Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

forum.techinferno.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 102 posts

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#61

Post by mosselman »

mosselman wrote: post #10
whitehat2k9 wrote: post #2

...Or you could put together a proper gaming machine for the same price.

I am a developer and I prefer developing on my macbook by FAR over windows and I prefer it a lot over Ubuntu et al. Right now I still have my desktop PC taking up space and clutering my desk just so that I can play a few games. I'd rather sell it and for less than what I get for the whole thing buy a thunderbolt GPU and game that way. Your argument is invalid and only considered from a 'I want to game' point of view,…

@bryanlarsen and @infinita740

I don't agree and I think you lack imagination. My computer case is still a lot bigger than such a setup would be.

I do agree to an extent with Bryan, saying that one could get a small case and put a computer in there, but then I'd have 2 things to keep up to date (and pay for). My Macbook has 16GB of memory and an i5 processor. My Desktop has an i5 as well and 8GB of memory plus some hard drives, dvd, drive, etc, etc and the GPU. The GPU is the one thing my Mac lacks. So with $250 (according to the article) I can upgrade something that I will have no matter what, my Macbook, since I use it to work on, and get rid of something that I am now forced to have (hobbying aside).

@infinita I already have a 'proper' 24inch screen on my desk at home and some Logitech Z5500 speakers and a gaming mouse. I can game using my Macbook's keyboard easily. This will all be there even if I'd get rid of my Desktop.

With this 'new' setup I can have just the GPU on my desk, or build some custom casing (cables and adapters be gone) and attach it behind my monitor. I then just plugin the Macbook and boom, instant gaming pleasure. Besides, when companies start building these setups they would grow smaller and more practical.

As for windows, that is nothing a small thunderbolt (or USB3) harddrive won't solve. Granted it might be a bit slower than SATA (is that true for thunderbolt as well?), but hard drives are not the main bottleneck in gaming anyway, the GPU, CPU and RAM are still more important. I for one don't even use RAID in my current PC.

It is not all ideal, but it still is a lot more ideal than maintaining and upgrading 2 machines and have this huge case standing around just for some GTA V.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#62

Post by barrkel »

roc wrote: post #45
barrkel wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GPUs become obsolete way faster than monitors.

Are you trying to say Apple wouldn't put GPUs in displays because it might accelerate the display upgrade cycle?

I'm trying to say that customers aren't quite stupid enough to invest in a display that they'll throw out 18 months later.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#63

Post by vacri »

aroch wrote: post #19
whitehat2k9 wrote: post #2

...Or you could put together a proper gaming machine for the same price.

And you can still run OSX on it... This is my current setup (minus the drives / SSDs I own already): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn Runs OSX 10.8/10.9, Arch linux and Win7

The 'cool, bro!' names for PC components are usually mildly amusing, but I had to laugh when I saw a PSU named 'fatality'... like you want to associate your PSU with death.

(it's named after a pro gamer, which makes it even funnier - I can just imagine shilling for a PSU: 'The 12V rail on this supply helps me react even faster!')

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#64

Post by wklauss »

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #47

Let's be honest: The Thunderbolt ecosystem is tragic. - We're only now seeing the first docks come available. It only took Belkin an extra year to develop it. - The hopes and dreams of internal buses being used outside the standard case is still only a dream unless you are willing to pay extreme premiums. Even then there is still no native solution for video. - I still need a special cord from Apple to run Dual-link.…

Apple also supports USB 3.0. go nuts with it if thats what you want, but they are not madefor the same kind of applications.

For some professional enviroments Apple still considers Thunderbolt to be useful. Its sad that they are the only ones thinking this way becouse it truly is a good solution and having more brands on board will probably push the price of cables and docks down, but if we are going to point fingers I think Intel is the one we should point them to.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#65

Post by JVIDEL »

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #47

Let's be honest: The Thunderbolt ecosystem is tragic. - We're only now seeing the first docks come available. It only took Belkin an extra year to develop it. - The hopes and dreams of internal buses being used outside the standard case is still only a dream unless you are willing to pay extreme premiums. Even then there is still no native solution for video. - I still need a special cord from Apple to run Dual-link.…

It reminds me of firewire, and even that was more popular than thunderbolt.

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#66

Post by bobbles »

mahyarm wrote: post #60
ChuckMcM wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been wondering something similar. Since you can lock in the 'value add' of the display, and the current Cinema display with TB is pretty full of stuff anyway, that you'd get a display with built in GPU rather than a display which is being sent the pixels. Not sure how that compares bandwidth consumption wise but from the ability for drivers to not recognize non Apple hosts its a total win.

Your about $400 from an iMac at that point.

Unless that iMac folds down into a macbook pro when you leave the house that's kind of irrelevant

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#67

Post by imissmyjuno »

aroch wrote: post #42
TomAnthony wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any caveats on running OS X on this setup? Thanks for sharing, btw. :)

I run 2 x 30" (2560x1440) and 1 21"(1920x1200) IPS monitors (all DVI). I have 3 Samsung 540 256GB SSD, 2 WD RED 7200RPM 3TB drives (with lifetime warranty!) in the slots. 1. You should probably jump up to 750W PSU (Which is what I did in the end) just for a little more wiggle room. I also moved to small footprint RAM to fit under my cooler -- 4 x 8GB sticks. 2. Use Clover not Chameleon as your bootloader. It's EFI em…

> Fuck any SSD not made by Intel or Samsung

Why?

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#68

Post by bluedino »

JVIDEL wrote: post #65
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #47

Let's be honest: The Thunderbolt ecosystem is tragic. - We're only now seeing the first docks come available. It only took Belkin an extra year to develop it. - The hopes and dreams of internal buses being used outside the standard case is still only a dream unless you are willing to pay extreme premiums. Even then there is still no native solution for video. - I still need a special cord from Apple to run Dual-link.…

It reminds me of firewire, and even that was more popular than thunderbolt.

At least firewire didn't cannibalize your video output port

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#69

Post by bluedino »

randyrand wrote: post #43
larsberg wrote: post #6

I've been assuming this is what Apple is going to do with the next MBP retina. Intel graphics when headless + a new Thunderbolt Display with built-in Nvidia or ATI card when "docked."

The only issue I see with this is that graphics cards become obsolete much faster than monitors do. I wouldn't want to replace my perfectly good monitor just because the graphics are too slow. The obvious answer is a user replaceable card - but that hardly screams "Apple."

Apple wouldn't care - look at the 'ancient' video card in the Mac Pro

Re: Attaching a Thunderbolt GPU to a Macbook Air

#70

Post by voltagex_ »

vacri wrote: post #63
aroch wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you can still run OSX on it... This is my current setup (minus the drives / SSDs I own already): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1mjxn Runs OSX 10.8/10.9, Arch linux and Win7

The 'cool, bro!' names for PC components are usually mildly amusing, but I had to laugh when I saw a PSU named 'fatality'... like you want to associate your PSU with death. (it's named after a pro gamer, which makes it even funnier - I can just imagine shilling for a PSU: 'The 12V rail on this supply helps me react even faster!')

Well, I wouldn't want a $20 PSU blowing up during a match...
Post reply on HN