Thursday, May 3, 2012

PCI and PCI Express Notebook Expansion

I haven't tried one of these myself, but I'm highly tempted to get one.  I read about it here on forums.nvidia.com.

Magma creates an external expansion system that works with both laptops and desktops:
  • The PCI expansion system allows you to expand the number of PCI slots using ExpressCard/34, ExpressCard/54, OR CardBus.  For desktops, you have the option of a PCI Express host card or a PCI host card.  Find it here at Magma.  PCI video cards still exist and a quick search on newegg.com shows acceptable PCI cards.
  • The PCI Express expansion system allows you to expand the number of PCI Express slots  using ExpressCard/34 ONLY.  For desktops, a PCI Express host adapter.  Find it here at Magma.
  • For those of you with a Thunderbolt port, a Thunderbolt PCI Express expansion system is available here at Magma.
This upgrade doesn't come without a price.  As of 2012-05-03, the PCI expansion system for 1 slot is 1159 USD, the PCI Express expansion system for 1 slot is 829 USD, and the Thunderbolt PCI Express expansion system for 3 PCI Express slots is 979 USD.

Make sure you look over the specifications as there are bandwidth and power restrictions.  Check the compatibility page for more information.

Update 2014-01-11

A while back, I ran into something called a ViDock (Video Dock) or eGPU (External GPU). Search for DIY ViDock or DIY eGPU. It's an external PCI express slot outside a laptop with a standard ATX power supply powering the video card. It hooks up to a laptop using a mini PCIe card or a ExpressCard interface. There are more professional versions of the ViDock (for example, Village Instruments ViDock, VillageTronic ViDock, etc) if you don't feel like doing it yourself and don't want to pay for the Magma premium. Definitely an interesting setup. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like fun!


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