What are the performance advantages of running, say, a GTX 1070 in an external GPU enclosure versus having it in a notebook?
Even though you can buy a gaming notebook with a 1080 in it, it's a big GPU. The maximum performance that you're going to get out of that mobile GPU is very close to the standard clock performance of a desktop 1080, but the thermal headroom and overclocking abilities of the desktop 1080 is considerably higher than that of the mobile version of the same card.
Notebooks will always be playing catch-up compared to what you can do in desktops, and that's because you have more room to work with inside ad desktop card - the thermal solution is bigger and you have more flexibility - and you can cool it differently. So I'm not worried about any short-term implications - demand for Graphics Amplifiers may slow down a bit now that the 1080 is out, but when 11-series cards come out, or whatever Nvidia calls them, the cycle will repeat itself. The great thing is that we have a solution and customers have an option - and they've never had that before.
Alienware's VR backpack is great-looking device. When will it be available to buy?
We showed it off at E3 and asked folks in the Alienware arena if they'd be interested in one. We invested in making the prototype, and if people want it commercialized then we're still listening. It's a category that we're really interested in developing in the future - we just need some support from our customers and the parties that are interested. Then we'll know whether it's the right decision to make or not.
This article is part of TechRadar's Silicon Week. The world inside of our machines is changing more rapidly than ever, so we're looking to explore everything CPUs, GPUs and all other forms of the most precious metal in computing.
