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    Expresscard Graphics Card?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by NissanSupraGTR, Jun 15, 2006.

  1. NissanSupraGTR

    NissanSupraGTR Notebook Evangelist

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    Is this feasible? From what I know, expresscard is based on PCI-e, just like graphics cards, so does anyone know if nvidia or ati plan on doing this? It would be totally sweet to pop in a card for extra juice when I need it...
     
    NissanSupraGTR, Jun 15, 2006
    #1
  2. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    That's not possible and won't be because the bus is far too slow. It is a common misconception.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Jun 15, 2006
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  3. NissanSupraGTR

    NissanSupraGTR Notebook Evangelist

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    ****; thought I was bein clever...
     
    NissanSupraGTR, Jun 15, 2006
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  4. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    ExpressCard is PCI-express x1, which is not nearly fast enough for a graphics bus as I stated a big improvement over PCMCIA though. PCI-express x1 is beginning to replace PCI slots in desktops as well.
    The name makes you want to think it can be used for graphics cards though, so I can see where you're coming from.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Jun 16, 2006
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  5. Ice-Tea

    Ice-Tea MXM Guru NBR Reviewer

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    Woei!

    Yet another opportunity to link to my post from some time ago.

    ;)
     
    Ice-Tea, Jun 16, 2006
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  6. lappyhappy

    lappyhappy Notebook Deity

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    This has been a desire of my own for some time but it has not happened and I have resigned myself to the fact that it is not going to happen. Oh well, I'll just get a better gpu next time I get a laptop.
     
    lappyhappy, Jun 16, 2006
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  7. benzman

    benzman Notebook Enthusiast

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    benzman, Jul 18, 2007
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  8. fifafreak18

    fifafreak18 Notebook Evangelist

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    That thing looks really cool, I read a few articles and they said its suppose to be available Q2 07, does anyone know if/where the are available?
     
    fifafreak18, Jul 19, 2007
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  9. StormEffect

    StormEffect Lazer. *pew pew*

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    Chaz said that the Express card slot bus is too slow, and it is...

    That Asus setup works on USB 2.0, not Express card, at least according to the link you posted.

    Back when I was hearing about this, it was supposed to be used in some sort of new PCI-E 8x or 16x port that would be put into laptops starting in late 07.

    Guess stuff changed.
     
    StormEffect, Jul 19, 2007
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  10. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    isn't usb 2.0 too slow anyway?
     
    masterchef341, Jul 19, 2007
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  11. StormEffect

    StormEffect Lazer. *pew pew*

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    That's what I thought. USB2.0 maxes out at 480mbits (about 60 Megabytes per second) seems like it would be a bottleneck when a PCI-Express 16X interface can push up to 4 GIGABYTES a second.
     
    StormEffect, Jul 19, 2007
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  12. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The Asus XG Station works with an ExpressCard slot + USB Port.

    The only thing I can imagine that would prevent many from buying one is the price and the requirement to output the video to an external screen.

    Although last I hear they were working on a way to be able to directly channel the video to the notebooks screen.
     
    usapatriot, Jul 19, 2007
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  13. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    i feel like even if it used the pci express x1 lane AND a usb port, you could still only get maybe 1/10 the bandwidth of a pci express x16 slot...

    am i wrong?
     
    masterchef341, Jul 19, 2007
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  14. StormEffect

    StormEffect Lazer. *pew pew*

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    The diagram on THIS page seems to show how it seems the card would be expresscard AND USB 2.0. Wikipedia helps a little bit with THIS article.

    Even still, the express card looks like it maxes out at 2.5Gbit or roughly 325 Megabytes a second, this is PCI-E 1x. This is still very far below even an 8x PCI-E lane at 2 GIGABYTES a second.

    1 gigabit (Gb) = 125 Megabytes (MB) just so you all know.
     
    StormEffect, Jul 19, 2007
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  15. jman888

    jman888 Notebook Consultant

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    Well it is enough for Cards that are naturalyy Pci 1x Like a 7300...
     
    jman888, Jul 19, 2007
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  16. StormEffect

    StormEffect Lazer. *pew pew*

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    Wasn't ASUS working with some high end 7900's though? I wonder how they could get that kind of data across an express card bandwidth. Maybe there are some optimizations or alterations to bus functionality.

    EDIT: AHA! Or maybe the upper end cards wont be used until PCI-E 2.0 is out, with a corresponding bump in Express card speeds!
     
    StormEffect, Jul 19, 2007
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  17. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Maybe they found a way to compress the DATA?
     
    usapatriot, Jul 19, 2007
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  18. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Why on earth has a thread over a year old been resurrected?

    Closed. Please pay attention to the post dates before posting.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Jul 19, 2007
    #18