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MXM graphics modules in your PC... in SLI

by Steve Kerrison on 7 January 2006, 12:29

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2006 International CES

Now that SLI has had a chance to mature, we're seeing some weird and wonderful things happening with it, such as a card from MSI that allows the installation of MXM modules into your PC, but that's not all it does.

There are in fact two MXM slots on the PCIe card, allowing two MXM modules to be plugged in, and yes, that means SLI capabilities can be had from mobile GPUs.

The MXM connector itself is using PCIe signalling, so with the MSI card installed into a motherboard, it would seem all you really need to do is give each of the MXM modules 8 lanes of PCIe and a suitable supply of power. SLI can already be done over the PCIe interconnect without a bridge, so that just leaves drivers.

It's certainly an exciting idea, and there's chatter of SLI in laptops being possible, which seems feasible. However, if a PCIe card with MXM modules was to take off there are still a few hurdles to jump. The biggest, as far as we can see, is whether it's actually worth doing. Surely an MXM module isn't going to be cheaper than a similarly specced full size PCIe card? Nevertheless we hope this isn't the last we'll see of such an implementation.

We'll be bringing you pictures as soon as we can, so check back later!



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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.. i read that as mmx.. as in the things we had beack in the early to mid 90's on p1's.. some info in the article abut what MXM is would have been nice
Once I've got hold of some pics it'll make things clearer. When I update it I'll add in some more info about MXM too.
What is the price difference between a PCIe card and an MXM module of similer performance?

This could be very useful for SFF jobbies.