Here's an idea -- an EXTERNAL graphics card!

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited September 2010 in Hardware
I was reading the Firepro V9800 review just now, and I got a good idea.

What about designing an external graphics card that sits outside the computer?

Think about it. What are the problems with a card plugged into a GPU slot? Size of the card to fit in the case, and the heat it produces. And card designers have to cram so much stuff into a limited amount of space.

What about an enclosure like an external hard drive but bigger, a video card can be made bigger, have its own cooling system that keeps its heat out of the computer case, and even more bigger better stuff can be added to make it more powerful. It can even have its own independent power supply!

All it really needs is a cable that plugs into the motherboards PCI-E slot, and power lines. It could even run 2 PCI-E cables to the motherboard, and as far as the MB knows, it just has 2 super awesome GPUs plugged in in crossfire.

I'm sure there's 86 reasons why this is a bad idea, but I just thought of it.:vimp:

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    old
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Speaking of the devil.

    http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/ati-xgp/Pages/ati-xgp.aspx
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    External GPUs have been done for a long time now. They're used in the workstation market when a particular bench needs excessive rendering power. NVIDIA has the Quadroplex for this use.

    Generally expensive and inconvenient, they never caught on with mainstream gamers.
  • ZanthianZanthian Mitey Worrier Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    I thought of this the first time i had to upgrade my video card. I always thought it would have caught on in the laptop environment. have a docking station with an external graphics card.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Old.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Oh. Well it'll work then, someone else just thought of it first. Oh well.
  • BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats ! TX Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Zanthian wrote:
    ...I always thought it would have caught on in the laptop environment. have a docking station with an external graphics card.

    I thought of this when I couldn't play TF2 on my laptop. I looked into it and ended up spending the money on a nice gaming rig instead.

    -Digi
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    And someone already had the idea to make video card mini-mobos for upgradable gpu's and mem. They got bought out or went under or something ...like many other graphics giants.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Gotta love that "similar threads" thing below.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    :tim:
  • KoreishKoreish I'm a penguin, deal with it. KCMO Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Out of curiosity does Tim live in a cave somewhere in the highest mountains of the Himalayas? How is he so far behind the times?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    Koreish wrote:
    Out of curiosity does Tim live in a cave somewhere in the highest mountains of the Himalayas? How is he so far behind the times?

    Willful ignorance is a powerful thing.
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    The caves of California, perhaps. I hear they are full of bohemians and hipsters.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited September 2010
    I DID upgrade to IE8 a few months ago, how many new things am I supposed to do each year?
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