Hey everyone, first time poster here. I've creeped the forums for years and have always been able to find what I'm looking for, but not this time.
Back-story:
This all started when my HP laptop was stolen and my MacBook had an unfortunate meeting with a fruit smoothie. I inherited a (absolute garbage) CQ62-215DX HP laptop that my parents received for free from signing onto an internet plan. I completely wiped it, and then started playing a game (Path of Exile) and have been upgrading parts with cheap parts from classifieds in my area. I realize this would be a lot easier with a tower, but now it's become sort of a hobby and a way to learn all sorts of new things about the hardware aspect of computer systems. I upgraded the processor to a Phenom II Triple Core N830 I got for next to nothing off someone in town. Upped the RAM to 8 gigs from some sticks my brother had in his PC (he no longer uses his computer for anything but everyday use, so 8 gigs left is plenty for him). Now I've installed a 240G SSD. Graphics are next, and the most fun step so far.
Questions:
I'm removing the disk drive and getting a SATA to PCI x16 adapter because the laptop doesn't have an ExpressCard slot. First question: Will a SATA bay be able to run a video card? I'm speculating that it can purely based on the fact that these adapters exist. I plan to cut out the disk drive cover and work the external slots in for a nice clean look. Next, some of the "single-wide" video cards (not sure if that's the correct term, but I mean the video cards that are thin enough to fit into the space available) that I have looked at say they require a PC with 300W-600W power supplies. After looking up the size of these units I realized there was no way that the video card required the full capacity of the units, and so after a little digging I did find out that even most high-end cards typically require between 110W-260W (2012) off of the total power supply. Being that this is a laptop and I plan to mount the power unit to the back of my screen, keeping the size minimal is fairly important to me. Is there some way to find out exactly what power is required by a video card when it is the only unit drawing power, rather than what power supply is recommended to run the entire system? Depending on what size I need, I may look for a larger card and cut out the bottom of the laptop (replace it afterwards) for a larger video card to fit and use the power supply to make things even on the bottom of the laptop (also improving airflow).
I know this is frankly quite silly to be doing when I can pick up an old PC tower for close to free and pick up a decent motherboard and then have as much freedom as I'd like essentially, but as I mentioned it has become a sort of hobby and learning project and I'm actually really enjoying it. Any tips/pointers would be greatly appreciated, and if there are any snags you might see me encountering.
I'm working off of this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/382779-33-external-graphics-card
And this guide, provided in that thread:
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/how-to-make-an-external-laptop-graphics-adaptor-915616
Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to your feedback!
Back-story:
This all started when my HP laptop was stolen and my MacBook had an unfortunate meeting with a fruit smoothie. I inherited a (absolute garbage) CQ62-215DX HP laptop that my parents received for free from signing onto an internet plan. I completely wiped it, and then started playing a game (Path of Exile) and have been upgrading parts with cheap parts from classifieds in my area. I realize this would be a lot easier with a tower, but now it's become sort of a hobby and a way to learn all sorts of new things about the hardware aspect of computer systems. I upgraded the processor to a Phenom II Triple Core N830 I got for next to nothing off someone in town. Upped the RAM to 8 gigs from some sticks my brother had in his PC (he no longer uses his computer for anything but everyday use, so 8 gigs left is plenty for him). Now I've installed a 240G SSD. Graphics are next, and the most fun step so far.
Questions:
I'm removing the disk drive and getting a SATA to PCI x16 adapter because the laptop doesn't have an ExpressCard slot. First question: Will a SATA bay be able to run a video card? I'm speculating that it can purely based on the fact that these adapters exist. I plan to cut out the disk drive cover and work the external slots in for a nice clean look. Next, some of the "single-wide" video cards (not sure if that's the correct term, but I mean the video cards that are thin enough to fit into the space available) that I have looked at say they require a PC with 300W-600W power supplies. After looking up the size of these units I realized there was no way that the video card required the full capacity of the units, and so after a little digging I did find out that even most high-end cards typically require between 110W-260W (2012) off of the total power supply. Being that this is a laptop and I plan to mount the power unit to the back of my screen, keeping the size minimal is fairly important to me. Is there some way to find out exactly what power is required by a video card when it is the only unit drawing power, rather than what power supply is recommended to run the entire system? Depending on what size I need, I may look for a larger card and cut out the bottom of the laptop (replace it afterwards) for a larger video card to fit and use the power supply to make things even on the bottom of the laptop (also improving airflow).
I know this is frankly quite silly to be doing when I can pick up an old PC tower for close to free and pick up a decent motherboard and then have as much freedom as I'd like essentially, but as I mentioned it has become a sort of hobby and learning project and I'm actually really enjoying it. Any tips/pointers would be greatly appreciated, and if there are any snags you might see me encountering.
I'm working off of this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/382779-33-external-graphics-card
And this guide, provided in that thread:
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/computing-components/graphics-cards/how-to-make-an-external-laptop-graphics-adaptor-915616
Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to your feedback!
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