PICTURED: Gigabyte's M1405 with External GPU

[Guest]

all they need now is to make one with tablet and multi-touch and I'm sold.

 

[Guest]

I believe the Toshiba Dynadock USB docking station has a built in video card. You can dock any laptop via USB to it and it'll output to two separate DVI ports in full 1920x1200 res to each. Not exactly gaming quality, but I've found it does preform well.

 

[thegreathuntingdolphin]

It doesn't need anything drastically more powerful that a 220, maybe a 5770 at most (any more and I think it will begin to get CPU limited with the c2d). It only has a 14-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution screen unless you buy a monitor for it. Anyways, I am sure this thing will be crazy expensive. I think it would still make since to have a separate desktop and cheaper laptop. But for those who want to spend the money, knock yourself out - it is a cool idea in theory.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]g00ey[/nom]In short: Why not provide an "empty" docking station with a PCIe x16 slot leaving the user at the discretion of installing an optional 5870 or any PCIe based GPU he would desire?[/citation]

I'm sure someone will do it. I never liked the idea of ditching parts (eg optical drives) and just using an external 'when you needed it,' but this is definitely an idea I could get behind. Like so many people have pointed out, definitely handy for those who like to game occasionally but don't want to haul around a super heavy laptop.

 

[thegreathuntingdolphin]

I am curious as to why they chose the Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.3 GHz)....

I will say this is a good idea if you have a mobile core i7 or C2Q. I don't think they will ever have a dock for 5870, 5970, etc. They are just too big, too hot (for a dock), and require to much power (it would have to have a large power adapter which would further increase the cost).

 

[tethoma]

That is a great idea to put the video card in the docking station. Since the video card adds weight and drains power, why not put it in the docking station! Excellent idea, I see this catching on with other vendors.

 

[tayb]

Hm. I like this idea but I'm pretty nervous at the same time. This could be a really cool device for people who want a mobile machine but would also like to play games when they are at home. But, it could also be an excuse that laptop makers use to stop designing laptops with powerful internal GPUs and just direct the customer to buying one of these docks for a separate cost.

I'm puzzled as to why they chose the SU7300 to show off the GPU. That's not a very fast processor at all. I'm also pretty interested to know why they went with the GT220. Methinks this will be pretty bandwidth limited for the time being.

 

[JonathanDeane]

Pretty cool, maybe some one will take it a step further and make an external full sized video card slot in an add on box.

 

[surfer1337dude]

This is both funny and depressing....2 years ago I tried emailing companies like XFX and talking to people I know who are going to college for Electrical Engineering about making an external video card....they all told me they werent interested or that it wouldnt work....

 

[megamanx00]

A GT220 isn't exactly a huge step up from the onboard intel graphics (though I suppose percentage wise it's huge ^_^). If it's external it should be something with the power of a GT240 or Radeon 5670, minimum.

 

[jacobdrj]

Battery life could be the biggest winner. Also, compare this solution to dual graphics solution like Lenovo was doing with switchable between intel integrated and mobile ATI discreet.

 

[micky_lund]

sweet...they'll sell heaps to the uni people

 

[kikireeki]

A waste of engineering talent!

 

[fjjb]

the real question here is: will it run Crysis???

 

[masterjaw]

This ones going for the right track. I think this will serve a lot of people who want portability and optional gaming prowess without being stuck with the pre-installed graphics.

 

[vaughn2k]

I appreciate if THG could do some benches. But why a GT220 anyways?

 

[stridervm]

More likely proof of concept.

It's because I'm almost quite sure that even if that device uses one PCI-E x1 slot even a GT240 would bring amazing performance although slightly bottlenecked by the bandwidth.....

 

[notsleep]

last gen graphic card...put in a dx11 card then i'll consider it.