Have my prayers just been answered?

[Machead III]

We talked a while ago about the seeming impossibility of ever using the MBPs PCI-Express slot to house a new graphics card, due to size and power problems.

But check this out: http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/28/ati-to-release-power-hungry-external-video-card/

They seem to suggest there that that ugly tin can will indeed be power independant, and I assume it'd be PCI-e, and so I assume that... it could power our MacBook Pros?

Obviously not for portable use, but as we have established in another thread, this may be the only way we see DX10 on our Macs within the century.

 

[Tclare]

Can i check if i have got this right? This ATI R600 is an external graphics card which can connect to any laptop/desktop and instantly upgrade its graphics performance no matter what the machine.

Also can someone explain to me the sharing over network bit?

 

[menthol moose]

To be honest, I doubt that's true. Very much. I've heard rumors about ultra-power-hungry cards in the past and they haven't needed external-y-ness.

 

[dukebound85]

what about a macbook lol. that would be really sweet

 

[Machead III]

As far I can tell, the technology is there, and has been there for ages. The only reason we can't stick graphics cards directly into of PCI slots is because 1) there's not enough space and 2) there's not enough power provided through that port.

An external graphics card would have it's own power supply, so that's not an issue, and being external, space isn't an issue. You could simply plug it in through a high-bandwidth cable into the PCI slot on MacBook Pros, and hey presto, instant upgrade to your graphics - not a bad upgrade at that, ie. the most powerful consumer graphics card in the world.

Why someone hasn't developed an enclosure for GPUs I dn't know - imagine the market... laptop owners everywhere could have graphics capabilities surpassing even the Xbox 360.

EDIT: Are you sure there isn't a way to power and mount GPUs externally already? I cannot comprehend why it mightn't have been done!! Check it out, PCI-Express cards, if they cold be powered and housed seperately with a cable going into the slot on my MBP, I could upgrade my graphics card for as little as £33...........

 

[sushi]

While not a gamer, this concept does sound interesting.

I like that it can be connected to which ever computer, desktop or laptop, that you want to use.

 

[Machead III]

I don't game on the go much, so I'd be fine leaving it behind when I go abroad etc.

It seems 50/50 whether or not ATI really are going to release an external R800. As far as I'm aware our current MBPs have all the right ports and stuff going on inside to make them compatible, so all we need to do is wait and pray that ATI does what should have been done 10 years ago, and could easily be done now, and release that bastard.



There are cards around, and PCI-Express cards at that, that do use external power supplies. If that's the case, couldn't we just get some kind of cable to hook one directly into the PCI slot on our MBP? The only trouble would be housing the card to keep gunk off it.

EDIT: just realied that the PCIe slot on MBPs is only 1 lane, whilst most cards seem to require 16 lane. Are there any that would work with 1 lane?

EDIT 2: Found a 1 lane card: http://www.hisdigital.com/html/productnews_20060626.html

Not sure if it has/needs external power though...

Am I close or is there something I've overlooked that makes this all totally impossible?

 

[StealthRider]

Performance would suffer on the "slow" 1x bus, but it's still a good way to add displays if need be. Just don't expect to be playing Doom3 at any kind of quality.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

But the GMA950 is such a fantastic graphics chip and plays everything just fine, I know I have heard that here a zillion times.

This is cool, PC gamer has been talking about this for awhile and now its almost here. Very cool because the only reason Many many people have bought new Machines is because of the graphics.I know I have. I wonder how Apple will be working to defeat this one?

 

[StealthRider]

Probably by including it as an option with their machines

 

[Machead III]

Performance would suffer on the "slow" 1x bus, but it's still a good way to add displays if need be. Just don't expect to be playing Doom3 at any kind of quality.

But if this could augment the X1600 in the MBP, I'm sure there'd be plenty of fps to be had.

Anyway, I can already play Doom 3 maxed out, the X1600 is by no means a bad card... it's just... BioShock! *sob*

If only there was a cheaper, slightly lower spec MacPro.

No wait, if only the god damn iMacs were upgradable

 

[StealthRider]

Got that right...

 

[Machead III]

In fact, if iMacs were GPU upgradable, it'd be enough to entice back to the desktop market.

 

[Mac'Mo]

they should def let MBs have the option of a dedicated Vid Card.

 

[trudd]

they should def let MBs have the option of a dedicated Vid Card.

Goodbye thin form factor. And price.

 

[StealthRider]

Nah - if they can put an X1600 in the MBP, they could have at least put an X1300 or X1400 in the standard MB. Even as a BTO option would've been fine.

 

[pianoman]

Goodbye thin form factor. And price.

i think we already said goodbye to price. we know we're paying a premium for the Pro machines.

 

[Machead III]

There's enough free space in an MB for an X1300, and how much do the bloody things cost? £30?

Integrated graphics is a deliberate move by Apple to justify the price of the MBPs - there's no point in defending it, it's a sleezy as anything M$ ha ever done.

 

[zap2]

Would be a good idea...I might even pick one up for my Mac Mini...that is if WoW runs really badly and I really like it.(Or I could walk downstairs and use my media PC to play it)

 

[southbark]

My question is this if you have an external card the video goes out the mac to external card and then wouldn't it have to go directly to an external screen or out the dvi port into the external graphices then back in throught the pci express slot.how would the mac handle this video circle and ait would be a long spaghetti string wire mess

i see the concept of external graphics cards but i don't see how it would be exexuted through a laptop a standard fullsize computer i can see the possibility but on a laptop not sure.Maybe out the firewire 800 port to an external screen

 

[iW00t]

I am sure that thing will cost so much that it makes upgrading to a new MBP seem worthwhile.

 

[redeye be]

A while ago, I was looking (dreaming) about a nice MBP system I could use. Including 3 displays and lots of FireWire ports and HD's.
I came across Magma.
I sent them a little mail, and they confirmed working on a expresscard to PCIe enclosure.

About that 1x speed.
If you would use this contraption with a video, a sata and lets say a FW/USB card...
Just how fast is 1x Speed?

 

[Jeef690]

That my friend, is VERY cool!

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

A while ago, I was looking (dreaming) about a nice MBP system I could use. Including 3 displays and lots of FireWire ports and HD's.
I came across Magma.
I sent them a little mail, and they confirmed working on a expresscard to PCIe enclosure.

About that 1x speed.
If you would use this contraption with a video, a sata and lets say a FW/USB card...
Just how fast is 1x Speed?

That is REALLY cool.

Does 16x really mean its 16 times faster, or does it just split the bandwidth in some way to make it more efficient?

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

I am sure that thing will cost so much that it makes upgrading to a new MBP seem worthwhile.

Yeah but don't forget that our processors are already ridiculously fast. Like we are not even limited by them anymore, it's by our hard drives and other things