External graphics card

[demonbrawn]

Hey guys. I'm curious about the option of an external graphics card. My laptop is great and the hardware is nice, but the video card leaves much to be desired. I saw this one, but it seems pretty dated already. Does anyone have any more information on these devices?

 

[HalfAHertz]

the only one i know of is this: http://www.sunrainet.com/amd-ferrari-external-hd-5870-graphics-card.html

it isn't very popular amongst oems and it ain't out yet

 

[Helper]

It's basicly an external enclosure in which you put in a PCI-Express card. Just like a PCI-Express Slot Extender or an External Harddisk with a SATA drive in it but you connect it though your laptop's Express Card slot and boom there you have a PCI-Express slot for your notebook. MSI also had one named Luxinium, if I remember correctly some other companies had it too. It used to come with 7900 GSs and now it comes with 8600s I see... I wish they have sold the enclosure only. But you can hack the panel and put whatever card you want. It'll be bottlenecked by ExpressCard slot, though. I also had a nice black Toshiba notebook back in time but it only had GMA 950. Looked for that solution everywhere but I just couldn't find it and gave up. I think it's a very cool and useful device. Gook luck finding it.

 

[majestic12]

I remember looking into getting a MAGMA BOX a while ago when I had a laptop with craptacular Intel graphics. They're really expensive though -I think they start at over 700 U.S. dollars. I ended up getting a better laptop with decent dedicated graphics for a little more than the box, interface, and a graphics card. It's a bit rich for my tastes, but it's an interesting product worth a quick peek. Check it out! http://www.magma.com/products.html

 

[DirectorC]

I saw this one, but it seems pretty dated already.

Correct. The 8600GT is a turd. Believe me, I have one.

 

[demonbrawn]

the only one i know of is this: http://www.sunrainet.com/amd-ferrari-external-hd-5870-graphics-card.html

it isn't very popular amongst oems and it ain't out yet

Wow, whoever wrote that article must not speak English as their primary language. That, or they don't proofread whatsoever. Anyway, thanks for the tips!

 

[xBruce88x]

yea i got rid of my 8600gt about 8 months ago... it was an ok card but not as fast as i thought it would be, got me a 9600gt now... however i would LOVE to have that 8600gt for my laptop as it beats the f&*%ing crap out of the gma945/950

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Wow, whoever wrote that article must not speak English as their primary language. That, or they don't proofread whatsoever. Anyway, thanks for the tips!

As you can see from the pictures in that article, that's originally from BSN (Bright Side of News).


That Asus external box uses a 1X PCI-Express 1.0 connection (from Xpresscard), so it's too limited.

ATI's XGP is already a couple of years old, but they made the mistake of pairing up with Fujitsu-Siemens to launch the tech (see Fujitsu Amilo 3650, it's a 13" laptop with an external Radeon HD3870), which disappeared as a brand in the meanwhile.

It uses a 8x PCI-Express 2.0 connection (16 times faster than Asus' approach) directly to the northbridge, so it presents no performance bottlenecks there.


The second laptop to sport the XGP connector was the Acer Ferrari One, a low-cost 11.6" ultra-mobile with a dual core 1.2GHz Athlon 64. I own one and if I can use it as a gaming machine, I'll definitely buy the external box.

 

[HalfAHertz]

It's kinda useless, because you need the XGP box and a monitor...

 

[ToTTenTranz]

It's kinda useless, because you need the XGP box and a monitor...

You don't need the external monitor. The image buffer is sent back to the IGP to display in the laptop's monitor.


About having the XGP box.. well DUH, that's what this is all about: modularity in laptops (something that the MXM hasn't achieved in its 3 years of existence for the lack of retail parts).

 

[HalfAHertz]

You don't need the external monitor. The image buffer is sent back to the IGP to display in the laptop's monitor.


About having the XGP box.. well DUH, that's what this is all about: modularity in laptops (something that the MXM hasn't achieved in its 3 years of existence for the lack of retail parts).

