How do I know if my laptop can use an external GPU?

Ask Fedora
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1

Hello,

I’m trying to understand if my laptop can possibly be used with an external GPU.

I’ve checked its user manual before but it’s very not precise. I’ve seen in an article that external GPUs work on Thunderbolt ports. How can I know if my laptop has one ?
It has at least an USB-C port but I have no idea if it’s Thunderbolt compatible.

Also, do you know what else I have to be aware of when I choose a GPU, could it be in that case or in general? I have an idea that AMD is more Linux friendly but if anything else, I’d love to know.

My laptop is an HP Pavilion 14, on Fedora Workstation 42, running on Intel Core i5 8265-U. My fastfetch below.

Thanks for any advice :slight_smile:

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2

I think we’ve already established the fact that the USB-C port on this system is only suitable for data (it’s like an ordinary USB port but not in TYPE-A but in USB-C form.
A Thunderbolt-capable port would be mentioned in the user manual. TB ports can be found in more powerful and and more expensive systems.

3

I see, I thought so honestly. Too bad for me !
I guess I’ll either use my brother’s gamer laptop or invest into the steam deck if I need for performance then. Thanks having reminded me what we’ve searched and what it means :slight_smile:
Have a nice day !

4

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This system is fine for general use and maybe casual gaming of older games.

5

It’s alright, I was a bit aware of that and confirmed it the hard way with trying to run Death stranding, even the lowest standards were too much to handle lol :laughing: so I’m not so surprised