Finally - discreet GPU extensions for laptops!

[ik9000]

Apologies if I'm late to hear about this but unless this is some latent April Fool's Dell are offering external desktop GPU links for the alienware laptops!

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...1&sku=452-BBQN

[DDY]

I think Dell announced that earlier this year.

I'm not excited, other notebook manufactures have done similar things and that's where in my opinion the problem lies, none of it's cross-compatible, none of it's standardised.

The Thunderbolt(tm) interface has been one of the better approaches so far, but the system is too expensive and if I recall correctly has strict licencing requirements.

Until we see an affordable external PCIe standard with decent capabilities and most importantly manufactures who are willing to implement it, I don't think external graphics will ever take off properly. Which is disappointing considering how simple the concept is.

[jim]

Yeah, ASUS did it a while back but it didn't really catch on.

As much as people talk about it being amazing, I don't think there's much demand for it. The unit is inevitably going to cost a fortune - for the graphics card, plus the case, plus the PSU, plus the R&D - and the inevitable compatibility issues. It's very easy for people to say "this product would be amazing" and then refuse to pay more than £150 for it - which renders the whole thing impossible.

[ik9000]

the enclosure includes the PSU and costs an additional £200. The graphics card is additional.

Unlike the thunderbolt solutions this offers PCIx16 whereas thunderbolt bandwidths are limited to x4 IIRC. Also, as this is a custom port I imagine Dell are branching off the PCI lanes from the chipset architecture rather than a third party having to do a bastardisation job taking it via the thunderbolt port with the latency hits that presumably incurs.

I think this is a great idea. Compared to the cost of having to run a laptop and a desktop to game on, I could run everything from a laptop and plug in the box and monitor when at home. What I've been after for the last 5 years tbh. The only downside is that they are only offering this on Alienware laptops. If they offered it on XPS range it would be far more attractive. Suitably business looking laptop that at home with a docking station and GPU boost lets you do some gaming at decent resolution.

[ik9000]

Yeah, ASUS did it a while back but it didn't really catch on.

As much as people talk about it being amazing, I don't think there's much demand for it. The unit is inevitably going to cost a fortune - for the graphics card, plus the case, plus the PSU, plus the R&D - and the inevitable compatibility issues. It's very easy for people to say "this product would be amazing" and then refuse to pay more than £150 for it - which renders the whole thing impossible.

Hexus trialled the MSI alternative and found little problem with compatability, or latency. Worst issue was the CPU throttling due to heat. I guess why Dell are limiting it to the Alienware machines which tend to have better cooling due to the larger chassis.

[DDY]

I reckon an x4 PCIe 2.0 link is enough for the sort of cards that would suit a laptop. Incidentally, Dell's approach also utilises a PCIe 2.0 x4 link.

The Graphics Amplifier is attached with a proprietary cable, which – contrary to modern motherboards – does not use a PCIe x16 interface, but only PCIe x4. This means very fast chips can lose about 10% of their performance.

Besides, Intel's 4th gen mobile core U series processors, e.g. the Alienware 13's i5-4210u, only have 6 lanes of PCIe 2.0 to play with;



It's also worth mentioning that Intel does make 4th gen mobile core processors with a PCIe 3.0 x16 link, e.g. the socketed M series, so it is possible to have an x16 link.

[jim]

the enclosure includes the PSU and costs an additional £200. The graphics card is additional.

Unlike the thunderbolt solutions this offers PCIx16 whereas thunderbolt bandwidths are limited to x4 IIRC. Also, as this is a custom port I imagine Dell are branching off the PCI lanes from the chipset architecture rather than a third party having to do a bastardisation job taking it via the thunderbolt port with the latency hits that presumably incurs.

I think this is a great idea. Compared to the cost of having to run a laptop and a desktop to game on, I could run everything from a laptop and plug in the box and monitor when at home. What I've been after for the last 5 years tbh. The only downside is that they are only offering this on Alienware laptops. If they offered it on XPS range it would be far more attractive. Suitably business looking laptop that at home with a docking station and GPU boost lets you do some gaming at decent resolution.

This is my point though - whilst yes, everyone says "it's a great idea", how many people will actually shell out £500-1000 on a laptop, and then another £200 for an enclosure, and then another £200-300 for a graphics card. When they could have spent £1000-1500 on the laptop in the first place and got an (admittedly inferior graphics-wise) portable gaming machine.

I know exactly what you're saying, and I don't really disagree with you - I'm just really unconvinced that many people will actually buy it. But hey, I'm ready to be proven wrong.

[ik9000]

I know where you're coming from, but for me I want a modest laptop with reasonable 1920x1080 screen, SSD and stellar battery life and portability (the XPS 13 basically), but when I'm not out and about the ability to give it more grunt. And yes I could have a separate desktop, but there is something handy about having all your files and software on one machine, and also the ability to easily stick the GPU box in the car for when you're off on holidays/round to a mate's house for a LAN. Disconnecting my tower and monitors takes me an age due to the customised desk + cable system I have.

If you just pump the money into a faster mGPU you get the worst of both worlds, worse battery life, heavier machine and graphics worse than a desktop unit, which you can't ever upgrade. IMO CPUs last longer than GPUs do and the ability to switch this prolongs the life of the laptop.

Not everyone will want it, but to me it makes a lot of sense.