I could be wrong, but from what I understood, you can't send the picture back to the notebook's display and need a separate monitor for the output.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

I could be wrong, but from what I understood, you can't send the picture back to the notebook's display and need a separate monitor for the output.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBdT1Tu6c6Y

Proof enough?

 

[DonInKansas]

Insert *if you want to game, buy a desktop* statement here.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Insert *if you want to game, buy a desktop* statement here.

Good luck with taking your desktop, keyboard and monitor to school, college, trips, friends' houses, beach house and lanparties.







If a gamer doesn't buy a gaming-capable (I won't say gaming-oriented, just capable) laptop, he will regret it sooner or later.

 

[demonbrawn]

"If a gamer doesn't buy a gaming-capable (I won't say gaming-oriented, just capable) laptop, he will regret it sooner or later."

I thought I had done that, but didn't realize just how UN-capable the video card was...

 

[DirectorC]

My cousin got herself an ASUS G60vx when the Christmas sales were going on. I don't know WTF games she plays but I was mad jealous. I'd rock that lappy any day if I had the money, but for me all I wanna be able to take on the road is for internet purposes so I'm just waiting until low end laptops are even more dirt cheap. If I'm anywhere but my room I have no need to be gaming. I guess it's because I'm not really a 'gamer'--I go months at a time without loading up a game--but I did play COD4 ~daily for over a year, I'm just not a true 'gamer' (I don't really play anything else, I demo most games though), I don't play a wide range of games and I don't own a console.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

I consider myself a "true gamer", whatever that is suppose to mean now-a-day and I will never play a game on a laptop. Why would I want to do that?

If I am traveling, I got business or pleasure to attend to. I can't have casual gaming getting in the way.

And before you say, "What do you do with your free time?" The answer is go out and do something or watch anime/movies/TV shows/Webcasts I acquired.

 

[DirectorC]

If I am traveling, I got business or pleasure to attend to. I can't have casual gaming getting in the way.

And before you say, "What do you do with your free time?" The answer is go out and do something or watch anime/movies/TV shows/Webcasts I acquired.

Exactly.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

And before you say, "What do you do with your free time?" The answer is go out and do something or watch anime/movies/TV shows/Webcasts I acquired.

Do you know why you do that?
Because you can't play games in your laptop! Ha!

 

[bobzilla2009]

I used to have a gaming laptop, but i find that when i'm not at home, i didn't play games enough to warrant the loss in graphical power for the price.£600 in the uk gets you around a 9600 GT atm, as far as i know (could be slightly better now). But the same £600 bought me a phenom II 940 and a hd5870 desktop. I know which one i prefer

For mobility i'll soon be getting a dual core atom netbook w/ an nvidia ion chipset. It'll cover any basic gaming needs (the occasional mmorpg for example) but won't cost me the hundreds and thousands i'll need to be able to run games decently on a normal laptop. but it'll be primarily so i can use it in when in physics labs, because they seem to be using horribly old computers with linux (although they'll probably replace them the moment i buy the netbook, but that's just sods law).

But in short, laptops really aren't the best way to play games financially, really and truly. You'll have to upgrade more often to play the newest games. For example, hardly any laptops can really play gta4, and most mainstream ones will struggle with battlefield bad company 2. Whereas desktops of the same price (currently and will) breeze through them. If a desktop doesn't play it, you're looking at up to £200 to upgrade if a few parts are slow (maybe every 18 months to 2 years for mainstream parts). A laptop means spending upwards of £500-600 to get a whole new laptop (pretty much every year at least to keep up). So if you have money to burn, laptops are a great option for gaming.

Of course, it does depend on your needs, personally i just found i was playing games most of the time while my laptop was in a fixed place (i.e. my desk). Also, i like messing around with computers. But i definitely know the advantages and disadvantages of both types of computers. As a gamer, i just prefer desktops, it's cheaper, i have surround sound and a massive screen. But laptops are great for those who don't like tinkering with computers, really NEED the portability (i.e. you don't have a home internet connection, like i didn't way back when), and don't mind having half the power for double the price.

 

[Ice-Tea]

What's the notebook model?

 

[demonbrawn]

the model is VGN-FW390

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Model for what?