Quite frankly this is what the Apple Thunderbolt displays should be doing, not slaving off the computers graphics card.
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11" MacBook Air Owner Connects High-End Graphics Card With Complex Thunderbolt Setup
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Who would wanna even do this ridiculous setup just for gaming ...
I mean, ok so, it can be done,,,, that's great an all, but you need a PC graphics card, in short, you may as well actually USE a PC for gaming, since its already up to the task... and you already one.
I just love people like these.. saying you can play smooth frame rated games on a "what obviously is not-up-to-the-task of Full frame rate." since you are bypassing the internal graphics.
Look... Its as smooth as ever LoL..
Made my day... and all you need is a bunch of PC stuff to do it
I mean, ok so, it can be done,,,, that's great an all, but you need a PC graphics card, in short, you may as well actually USE a PC for gaming, since its already up to the task... and you already one.
I just love people like these.. saying you can play smooth frame rated games on a "what obviously is not-up-to-the-task of Full frame rate." since you are bypassing the internal graphics.
Look... Its as smooth as ever LoL..
Made my day... and all you need is a bunch of PC stuff to do it
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You can connect an external monitor, like Thunderbolt Display.
In fact, this eGPU could very well be integrated into Thunderbolt Display, so when you hook it up via Thunderbolt, you get both a bigger screen and a more badass GPU.
It's cool to see something like this, that could be right out of the early stages of an Apple R&D lab
Yeah, a small GPU inside the TB display just for driving the monitor would be cool. But I don't understand how that would work if you want to use the Mac's more powerful GPU to render some graphics and the display's GPU to drive the monitor... mostly because I hardly understand how GPUs work at all.
If they figure out how to extend a MacBook Pro with a better Intel chip and graphics card combo, I'd LOVE that. Would be nice for rendering!
Apple is probably not interested in this. They prefer you to buy a more expensive laptop, or Mac Pro, or iMac, if you are ever interested in graphics power.
Who would wanna even do this ridiculous setup just for gaming ...
I mean, ok so, it can be done,,,, that's great an all, but you need a PC graphics card, in short, you may as well actually USE a PC for gaming, since its already up to the task... and you already one.
I just love people like these.. saying you can play smooth frame rated games on a "what obviously is not-up-to-the-task of Full frame rate." since you are bypassing the internal graphics.
Look... Its as smooth as ever LoL..
Made my day... and all you need is a bunch of PC stuff to do it
Let me translate your post for people:
"Why doesn't everyone just be as boring as me and sit around and type all day and then watch Law & Order or something. Why do people try to gather up supplies and do stuff that's interesting when we could just sit around here blasting it?"
Why do it? It's actually quite simple:
Because we can.
To this day I've made 4 eGPU's and I've regretted none. You get the advantage of having one machine that accomplishes all your goals with the minimal investment. (Even the most expensive set up is a mere $250) and once finished, it's plug and play. If you're cost effective, you can get the Thunderbolt adapter and PSU for under $200 total. You don't have to buy: Ram, Processor, Hard Drive, Motherboard, Case and maybe even keyboard. Even the cheapest gaming tower would be around $350-400 before you get the PSU and GPU involved and it'll be with a low power CPU.
Once you've made the eGPU dongle, you can build an enclosure and have a gaming GPU to take with you on the road for gaming in a hotel room or when you're visiting your parents. It's quite convenient. Having a tower and a laptop and taking them both with you when you wanna game on the road? That sucks.
And before you even say it, who are YOU to decide what types of games people should play when they're on the road.
i love the ingenuity in a solution like this. Someone uses something and finds ways to make it better.
Sounds like a couple of people behind Apple.
Who cares that its not 100% practical, it's awesome for what it accomplished.
Sounds like a couple of people behind Apple.
Who cares that its not 100% practical, it's awesome for what it accomplished.
Does the shoebox holder come standard with the high end graphics card setup?
I guess its cool that he got it to work, but as others have said, it somewhat defeats the purposes of a thin, lightweight, wireless MacBook Air
I guess its cool that he got it to work, but as others have said, it somewhat defeats the purposes of a thin, lightweight, wireless MacBook Air
It's been done before. In fact, there's already a product that does this. It's still pretty cool to see, and I still don't understand how he got it running on the MBA's screen instead of an external one.
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It's here: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2013/06/06/silverstone-external-graphics-card-case-deb/
Sure but when you can do both?
I have a desktop and a laptop (MacBook pro). But honestly if I had an external GPU I could plug in to add some horsepower to my MBP, that'd be pretty awesome! Even MORE so if this was my only computer! Imagine a college student who can't fire up a bulky desktop, and it's just ridiculously impractical to have two laptops when you can get MORE performance out of a single machine that can do both tasks!
This screams dorm room. Dorm rooms are full of Apple notebooks. Dorm rooms are full of gamers. Why, oh why, is nobody building these commercially yet?
For the record I never did live in a dorm. But I want it anyway!
That's the beauty of thunderbolt. It has the ability to drive the display with an external GPU! Another reason why this is a perfect solution to the "I want a laptop but occasionally need desktop graphics performance" problem, but despite thunderbolt being available for years, STILL isn't out there!
I see your reason but IMO, the beauty of marketing the MacBook Air was selling an Apple laptop with an entry price under a grand. That is much easier to expense than cutting a PO of nearly $3K for a MacBook Pro.
Someone can monetize this as dock under the MacBook Air for also under a grand and run it off the Thunderbolt port. Performance upgrade and accessories docks have been very successful in the marketplace.
You can even slip both in a laptop bag.
Also, since the new Mac Pro will not let you swap out GPUs in a PCI slot, some people are going to need this. Apple really should be providing the Thunderbolt-based PCI expansions since they're going to be getting rid of them for no good reason other than style.
My guess is the supply channel of Thunderbolt connectors. While you can do the snazziest design out there, you can be up a creek if you don't have the right lot of connectors and support for that connector for your run.
I have seen almost a million in stock poured in a shredder or landfill over an device OEM promoting a connector like crazy and then dumping it overnight. (Anyone remember Springboard or Universal Connector?)
Unless you have a contractual relationship with the OEM of the device manufacturer, if that connector is dumped by the device OEM or parts not available for productions, your accessory product is stuck.
Now shrink all that crap into a small box the size of an Apple TV and you got yourself a product