Has anyone ever connected an external gpu to the pci x16 slot in a laptop?

tophercall

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
5
0
18,510
Hello,
I have a Dell XPS m1730 with a dead 8700gt gpu in it. I have repaired it once by baking it and it worked very well for a long time after that but now it is dead. I am thinking of removing the slot connector on it and matching a ribbon cable on a pci x16 slot riser to it and run that slot externally. In theory can this be done and work with a desktop gpu?
 

tophercall

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
5
0
18,510
I would also need schematics on the motherboard as I realize that the connection that the sli 8700m card uses also has to use the same connection to send information to the monitor as well. Desktop GPU's only send the information to the monitors trough the normal channels as the laptop version of the 8700 has both connections. Does anyone know how to obtain motherboard shcematics?
I was hoping to modify a connector like this...
http://www.ameri-rack.com/ARC1-PEVX16A2-Cx_m.html
 

tophercall

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
5
0
18,510
Yes, I agree it would be a gigantic pain in the ass, but I think it would be better than the express card adapter, and It would hopefully not cost as much as the dell replacement gpu that costs around $1,000.00.
Plus once I had the schematics I don't think it would be that much work.

and if all works out, I would be able to creat a line back into the laptop to power the monitor as well.
This is still all just an idea I had, so far thats all. I have a couple of spare gpu's laying around and I have a laptop that needs a gpu. I don't want to spend a crap load of money on a new laptop or on replacement gpu's that are overpriced. Many companies are making external gpu's but for gaming they would be expencive. I am not trying to add a card but rather replace a damaged one.
Like I said, so far it is just an idea.
 

Espada

Distinguished
Jul 9, 2009
169
0
18,660
yea you could use a pci-e card with your laptop. Its called a ViDOCK but only works with an external monitor. google vi-dock or DIY VIDOCK, there are ways into using the vidock with your internal monitor in your laptop but i heard it caps at 30fps.
 

tophercall

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
5
0
18,510
If the VI Dock runs on the express card slot then do you need to have the dedicated graphics card working in order to set up the VI Dock and run drivers?
The card in my laptop is fried. Does anyone know anything about the slot that the 8700m plugs into on the Dell XPS M1730? It is a removable SLI GPU. This slot does not look like the usual MXM slot but more like a slot you would find on a desktop MB but smaller. It must contain the bus connections to & from the GPU as it needs to send a signal to the dedicated monitor + it contains the bus for two GPU's.
I can't seem to find information about it anywhere on the net and the fear is that Dell or the MB manufactures have kept a tight lid on the specs and nobody has them.