MSI graphics card dock reinvents laptop gaming

HMM THIS LOOKS INTERESTING LOL..

MSI graphics card dock reinvents laptop gaming | Product Reviews Net

 

It does, there was quite a discussion on it in the MSI forum about a month ago.

 

Why bother having such an ugly and unfunctional monstrosity like that when the mobile maxwell cards are at 85% the power of a desktop anyway?

 

Also, the power can only be used at a stationary location. There is no 'portable' power, which is what I need, as I do graphically intensive things all the time.

 

If I can stuff a K5100 desktop GPU in that thing I may be all over it and retire another old workstation kepler and Maxwell gaming cards still suck at most big OpenCL and FP64 heavy applications.

Yes I know not the intended purpose

 

Iris Pro isn't too bad for GPU, they could've gone 4600. That would've been bad. I remember reading the pro with 128mb was equivalent roughly to 750m.

I could see a use for this, provided it's easily upgradeable later, and the power transitions over properly (If I put in a GTX 980, I want GTX 980 power, not some half bandwith deal) and future versions would get better if it takes off. It's unique if nothing else, and I'm glad to see innovation.

 

It is a very nice concept. The idea is to have a very powerful ultrabook type of notebook with a high end CPU and capable integrated graphics, but the dock can accomodate high end desktop GPUs. If nvidia release a strong GTX 990 that is twice as powerful as 970, then you can have much more power than a laptop when gaming at home, but a lot of mobility when on the go with lasting battery life.

I definitely dig the idea and I am hopeful of the product once it launches.

 

It's definitely a niche product. One that almost suits my needs. Its a real shame the laptop needs to sit on top of the dock like that. It really prohibits use that way.

 

The whole point is that your laptop becomes a desktop, so you need an additional keyboard etc. I already use that setup with my current laptop, where I have my external monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard and I simply rest my laptop elsewhere on a cooling base

 

There was a thread about this a couple weeks ago wasn't there? O_O I feel like the same statements are being used XD.

That being said, a very strong CPU in such an ultrabook format would rip it to shreds with heating. Maybe with broadwell things might work out. The CPU'll likely be integrated anyway, so broadwell won't be an issue to use.

 

Yes, but I still think it's somewhat an oversight. Since the connections are all propitiatory it should have been easy to make a bridge/cable so the dock can be positioned anywhere.
To have to dock it and then not be able to use that high res screen because of the keyboard being in a awkward position seems like a massive waste of a decent screen to me. If I have to rely on using all external peripherals while it's docked I'd start to question why I don't just use a regular desktop with an ordinary laptop.

The only advantages I can see now is being able to centralize work and upgrade GPU's easliy...which I guess is enough for some. I just think they've missed an opportunity to add that screen to the list.

 

In the other thread MSIGeno said it's just a concept right now and they are open to feedback, but it seems like they are kind of pushing it to the public at this point. Personally I think they should go with standard external PCIE cabling and create a mini-itx backplane with a PCIE input port, standard ATX power connector, and a x16 PCIE slot so you could stick it in any case you want. Then you could use it for a videocard, RAID controller + disks, infiniband, 10GbE, or any other crazy stuff you want and don't have to worry about the dock form-factor and positioning requirement.

 

Deja vu. There was a couple, and some other in the MSI thread. It seems the sentiments echoe all around though hehehe

And yeah, broadwell might be they key here, plus it is a concept.

 

This is interesting. It reminds my of previous external GPU attempts, none of which seemed to really stick around. But the idea itself is a good one - it's mainly a problem of finding a way of implementing it well enough that it catches on well enough to stick around. The ability to swap in regular desktop cards, and the Iris Pro as a fallback, both seem like sensible decisions in that direction. I'm not so sure about the placement under the laptop. I'd like to see some better pictures than the one in the linked article, but it sounds like that would be awkward to use on your lap. It's an open question whether there's a solution that would be comfortable without too high of latency due to a cable that lets you put the GPU on a nearby surface, but if someone could figure it out, it would be great.

Regardless, I see the use for it. It'd be great as a LAN machine - still more portable than a lot of desktops, and you've already got the screen with you too (a significant hazard of bringing desktops to LANs - you either have to bring a monitor or live with the host's spare ones, if any). And when the graphics start getting a bit weak, like on my laptop, you could just swap in a new GPU. Even if it can't handle the most power-hungry ones, over the long term as efficiency increases you'd keep getting effective upgrades. So it really removes one of the two performance reasons that make upgrades necessary (the other being the CPU, with RAM and HDD often being sufficiently upgradeable already). Really, if my current laptop had this ability, it may well seal the question of whether to keep it for another 1-2 years in the affirmative. Add a Radeon 265 or something like that to get the graphics up to respectable again, and most of my LAN bottlenecks would be gone.

 

this is just amazing , how much is the cheapest laptop that can go with this?

 

I think it is still a concept and the laptop is either about to be released, or just released. The docking station, however, will launch until january or something like that.

 

eGpu has been out for a quite some time now. All they are doing is/was make an oem solution. All that is needed is make an x16, even x8, pcie lane availible outside the notebook. Intel already stomped attempt made by silverstone and asus to provide such solution via tb as it would increase system longevity and kill some of their sales...