NVIDIA mulling external graphics for notebooks

NVIDIA is considering introducing its first true external notebook graphics, a company executive says. According to a recent Xbitlabs report, NVIDIA notebook GPU division general manager Rene Haas sees a big opportunity in such a market. The product could come in the form of a docking station or another type of external device.

Haas says the biggest issue is finding the right price point for the product, as currently available products are rather expensive. AMD in 2008 introduced high performance external graphics cards through their external graphics port (XGP) technology. Fujitsu Siemens is the most notable customer and offers a Mobility Radeon HD 3870 box that connects via the XGP port to its Amilo models.

Dedicated graphics processors not only add significant cost but also bulk and weight to notebooks PCs and are only occasionally called upon, NVIDIA reasons, which is why an external GPU makes sense.

By Electronista Staff