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Alienware is future-proofing laptop gaming

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alienware_graphics_amplifier_001.jpg

Gaming laptops are a confusing piece a tech to me. Aside from a handful of exceptions, the majority of them offer decent gaming performance with hardly any real mobility, while costing far more than a proper desktop. But Alienware wants to change that. In fact, they want to future-proof laptop gaming with their latest device.

A laptop booster that houses an external GPU card. It also sort of looks like a toaster, if Alienware ever ventured into that market. So Alienware’s Lappy Toastie, if I ever had my way with marketing [Ed’s note: He doesn’t. Thankfully]

It’s really called the Alienware Graphics Amplifier (boring), and it’s meant to extend the life of their new 13′ gaming laptop. The external housing supports a single full-length, double-wide PCI Express x16 graphics card, which is meant to act as the kick up the rear most laptops needs. Plug it in using the special cable, and your laptop could suddenly think it has the power of a GTX 980 roaring beneath it.

It sounds great, but there are a few glaring issues. Firstly, the flimsy plastic device costs $300. That’s a lot of cash for an add-on to an already expensive laptop. You’ll also need your own GPU, obviously. You could justify the price by replacing your desktop with this laptop, toaster combo, but that does mean being construed by the laptop’s CPU. That becomes a problem for really high-end gaming.

And when you’re paying for accessories that cost this much, on top of a expensive laptop, that’s pretty much what you’d expect. Right now the Graphics Amplifier only works with Alienware’s new 13′ laptop, which starts at $999 with an Intel Core i5 processor, 6 GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU and 1366 x 768 LCD display.

I’d love to see more universal adoption of such a device, because there are much better gaming laptops than Alienware out there. Maybe then there’s hope for a true desktop replacement that van be unplugged for on-the-go enjoyment as well.

Last Updated: October 28, 2014

33 Comments

  1. And how is it powered? From the laptops battery?

    Reply

    • Alessandro Barbosa

      October 28, 2014 at 14:40

      Good point. External power supply. Thing would buckle on a laptop battery I think.

      Reply

      • Aries

        October 28, 2014 at 14:44

        Then whats the point of the laptop? its not exactly portable then

        Reply

        • Alessandro Barbosa

          October 28, 2014 at 14:50

          Well it could be used as a desktop replacement. Have the laptop for gaming on the go, and hook it up for enhanced gaming at home.

          But for that to be even remotely viable, it needs to cost much, much less than this.

          Reply

          • Aries

            October 28, 2014 at 15:28

            Might as well just put the card straight into the pc, and those gaming laptops way too much to be viable

  2. Sir Rants A Lot Llew

    October 28, 2014 at 14:44

    Meh. Not interested. Overpriced.

    However, as you point out it’s a starting point. Eventually if we can jsut plug a additional GFX card in seperately and allow the system to use it to its full potential you could in theory have a docked laptop taht performs as good as a desktop that you can simply undock and go.

    However, the price of both the laptop and the ad-on unit would have to be dropped significantly in my opinion

    Reply

    • Alessandro Barbosa

      October 28, 2014 at 14:50

      Exactly, it’s way too expensive as is.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

        October 28, 2014 at 14:57

        It would be awesome however to be able to doc the laptop up on to a system that boosts its performance at home or whatever for more intensive gaming session etc.

        I just don’t know how well it will take off though

        Reply

        • Alessandro Barbosa

          October 28, 2014 at 15:00

          Well that’s basically what this is. Leave it at home and dock up when you’re not gaming on the go. They’d have to solve the issue of the CPU bottleneck though, but otherwise I would definitely look at something like that.

          Reply

          • Ranting Raptor Llew

            October 28, 2014 at 15:17

            With the advancement of mobile CPU’s I don’t think it will be an issue for very long however. Mobile CPU’s are becoming a lot more powerful.

            That being said, maybe the docked unit can hold an additional CPU and make your laptop function like a dual CPU device.

  3. Admiral Chief 0

    October 28, 2014 at 14:44

    DAT ED’s NOTE!

    Reply

  4. Sageville

    October 28, 2014 at 14:44

    Sounds like they are now trying to introduce a laptop / desktop hybrid. So, if we know a laptop to be a mobile device and this hybrid isn’t, aren’t we now just looking at a another fancy name for an expensive desktop….

    ABOMINATION!

    Reply

  5. Admiral Chief 0

    October 28, 2014 at 14:45

    Keep left, pass right. WAAAAYYYYY right

    Reply

    • Sean Carbutt

      October 28, 2014 at 14:47

      LOL. As a console gamer, skandaal, I do smaak the Alienware stuff. But fawk me, they be expensive. Seen a couple at the R80k mark

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief 0

        October 28, 2014 at 14:57

        Uiters mal!

        Reply

      • Double-O-Six and a half

        October 28, 2014 at 17:23

        I love my M17Rx4, had it specially built to my spec, but it set me back 48k… the problem is I often have problems with carrying it on a plane because by the time you add the power (bag of) brick(s) and other necessary paraphernalia you are well over the 8kg limit in the overhead lockers and I have to fight with the air host/esses to let me take my baby on board and not put it in the hold…

        Reply

  6. RinceThis

    October 28, 2014 at 14:47

    Erm… I thought a gamer laptop was called a console?

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 28, 2014 at 14:49

      FILTHY CASUAL!

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        October 28, 2014 at 14:50

        Umm, a cellphone then?

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          October 28, 2014 at 14:53

          FILTHIER CASUAL!

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            October 28, 2014 at 14:53

            PRECIOUS!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 28, 2014 at 14:57

            WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING? YOU’RE CREATING A HOSTILE, OPPRESSIVE ATMOSPHERE.

          • Admiral Chief 0

            October 28, 2014 at 14:57

            SHADDAP BOTH OF YOU!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 28, 2014 at 15:04

            YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD!

          • Admiral Chief 0

            October 28, 2014 at 16:10

            So you admit that I am a father figure?

          • RinceThis

            October 28, 2014 at 15:07

            Then my work here is done *tralalalal

  7. Weanerdog

    October 28, 2014 at 14:53

    Does it work in SLI/crossfire to your existing card or just as your graphics card when plugged in.

    Reply

    • Alessandro Barbosa

      October 28, 2014 at 15:01

      Replaces it basically. SLI only works with identical cards, and while Crossfire doesn’t have that requirement the chips being used here are Nvidia mobile ones. So it’s just swapping one out for the other.

      Reply

  8. Ross Woofels Mason

    October 28, 2014 at 14:57

    It’s nothing new: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/eGPU/706012_212103663.html

    Cheaper, just build your own casing.

    Reply

  9. konfab aka derp

    October 28, 2014 at 15:04

    This needs to be standardised by Nvidia, ATI or preferably Intel. That way a standard cable and a standard GPU box can be used.
    Then laptop manufacturers can go crazy with options and start allowing people with normal laptops to have a nice GPU.

    Reply

    • Weanerdog

      October 28, 2014 at 15:07

      See what Ross’s comment

      Reply

      • konfab aka derp

        October 28, 2014 at 16:02

        The problem with those is they do not use thunderbolt( the only connection that has the bandwidth for a high end card). They use a miserable mPCI port.

        The article below shows what cards are too powerful for the port.
        http://www.banggood.com/EXP-GDC-Laptop-External-PCI-E-Graphics-Card-p-934367.html

        We need a standard reference design from Intel or someone else, that everyone can then use it. Cross compatability is needed. I should be able to buy a generic GPU box, put any GPU card inside, and be able to plug it into any laptop that has the required port.

        That is the only way this market will ever take off. Having some gimmick for a specific brand of laptop does not solve the problem.

        Reply

  10. Ludicael

    October 29, 2014 at 13:14

    Its pretty old tech, just take a look at the ViDock4, which used a laptop’s Express Card slot to attach external PCIe devices… such as the nvidi GTX Titan. However the prevailing issue with the ViDock is that Express Card’s maximum throughput is 5Gbps as compared to the 32Gbps of PCIe 3.0 x16. The solution here is something like Sonnet’s Echo Express III-D which has a mechanical x16 slot operating electrically at x8 – offering a throughput of 16Gbps. This is achieved through Thunderbolt 2 which operates at a maximum of 20Gbps.

    I’m not sure of Dell’s throughput here, it’ll be impressive if it can beat Thunderbolt 2. Then I’ll understand, however Thunderbolt 3 which should be released by the end of 2015 is rumoured to have 40Gbps of bandwidth. Therefore you’d be able to operate a PCIe 3.0 x16 card externally with no loss in performance.

    Another issue with Thunderbolt is Inte’s licencing fees, which are egregiously high. There’s some speculation that intel is ousting eGPUs on purpose, as having the ability to upgrade and offload processing power externally may affect their bottom line.

    So it’s likely not Dell’s choice. I’d wager intel has them in a bind and Dell is doing the best it can.

    Reply

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