MSI prepares its external GPU solution

[MentalIlness]

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/18910/34/

Meet the GUS

MSI has another interesting product up its sleeve and although it isn't innovative it is still enough to draw some pretty good attention, the Graphics Upgrade Solution, aka GUS.

MSI's GUS is an external graphics card interface that connects to the notebook via Express card interface and has support for PCI-Express x16 graphics cards. According to MSI, the GUS is capable of boosting the graphics performance of the notebook by over 19 times. We guess that MSI compared it to Intel's integrated solution rather than dedicated mobile graphics card that can be found in a lot of notebooks.

We mentioned that the device isn't very innovative as we already seen such attempts made by both AMD and Asus XG Station which didn't do so well, at least not well enough to brag about. Despite the fact that GUS uses Express card interface, MSI did mention that it somehow managed to overcome previous limitation and that they can use over 70 percent of the theoretical bandwidth. This is done by using a shielded copper cable and some sort of improved internal electronics. MSI also plans to stick with GUS and move it to the USB 3.0 interface in close future.

Of course, MSI still plans to use the GUS with mainstream graphics cards like the HD 5670 as everything about would be an overkill and simply a waste of money. The Express card interface makes sense as it is the most widespread interface. Another good feature of the GUS is the multi-display support as theoretically you could have up to four simultaneous display outputs, three from HD 5670 equipped GUS and one from the notebook.

MSI's GUS isn't going to bring the full gaming experience to underpowered notebooks but it still can pack enough punch for some light gaming. The standalone GUS should be available at around US $100 while it will also be available with HD 5670 and possibly some other GPUs for around US $200.

Whether the performance will be any good is left to be seen. MSI should show the device at Computex as well, and hopefully we'll see some performance numbers then.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

neat

I wonder how the solution will work with USB3.0. I'm betting something like that could be a distributed computing junkie's wet dream as one could probably end up having a dozen video cards crunching per system.

 

[faxon]

neat

I wonder how the solution will work with USB3.0. I'm betting something like that could be a distributed computing junkie's wet dream as one could probably end up having a dozen video cards crunching per system.

5670 doesnt have double precision so it's useless for milkyway@home, any crazy folding junkie's money is better spent on nv hardware until they work out ATI performance on F@H, and GPUgrid only runs on NV hardware. dont see this being of much use to a cruncher just yet especially for $200. if one wanted a $200 card for milkyway then a 5830 is doable for that after bing cash back + MIR

 

[Ban Bot]

This is very, very cool! If this technology continues to develop I would definately consider a purchase. This sort of technology, if/when it becomes performant, could offer a nice solution for those with PCs with solid specs but no PCIe slot.