Alienware Graphics Amplifier

Zangmonkey

Zangmonkey

Supreme [H]ardness
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So I remember being so sad when the Asus XG Station never really got steam and I head about the Alienware Graphics Amplifier today.

It's basically a housing for a desktop GPU and connects to your alienware laptop via cable.
The limited reviews I found seem to imply that it works as expected and that the laptop simply operates as though it had the desktop GPU in it.

If this thing has good build quality it's a game changer for me in the mobile space. I would otherwise never consider an alienware laptop but now I'm really tempted.

Has anybody seen one of these? Comments? Concerns?

http://www.dell.com/content/product...-amplifier?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&sku=452-BBRG
 
the only laptop I would buy it for is the 13 which im honestly considering. The biggest limitation is the weak CPU. stuff like GW2 and CPU demanding titles would really choke... doesnt matter if its a titan X in there.
 
pliskin679 said:
the only laptop I would buy it for is the 13 which im honestly considering. The biggest limitation is the weak CPU. stuff like GW2 and CPU demanding titles would really choke... doesnt matter if its a titan X in there.
Click to expand...

You really think the mobile i7 will bottleneck GW2?
 
The fact is that has a decent amount of latency thanks to its design and is only a x4 PCI-E connection. The MSI GS30 is by far a better solution with a x16 Connection without the crappy cable.
 
Zangmonkey said:
You really think the mobile i7 will bottleneck GW2?
Click to expand...

Well, that really depends on the mobile i7 (or i5)

Some mobile i5s and i7s are really decent - Dual cores with Hyperthreading, running from 2.2-4.0GHz(!) when they aren't throttling due to thermal load. Certainly, as capable as most desktop processors.

But some people try to 'game' with crippled processors - Those middle-aged i7 Quads putting along at 2.0GHz, and *all* those xxxxU series processors - No good!
 
TheGoat Eater said:
The fact is that has a decent amount of latency thanks to its design and is only a x4 PCI-E connection. The MSI GS30 is by far a better solution with a x16 Connection without the crappy cable.
Click to expand...

Real benchmarks haven't shown any latency of framerate problems related to using x4 AFAIK.

I wasn't aware of the GS30, though. That looks interesting too.... Now if only Microsoft would get on board with something like this for SurfacePro
 
Zangmonkey said:
Real benchmarks haven't shown any latency of framerate problems related to using x4 AFAIK.

I wasn't aware of the GS30, though. That looks interesting too.... Now if only Microsoft would get on board with something like this for SurfacePro
Click to expand...

All surface devices have low power parts, none have what one would qualify as a good CPU. On top of that none have the cooling to even unleash he CPU they have. They are great devices for what they are, sufficient low power hybrids, they are not gaming laptops.

The reason external GPUs have never taken off is because as of yet no one has built one that doesn't end up costing more than simply buying a desktop when you take the average costs over time. And we would assume the reason you want a external GPU is because you are really dead set on not lugging it around with you. If you did want to lug it around with you then it would still probably be cheaper and better to simply buy a gaming laptop. In this case you are dropping $300 for what amounts to a case and a power supply. $300 can buy you nearly a complete computer that is will probably be as fast or faster than the laptop. This is part of why people have high hopes for an interface like thunderbolt because just maybe it will be open enough that aftermarket external GPUs will be available that wont cost an arm and a leg and will actually work with multiple generations of laptops and possibly even be upgradeable.
 
This would be awesome, I love my GT72 laptop and my desktop, I use both often. If I could just dock the gaming laptop and get the power of a desktop GPU...I'd probably be sticking with laptops from now on.
 
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