will the x-series ever get a dedicated graphics card?

Due to more hardware requirement required by compiz, will the x-series (especially the tablet), ever going to get dedicated switchable graphics card?

 

While there wouldn't be many people happier than me if they did manage to , I doubt it's going to happen with current technology. On the laptop small as X200 that is. m11x is the step in that direction, but it's still quite a bit heavier and comes with its own share of problems (one of which is that it's sold by Dell). The biggest reason tho as I'd think most of the X200 users are more business oriented and I guess they enjoy OS with spartan interface.

 

that would only be known by Lenovo engineers and staffers whom work on the system board design. But looking at past X series, the likely answer is no.

In which case, you may want to consider the DIY vidock.

 

The X3x had a Radeon GPU, but the X series are meant to be portable work machines. I don't foresee a GPU in their future.

 

but in the x3x days there is no integrated GPU as such from Intel. and those gpu that IBM used were no just the basic entry level ati gpu.

 

I would have loved it - but it would have a considerable hit on the battery life wouldn't it?

I'm seriously thinking of a vidock maybe in another year or so...!

 

that's why it should be switchable graphic.

 

True - but would other OS's support switchable graphics? Right now, optimus runs only on windows - it's not supported on linux.

not sure about the laptops where you can switch graphics cards manually?

 

Hmm that would be interesting. I wouldn't want Optimus though, that would wreck battery life. I don't see how automatic switching is better. If I purely wanted to save battery, I would make it permanently integrated. When gaming, just switch it on. At least that's what I do on my M11x.

Optimus works badly on my friend's Asus N61, since his graphics card doesn't even activate for Starcraft II.

If they ever came out with switchable graphics in the X-series, I would snap one up in no time.

 

I've always wondered...does switchable graphics work on non - windows OS's? I mean, can I access and use the nvidia/ati GPU on linux?

 

Supposedly, Sandy Bridge's integrated graphics core is as good as the low end discrete cards from AMD and Nvidia, so there probably would be little point to adding a discrete GPU to the X series.

 

A true dedicated card is unlikely. However, increasingly powerful integrated cards will come in future generations. This should be sufficient to run Compiz and most other desktop level apps. However, for gaming and GPGPU work you're better off with a different class of machine.

 

This was fixed in the latest NVIDIA driver. Starcraft may still say the video card is not recognized, but it does run on the dedicated GPU.

 

Just take it for what it is, a small business class notebook with good battery life. If you need something else, use a desktop and or powerful business/gaming laptop. Don’t know what the thrill would be of having such a powerful GPU in a small notebook. If you’re truly a business class person, then you should have more than one computer anyway.

 

why is that?

 

Mainly to seperate business from pleasure, at least,thats my opinion

 

Since better integrated graphics are on the way, it would be nice to see ports that carry both video and sound on X-series thinkpads.

 

+1 for displayport and eSATA port on future X2xx laptop.

 

at least put a dedicated graphic option in the ultradock or something, so that we don't have to do mess around with vidock lol. That way, the x-series can be a ultraportable and and also has a desktop replacement.

 

i made the suggestion for these dock upgradeable self contained graphics card and CPU upgrade pack to Mark_Lenovo... that allows the X201 to have W510 speed when docked.

 

+1 for this - it would be great to see a combo of an ultradock and a vidock in a single device . Not sure how the CPU upgrade can be part of the dock!

 

According to Intel this month, Larrabee is a go in a few years (though it's been going back and forth from vaporware for years...)