First in history? nVidia indirectly flatters AMD/ATI about the XGP initiative.

[ToTTenTranz]

Now, there's no reason for the market of external GPUs for laptops (and even for desktops?) to explode:

Originally Posted by xbitlabs

A high-ranking executive from Nvidia Corp. said that it considers external graphics adapters for notebooks a big opportunity even though the company does not offer such products at the moment.

“I think it is a big opportunity. 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,” said Rene Haas, general manager of the notebook GPU business at Nvidia, in a brief interview with X-bit labs.

There are a lot of notebooks featuring high-performance microprocessors, but there are much less notebooks with high-performance graphics processors since discrete graphics chips increase the size and weight of mobile computers rather tangibly and are not needed crucially. A way to add high-performance graphics to laptops was introduced by ATI in 2008: external graphics cards and external graphics port (XGP) technology. Unfortunately, so far such graphics cards have hardly become widespread; in fact, there is only one XGP solution available: Mobility Radeon HD 3870 box available only from Fujitsu Siemens. One of the issues, believes Nvidia, is the price of such graphics solutions.

“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.

Unfortunately, Nvidia does not reveal any concrete plans on the matter and it is unclear when the company could introduce its own external graphics technology for notebooks. As a result, the only thing for sure is that Nvidia is keeping an eye on such market opportunity.

“This is my opinion, I cannot say much about our plans,” added general manager of the notebook GPU business at Nvidia.

I'm eagerly waiting for someone to launch that HD5830 XGP they showed on CES, with an Acer Ferrarri One 200 that I own.

What's better than taking my 11,6" laptop along with a little box to a friend's house and connecting it to his Full HD TV to play a LAN game of DX11 Alien vs. Predator?
Girls. Only girls are better than that!

[shevanel]

i knew it was a matter of time before GPUs became external anyway. theyre getting to large and this is a good way to begin the transition into set top GPU boxes.

but, its a fantastic idea for people with laptops etc

[mstenholm]

I have been in Porto. DX11 Alien is better