Nvidia: External Laptop GPUs Are "Big Opportunity"
"Nvidia Outside"
Nvidia general manager said that external GPUs are a big opportunity for the graphics company, even though it doesn't offer a supporting line of products (yet).
"I think it is a big opportunity," said Rene Haas, general manager of the notebook GPU business at Nvidia, in a brief interview with X-bit labs. "We have two strategies at Nvidia: one is to put graphics everywhere, the other one is to [find more ways to] integrate discrete chips into the box. I think there is definitely a place for [external graphics cards for notebooks], no question. We continue to look at whether this is a GPU [docking stations] or external devices."
"I think, the issue that has to be solved for something like that is the right price-point that hits the right segment. There is definitely a lot of interest in it and [this is] something we are keeping our eye on to be able to offer something there," said Mr. Haas.
At the Taipei Game Show, Gigabyte showed off its M1405 with external GeForce GT220 (see pictures and video here). It won't be the last of its kind, if Nvidia has any say in it.
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Nothing says portability like another thing to haul around in a laptop case! Especially something that eats battery life. Go nvidia, way to blaze a trail.
That's all good nVidia... WHERE IS ME Fermi!!????!?!?
Nothing says portability like another thing to haul around in a laptop case! Especially something that eats battery life. Go nvidia, way to blaze a trail.
Don't forget the external LCD to go with it. I highly doubt the external GPU will hook into the laptop's LCD. They should stick to making mobile versions of their GPU's for laptops. Turning a laptop into a portable desktop is not the answer.
Is it just me or is Nvidia all talk, very little results these days
GEEZ! How many external devices do we really need? Computer desk are already cluttered with entirely too much stuff.
anyway there isn't really anything new with the idea, look at the fujutsu-siemens amilo graphicbooster, an external radeon hd3870 if i'm not mistaken
Where is Fermi...
It make sense for those with laptops that have setup at home where they can leave their external devices like monitors/speakers/hard drives/GPU and take the laptop on the go after unplugging the stuff. But I can see why it would be WAY cheaper in most cases to just own a netbook for internet access and quick little things and a desktop for entertainment and high power computing needs. I do not see people lugging an external GPU around with them to use.
Is it just me or is Nvidia all talk, very little results these days
Sure they do? They bring quality cards like the 8800GT, 9800GTX, GTS250... wait there all the same cards... Good point!
Don't forget the external LCD to go with it. I highly doubt the external GPU will hook into the laptop's LCD. They should stick to making mobile versions of their GPU's for laptops. Turning a laptop into a portable desktop is not the answer.
Wow, so quick to disregard this as gimmicky? As a college student having both a desktop and a laptop, this product would really interest me.
The external GPU isn't meant to be powered off your laptop's battery folks. The idea is to replace your desktop with a fairly portable laptop with an external GPU and LCD for you to dock with on your desk. When you are on the go, leave that stuff and save your battery life. But when you want to come back and play a few games, you can. I hate having my desktop at school, it takes up way too much room. Cosmos S, 26" LCD, G15 keyboard. I have no desk space.
bah...go read the article about gigabtye's new laptop...faster than nVidia's actions
Why not just buy a laptop with a dedicated GPU? Less stuff to haul around that way. Grab your power adapter and your mouse and your good to go.
I see nothing wrong with this, for those of us who don't have a desktop we could have a docking station, external m/kb and play kickass games. When on the road we can be portable and play games "reasonably well".
I could see this being a good thing for some people.
in an era where our laptops are become our desktop replacements, an external gpu would be handy especially for those who work in a dual monitor workstation, but don't want the cheap effects of just a plain old DVI splitter. What we may see is a return of "docking stations" where you bring your laptop home, place on your cooling pad with hookups to your external 1tb hardrive, ext GPU and 27" display. Now question is, will this external GPU be USB3.0, firewire 800, or e-sata?
Is NVIDIA acting like Blizzard or is Blizzard acting like NVIDIA?
It could be interesting if it was fully modular between a desktop and a laptop, meaning I could unhoook my GPU from my desktop and throw it onto my laptop. This would work especially well with the whole hybrid GPU stuff people have been talking about recently.
But other than that, this idea is totally meh to me. I have never for the life of me understood people that game on laptops (unless they are loaded and also have a superior desktop at home.)
If you are that into gaming but can't afford both, buy/build a gaming desktop and a low end laptop or netbook for portable computing. Total cost there is ~$1500 (+/- 250 or so).
And that's about what it costs to get a good gaming laptop. Which at the end of the day has a bad keyboard mouse and monitor gaming solution, and becomes too heavy to really be that portable.
I know this isn't a popular opinion amongst young techies, but gaming laptops are just stupid. They remind me of that gun in The Fifth Element. Flexibility lowers quality.
Wow look at all the nVidia hate today.
External GPUs are great. You get all the portability and mobile productivity you want, but then you can come home and hook up a GPU for gaming. For many people, that would be ideal.
