Docking station with video card - interesting?

Have been thinking a bit..

The Intel 945GM chipset, used in todays Core Duo-laptops, have a dedicated PCI-E 16X lane. The integrated graphic (GMA950) o.t.o.h. is integrated in the north hub. It is (as proven by the Sony Vaio SZ) possible to use both a integrated and a dedicated video solution in the same machine.

While the Sony solution has quite a few advantages, it also adds to the cost and weight as the cooling solution has to be adopted to the Geforce 7400 Go used.

Anyhow, my idea would be to create a docking station with a integrated PCI-E 16X lane. IBM have such a solution but they use a PCI-E 1X lane which of course cripple the video card badly.

The con with such a solution are obivous, proper gaming can only be done in one place unless you should drag the docking station with you and then you also need a external monitor. I expect it to weight ~1.5 kg including PSU. Still not to darn heavy.

The pros on the other hand are massive.
Lighter laptop/power supply
Better batterylife
Much better performance/$
Quiter laptop (less cooling needed)
Easier to once and for all hook up a mouse, keyboard and a proper monitor (as well as USB-harddrive, printer, cable ethernet etc) to the docking station.
Instead of using desktop for gaming and laptop for portability, use only one for both of these chores.

Anyhow, do you gamers find a solution like this a viable alternativ to expensive and heavy highend laptops or is gaming on the go more important than the most bang for the buck?

 

This is not a new idea, unfortunately current technolgy is not advanced enough for it to work. Creating a wire that can drive the bandwidth of a PCIe x16 lane is a LOT more difficult than you would think.

 

Do you have any examples of companys that have tried this idea? What were the major problems that occured?

 

There's no specific "examples" because it hasn't been done, but there's been a lot of chatter on the subject and the difficulty of supporting the incredible bandwidth has been cited as a major restraint.

 

you would not need an external monitor. most docks are designed such that the laptop can be opened up anyway.

this would be great to see!

 

external video cards are allready on the thinking board, but like its been said, creating a 16x cable to the north bridge is not yet possible.