New Vaio Hints At Thunderbold capabilities

infinitespecterinfinitespecter
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
The new Vaio Z confirms some of the things that we were speculating that Thunderbolt can do. Sony implemented it using a USB port, and it only works on their own peripherals. They took a Macbook Air sized computer and gave it an external BluRay drive that happens to also house a Radeon 6650 graphics card and a USB 3 port, so it is proof that external graphics cards and USB 3 can work over Thunderbolt. I really hope Apple does something like this for the Air.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by infinitespecter View Post


    The new Vaio Z confirms some of the things that we were speculating that Thunderbolt can do.



    Sorry fella but the info has been out there for months now, Sony confirms nothing.
    Quote:

    Sony implemented it using a USB port, and it only works on their own peripherals.



    Yep and people think Apple is too closed system wise.
    Quote:

    They took a Macbook Air sized computer and gave it an external BluRay drive that happens to also house a Radeon 6650 graphics card and a USB 3 port, so it is proof that external graphics cards and USB 3 can work over Thunderbolt.



    It proves nothing because we already knew this. The real question isn't can but is it wise to do so. Personally I see little value in such approaches but I try to keep my mind open.
    Quote:

    I really hope Apple does something like this for the Air.



    I really hope not!!!! Why gut the AIR of a decent GPU for something that will by its very nature be slower than if the GPU was included on the motherboard? I'm sure some will lap it up but I don't want my computing power split between different boxes.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,323moderator
    I'm not sure if the USB 3 part will work over Thunderbolt - it probably just passes through from the USB 3 port it's connected to. I'd expect USB 3 in Sony's case to replace Mini-DP in Apple's case so it's not sharing bandwidth with the GPU. Blu-Ray and data ports would go over USB 3.



    I love the idea of external GPUs though and as soon as Intel described the PCI nature of TB, it just had to be possible, especially considering its been done on lesser standards like ExpressCard.



    While people can debate if it has uses, the fact is you cannot run Metro 2033 at 1080p, high quality on Intel's crappy HD 3000 GPU. You can run it on a 6970M, which will run over TB. That's all that needs to be said. It's about results, Intel can't deliver and AMD/NVidia can and TB is our conduit to victory.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    We already have a thread for this.



    Not Thunderbolt. Not Light Peak. Not part of the spec. This BETTER not be allowed.
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