http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Eventually we're either going to move towards modularized or disposable computing, with no user-servicable parts. Apple is pushing us towards disposable computing, but technologies like this - if standardized - would bring modularity to things (and thus extend their usable lifetime).

The connection is likely the inefficient point, and yet if Sony's new very-short-range high speed wireless tech (posted a few pages back) were used, you'd have a much less complex connection to the CPU.]]>Feb 8th 2010 8:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/As mentioned, the picture is the ASUS XG station, a delightful bit of vaporware. Click the link and see the digital unicorns.]]>Feb 8th 2010 9:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 9:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
There actually is a few different products on the market that work with ANY laptop with an expresscard slot, however the bandwidth over the expresscard link (PCIe x1/x2) is limited so you can't run a GTX275 off of it, but you can run a decent mid-level desktop card. Obviously these proprietary solutions using custom PCIe x16 connectors will be far better.
I remember seeing one recently announced that lets you hook up a 5870!]]>Feb 9th 2010 2:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Nothing new here, just been waiting for someone to do it justice.

Thin laptop, gpu base. Job done.]]>Feb 9th 2010 3:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
This is just genius if they can get this going for around less than $300 for something that would finally let basic laptop users play decent games! Anyone who would want to game on their laptop would want to do so plugged in anyways, making this probably the most ideal solution.]]>Feb 10th 2010 8:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 8:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
I believe USB 3.0 is about 500MB/s, where as PCIe x16 is 8000MB/s?

We might need an external 72 pin connector or something similar that links straight to the serial bus (please correct me if I'm wrong). So we will probably see a new docking set up or port for workstation class laptops. Exciting stuff.]]>Feb 8th 2010 9:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/16 GB/s for the new PCI-Express 3.0 16x
around 400 MB/s for USB 3.0
I believe.
A new port is really gonna be needed for this.]]>Feb 8th 2010 9:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/26/exclusive-apple-dictated-light-peak-creation-to-intel-could-be

]]>Feb 8th 2010 10:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
It's a PORTABLE device for a reason... so you don't need any bulky external devices plugged into the back. If you need the fastest GPU, get a desktop. ]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Umm, no. I have a 20" laptop, which does work on my lap as well as being portable to be taken to friends house or travel abroad with which I have done. Heavy, yes indeed, but not unbearable and suitable for travel if and when required. There's no reason to get a fixed desktop with a desktop replacement laptop or a tiny underpowered laptop.

External graphics would be a welcome addition for when required, not at the airport terminal but most of the time people use laptops, your desk.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
There's no reason to get a fixed desktop or a tiny underpowered laptop, when you can have a desktop replacement laptop that can be portable. ]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Exactly what I was (poorly) trying to say. I quite enjoy a nice large 1920x1200 screen on my laptop bigger than most desktop users and can STILL carry it around. I'd love a GPU bump a year or two down the line.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Laptops are too much of a compromise to let something like this work too well.

All the components in a laptop cost more, tend to be slower but use less juice than a comparable desktop unit. This external GPU is bound to be over-priced, and under-performing - remember that it's going to have a bottleneck whatever bus it uses to communicate with the host laptop which will clamp down on performance. Then beyond that bottleneck, a laptop's HDD is slower, as is most mobile CPUs and RAM. If you are looking for some crazy-fast performance, laptops are just not cut out for it, and for the ones that are fairly quick, you are going to pay a large premium for them.

You would be much better served with a nice desktop machine with a fast GPU (which can be bought for cheap) and a separate netbook/laptop for general computing functions than trying to jerry-rig some add-on device to an existing laptop. If you need faster mobile graphics, then I personally would just stick with the faster Nvidia or ATI GPUs, not some separate add-on.
]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Wow...a 20" laptop? That's a testicle sterilizer if I ever heard of one. If you're just going to a friends house why won't 13 inches work? I feel like you want a device to be universal but the fact is something can't do a plethora of things and perform well in all of them. Ever heard of the phrase jack of all trades, but master at none? That's what a 20" laptop is... If I had to try running my average workload (Adobe CS4, with 150 Firefox tabs, Outlook, Work, Powerpoint, all running simultaneously) I would want a desktop. This isn't even Mac of PC. Form follows function.
]]>Feb 8th 2010 8:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
You have the Dragon, dontcha? ]]>Feb 8th 2010 10:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Well of course it'll be overpriced initially, this is a relatively new product idea they're flirting with! Several initial investments later though, after they get all the kinks worked out and the required standardizations made, you may very well be able to get something close to desktop graphics at a price that doesn't lag too far behind. Mass production allows prices to go down, and considering the number of laptops that sell these days, if cards are played correctly these things could very much become commonplace.]]>Feb 9th 2010 12:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
http://www.villagetronic.com/vidock2/index.html]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/unfortunately most laptops only have expresscard slot which is only pci-e 1x slot and gaming takes about 50-60% hit due to the interface being so slow.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/But its a 10x performance jump from a crappy GMA laptop graphics card to anything else.]]>Feb 8th 2010 10:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/it could 50x faster if we had amd/ati 16x pcie XGP instead of the crappy expresscard :(]]>Feb 9th 2010 12:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Then we could just buy cards and put them in ourselves.

Obviously this will never happen.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/I've been thinking that all along. I upgrade my desktop's card every year, and the old card usually gets given to family and friends. It would be cool to move it to a generic laptop dock instead. ]]>Feb 9th 2010 3:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Then obviously you cheaped out and bought crappy laptops. Mine runs nice and fast. 2.4Ghz Core 2, 4GB RAM, and so on.... Running Windows 7 and its not one bit slow.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Sorry, this is my opinion, I realy like fast PC's]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/
Anyhow, we need external GPUs yesterday! It is silly to think these wouldn't sell like Dennys' Grand Slams on Tuesday after the Super Bowl. Everyone wants a more portable laptop and everyone wants more power accessible to them from time to time.]]>Feb 8th 2010 8:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/i have a feeling they just want to tug our nuts.]]>Feb 8th 2010 7:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module]]>Feb 8th 2010 8:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 8:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 7:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 8:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 8:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/08/nvidia-pursuing-external-graphics-accelerators-for-laptops/Feb 8th 2010 8:06PM