ATI developing Lasso

[D_o_S]

The gap between high performance desktops and notebooks is getting smaller and smaller - yet one area where notebooks could use a boost is undoubtedly the graphics department. For any sort of high resolution/high detail gaming, a notebook integrated GPU just won't cut it.

It would be benefitial if power-hungry GPUs could be placed outside of the notebook, and then connected to it via some interface. ASUS has caught on, its XG Station should offer such a solution.

Now, it looks like ATI has something in the works as well. Hexus reports that ATI is developing Lasso, an external board interconnecting multiple graphics boards with your notebook.

Below is a picture of an early prototype:


View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[magibeg]

That would be awesome... something tells me i wouldn't be able to hook up one of those fancy video cards to my dell laptop

 

[sinner33]

Seems like a sound idea, except for the fact that you'd obviously look like your gaming in front of the professor with that little get up Defeats the purpose of hiding it.

 

[unsmart]

This kinda looks fake to me I think ATI would have a better test set up then some guys desk and a piece of foam.

 

[WarEagleAU]

DaAMti is on the horizon once again

 

[AshenSugar]

This kinda looks fake to me I think ATI would have a better test set up then some guys desk and a piece of foam.

you clearly have never worked in a development enviroment, i have seen hardware companys test new stuff they made on wood planks,foam,plastic, rubber, and even those rubber/foam mats like used for wrestling, whatever works, beta/test versions of hardware are alwase to large and tested on a countertop, they dont get casings/covers till they size them down after extencive testing , someplace areound here i have a box of old beta hardware,
mobo thats about 4in longer then full atx, the ver ver of that board was acctualy a 7screw mount smaller then full atx

videocard thats a good 2in taller and 3in longer then the production version

even got some pc150 beta ram sticks someplace(dont get excited they where slow at normal speeds) that are about 4in tall(no joke and they only have 256mb a stick lol)

i have a few other things in that box as well, all stuff i got to eather test myself or was given by ppl who tested it and got the full version when it went gold and gave me the test stuff.

never ASSume that you know it all, because "pride goeth before the fall"

 

[Demos_sav]

Could that be used on desktops too? I mean, my mobo is not capable of crossfire. Can I buy one of these and start using crossfire? That would be awesome

 

[Jimmy 2004]

ASUS has been working on something like this for a couple of months - it was posted, but a while back. I like the idea of being able upgrade laptops more easily, you essentially have an on-the-go laptop which can handle your surfing and documents, then once you get home, you plug in your X2900XTX and play Crysis

 

[AshenSugar]

i had a lappy years back that had a docking station that could ake 4 pci and 1 agp card as well as 4 ide drives and even had an external scsi connection!!!

i never put a high end videocard in it but i could have, kinda like the diea now

 

[unsmart]

Well, no I haven't worked in a development environment. I just ASSumed as tight lipped as ATI/AMD is about development and the rash of fake hardware pics and benches,that AMD/ATI would not let a photo of a upcoming release be taken in such a setting. The only pics or specs I trust when it comes to AMD/ATI is the ones they release.
It could be real, I don't know. Hexus is a trusted site but how many posted the fake R600 benches. The only thing I know for sure is your an A**

 

[AshenSugar]

they probbly want to get some good press without letting more info about the upcommin cpu/gpu combos that are due out soon

 

[RickyG512]

i hope u can use the monitor in the laptop unlike the asus one

 

[Jimmy 2004]

i hope u can use the monitor in the laptop unlike the asus one

Didn't realise that at the time... could just be because it's still in the development phase - you would exepct them to fix it. The ASUS one does look somewhat more complete though.

 

[Namslas90]

This kinda looks fake to me I think ATI would have a better test set up then some guys desk and a piece of foam.

You have to start somewhere, Remember the first computer was mounted to a piece of wood!!

 

[KennyT772]

hopefully they will bend the pcb just past the pci-e port so the whole thing is roughly the size of the video card. add a 80mm fan to one end and your set!

 

[AshenSugar]

You have to start somewhere, Remember the first computer was mounted to a piece of wood!!

the first real home computers sold where orignal made with plywood cases , i know somebody whos got a first gen apple thats case is wood lol

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

i hope u can use the monitor in the laptop unlike the asus one

I would imagine this is relativly trivial to implement, and a must for laptops :/

 

[Scavar]

I don't this personally seems silly to me. Desktop Replacement Laptops are more then powerful enough in all departments, and if you are getting a notebook for travel or for school and you want to play games on it, that thing isn't entirely convienant. I would rather have a weaker graphics card in the laptop itself that can do things decently or ok, and still run on battery, and carry around with me without any hassle in the least, then have that thing.


But hey, thats just me.

 

[Casheti]

Well done ATi

F**k you AMD

 

[KennyT772]

this is actually a very good thing especially with where things are heading, cpu power etc.

imagine a small laptop with a decent cpu that you can carry around and get 4-5-6 hours out of the battery. then you get home plug it into a base station and boom you have a different kb/mouse, crossfire x2900's, a 30" lcd, and surround sound. sounds good to me..

 

[zekrahminator]

Well done ATi

F**k you AMD

Now Casheti, I thought your several pages of infractions might have tought you that flaming AMD is a bad thing .

 

[Casheti]

It most certainly is not!

 

[tvdang7]

home come it looks like its using usb ports... wouldnt that be slow? the other asus one is express port or something.
i wish something will come out soon. this 6100 needs something new. any idea when something should pop up and at what price. i think i read the asus thing was like 500 bucks.

 

[KennyT772]

just imagine if they run with this idea..


pointing at the tower and calling it the CPU might be correct. i wouldnt really mind having a home theater style comp. one box with a freezer in it could house the video cards. another unit would house the 4, 16 core processors, and finally another would house the hard drives and optical disks...

 

[Casheti]

just imagine if they run with this idea..


pointing at the tower and calling it the CPU might be correct. i wouldnt really mind having a home theater style comp. one box with a freezer in it could house the video cards. another unit would house the 4, 16 core processors, and finally another would house the hard drives and optical disks...

Sounds good to me...cost a lot though