Best Thinkpad for value eGPU

[devinfriday]

Hi, i was lurking a famous site for eGPU builds, and i was wondering which value Thinkpad is the best for eGPU build?
The minimum specs should be:

1) Expresscard/54 (mPCI solution's involve cables through the case and thunderbolt means most recent models that are quite expensive);
2) At least 8Gb of Ram, with option for 16Gb;
3) i5 CPU able to reach 3Mhz more or less.

The X230 seems the best compromise between all of these requirements...

[TPFanatic]

Yea I agree with you about X230. I'd expand your range to the T430 and T530, just make sure they don't have Optimus.

[atagunov]

Huh? Do any machines newer than X220/X220t/T420/T520/W520/X230/X230t/T430/T530/W530 have expresscard slots at all?..
Seems T440p and T440s don't have them..

I would think any of *20 or *30 above - provided it does have the expresscard slot - my T520 doesn't - will serve your purpose
Anything older imho just no longer makes sense unless you want vintage or 4:3

X220/X230 are nice to carry around, T520/T530/W520/W530 are nice to work on during a trip away from home.

[dr_st]

Do any machines newer than X220/X220t/T420/T520/W520/X230/X230t/T430/T530/W530 have expresscard slots at all?..

The larger models (T540p, W540, P50) have ExpressCard/34. Not aware of any others.

I would think any of *20 or *30 above - provided it does have the expresscard slot - my T520 doesn't - will serve your purpose

A T520 with no ExpressCard slot? Do they really exist?

[atagunov]

A T520 with no ExpressCard slot? Do they really exist?

Okay, on the right-hand side under the palm-reset above the SD Card reader there's a narrow longish plastic tray that pops out if I press it. Apparently it is the ExpressCard slot. I retract my statement, thx for correction I imagine it is ExpressCard/34 since it appears about 34mm wide. Definitely not 54mm. But those Chinese devices for attaching an external GPU did have quite narrow ExpressCards, it looks like it would fit

[dr_st]

Yes, that's the one. The dummy tray used for Thinkpads with ExpressCard/34 slots. ExpressCard/54 slots (like on X series) and CardBus generally use flaps.

The T4x0s series didn't have room for ExpressCard and a separate card reader, so some of them ship with a card reader installed in the ExpressCard slot (which can be popped out just like the dummy tray).

[palko]

T430 and bigger have the advantage of supporting CPU swap for a quadcore one. X230 has a soldered CPU which is a lot more expensive to replace.