The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. TechSpot is a registered trademark. The Alienware Graphics Amplifier is a pretty bare bones external gpu dock for their own systems.

Obviously, these results only reflect this particular combination of hardware, and the specifics for your laptop and your desktop GPU will vary. Meanwhile, there's been the long-lived promise of thin and light laptops that could offload graphics processing to an external desktop-based GPU. Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2018. Be aware of card heights, though.

So while you'll easily find the *GPU* compatibility you will rarely see the PC compatibility.

Gaming laptops are typically known for being a bit hefty, and the Alienware 13 isn’t really an exception. Please make sure that you are posting in the form of a question. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. The Alienware 13 comes with a typical Alienware “gamer” style, which isn’t really my thing – I tend to prefer minimalism and slickness – but I can see why some people would like it. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Advertise, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Review: One Massive Graphics Card, PCIe 4.0 vs. PCIe 3.0 GPU Benchmark, Feat. The audio for this laptop is powered by Klipsch, and features a speaker towards the bottom of both the left and right edges, firing out to the sides.
A bit of gentle prying got the job done in our testing, but prying shouldn't be necessary. The Alienware Graphics Amplifier (AGA) was one of the very first production external graphics enclosures. In either case, the system will still shut down to allow safe removal.

The model I received for review sits somewhere in the middle. Going through them to use their laptop and this dock with planning ahead is probably a bad idea but if you were like me and had a compatible one, a strong GPU laying around, and the ability to make use of the dock then its pretty decent. The Amplifier is a box that houses a standard desktop graphics card and power supply. Unplug the Graphics Amplifier (again, I stress, after shutting down the system), and the laptop goes back to just being a laptop, with whatever mobile graphics solution is inside taking over. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1060 Mini 3GB GDDR5 Super Compact Graphics Card (ZT-P10610A-10L), Acer XF240H bmjdpr 24-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) AMD FreeSync Display (Display Port, DVI & HDMI Port, 144Hz Refresh Rate), See all details for Alienware Graphics Amplifier (9R7XN), © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. If you are looking to use the laptop and Graphics Amplifier combination as a more portable alternative to a gaming desktop, it will do the trick, although the box weighs 7.7 pounds, about a half-pound more than the latest Alienware 15($1,199.99 at Dell) that we tested it with. The Amplifier will start up automatically with the laptop.
The best news about the Amplifier, however, is that it supports both Nvidia and AMD cards.

That would be fine, except for the fact that key details, such as which power cable connects where are absent. an optional accessory called the Graphics Amplifier. Instead of the more commonly known PCIe over Thunderbolt connection, Alienware created a proprietary PCIe connection and port for its select computers to pair with this Graphics Amplifier.

As a child, Brian was frequently asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

First off, Mass Effect: Andromeda finally runs buttery smooth without having to downgrade my graphics to sickening levels.