like this of ghostbusters minus the screen obviously thats at the front. To be honest though you can totally forget gaming on that atom. HELL my p4 struggles doing CSS at 1280x1024 past 40fps. [IMG]http://www.instructables.com/image/FQ2GPYDFMZAFQVN/Ghostbusters-Proton-Pack.jpg[/IMG]

[url]http://www.harmonicinversion.com/products/manufacturer/hit.html?page=shop.product_details&product_id=193&category_id=25&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl[/url] Or if you want to get a little nicer... [url]http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock[/url] You would still need to get a graphics card for it, but that is what you'll need to help your laptop. You would also need a separate external monitor.

[QUOTE=Hue_G_Rection;35234303][url]http://www.harmonicinversion.com/products/manufacturer/hit.html?page=shop.product_details&product_id=193&category_id=25&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl[/url] Or if you want to get a little nicer... [url]http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock[/url] You would still need to get a graphics card for it, but that is what you'll need to help your laptop. You would also need a separate external monitor.[/QUOTE] Please check thread dates, this topic is over 8 months old.