Asustek XG Station external graphics card

True... utilizing the notebook screen as monitor sounds implausable, but...

VR-Zone. Unless I'm misunderstanding the article, supposedly Asus has figured out a solution, despite claims otherwise. This approach could still require some kind of PCIe-E interface

Besides... moving to and from the occasional LAN party i'snt all to hard. Would caring an extra monitor/keyboard really really be too much to ask? Realistically, it would only take another trip to the car, and an extra 5 minutes to setup. i would rather "frag" on a 19" 1280x1024, than a 14" XGA anyhow.

 

On new laptops, I can see it happening via a custom port they build into the design. Another possible option is to do a screen copy back through the PCI Express interface onto the framebuffer of the laptop's onboard graphics chip; however, this would be quite the feat to make it useable, flexible and compatible...

On old laptops... not very likely.

 

Someone awhile back had mentioned that they're working on this.

http://www.pcisig.com/specifications/pciexpress/pcie_cabling1.0/

Sorry but I can't remember who it was on this forum that first mentioned it.

 

should just make two versions then to satisfy both those who WANT to use an external monitor and those who DONT want to use the external monitor..

 

There currently isnt a feasible way to get an input to the laptops screen.... The best hope is the external PCIe cabling thing that Asus is working on for its 2nd generation XG Station.

 

Ah...

...nvm this forum has an extremely short memory span.

 

Well actually it may be possible for the XG1 to render graphics on the LCD of a notebook, using this click here. Coriolis did a review on it, and maybe somehow you can find the right combination of adapters and make it work.

I personally wouldn't mind playing around with the XG1, but the XG2 is something I am much more interested in because of the 16x performance it has over the 1x performance of the XG1.

I would also like to use my notebook screen than an external scree, I do have my desktop monitor, but I use that for my desktop, and the XG1 would require me to purchase an external LCD, sure they don't cost too much $200, but still, I would need physical space and more cables running around to do all of this.

Overall Asus providing a big solution to notebooks, since the demand of graphics are on the rise, Vista...and notebook hardware in terms of graphic solution is currently limited, so this is a great way to get a good mix of gaming at home and a portable laptop for school/work/travel and etc.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Man, there's so much wishful thinking (and memories are so short) in this thread that it's... bordering on insane...

Not that I'm calling you insane, MysticGolem , but this isn't much of a solution either. The maximum resolution you'd get out of this would be a pretty fuzzy 640 x 480 due to the limitations of an analog TV signal, in which case you just wasted the point of getting a better video card externally. Yes, you might make this 'work'... but it would be self-defeating; not only that - but according to the article using this device takes up nearly all of the CPU time, in whch case you'd be hard-pressed to run any game at the same time. There's also the assumption that both the internal laptop graphics and the XG station would be allowed to run at the same time; still don't know about that.

 

--> CeBit is comming March 15-22. Cant wait for more news about the XG station

 

--> Finally found some news via Google News, i am unsure of the creditablility of the source. What i do want to point out is the picture. The label attached to the XG Station reads ~ 4493 3dMark06. That is the closest thing to a benchmark i could find thus far.

With performance like that, im getting real excited!

http://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/134

 

I am pretty sure that was 3dmark05 score....dont think gma950 can get 539 in 3dmark06..

 

It's for sure 05 score. Nevertheless I think I will skip this generation of XG and get the one with full x16 PCIX (or well, maybe just for some tests )

 

well whatever upcoming one there is will need a new laptop as well.

I dont see a pcie x 16 port on my a8js anywhere.

 

LOL the design team behind it certantly didnt think much about the portability of that thing. Besides from being ugly as hell, the shape isnt fitting very well in a normal laptop bag.

I wouln't buy one unless they hotted one up, made it flat and got rid of all of those ugly display thingy's and the HUGE knob on the front. Redicolous and stupid design you would need another bag for carrying it around becouse of it's shape, although the thing it does is good...

 

It's not meant to portability, it's meant to be sitting on a desk, ready to be used once a person brings a notebook back home from a day of work/school.

 

I wouldn't care about it's portability if it let me game on my laptop, every once in a while.. haven't seen the benchmarks, but I don't think it'd compare favorably to a X1700.. Now if they released one equivalent to a desktop 8800, that would get me thinking...

 

This might be an interesting read for those wondering about the PCI-E x1 capabilities of this card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/11/22/sli_is_coming/index.html

It's from 2004, and they use a GeForce 6800GT. The conclusion was that x8 and x16 didn't show too much of an improvement over x4. And in some games, the x2 bandwidth was fully saturated. The SPECviewperf benchmarks are somewhat misleading b/c they're heavily biased towards fat bandwidth. But then again, the games they were using were Doom 3 and URT2004.

I guess the gist is, a 6800GT was able to fully saturate x1, which is what the XG Station is presumed to use. A 7900GT will be overkill. If it were me, I'd wait for v2.0 when they can start using more PCI-E lanes.

Also of note, Tom's Hardware recently re-ran some of these test w/an X1900 XTX and a GeForce 8800 GTS, and they didn't see much improvement over PCI-E x8

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/27/pci_express_scaling_analysis/

 

For those of you dying to get more information about the XG station... i was able to find some new pics via Google's blog search. http://www.4gamer.net/news/history/2007.04/20070403202840detail.html

looks pretty sweet, from what i can tell... web translation in simple chinese from bablefish mentions May 07.

