Can you get external graphics cards

None of the above tickling your fancy? It is possible to make your own eGPU with a mix of the right cables, a PCIe port mounted on a custom slice of motherboard, and a separate desktop power supply. The bad news is that this is still largely unexplored territory, supported by an enthusiastic but small community of modders and a handful of part suppliers. Thunderbolt 2 PCIe enclosures offer an all-in-one solution, but the bandwidth for graphics is lower than the products above, and driver support can be iffy.

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Once you have it set up, your computer routes graphics requests to the external GPU instead of the default one supplied with your computer. In theory, this process will get you better graphics performance as, by and large, laptops don't have much graphical processing power.

Bear in mind that you can use an external GPU for your desktop, but they are much more common for laptops. By using the bigger, more powerful card, you get better graphical performance. Maybe even enough to play some graphically intense games. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, using an external GPU doesn't give you the same performance as it would if you had the same GPU mounted internally.

How much performance do you lose, then? Estimates put the loss at around 10 to 15 percent. That isn't a big deal, especially considering the monstrous capacity of the latest high-end graphics cards you can buy today. However, the loss is something worth knowing about.

If you're hoping to play the latest AAA titles on ultra-high settings, an external laptop GPU setup might not do it for you. That's not to say the external GPU won't improve the graphical performance of your laptop; it definitely will.

But the gains might not be as game-changing as you think. Why not? Mostly because laptops just aren't set up to handle that much power. And if they are, there's a strong chance the laptop has an integrated GPU already, negating the need for an external GPU. Again, it's not a deal-breaker, but you might notice the effects. This is especially true for older and slower CPUs. Though an external GPU dock is basically just a small piece of motherboard with a PCIe port and a connector cord, you can end up shelling out a surprising amount.

You're looking at a couple hundred bucks or more. And that's on top of the already expensive GPU to go in the dock. Not forgetting the existing cost of your laptop, of course.

Some docks are also only compatible with certain brands of laptops, which means you won't be able to transfer them if you get a new one. That's another cost to consider.

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You should buy a proper graphics card and the rest of a proper PC to game on. Gaming on laptops sucks.