Laptops with external graphics – we have been chasing this ghost for a long time everyone. We have seen them attempted through ExpressCard slots and more recently through Thunderbolt. MSI has a different plan with the GS30 Shadow – a physical PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot.
The GS30 Shadow starts with a laptop – a 13.3-in 1080p design that is surprisingly slim and sleek. It includes a Core i7-4780HQ processor with Iris Pro 5200 graphics, 16GB of DDR3 memory, RAID-0 performance with a pair of M.2 slots and Gigabit networking. Battery life is likely pretty low on its own as there doesn't seem to be much space for a large battery.
But what really makes the GS30 Shadow stand out is the docking station included. This is a base measuring about a foot long by 6 inches wide and tall. It connects to the laptop through a physical x16 PCIe 3.0 slot along the back of the machine and mechanically latches into place. There is a very old-style feeling to the connection – you pull a latch and use a physical lock button to keep it in place. But once installed, the GS30 sits on top of the docking station and is ready for use.
The docking station ships with a 450 watt desktop style power supply and supports a full size, desktop-class dual-slot graphics card. Also included are a set of speakers embedded in the front, four USB 3.0 ports as well as audio input and output connections. You will also be able to install additional storage inside the docking station; it adds room for a 3.5-in hard drive.
The GS30 Shadow with docking station will ship this month and has an MSRP set at $1999. If you value the laptop alone at $1400-1500 then you are paying a premium of around $500 for the docking station capability. This is another new device from MSI that we are eager to test and see if it stands up to real-world usage scenarios as well as it sounds like it might. Could we finally have a good option for mobility + gaming that works for gamers?
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Weird how both MSI and
Weird how both MSI and Alienware are coming up with roughly the same idea. The Alienware solution works over a PCI-E cable and not a dock though. I look forward to seeing how each machine does in testing.
can you put a R9 295X2 and a
can you put a R9 295X2 and a higher wattage psu in there?
Dunno man. Seems to me that
Dunno man. Seems to me that its cheaper and easier to just have a laptop with a 980m inside. Which is right next to its desktop version in performance.
Going with an integrated
Going with an integrated discrete GPU is cheaper, but you are missing the main point that the external box is UPGRADEABLE while the 980m is not. This solution seriously gives a laptop a lot more longevity for gaming.
Dont forget that a 980m
Dont forget that a 980m laptop is 2 or even 3 times thicker and the baterylife
that thing is huge!
ill wait
that thing is huge!
ill wait until they can get the docking stations smaller.
they should have the 980m in the laptop and the desktop version in the docking station
You can put it under or in
You can put it under or in your desk.
LoooooooL! That thing is
LoooooooL! That thing is HUGE! Emm, right put a laptop on top of that box… that’s really funny.
Should come with a wireless keyboard standard so you can actually use you laptop.
LoooooooL! That thing is
LoooooooL! That thing is HUGE! Emm, right put a laptop on top of that box… that’s really funny.
Should come with a wireless keyboard standard so you can actually use you laptop.
yea or mount the laptop
yea or mount the laptop infront of the big ass box. engineers have little common sense IMO. whos going to lift their arms another 8-10 off a desk to type.
It’s supposed to be used with
It’s supposed to be used with external Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse.
LOL
The concept of a dock is
LOL
The concept of a dock is to use an external, monitor, keyboard and mouse.
If you didn’t have an external monitor you could open up and use the laptop screen of course but that’s kind of a waste. If I want to game at 144hz a laptop screen won’t cut it.
The concept is solid. It’s
The concept is solid. It’s basically a modern take on the Apple DuoDock of the 1990’s.
You put the desktop dock on the ground, like a tower. So you have a giant monitor at your desk for gaming, and then Iris Pro for a tolerable experience on the road.
The one thing they need to get down is cost. It’s $500 more than a Retina MacBook Pro. That’s too much to be competitive.
A future-proof solution would
A future-proof solution would be…. make it a standard to include every future laptop with either:
1. PCI-e cable I/O for external graphics card solutions
2. PCI-e output bus for the same thing and then sell seperate enclosures that can hold the graphics card in a customizable box to lug around with you on the go 🙂
With older laptops, there is already working solutions for external graphics but it is tricky:
1. ExpressCard slot (old school way of getting external graphics card working and has OK Bus speed)
2. mini-PCIe slot (found on recent laptops but has poor bus speeds… this probably translates to about using only 40-50% of your graphics card’s capabilities which may or may not be OK for your needs).
3. Thunderbolt slot (very niche, as many laptops outside Mac’s don’t include them universally… HAS been shown to have some excellent transfer speeds good for external graphics cards… I think there is also a working solution as is right now for this one…)
Basically, for those ethusiasts like me… who don’t want to spend too much on a laptop right now, but want to game later on with upgrades in the future, having the above capabilities is a MUST moving forward in the future!