AMD hints at standardization for external graphics cards
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fantaskarsef
Probably why Nvidia had that USB icon in it's driver too, sort of 'leaked' feature for such an upcoming standard.
Not my personal thing though, quite interesting from the technical side.
Noisiv
wait... so I am supposed to buy a laptop so I CANT play demanding games on the move,
so that later when I'm home I can have ALMOST desktop-like gaming experience???
LOL the marketing genius behind this... 😀
fantaskarsef
Pretty much sums it up. I think it's weird too, but there'll be sales (and wasted R&D budget) I guess.
TheDeeGee
Maybe AMD likes horses, specially dead ones :P
Fox2232
I think about it as "Choice user can make".
You can have one system doing everything at home. And when you go out, you'll decide if you take eGPU with you or not. If not you have thin, light system with great battery life.
Because if we are honest, those Gaming laptops eat 100~150W+ anyway and that means like 30minutes of battery under full load. So you are actually gaming "on the move" only if you are stationary and have external source of energy available. (Or in the train with Power sockets.)
And this is choice between 1.0~2kg notebook convertible to 6kg desktop with eGPU. Or having huge 5~6kg desktop replacement at all times.
Cave Waverider
Well, I guess the group they target is people that need/use the laptop for other things on the move, like "playing work", "playing student", etc. and want to play a demanding game on the same PC in their downtime when coming back home.
It isn't really that much different than having a gaming laptop with integrated GPU to fall back on next to a dedicated one (which usually requires more power than a battery can really provide for a longer gaming session), but it shaves a few kilograms to carry around off one's back/arm.
And it's easier to upgrade, find and pay for a desktop video card, provided the external case supports it, compared to an internal laptop card.
I could also imagine scenarios where you have the capability for such a card on desktop PCs and you could easily carry your expensive, high-end video card(s) with you when you move from one computer to the other (be it at a different residence or at your house) so you'd only have to buy one expensive card for the best gaming experience and not buy one for each computer.
I do welcome such an open standard, which would mean I could use the case with different computers for a long time. If performance is up to par with using an internal video card on a desktop (not like the "Alienware Graphics Amplifier" you can get for certain Alienware laptops where it's limited to PCIe x4) and all cards fit physically and power-wise and manufacturers across the board would support it, it'd be a great thing.
Ameubius
Personally, I don’t think it's such a bad idea.
I have a Dell XPS 15" (9550), and it could be interesting to be able to connect this type of laptop up with an external GPU, along with a descent gaming monitor, gaming pad and mouse, when at home.
Off course I wouldn’t get the most powerful system on Earth, but considering I mostly play Battlefield 3, I guess it would do… :P
RzrTrek
They have to try every crazy idea conceivable by man before they go bankrupt...
TheDeeGee
Pretty much a sign of a company going downhill.
Denial
Why is it a crazy idea?
I don't get why people don't like this? If I could take one of my older cards, say my 980 when I eventually upgrade and shove it into a external unit with thunderbolt, why wouldn't that be awesome?
Nearly all the new ultrabooks coming out have thunderbolt 3 on them. The Intel CPU's in those are more than capable of feeding a 980 to the point of playing some games on it.
Idk, when I saw all the companies talking about this at CES I was excited about it.
malitze
Yeah, I don't get it either. As long as the prices are reasonable of course.
Fox2232
It is pretty much in general pattern of AMD's actions over their existence.
They are pushing standardization left and right. It does not have to necessarily be to their imminent or long term benefit...
But you as a customer are main recipient of their work. Like it or not, big many things you have now, even if you have pure nV+intel system, exist only because AMD made them happen.
(And I do not think you are illiterate enough to ask for examples. So do not.)
vbetts
Moderator
They're easier to pose.
Aro9
So, no one ever had a problem picking laptop from the lot? In my case I wanted one with good screen 15.6 or larger, good(decent) cpu and radeon gpu. Even now there are few apus on the market, and before only choice was to get same laptop with good screen i3-i5 and ati like 10% stronger then integrated gpu, or get the same laptop without ati. In conclusion, if I would have a choice with this on market, I would go with external gpu now. This is oriented at people, using portable laptops for work and learning(students): you need light laptop for travel, but don't have to buy extra computer just for gaming. Now I could take same computer to LAN party after school(I am way over 16 now, just making a point). P.S If using apu it can be crossfired...
fantaskarsef
Well yes I did buy laptops and netbooks form the lot. I was just reasonable enough to not buy a laptop for gaming but only for my studies and office work, and I was fine with that decision. Different times I guess.
Times have changed I guess, these days a portable computer needs to do things that back in the day people were just fine with having a machine for certain tasks, not one for everything. As for that, I can imagine them finding a market to sell some of those cards if they bring them to the market.
MBTP
Well, i think this is perfect, the end of the needed desktop for gaming.
Having a thin, light very portable laptop/notebook/ultrabook, etc... when you get home plug it on your external graphics card and it turns in gaming rig.
Less space occupied, less money spent, i think this is the future.
Only uber enthusiastic gamers will have the need to have a giant desktop with water cooling overclockink 4 GFX cards...
For the majority this is perfect.
fantaskarsef
Well if this will be indeed cheaper to buy an expensive light and thin laptop and an external GPU compared to a traditional rig depends on what they'll charge for that. Normal rigs with the same hardware usually are cheeper than a latop with the same performance, no?
schmidtbag
I think this is a pretty decent idea. The reason it failed before is because there was no way to get enough bandwidth to an external GPU, but today there is. You should be able to get a modern mid-range desktop GPU to work through Thunderbolt (or a PCIe 3.0 1x slot) just fine without much of a performance loss at all.
Gaming laptops have always been poor investments. Their price:performance ratio compared to desktops is worse and they have thermal issues (and if they don't they're hardly portable). An external GPU makes it so you can have a very generic and affordable laptop while being able to play games better than a gaming laptop. Don't forget that it allows decent upgradability. Seeing how Intel hasn't made a CPU worth mentioning since Sandy Bridge, there's a good chance that whatever hardware you get for the laptop will stay relevant for longer than the GPU.
Keep in mind an external GPU on a laptop would offer better power savings when mobile. There are less components involved.
fantaskarsef
I wonder how an external GPU would still take it's toll on a laptop's CPU (which usually are rather power consumption orientated), the needed battery life for that, and again, thermals of the laptop itself. Haven't got experience with such high powered external devies, anybody here that already tried something like this? Maybe an external capture card or something?
schmidtbag
If it is based on PCIe technology, it shouldn't have much of an impact on CPU usage. If it's based on USB 3.x, that could be a problem, though I'd be more concerned about latency at that point. I highly doubt this can be powered through the laptop - something like this is most likely going to be plugged into a wall.
