New Toy from MSI HQ.....Desktop graphics... Notebook CPU?

Loki · 25 Nov 2014 at 09:36

So yesterday brought an unexpected delivery from MSI HQ to our office. Naturally very excited when I then get a message to say open quickly and have a play

Apparently, it is a notebook, with a… Desktop GPU? At PCI-E 3.0 x16, no less.

What might this wizardry be? Any takers?

kitkat9933 · 25 Nov 2014 at 10:18

The MSI Gs30 with the really ugly dock. At least it is actually 3.0 x16 rather than 3.0 x4 like the Alienware model.

Flashheart · 26 Nov 2014 at 15:46

This needs to be universal to be a success.

FlyingFish · 26 Nov 2014 at 21:21

Is that picture right? Holy Moo! You might as well build a desktop looking at the size of that...And how big is the power brick?

Mick

Robbsy · 27 Nov 2014 at 02:42

It also needs to be usable without having the laptop attached to that dock. This works assuming that the user is going to play games on a second monitor with a keyboard plugged into the laptop.

What if I wanted to actually play games on the laptop while it's connected to the GPU?

They need to add some kind of cable that connects the GS30 to the dock. Otherwise it's just a pretty inconvenient solution to a problem which doesn't really exist.

Meaker · 27 Nov 2014 at 08:48

I belive the screen, keyboard and touchpad are disabled. You need a monitor, keyboard and mouse plugged into the dock.

oweneades · 27 Nov 2014 at 16:17

Meaker said:
I belive the screen, keyboard and touchpad are disabled. You need a monitor, keyboard and mouse plugged into the dock.

Which at this point you may as well build a mITX system and have a mid range ultra book acting as your laptop.

The idea of using an external GPU for a laptop is a sound one (for a specific market) but this implementation is just plain odd.

Armageus · 27 Nov 2014 at 16:42

It's still big and still ugly - although full props for it actually existing and working.

Personally it needs to be like the dell docks or ibm/lenovo docks - i.e. flat surface that laptop sits on, with the bulk of the docking station behind the screen

(could even be fairly tall behind the screen e.g. like a graphics card standing up, with ports exiting either left or right.)

Begbie · 27 Nov 2014 at 16:46

How much is that going to cost?

No doubt be cheaper to build a PC and have a seperate laptop...

Robbsy · 27 Nov 2014 at 22:27

oweneades said:
Which at this point you may as well build a mITX system and have a mid range ultra book acting as your laptop.

The idea of using an external GPU for a laptop is a sound one (for a specific market) but this implementation is just plain odd.

+1

I definitely think it has potential. But the Alienware 13 beats this by miles simply because of the fact that you can use it without having it attached to the top of the dock.

FlyingFish · 27 Nov 2014 at 23:00

Meaker said:
I belive the screen, keyboard and touchpad are disabled. You need a monitor, keyboard and mouse plugged into the dock.

I dont know anything about this setup, but if that is true then what is the point?

I would have thought that the main reason that laptops lose out to desktops is because of GPU oomph. So surely all you would need is a housing with a desktop gpu slot/psu/ and suitable bus connection to the laptop to take over the graphics work.. Laptops already have a keyboard and a screen. :confused: