External Graphics Accelerators

[Insomnium]

So I was just looking to see if there were any way in which on could upgrade a laptop's graphics capabilities, when I stumbled across several articles and videos discussing and showing off hardware that would place the GPU in an external enclosure outside the computer case/laptop/macbook/whatever.

I've discussed the idea with several friends, and while some of the disadvantages would be things like the price-tag and clutter, there also advantages, such as:

-Upgrade capabilities for Laptops/macbooks: Derp!

-Cooling issues: having both the graphics & central processor share the same case has been a constant problem. When firing up a game and looking at the temperature monitors, I sometimes expect it to "fire up" literally.

-System Damage/Upgrades: Since graphics cards tend to be one of the more frequently replaced components on a computer, keeping it in it's own separate enclosure reduces the risk of other components being damaged in a accident or by human error.

So, any thoughts on this?

P.S. Sorry in advance for any errors in this post (it is the longest I've written in while)

 

[Tripler]

I have always been a fan of fan cooling though the noise can be irritating after a while unless you install a Rheobus Fan Controller Kit . I do have an external hard drive for my movies and it works really well but I wonder if you would actually have slower speeds form your vid card as it is not plugged directly to the mother board . I have never seen external type vid cards before . Who makes them ? AMD , Invidia .?

 

[Insomnium]

I have always been a fan of fan cooling though the noise can be irritating after a while unless you install a Rheobus Fan Controller Kit . I do have an external hard drive for my movies and it works really well but I wonder if you would actually have slower speeds form your vid card as it is not plugged directly to the mother board . I have never seen external type vid cards before . Who makes them ? AMD , Invidia .?

For example? Hmm..

Well, there's the Expressbox by Magma, which allows you to connect a PCI-E card to your laptop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIp3gHmAeGc

And here's a demo of the ATI XGP (eXternal Graphics Platform):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iqrm_2Gqu8

Can't find anything solid about Nvidia yet, but I did find this:
NVIDIA pursuing external graphics accelerators for laptops?

 

[Tripler]

Very interesting . I guess it would be great for Lan party's not having to drag your case around . I like the second one better as it has much better cooling than the Magma model . I would be drilling more holes in that one to get better airflow .