Dumb laptop idea, just for fun

[maniacalpha1-1]

Laptops should have a PCI-E express slot that faces out externally, that way you could plug in a full featured video card there when you are going to play games. And the video card manufacturers could make specialty laptop models that have their own power supply that you plug into the wall since laptop PSU would be a joke.

And actually, video cards with their own power supply might not be a bad idea for desktops

 

[Lonyo]

Already exists.

 

[zip1385]

Yep this has been done before.

 

[DeathReborn]

While it has been done before (ATI's XGP) but used proprietary connectors (x8 speed) and couldn't use the laptop's screen if I recall correctly. The biggest supporter of the XGP project Acer have criticised it so although the concept was fine, the implementation of it was poor to say the least.

Key points they would need to address are:

1: use of the internal laptop screen or external display (user choice)
2: switching GPU's without rebooting
3: standard ports & cables
4: PCIe 2.0 or better 8x minimum (16x preferred)
5: additional power supply to power the possible ~300W cards people may want to use

Although optional Eyefinity/Surround support would be a nice option. Don't hold your breath though, it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Wow, didn't know it had been done before.

I guess the extension of my idea would be to put GPU PSU right in the card and plug it in separately from the rest of the PC, that way your PC's main PSU doesn't need upgraded.

 

[MentalIlness]

Wow, didn't know it had been done before.

I guess the extension of my idea would be to put GPU PSU right in the card and plug it in separately from the rest of the PC, that way your PC's main PSU doesn't need upgraded.

Which in turn would probably raise video card prices substantially.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Which in turn would probably raise video card prices substantially.

Absolutely. GPU+PSU? Jesus that would be so marked up.

 

[mnewsham]

Absolutely. GPU+PSU? Jesus that would be so marked up.

The new GTX 880! ONLY $850! You can burn the house down while dimming the lights with its 2kW integrated PSU!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

The new GTX 880! ONLY $850! You can burn the house down while dimming the lights with its 2kW integrated PSU!

Sounds amazing when you put it like that.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Come on now, they have this kind of thing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104019

But they aren't usually good quality (AFAIK!) , so you'd think a GPU manufacturer could make one integrated into the GPU that's good enough for whatever the card is.

 

[DeathReborn]

Wow, didn't know it had been done before.

I guess the extension of my idea would be to put GPU PSU right in the card and plug it in separately from the rest of the PC, that way your PC's main PSU doesn't need upgraded.

It would be easier for them to do what ATI did with the XGP, an external dock which you plug the card into & has it's own independent power supply. Putting a 200W+ PSU onto a graphics card would play absolute havoc, not to mention increase the price & size substantially while inhibiting cooling.

 

[Gloomy]

http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

There's also a do-it-yourself alternative the folks over at notebookreview cooked up, check it out if you're interested:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...7667-lets-figure-out-how-make-diy-vidock.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...18851-diy-vidock-experiences.html#post5324240

I think I posted this before?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Wow, didn't know it had been done before.

I guess the extension of my idea would be to put GPU PSU right in the card and plug it in separately from the rest of the PC, that way your PC's main PSU doesn't need upgraded.

Wasn't this done, more or less, with the Voodoo 5 6000?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_5

See "Voodoo Volts." It's a wall wart rather than a PSU on the card itself, but the concept is the same. 3dfx had this "feature" nearly 10 years ago... too bad they went under before the 6000 went beyond the prototype stage.