NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M SLI in a MacBook Air

When are we going to have the technology to fit NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M SLI in a MacBook Air, run at just 1 degree higher than room temperature and the laptop would cost under 500 bucks?

 

When the time when games like Crysis can run like Minesweeper.

 

Maybe 10 - 15 years.

 

but most probably never

 

lol... I think you're talking about Chuck Norris's laptop.

 

When they shrink the manufacturing process to less than 1nm.

 

room temp macbook air with ~graphics power of a desktop gtx 280 for $500...

that is going to be quite some time. i say 20+ years because of the heat requirement.

i think the other requirements (and modest heat output, but not room temp) can be met in under 10 years.

 

I firmly believe that google's vision of 'cloud computing'; hosting your applications/files on another server/computer/system is going to really take off in the next few years. There's already a cloud gaming system in the works that is supposed to launch really soon, and in that case you'd already be able to play crysis on a macbook air.

now of course a lot of people will be skeptical and paranoid of personal information being hosted elsewhere, but lets get real here, everything is moving towards smaller/faster; and cloud computing is just a massive shortcut there. Eventually the paranoid people will become like that lady suing google for taking pictures of her home for street-view and losing.

 

oh yeah that is true- if the cloud thing takes off, then it just becomes a matter of getting a wide enough pipe to steam uncompressed hd video across the lines.

that will still require some time. perhaps 10 years. but then that doesn't really fit the bill for the question. he wants to run the graphics from the laptop itself.

 

Isnt that the onLive thingy?

 

Would you change your opinion if I remind you what we had 20 years ago?

Video Games: Super Mario Bros. 3, Megaman 3.
Consoles: Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis.
Computers: PC 286 with printer ($1,699.00), PC 486/33 250 Mb HDD, 3.5" Floppy, 1 Mb RAM ($1,260.00).

Today's netbooks can run circles around those computers.

 

Yep, that's OnLive. The thing I hate about it is that resolution will be 1280 x 720 at the maximum, and it will most likely have compression artifacts.

 

Wow really? Thats a major turn off for me I guess. I like playing my games in the max/2nd highest resolution...

 

How many recent games are ported to Mac? The list is pretty short http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_OpenGL_programs so what're you gonna play with 2x 280? Correct me if I'm wrong

 

Apple hardware != OSX software.

 

never.

(10 words)

 

Today's netbooks run much hotter than 1 degree above room temperature. The cooling situation is the biggest problem here - we'd need something revolutionary to achieve that.

 

DAMN! Misleading thread title D:

For a moment there, I was excited.

 

Screw cloud computing, then where will gamers ego's be? They'll be non-existent since there will be nothing to brag about your "rig" since everyone can just start using Pentium processors to play i7 quad core games...

 

uh why do you have an IBM ThinkPad logo in your sig dude... if you use a Mac, is that supposed to be some sort of irony or snobbery? That your precious unibody design makes the Mac so much better?

 

There was a post on these forums some time ago about a newly invented technology that allowed the use of powerful fans that didn't use movement to create airflow, instead they used vibrations at the nano level and were silent. They are so tiny that they can be used almost anywhere. I think something like that could help solve the cooling problems in today's small technology once the cost comes down.

 

20 years ago we never imagined the technology we have today. Who knows..

 

Find me a computer today that runs Super Mario Bros. 3 at room temperature for under $500

I think it might be possible, today, at that price range, MAYBE.

 

Any <$500 computer played inside a freezer?

 

hah. yeah.

don't think that counts.

in fact, i don't think a solution exists today because of the heat requirement (to play games from 1990)

 

Forget about the 1C above room temperature bit. That is a pointless requirement.

In terms of actual GPU power - I would say in about 7 years time a low end discrete card (affordable and not requiring too much power) will have the same power as GTX280M SLI.

$500? Yeah, why not. Depends on the rest of the components but im sure a $500 laptop/netbook in 2017 will have plenty of grunt.

 

i agree.

i am one of those few guys whose laptop can actually run MW2 on full settings.

and most people can hardly play CS Source.

 

i would say its gonna be many years before u get that and the price is certainly not going to be $500... it would be absurd if it happened....

 

lol yeah. But we probably won't even see <16nm in our life. Classic physics laws stop applying after that.

 

I'm pretty sure my cell phone can do that.

Also, the "room temperature" requirement is nonsense. You're asking to break the laws of physics. To produce the energy required to run any program, you will create heat, even if it's an insignificant amount. The only real requirement for heat should be that the unit is safe to use.

 

obviously it will create heat. but the temperature of the thing depends on 1. how much heat it creates 2. how well it is cooled

the room temperature requirement is actually not that crazy, it will just cost additional time to achieve at the price point specified.

of course your cell phone can play super mario bros. 3, but not at room temp. and if it is an iphone, it actually costs a bit over $500 regardless of what apple or the cell phone companies would like you to believe.

 

Then if that's your heat requirement, then a netbook passes easily.

 

Lol what?

And yeah, pretty sure my 100 dollar cell phone could play mario brothers if it had to. And it's not like it heats up that much.

 

LOL
you should post this in the mac forum

 

Yes it will be amazing

 

maybe after alien took over this planet.

 

If you're talking about crazy heat requirements and stuff, maybe in like 20 year with optical chips. I'm not kidding, I firmly believe stuff like that will overpower electrical current in no time. And heat production: well almost nihil then huh