![]() ![]() ![]() Gordon Mah UngĪ single x16 physical PCIe Gen 3 slot sits empty in the Amplifier. Likewise, tests also found no appreciable impact. Puget didn’t throttle it down to x4 Gen 3, but it did test x8 Gen 2, which is the same data rate. Puget Systems found no appreciable difference between x16 and x8 and between Gen 2 and Gen 3. There’s some testing to support that “whatevs” approach. For the record, Thunderbolt 2 is about 2.5GB/s. Alienware’s competitor, MSI, has touted its GS30 Shadow’s ability to give your GPU the full x16 connection in its graphics enclosure.Īlienware, however, feels 4GB/s is plenty. That’s led to concerns over the bandwidth capability of the Amplifier and how much actual performance you give up by throttling the GPU. For comparison, a standard GPU connection on a desktop is a full x16 Gen 3 connection, which carries about 16GB/s. The cable itself carries data at x4 PCIe Gen 3 data rates. Yup: It’s standard PCIe signals carried over the cable, but it’s a proprietary cable. ![]() You should also know that while the laptop is installed, there is no sleep mode. Don’t grumble too much: That’s better than BSODs and a hard lock-you are, after all, pulling out your GPU while it’s on. Unplugging the Amplifier when the system is powered up will force Windows to shut down. Note that switching GPUs requires a reboot, and it takes a few moments to reinitialize the internal GPU or the Amplifier graphics on power-up. When the Amplifier is disconnected, the internal discrete GPU takes over. When the Amplifier is installed, the discrete GPU in the laptop disappears and the one in the Amplifier takes over. With the Amplifier running, the internal GeForce GTX 970m disappears and the GeForce Titan X takes over. Just come home, plug in and boot up with the Amplifier under your desk. This basically turns the Amplifier into a big docking station. Alienware includes four USB 3.0 ports in back, so you can leave a mouse and keyboard plugged in, and it’s wired so it kicks on when the laptop is turned on. With 460 watts, it’s enough juice to run any card you can physically fit. You open up the Amplifier (although ours had a nasty snag problem, which Alienware says it has since corrected) and drop your GPU in to the single full-length PCIe slot.The Amplifier has two 8-pin/6-pin combo plugs for power. Getting the Amplifier up and running physically was a snap for me. ![]()
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