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    External Graphics

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by Beatsiz, Dec 28, 2007.

  1. Beatsiz

    Beatsiz Life Enthusiast

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    Ok... I just decided to start a small talk about this

    My current view on this is that it would be very helpful to have external graphics since it would be cheaper, faster, upgradeable etc...


    I currently know one thing that allows to do so:

    http://www.magma.com/

    They offer EXPRESS CARD to their module which houses a PCI-E card...

    When I sent a letter (email) of inquiry they stated that 8series would fit in it and run in it... which makes it very interesting



    But we should all know its basically the same and is still in development...



    Magma boxes/modules run for $700 ish
    Asus XG Station was supposed to be around $600 with a 7950 I believe

    Later I heard rumors of the bare station running for $200 - $400



    And for last... Asus released that 8600gt card (I think... may have been 8400gt or 8500gt) with a module for desktops that looked like the XG STATION... it overclocked to 8600gt speeds...
     
  2. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    As I posted in this thread, external graphics cards are impractical because of the extremely limited bandwidth offered by today's ports. For the prices you are talking about, you could almost get a laptop with proper dedicated graphics. A Dell Vostro 1500 in the US with an 8600M-GT can be had for less than $800.
     
  3. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yeah, bottlenecks are what makes things perform bad these days. In terms of external graphics cards, expresscard interface is nothing when compared with PCI-E 2.0.
     
  4. Beatsiz

    Beatsiz Life Enthusiast

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    I was just trying to get this topic up so people could read it..

    And the Magma can be outfitted with up to 4 pci-e cards!

    It doesnt have to be graphics.... I am talking sounds card, gpu, Physics card etc...

    So you have extra gaming to your laptop... since theres only 1 laptop with Ageia 100x
     
  5. Harleyquin07

    Harleyquin07 エミヤ

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    This has been mentioned before by other users in the past and the unanimous decision was that the Asus XG is either a pipe dream or delayed indefinitely. The PCI-E external solution like Chaz said is extremely impractical for the price and for the lack of performance.

    Of course since someone didn't bother searching (as usual) threads like these have to turn up.