Externals are always overpriced. Just look at "external" HDD's... you can buy an internal HDD that's faster than the external HDD's and less expensive, all you need is to buy an external Hard Drive enclosure for it. Now, instead of an "external" GPU, they should just have an external Video Card enclosure that connects to a PCIe somehow.
With the prominence and capability of ultra-portables in the form of netbooks it just doesn't make sense to haul around a full fledged laptop anymore. Desktop for home, netbook for travel. This would be a very niche product for those 'tweeners. I don't see this as a 'Big Opportunity' like Jen-Hsun does.
I think external GPU's are a great idea.
I spent $2300 on my present laptop so i can play games. Thing is i dont want to ALWAYS play games and now i have a power eater laptop.
If I could buy a laptop with built in graphics for on the go and just plug it into my docking station for graphic juice it would be the perfect solution.
Instead, I have a desktop with serious graphic power and a laptop with mid graphic power... I would love to say good-by to my PC and have only a laptop.
Sure they do? They bring quality cards like the 8800GT, 9800GTX, GTS250... wait there all the same cards... Good point!
you forgot the 350 and the 440 just predictions mind you.
As an ex-owner of two Dell desktop-replacement lappys I can say that it is a BIG opportunity. I loved both of them but there was definitely some tremendous downsides (hence the EX owner). I want a portable gaming machine for LANs and whenever I'm on a trip where I might have a huge chunk of free time to kill. But in-between, I just need a basic laptop. An external graphics card would be the perfect tool to accomplish this.
Sure, it's one more thing to carry around, but it gives me an option where currently there isn't one. The fundamental problem with laptops is the fact that you're stuck with what you buy, there is very little room for improvement or upgrades outside of RAM and storage space. The ideal solution would be a sort of external PCI-Express slot that would allow me to plug any normal desktop graphics card in it.
I don't know why people are hating on this so much. Last I checked most Tom's posters/readers were avid gamers/LAN-goers anyways. Do you actually enjoy lugging around your 20lb towers everywhere? (Yes, part of it is nostalgic, pimping out your rig and taking it places but you HAVE to admit, it's a HUGE pain.)
I just don't get this. Maybe they know something I don't know.
Nothing says portability like another thing to haul around in a laptop case! Especially something that eats battery life. Go nvidia, way to blaze a trail.
Well it's all a matter on how it's done i do see a market for it say you want to upgrade your laptop gpu if they set up a universal port you have a easy way to upgrade laptop graphics. I also see it as a market for someone who wants to game on their laptop but doesn't want to have to buy a 17" monster that always has shitty bat life and is a pain to lug around.
I acutlly kind of like the concept but how it will be done is really what matters.
This is an old concept. About a year and a half ASUS brought out an external 8699gt for mobil devices(notebooks)... the problem was that it only used a 8x slot and not the full 16x pcie.
anyway there isn't really anything new with the idea, look at the fujutsu-siemens amilo graphicbooster, an external radeon hd3870 if i'm not mistaken
I was thinking the same thing. Its weird how when this was an idea utilizing ATI cards, people had a much more positive view on it.
Personally, I'd LOVE to see a computer dock that allows me to use desktop GPUs. I'd be able to have 1 machine that's relatively lightweight and good battery life, that I can take wherever I go, and when I get home, I can just dock it and use it as a primary work and gaming machine! I can't believe people can complain about a great idea like that!
This Gigabyte solution still sucks though, because its using a pretty underpowered GT220 (I'd be better off just buying an Asus laptop with an internal ATI graphics card), and you can't upgrade the graphics card. But, as a proof of concept, that might eventually morph into what I wish this was... I'm happy to see the step in this direction.
This would be great for those who use laptops as a "mobile desktop". Perfect for someone traveling a lot who likes gaming. Even better, wouldn't it be possible for the companies to put normal desktop GPUs in them? After all you'll be plugged in and the heat won't be an issue.
I agree with Kittoes 100%...I would love to have just one machine that can do both mobility and performance without having to pay an arm and a leg...I currently have a laptop that I use for school work and have a separate desktop to play games...and there are so many times where I wish I could just take it to my friends' places conveniently to play games with them...
i have an ibm t42p and the best docking station to go with it. You can add a pci card in the docking staion then hook to an external monitor. How is this a new idea from nvidia ?
Necro you obviously don't travel then or you're just an idiot. Gaming laptops are not stupid by any means. I'm deploying to Afgan. Do you really thing their gonna let me take my desktop.. Let me answer that for you NO!. Can I take a laptop sure.. Well we have internet or anything where we're going.. Um no.. Not gonna be crap as we're the ones gonna be building it up. So I get me a decent laptop, and a crap load of single player games when there's nothing else to do.
There's nothing stupid about gaming laptops specially for people who have to travel a lot. Now when you buy you a gaming laptop just to use it as a desktop and the occasional road trip.. Ya, then there might be something wrong with you.
Nvidia sure do like to keep their noses pointed on something new. I think they should release first their uber late, over advertised, new product before doing all this talk? This is not hate, it's just a reality check. I own one of their re-badged chips anyway.