[ANSWERED] Laptop GPU limiting me. eGPU worth it?

[HardcoreMandolinist]

I just bought an old HP Pavilion dv5 for $200, about half of which was subsidized. It is the only computer I have and I cannot afford to buy a new one any time soon. There are a number of things I have been trying to do with this laptop but my GPU is limiting me. I cannot run many video games nor some other applications such as Blender.

In my searches I found eGPUs, but I don't know whether I would be able to find one which is compatible with my system, will do the things I need it to and remain at a price point low enough that it wouldn't just make more sense to just save up for a new computer. The things I am trying to run are mainly limited to Blender and Cities: Skylines (and maybe Elder Scrolls: Skyrim if I can find a way to make it run on Linux) but I would prefer to buy as powerful of a GPU as I can afford due both to Blender and other video/photo processing I plan to do. The other processing I do is currently feasible on my system but an uptick in speed is always nice, especially when it comes to video processing.

I don't have a particular price range in mind too much (maybe less than $150 or so if possible?), but what I am wondering more so is whether it's worth putting money into an okay eGPU versus waiting to buy a new PC with a better GPU, or even whether a new PC would do what I want it to at a similar price point.

[dXTC]

I've taken a look at the specs of your Pavilion dv5. Unfortunately, that computer only has an eSATA and USB 2.0 ports. Most external GPUs I've seen on the market use Thunderbolt 3 (or higher) and/or USB-C. eSATA was meant for external hard drives, and USB 2.0 doesn't come close to the data transfer speeds necessary for an external GPU.

I can understand your frustration, as I have a laptop from that era: an old MacBook Pro with a Core i5-540M (one of the Pavilion dv5's supported CPUs). The MacBook has mini-DisplayPort, but even at that time Apple hadn't put Thunderbolt 1 yet on its laptops, so I'm stuck with the built-in Intel graphics.

It seems to me that your best bet is to save up and trade up to a machine of somewhat newer vintage.

[HardcoreMandolinist]

Thnx for the help dXTC. I am definitely disappointed to hear that but ultimately not too surprised. I will certainly start looking around to see what is available and what I might be able to afford. Given that I plan on doing photo/video processing and maybe here and there some 3D rendering, are there any setups you would recommend on a budget? Does the CPU play much of a factor into that sort of thing when you have a good GPU? Do you think there is anything else I should be taking into account?