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An Interesting Idea

S

sleepyxtreme

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May 3, 2011
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So with Diablo 3 coming out soon, many people I know with Mac's have been having trouble playing because their laptops come with intel graphics.

My graphics card is currently going through an RMA process and I spoke with a tech (trying to determine which card i would get back because they no longer produce my card).

i was affraid that because the ati equivalent to my nvidia card was pci-e 2.1 and my motherboard was only 2.0, it wouldn't be compatible.

the tech said that the graphics cards do not use the full bandwidth of the pci-e 2.1 slot and the card they were going to give me would only use the bandwidth of what pce-1 used even though it was rated for a 2.1


So here's my thought:

why can't a company use thunderbolt to make an external graphics card addition. pci-e 1 with 32 lanes is only 8 gigs/sec and thunderbolt is 10 gigs/sec.

so basically on the go your laptop could be ligh†and efficient, however, when you come home you plug itinto a box, you could play graphic intense games. (Oh and maybe the box can be powered by an outlet as to not burn out your battery).

OR why can't they make an external pci-e 2.0 slot to plug in an external video card.


what do you guys think :p?
 
Well there is that MSI retail solution that is planned for release. If it is shown to be successful and as thunderbolt adoption picks up you might have more alternatives in the future.

Pylor said:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-diy-egpu-experiences.html

I've seen it and read through it but it somewhat defeats the purpose of a laptop. Might be fun to try but as a serious solution it seems pretty ghetto to me.
Click to expand...

Well it is a DIY. But if you really wanted to (and were skilled) you could "pretty" it up.

The idea, like mentioned in the OP, is that you have a more powerful (and flexible) GPU alternative in situations where you do not need the full mobility of your laptop. There would also be a possible cost benefit as your GPU is no longer tied into the rest of your laptop on upgrade cycles (actual GPU upgrades for laptops have a very large price premium if available and supported by that laptop).
 
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