 

It's written in Japanese.

 

On Engadget: Asustek's XG Station Ripped Apart.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/05/asusteks-xg-station-ripped-apart/

 

oops... i naturally assumed it was in Chinese, b/c Asus is from Taiwan. Live and learn i guess. What ever the case... those are some sweet pics.

 

Is it me or is this the same concept as the XG?

http://www.mobl.com/expansion/products/expressbox1/expressbox1.html

 

it looks the same as XG but if it is real you can buy a new notebook for the price of this product

 

Whoa. The price is a bit extreme. Nobody's going to buy that. I doesn't even include the video card.

 

Is there a owner of the xg station?

 

If there was, it would still only be samples. I know it was on display at the recent ASUS gathering(Brian and Tiff were there).

 

Anyone know yet when it's comint out?

 

Later this month or early next.

 

Info about this has been around forever now and it's still not out? That's interesting. They had even mentioned a second generation of that XG station that would have the full PCI-E 16x bandwidth and be able to feed image to the notebook LCD, and people (including myself) began looking forward to that. Seems now that's not exactly going to happen for perhaps years to come ..

 

I think they may be skipping the original version and just moving on to the one where you can output the image to the notebooks LCD. Someone told me something to that effect at least, so that may be wrong.

I still wouldn't mind the current concept, provided its is only like $300. The Go7900GS isn't all that bad, and it can be upgraded to the 8800GTS pretty easily. Plus there is that cool twist-to-overclock thing.

 

I would be unimaginably happy if they did that. But current notebooks don't have DVI-IN do they?

 

No, I doubt that any notebook will have DVI in. DVI out itself is pretty uncommon on <17" notebooks (the only one I can think of is the Asus A8J)

 

Do you think that we can put in a DX10 card in that thing, and then make our laptops able to play DX10 games??

 

That should work, by swapping out the 7900GS and putting in a 8800GTS. I don't think the longer 8800GTX and Ultra will work though, I don't think they would fit into it.

 

Does anyone know when we can expect to see the station available?

 

I'm guessing.... never. Has a real "Duke Nukem Forever" (which will get a sequel after it's released:laugh . I think instead that they will introduce a laptop with external PCIe x16 and a x16 Xg-station.

This will probably bite me in the ass and the XG-station will be released next week or something.

 

So this is what we know...It IS an external GPU. it IS based on the nVidia 7900GS. It DOES simulate 5.1 surround, and finally it DOES improve gaming performance to some degree (9x figure notwithstanding.)

What we need to ask Asus about:
-When it will be released
-How much it will probably cost (around 679 I'm guessing)

 

Ya I agree with fabarti this thing has bs written all over it.

It might even be advertising for the next thing which will actually be a pci x16 gpu, both gpu makers are developing it.

 

check post # 10

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=127196

anybody think the xg would work with this av in?

chris

 

No, it needs to be DVI-in. Unless you get a converter to whatever type of AV-in is used. But there's major two issues with that: 1) the image quality will be crap and 2) the 8600mGT is better than a 7900gs utilizing an PCIe x1 connection (i.e. the bandwith limits the GPU).

 

but you can put in any GFX card short of the 8800 series, because they are too long. so you could put in a 7950 GTX.

 

its useless as the XG Station bandwidth is 1/8 of AGP8x
means that if you put a 7900GTX you'll only waste u're munney.
just put a x1300pro,and it would fit like charm(bandwidth )

 

Not all of them, only the 8800GTX and Ultra models. The GTS should fit fine, but I think the extra power is wasted cause of the (severely) limited bandwidth.

 

Not necessarily.The performance hit is not that great because the textures are pre-loaded (I think the penalty for 7900GS was around 1/3) but for 8800 the performance hit is much greater.

 

I spoke to an Asus reseller in Tottenham Court Road (London) today, I am a very good client of him.

He said that there is a chance that, when using the XG station, you can ONLY use it with an EXTERNAL monitor instead of just your normal laptop screen. He said it is still UNCONFIRMED, but they are looking into it. Also the XG station will be coming out in Q3, July hopefully.

Do you know if this is confirmed/true? Just for interest... cheers

 

That will be very disappointing then. I was planning to get an T61, 14". And using the XG station. But you have to use an external monitor, that really sucks.

 

There's an Asus retailer in London, do you know if they do most of the mainstream laptop models like the G1S and that? I wouldn't mind buying a C90S from them when it's out.

 

PM me if you want to buy from him, I will give you the details for discount. The shop is in Tottenham Court Road in the high street. I do some "marketing" for him, so he gives discount to people I send to him. (me too ofcourse!)

EDIT: He sells G1s, yes. Sometimes when not in stock he will have to order though.

 

Thanks, I've PMed you .

 

It'd made sense it supports external monitors only, as heres a few things:

1. Do you REALLY want to play games on that LCD? Considering the size(depends though), an external 20" LCD is fairly cheap nowadays, a very worthy investment.
2. Bandwidth. It's already very limited when bandwidth in going in the XG station, from the motherboard to the external GPU, and then you have to allocate some to send the circuitry back to the notebook? It'll result in an even larger bandwidth restriction.
3. The XG station is not meant to be portable, it's to stay at home on a 'docking' work desk where the external keyboard, mouse, LCD, 7.1 speakers, etc. are located so all you need to do is plug it in.