nVidia Announces MXM for Notebooks 83
Giant_Panda writes "NVIDIA just announced a new mobile graphics interface for PCI Express based
notebooks (PR here).
NVIDIA is calling the interface MXM (Mobile PCI eXpress Module),
and they seem to have the support of the Taiwanese notebook ODMs on this one. HotHardware has a few pictures and details on the technology - it looks like MXM is a royalty-free standard too, so other mobile GPU
manufactures like ATi may even make MXM modules. (More MXM Info -
HardOCP,
Tweaktown)"
Upgrade video card! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:1)
Oh wait, I only use it to run emacs and xterm.
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:1)
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:1)
I had a PPro 166 notebook that was extremely useful. It ran WindowMaker and gvim just fine. That was all I needed for a mobile platform.
My desktop did any heavy lifting I needed done.
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:3, Interesting)
What was THIS monster (FOR ITS TIME)?
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:1)
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:2)
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:1)
To be honest, the backlight is a bit dodgy now so I probably couldn't tell the difference between 16-bit and 32-bit. Did have issues with neomagic and xfree86 in the past though, but not on the last install (Gentoo).
and laptop makers would go for it because? (Score:2)
And notebook makers would want this because?
I think not. GPU vendors won't do it, because OEMs won't do it, because sales & marketing at the brand-name level won't go for it. In any market where there would be a desire for this sort of thing(ie, gamers who want to be able to upgrade), they'd loose potential sales(said gamers wouldn't buy a new notebook).
I can see something of a market for
Re:and laptop makers would go for it because? (Score:1)
-jason m
Re:and laptop makers would go for it because? (Score:2)
Laptops are for students and business travellers to do work on.
Re:and laptop makers would go for it because? (Score:2)
These days you can get laptops with 1GB or more memory, 80+ GB 7200 RPM UDMA drives, DVD-RW drives, and a 17" TFT. Admittedly, they cost more than
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:5, Informative)
RTFA please (Score:3, Informative)
Let me save you all the increadible effort and paste the following from the first paragraph which is obviously too far for some of us to read:
Re:Upgrade video card! (Score:2)
Nice... er, RAM modules! (Score:5, Funny)
MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:1)
At least this will be a standard, meaning pricing will be fairer and range of choice should be better.
Thank god, this is well overdue.
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:2)
Apparantly it's "EASIER TO INSERT THAN AN ALIEN PROBE" though, according to the article.
I wonder if MXM comes with that feature? I'd hate to be part of Alienware's demographic.
-Adam
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:2)
But hopefully without the Alienware price tag.
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:2)
Too right. I'm in the market for a new PC with a high-performance graphics card. While Dell system's are cheap, their sales and customer support is now unusable. While AlienWare's systems are extremely attractive, the prices start at 3500 pounds (5000 dollars) for a gaming system. I also looked at the various retail stores and the standard systems available through mail order (Dabs.com), but they only seem to sell the low-end desktops or server systems. There
Re:MXM looks exactly like.... (Score:2)
Ten Leading Notebook Manufacturers (Score:3)
Re:Ten Leading Notebook Manufacturers (Score:5, Informative)
"Nvidia said it had already won the backing of Far Eastern ODMs like Quanta, Wistron, FIC, Uniwill, Clevo, AOpen, Tatung, Arima, Asustek and Mitac, all of whom have said they will offer MXM-based notebooks. Since these ten already account for many of the world's name and no-name notebooks, MXM is likely to grow by stealth, becoming a de facto standard."
Re:Ten Leading Notebook Manufacturers (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Ten Leading Notebook Manufacturers (Score:2, Funny)
Far Eastern? Isn't that a little bit of a melodramatic term? So we'll start seeing the notebooks with MXM next year, when the Silk Road caravans arrive! Think of the fabulous silks and spices we'll see along with our notebooks!
Nope, but... (Score:2)
Kjella
Re:Nope, but... (Score:2)
People buy laptops from name brand companies because they want extended warranties and service in case they break and they don't want them to break down on the road.
If you are a business man on the road, you want a laptop that you can count on and will easily work with any LCD projector. Time is money in the business world.
Re:Ten Leading Notebook Manufacturers (Score:4, Informative)
its kinda cute (Score:3, Funny)
MXM... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:MXM... (Score:2)
what does Intel think ? (Score:4, Interesting)
the PCI Express spec would not have anything to say about this kind thing ?
Intel is BIG in the graphics area what will they be shipping ?
regards
John Jones
Re:what does Intel think ? (Score:2, Informative)
Intel do integrated graphics. They'll probably simply have non-MXM notebooks that aren't upgradeable, or use a dummy pass-thru MXM card like the article suggests. Yes, that means that connector also has video in pins.
OMGOMG!1~~ (Score:5, Funny)
power consumtion (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:power consumtion (Score:2)
To abuse a familair quote... (Score:3, Insightful)
One small step for OEMs, one giant leap for consumer choice.
-Adam
Missed opportunity? (Score:5, Interesting)
Imagine the possible combinations of devices you could fit into a laptop with two of these slots accessible externally so they could specify their own connectors, or alternatively wired up on the motherboard to USB, FireWire, RJ-45, RJ-12, a few Jack plugs and the video ports on the outside of the macine, all available through a 250-pin connector?
Re:Missed opportunity? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Fried laptop anyone?
Re:Missed opportunity? (Score:1)
Re:Missed opportunity? (Score:5, Insightful)
Mini-PCI is an open standard, just like PCI. You even buy the specifications from the same place, the PCI SIG [pcisig.com]. What nVidia is doing is pre-empting what the PCI SIG will eventually come out with, perhaps in the hopes that the PCI SIG will adopt their standard as the official PCI graphics standard for laptops.
If a couple of big players like Dell and Toshiba adopt it for their notebooks, this will most likely become the standard.
Someone else on this thread added that CardBus does exactly what you are asking for. I would also like to add that audio capabilities should be absorbed into the video card anyway so that you can send it a single datastream and get both video and audio out, so you don't need to add audio capabilities to the bus.
ITX? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:ITX? (Score:2)
Also, you COULD settle for PCI...
What does everyone have against the letter 'E'? (Score:4, Funny)
I guess in nVidia's case it's not just the letter 'E' that they subjugate for the more favored 'X' (eXpress), since they also choose 'V' over 'N' in their name (nVidia).
I guess it's just so much cooler for stuff to be eXtreme or eXpress, rather than Extreme or Express. Bah, stupid marketing.
Re:What does everyone have against the letter 'E'? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What does everyone have against the letter 'E'? (Score:1)
So do we call it PCI-XP? <shudder>
Re:What does everyone have against the letter 'E'? (Score:2)
-Jesse
Re:What does everyone have against the letter 'E'? (Score:1)
You'll also need.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:You'll also need.. (Score:3, Interesting)
ATI module in picture (Score:2)
notice that the center bottom one has an ATI chip? I don't see ATI mentioned anywhere in the article... hmmmmm
Re:ATI module in picture (Score:2)
um, nevermind. I see it. Other manufacturers will make MXM stuffs... blargh.
Re:ATI module in picture (Score:1)
Who cares if you can buy a Dell Inspiron and upgrade the graphic card a year from now with a new one you can only get from Dell? What if you want to buy a different manufacturer's card or a 3rd party card? It's just another manufacturer lock-in
Re:ATI module in picture (Score:2)
nVidia should announce (Score:1)