NVIDIA has done a pretty god job of demonstrating that low power netbooks and notebooks can actually be pretty effective machines for watching HD video and playing games if you add a decent graphics card. But that doesn’t have to mean throwing an NVIDIA ION or similar graphics card inside a laptop. You can also boost performance by adding an external graphics card — like the upcoming MSI GUS (Graphics Upgrade Solution).

MSI says the card can connect to a notebook using a PCI Express card slot. While those ports aren’t as common as they used to be, MSI also plans to launch a USB 3.0 version of GUS down the road.

MSI GUS will have a base price of about $100, but for that price you just get the enclosure. YOu’ll have to pay closer to $200 if you want the unit bundled with a graphics card. In addition to powering up the graphics performance of notebooks, the GUS system should add multi-monitor support, allowing you to connect up to 3 monitors to your notebook (for a total of 4 displays including the notebook screen).

MSI is expected to showcase the graphics solution at Computex next week.

via Fudzilla

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13 replies on “Want better graphics for your laptop? MSI is launching an external graphics card”

  1. is it compatible with dell inspiron 1545 with a core 2 duo processor
     

  2. It’s pretty funny that they called it the GUS, for those of us who remember the Gravis Ultrasound.

  3. If you do a search over on the forums at notebookreview for “diy vidock”, you will find detailed technical information and testing gathered by a community of people who have been building their own solutions with off-the-shelf components.

  4. Umm, this is nice. I like the concept. Still seems like it’s going to be incredibly bandwidth limited for the use in games… Now as a productivity booster that’s really nice, except we’ll start to see the limits of an ATOM processor very very quickly with 3 monitors and all that multi-tasking… Now for one of those multi-core nehelem based CULV chips Intel just launched this might be excellent, especially if they can get past the PCIe x1 limit. In theory this would be AWESOME because you could then upgrade your video card independantly of your laptop… Although taking it on the road with you would be a chore…

    Meh, not sure, need more info. Cool on paper, implementation will be everything.

  5. Why to much money for me. Might as well buy a notebook with better graphics. I like the idea of the broadcom, if they could make a usb version I might go that route.You can buy a ati 4850 for $100 for a desktop that will play any game. Why spend more than the netbook might cost to watch a 1080p video?

    1. I do not think its been made totally for a Netbook only.

      An external devices would be not bad if you want to play some games where you are bored at office.

      1. I’m sure you mean “rewrite the Finance Department’s accounting packages for CUDA”. ;o)

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