Only you can make the call, but there is no other hardware in the system that's usable as a video input from an eGPU.
For that matter, you can buy a complete, used desktop system at least ten years newer than this Alienware for under $100 -- which will run rings around anything you can jerry rig with this notebook.
PCIe x16 video cards expect a bandwith of between 16 and 32 Gb/s -- the express card slot at maximum will afford the card about 0.5 G/s, so if you decide to proceed with trying to build a connector for an Expresscard slot, realize that you'll be limiting the external GPU to about 1.5-3% of the bandwidth it needs to perform. In other words, the setup will throw away between 97 and 98.5% of its performance by being connected to this system.
You'll also need an external monitor -- there is no way to feed the video signal back into the system.
The external monitor is the whole point. I want to use it to watch movies and tv in my living room. I dont think this thing even HAS a mini pcie slot for the modem or I'd try that route. This was the only other method / output I thought MIGHT work. These are my choices -
two USB 2.0 ports
mini Firewire port
100/1000 MB LAN port
SD / Memory Stick reader
Express Card expansion slot
Kensington lock port
Anything there that might have MORE throughput? Thanks for the response, it is most appreciated. Ps. My plan is to use an unpowered 2gb card anyway. Not going nutz with external power and an 8gb gpu. lol.
That's disappointing. I had hoped to make good use of this old beast. but I guess her day of disposal has come. Thank you for your advise, Sir. It is appreciated.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.4K Posts
0
July 20th, 2023 12:00
Only you can make the call, but there is no other hardware in the system that's usable as a video input from an eGPU.
For that matter, you can buy a complete, used desktop system at least ten years newer than this Alienware for under $100 -- which will run rings around anything you can jerry rig with this notebook.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.4K Posts
0
July 19th, 2023 13:00
PCIe x16 video cards expect a bandwith of between 16 and 32 Gb/s -- the express card slot at maximum will afford the card about 0.5 G/s, so if you decide to proceed with trying to build a connector for an Expresscard slot, realize that you'll be limiting the external GPU to about 1.5-3% of the bandwidth it needs to perform. In other words, the setup will throw away between 97 and 98.5% of its performance by being connected to this system.
You'll also need an external monitor -- there is no way to feed the video signal back into the system.
Hall442
8 Posts
0
July 20th, 2023 10:00
The external monitor is the whole point. I want to use it to watch movies and tv in my living room. I dont think this thing even HAS a mini pcie slot for the modem or I'd try that route. This was the only other method / output I thought MIGHT work. These are my choices -
Anything there that might have MORE throughput? Thanks for the response, it is most appreciated.
Hall442
8 Posts
0
July 22nd, 2023 07:00
That's disappointing. I had hoped to make good use of this old beast. but I guess her day of disposal has come. Thank you for your advise, Sir. It is appreciated.