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I have a windows vista laptop and a windows xp desktop that sits doing nothing, though the hardware is fairly good.

Can I link the 2 so that while I play games on my laptop, it also utilises the hardware in the desktop?

That way I'd have an extra 2 ghz, to give me 3 processors, and another 512mb of ram and 256 of graphics.

cheers for your help.

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As hinted, consumer Windows systems cannot be merged so a single, real‑time game transparently uses the CPU/GPU and RAM from two separate PCs. The practical ways to get advantage from a spare desktop while playing on a laptop are different: (1) run the game on the desktop and stream the video/audio to the laptop, or (2) give the laptop a stronger GPU via an external enclosure or internal upgrade if the hardware supports it.

Game‑streaming is the simplest home solution. Common tools are Steam Remote Play (Steam Remote Play) and Parsec (Parsec). Basic checklist: host the game on the more powerful machine, install the streaming client on both systems, place both on the same fast network (wired gigabit or strong 5 GHz Wi‑Fi), update GPU drivers, set the host power plan to high performance, and match the host output to the client display. Troubleshooting tips: if video stutters, check host CPU/GPU load and network saturation; if input lag appears, switch to wired networking and lower encoding/resolution on the host.

External GPU enclosures (eGPU) can deliver desktop‑class graphics to a laptop but require a supported interface (Thunderbolt on modern machines) and driver support; older laptops and legacy OS versions may not work or may need complicated workarounds.

For completeness: using many machines in parallel is common for offline workloads like movie rendering or scientific compute (see render farms Render farm), but that model is unsuitable for interactive, single‑player gaming. For a home setup where the goal is to “use” a spare desktop while gaming on a laptop, streaming is the most practical, low‑cost option.

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Member Avatar for DimaYasny

no

Member Avatar for british

cheers mate

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

games require a gaming pc, and laptops are usually too slow for that. connecting PCs for performance increase is called performance (or computational) clustering, and is done on huge servers for huge tasks like rendering CGI productions. Shrek was made in one of that. That is NOT a home solution by no means

Member Avatar for british

ok thanks buddy

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