Upgradable graphics card from Asus

Quinton Healy (QCH2002) Asus released the first upgradable graphics card that allows for enthusiasts to upgrade the graphics processor without replacing the entire card.

May 9, 2008 12:41 PM ET in News, , ,

Replacing an entire graphics card just became a bit easier today. Asus announced that it is releasing the world’s first upgradeable graphics card. The Splendid HD 3850M from Asus looks no different than the average GPU except it’s a bit shorter than ATI’s HD 3850 (27 percent, in fact).

The real fun begins when you remove the cooler. Under the cooler you’ll find three MXM (Mobile PCI Express Module) slots (one on top and two underneath). This allows customers to purchase future MXMs to upgrade their their graphics cards without replacing the actual card.

As Tom’s Hardware reported today, Asus’s new card offers another possible upgrade beyond just ATI cards.

Thanks to a modular design, you will be able to upgrade to upcoming MXM modules, including ATI’s RV770 and RV870 chips (Radeon HD 4800, 5800 series). Interestingly, there should be no issue to put a Nvidia-GPU based MXM module onto this card, since there is no limiting logic.

Tom’s also features photos of an engineering sample triple-MXM prototype card, so be sure to take a look.

Some of the other features of this card:

  • Lower power consumption using ATI’s PowerPlay technology
  • 10426 3DMark06 score (600 over ATI’s reference design)
  • 512 MB of DDR3 RAM at 828 MHz
  • 256-bit memory interface
  • Graphics chip at 668 HMz
  • 2560×1600 max resolution via DVI-I port

7 Comments:

  1. primesuspect
    9 May '08, 4:21 pm

    That is so cool....

  2. Buddy J
    9 May '08, 4:26 pm

    Totally cool.

  3. Jengo
    9 May '08, 4:57 pm

    in my opinion, i find no use in that, its already cheap/easy enough to replace the whole card. why would i want to add a middleman to that?

  4. Gargoyle
    9 May '08, 5:38 pm

    Agreed, Jengo. Unless it was somehow cheaper, I wouldn't go that route. I'd be afraid of investing in a platform that will eventually lose support, and probably wouldn't get updated parts as quickly as new chips would be available on separate cards. Not that it would be an engineering difficulty, I just don't see Asus making it a priority over the medium to long term.

    Pretty cool idea, though. I wish this was the standard way of doing GPUs. What this idea really needs is mainstream support from the kind of companies that influence standards. Like Intel, AMD, and nVidia.

  5. mertesn
    9 May '08, 6:37 pm

    I can see a use for them in a small computer (mATX, SFF, etc). Three MXM slots means folks with a single PCI-Express x16 slot can do 3-way Crossfire - possibly Hybrid Crossfire as well. Hopefully the MXM cards are much less expensive than their regular desktop counterparts.

    What would be really nice is if they'd release an interface for ExpressCard that let you add video cards to an external box. That would greatly extend the life of laptops that right now only become outdated when their GPU can't handle the latest games.

  6. Buddy J
    9 May '08, 7:33 pm
    Quoting Gargoyle

    Pretty cool idea, though. I wish this was the standard way of doing GPUs. What this idea really needs is mainstream support from the kind of companies that influence standards. Like Intel, AMD, and nVidia.

    nVidia is one of the major pushers behind MXM. Ati also has products for it already, hence Asus being able to release the HD 3850. Dunno how keen they are at AMD on migrating laptop products to the desktop though.

    Quoting mertesn

    I can see a use for them in a small computer (mATX, SFF, etc). Three MXM slots means folks with a single PCI-Express x16 slot can do 3-way Crossfire - possibly Hybrid Crossfire as well. Hopefully the MXM cards are much less expensive than their regular desktop counterparts.

    I think they're hoping to have the MXM cards cost less than standard sized cards. Even if they don't, I'm tempted to snag this ASUS card as it's so darn compact. Even with only one module, it's still better than a normal HD 3850, being more compact and faster (at least in benchmarks).

    The prototype 3-MXM card in TechReport's photos is pretty cool too, but according to BitTech, who tried to review one back in March, the Asus rep said it was an engineering exercise and not a production card. BitTech's photos are really good. It's a shame the card died in transit to their lab for testing. Oh well.

  7. garfield619
    12 May '08, 12:49 pm

    RAM GPU memory also built in? hmm interesting. but still unproven.

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