Now that laptops have PCIe storage, does that mean interchangeable graphics is back?

[Rakehellion]

Instead of soldering your GTX 950M to the board, just have another PCIe card. The successor to MXM with greater compatibility.

 

[destrekor]

Even with such a thing, each laptop will have specific limitations. What can the internal cooling of the laptop support?

How is the heatsink designed? Or, to minimize that issue, can a new standard have a strict requirement as to where the GPU is located on the card? Is it even possible to demand a specific layout of the PCB?

If certain concerns can be addressed, specifically that last one, I think it would be fair to have a laptop list a specific TDP for cooling, and all such cards would boldly list that rating. This would be how end-users determine compatibility.

However, the internal success of M.2 PCIe storage does nothing to predict the success of a broad appeal MXM successor, especially as it relates to user-replaceable cards. Storage and memory have always had ratified standards based on PC counterparts, and allowing the user to upgrade those has little impact on system design, not to mention stability. They don't require fiddling with drivers or other software configurations, and this makes it easy for laptops to have easy software updates and support.

I'd root for the success of a user-serviceable GPU standard, but any such thing would be far less common than the ability to replace RAM or storage device. Especially in the drive towards thinness and structural methods like unibody construction.

 

[JeffMD]

the pcie slots used for wifi and ssd cards are much to small for upgrade video cards.

 

[destrekor]

the pcie slots used for wifi and ssd cards are much to small for upgrade video cards.

I also didn't address that. I actually assumed this idea called for an expanded PCIe slot or other connection that provided more data.

That said, M.2 PCIe provides 4x PCIe 3.0. That's more than enough bandwidth for any mobile GPU, probably for a few more generations. That's 8x PCIe 2.0 and 16x PCIe 1.0.

However, the M.2 standard is also based around very specific PCB dimensions, so manufacturers only allot that much space on the motherboard.

It wouldn't really be difficult to create a standard similar to M.2 that has a sideways slot and you screw the card in for security. But there are more issues than the interface alone.

 

[xthetenth]

The biggest problem with the idea of replaceable graphics cards is that the cooling unlike on a desktop card isn't part of the modular addition but is instead a part of the laptop chassis. There might be ways to make a really agnostic cooling solution, but that seems to be something that would increase price and thickness when neither is the direction the market seems to want.

 

[boozzer]

The biggest problem with the idea of replaceable graphics cards is that the cooling unlike on a desktop card isn't part of the modular addition but is instead a part of the laptop chassis. There might be ways to make a really agnostic cooling solution, but that seems to be something that would increase price and thickness when neither is the direction the market seems to want.

so clevo just need to design a chasis for that very purpose??? = freaking voila??? would be cool.

 

[xthetenth]

That would be super sweet, but I'd wonder how big the market would be. Upgradable laptop graphics would be a huge deal for those who need that sort of performance though.