Mildly Interesting- Alienware Amplifier GPU Dock

[ROK]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/27/alienware-graphics-amplifier/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/27/7079879/alienware-new-graphics-amplifier-laptop

 

Dell (Alienware) have debuted a product that allows you to use your desktop/PCI express GPU with your gaming laptop, which is quite interesting. If one of the nicer laptop manufacturers implemented something similar a gaming laptop would be a serious option for me (quad core i7 on a 15" laptop like the rMBP and use this GPU "dock" when gaming = win). Shame they made it proprietary. Stuff like this has already exists but we haven't seen much at the consumer level, from a large OEM, especially at this price point (cough Vaio Z cough cough)

 

[connorpiper]

Ehh. Sony did this with Light Peak. In 2011.

 

Thank Sony for helping the prototypes of Thunderbolt!

 

I also noticed that is a Dell PSU. Which are actually really good. 

[Flight1sim]

or make one for $15

[AlexGoesHigh]

regardless of how niche this kind of product is the fact that they went proprietary is fucking stupid

[wpirobotbuilder]

We've seen a lot of finicky external GPU products in the past. Dell certainly has a better chance than past manufacturers, but it's a shame they didn't say anything about opening it up to other manufacturers.

[ImBleu]

Wasn't there a FireWire / Thunderbolt something GPU adapter too?

[Aniallation]

VAIO laptops had this a long time ago. It never caught on. Yawn

[TheKDub]

Looks like it will be overpriced and cheaply made...

[GodSpoon]

or make one for $15

 

How would one make this for $15 oh hypocrite master, I am intruiged

[SkilledRebuilds]

How would one make this for $15 oh hypocrite master, I am intruiged

$55-65 gets you there With an alterntive product (Same deal, diff plug)

 

Where to Buy - http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

[ROK]

Ehh. Sony did this with Light Peak. In 2011.

 

Thank Sony for helping the prototypes of Thunderbolt!

 

 

VAIO laptops had this a long time ago. It never caught on. Yawn

IIRC sony wanted like 2K for the dock

[Flight1sim]

How would one make this for $15 oh hypocrite master, I am intruiged

All you need is the dock and cable

mPcie and some dock for $15

 

but then again the GPU and PSU are another expense

[Flight1sim]

$55-65 gets you there

 

http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

yep, that guy has some pretty cool videos!

[connorpiper]

IIRC sony wanted like 2K for the dock

 

$800. Though it had a GPU, PSU, Blueray Drive, all the ports and ran off a technology that would not exist (In common laptops) until 2014. 

[Octagoncow]

It's definitely not something I plan on buying, but I'm excited that this technology is starting to catch on. Maybe the second iteration won't be proprietary.

[GodSpoon]

yep, that guy has some pretty cool videos!

 

Right now that wouldn't in theory have enough bandwidth to credit using it, what about running that to mini pcie to a thunderbolt 2 adapter then?

[SkilledRebuilds]

The cheaper alternatives are what most people are going to be using the 'their' older laptops with mPCIE.

 

This is silly, locking it to an Alienware product stack. They could have made much more money selling it as a standalone accessory.

[ROK]

$800. Though it had a GPU, PSU, Blueray Drive, all the ports and ran off a technology that would not exist (In common laptops) until 2014. 

I assume by the 'technology that would not exist until 2014' you mean thunderbolt? Didn't apple put it in their macbook pros a few months after sony had it on their laptops?

 

EDIT: Thunderbolt initially shown off on a prototype mac pro.

[zeldathegrill]

Wasn't there a FireWire / Thunderbolt something GPU adapter too?

There was. Is this essentially the same thing?

[connorpiper]

I assume by the 'technology that would not exist until 2014' you mean thunderbolt? Didn't apple put it in their macbook pros a few months after sony had it on their laptops?

 

Light Peak. Which was the prototype of Thunderbolt. Sony had a Light Peak prototype prototype at CES 2009.

It actually is faster than any thunderbolt we have right now because it was fibre. That's why Sony was able to get so much stuff and data over one cable. 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

$55-65 gets you there With an alterntive product (Same deal, diff plug)

 

Where to Buy - http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

 

 

-snip- Nvm, misunderstood, pretty cool.

[connorpiper]

There was. Is this essentially the same thing?

 

No. They are not.

[connorpiper]

Wasn't there a FireWire / Thunderbolt something GPU adapter too?

 

Sony VAIO. My first comment. 

[Rock1m1]

The Alienware 13 laptop — announced this morning — will go down in history as the first ever laptop allowed into the vaulted, blustery, and mythical halls of True PC Gaming. While the laptop itself is just an upgraded version of the Alienware 14, it has a new peripheral that will blow your mind: the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, an external enclosure that allows you to attach a full-length desktop graphics card — such as the Nvidia GTX 980 or Radeon HD R9 295X2 — to your laptop. The price of desktop-like performance on your laptop, though, is steep: The Amplifier itself, without a graphics card, is $300 — and, sadly, it (currently) only works with the Alienware 13 laptop.

 

 

Engadget

[terrytek]

Why only Alienware? It should be cross platform. Nice try, Alienware.