[Lepanto]

Happy Easter! Anyhow, I bought a desktop graphics card for my laptop. (Yeah, I'm not very hardware-savvy. Go ahead and laugh at my stupidity.) What's the cheapest (and preferably simplest) way to hook an external graphics card up to a laptop, provided I have an extra monitor? Card's a PCI-E x16, low-spec but doesn't need a power adapter. Laptop has a VGA port, and an ExpressCard slot (I think.)

I'm aware that this may not be practically feasible. If that's the case, I'll just send the card back.

[Polpolion]

IIRC Alienware and MSI were working on true external GPU enclosures, but they require specific laptops to use (if they're even available yet). PCI-ExpressCard adapters exist, but as far as I'm aware I don't think it would be possible to use with your laptop's screen. (without some extra crazy adapter that would involve tearing apart your laptop case and disconnecting your screen, at least).

[deathspeed]

this is one I read about recently.  "More interesting perhaps is the PCIe interface, which up until now has always been the sticking point in getting a video card chassis to market. The good news is that Alienware has more or less solved the problem, but the bad news is that the interface is a proprietary Alienware/Dell design that is only available on their laptops."

[MP-Ryan]

Send it back.

Or drop $300-400 on a barebones AMD system and throw it in that.  Regardless, there is absolutely no point in having a desktop video card for a laptop at this moment in time unless you have a ridiculous amount of expendable cash, which would be better used simply buying a more powerful laptop anyway.

[Bobboau]

yeah, you dun goofed and there really isn't anything to do bout it short of getting a refund.