So is there any clever people here who are wise in the ways of PC hardware? I am looking into the whole external video card option to allow my laptop to do gaming. No nothing hardcore but much better then it is now, I would buy a new desktop but money is super tight and no way i can afford it.

Normally i am a Nintendo gamer but want to check the pc scene out more.

Does anyone know how to add an external video card to a laptop? or details I am not good with this stuff.

Thanks

If I rememer correctly, MSI has an external case that allows you to use graphics card that uses less than 150 W, but it's designed for Apple devides so you need a thunderbolt connection.

I'll see if I can more info.

Edit:

I've found a couple of articles and forum discussions. I also found another solution, but you need an Express Card Adapter (and a port to use it I guess). I hope that helps you.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2698168/msi-GUS-II-external-thunderbolt-gpu-enclosure

http://www.nordichardware.com/Graphics/msi-gus-ii-revies-external-graphics-cards.html

The other solution is this

http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

And this is a forum where they even talk about a DIY solution, if you dare

http://www.overclock.net/t/983766/discrete-pci-e-graphics-card-adapter-for-laptops-pics

eh sounds like it won't be worth the hassle.

I didn't even know this was possible.

A decent gaming comp would cost you less than an inferior external graphics card solution.

I looked into this years ago.

It's all well and good to have an external GPU, but from what I can remember you still need to connect the external GPU to a monitor, otherwise you will keep using your Laptops on-board graphics, it's not going to be a portable solution.
They're expensive, relatively slow and you're limited by how powerful a card can be and the bandwidth inter-connect is usually only PCI-E 1x 1.0/2.0 or less which can cause a bottleneck (Comparatively most new Desktop PC's run PCI-E 16x 3.0 now.)

Usually the better and more elegant solution is just to buy a new Laptop or build yourself a Desktop.

If you have a laptop that supports MXM or AXIOM form factor graphics cards, sure they can be upgraded, but they usually cost as much as the notebook is worth, if you can find one at all.

If you buy a laptop for gaming, expect it to be out-dated and slow for gaming in a few years, that's the nature of PC gaming I'm afraid.
Desktops have the advantage here as mostly it's just a case of dropping in a new card and you're back to playing at maximum settings and they're cheap to upgrade.

intresting, i guess with all the required peices to make it work it will cost half the price of a decent desktop not to mention it would only provide a fair graphics boost while still using the laptop. I will continue saving for a desktop pc.

Thank you all for helping, i appreciate it.