Currently, the market for mobile computers (laptops and netbooks) is developing at a frantic pace. In terms of sales, it cramps the market for stationary counterparts. In terms of performance, mobile computers are on par with the desktop solutions of last year, they can easily cope with the implementation of professional applications with 3D graphics, with playing video files in HD quality, and it is also quite possible to run many modern computer-intensive computer games on them.
But what about consumers who have already managed to buy a laptop with an integrated video chip that is significantly inferior in performance and speed? An external graphics card for a laptop allows you to go beyond using only 2D applications (office suites). But while the market for such external devices is rather poorly developed, the assortment is still not so diverse.
The first steps in developing external video adapters connected to laptops / netbooks were taken by AMD / ATI, the leader in the production of video chips for discrete graphics cards. In 2008, she introduced to the public a new technology for connecting video cards, called XGP (External Graphics Platform), the meaning of which was that the external video card for the laptop was connected via a special connector to the PCI-E 2.0 bus. For the full operation of the video card, 8 bus lines were used. The new connector gave owners of low-power laptops the opportunity to increase their performance and functionality. However, laptop manufacturers met the new XGP connector coolly; they did not seek to equip their models with it. The only laptop equipped with a connector for connecting an external video card was released by Fujitsu Siemens. AMD did not abandon the further development of the technology. XGP was presented along with new video card models at the CES 2010 high-tech exhibition.
In the Russian market, you can purchase a more affordable device to improve the performance of the laptop’s video system. ASUS has developed an external
XG-Station. In this case, an external video card for a laptop will use an ExpressCard expansion slot, the data exchange rate of which is 250 Mb / s. Thus, the external video card for the laptop will work according to the PCIe X1 specification. This, of course, is not the maximum opportunity, but still this option is significantly ahead of integrated performance solutions, sometimes this increase reaches 10 times the size. Using the ASUS XG-Station docking station allows you to turn an inexpensive laptop or netbook into a fairly powerful mobile computer, to which an external video card is connected. Its price will be 5,000 rubles.
The market for plug-in external video cards is still poorly developed, manufacturers are still looking for the right direction for the development of this segment. The main (even the only) competitor of AMD - Nvidia Corporation - has not even taken its first step in response to the presented XGP technology. An external video card for a USB laptop has become a reality with the introduction of USB 3.0 ports to the market, now the speed of video data exchange between a laptop and an external video card has increased to 640 Mb / s, which will significantly affect the performance in demanding applications and modern video games. Let's hope that the two giants - Nvidia and AMD - will join the competition with new strength and present new solutions in different price ranges. This area of high technology is quite interesting, and the market niche is still free.