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- Date:
- Sunday , May 16, 2004
- Author:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
NVIDIA's MXM Graphics Module
NVIDIA is today launching a specification that will undoubtedly be a boon to the mobile enthusiast. Are easily upgradeable mobile graphics on the horizonNULL
MXM?
What exactly is MXM? The quick answer, it is a PCI-Express X16 video card for your notebook. MXM notebooks would have the same interface, much like you are familiar with when it come to AGP cards in your desktop machine.
Yes, it is a bit more defined than that, but if you can wrap your brain around that answer, then you have a grasp of the important part of the equation that will likely mean most to the high-end consumer.
Who Gets MXM?
NVIDIA is moving forward with the MXM Graphics Module that will offer a “Consistent Graphics Interface across all PCI-Express notebooks.” The “across all PCI-Express notebooks,” statement is a little misleading as NVIDIA has never discussed this specification with ATI. That said, you will likely see ATI evangelizing their own standard here in the coming weeks. It is interesting to note that NVIDIA has made the MXM specifications nonproprietary and public so any company can use the technology discussed here to build a MXM card with any company’s GPU/VPU.
NVIDIA is telling us they have such laptop giants on board with MXM as ASUS, AOpen, Clevo, Arima, Quanta and several others. We will likely be seeing these companies bringing MXM notebooks to market in the 2nd Half of 2004 as well.
Laptop Maker Benefits
Many of the benefits of MXM are direct to the notebook builder but most of those trickle down to you and me.
Fast time to market is something that is becoming extremely important to the folks that sell notebooks. In the recent past, it is not uncommon for us to see a mobile video part take up to 6 months before we actually see a laptop for sale with the technology. With a technology such as MXM, companies can easily move forward with designs and specification changes as they can simply plug in any number of MXM modules designed for.
Also, in the past we have seen a number of different modules built with the same GPU/VPUs to fit in different laptops. Being able to use a family inside of the MXM spec could clearly allow you to use the one design between many different notebooks. Also you might notice our reference to the MXM “family.” MXM is more than just one single specification. It covers three different form factors.
As you can see above MXM–I, MXM-II, and MXM-III modules are suited for different market spaces. It was explained to me that if you desired to, you could plug a MXM-I unit into a MXM-III specification laptop, although I am unsure you would want that.
With the different form factors and obviously being able to put different GPUs onto a module, laptop markets of different levels could be easily catered to with one notebook design.
Consumer Benefits
This is of course the most important aspect to you and me. Buying a laptop that uses a MXM video card module by design is upgradeable. This means at some point, you should be able to go out and purchase a better module to install in it giving you whatever features and performance the upgrade would afford you. Many of us that would like to buy laptops for LAN Gaming have not due to the fact that we felt locked in with what could be a very expensive investment. And certainly an investment with a limited time of return before the next best thing was out on the market and all of a sudden your $2500 laptop gives questionable performance with newer games.
Talking to NVIDIA, they have explained to us that they have been very forward looking in their specifications, hopefully allowing for MXM to have a long life. We were told that NVIDIA is counting on this current MXM module specification to be around for 3 to 5 years. That would of course cover a few generations of video technology. They have taken thermals and power needs into consideration of course and feel confident that the MXM spec will hold true to allow for a robust line of upgradeable modules to be for sale in the future.
Conclusions
First and foremost, do not misunderstand MXM to be an “industry standard” as that is something it surely is not. There is no governing body to administer it and certainly having only one of the leaders in mobile video technology giving input is not how an industry standard is set. MXM does look to be poised to become the NVIDIA standard for many mobile notebook form factors although I do think it will be primarily focused on the DeskTop Replacement and Enthusiast markets. While a true industry standard is something that would be welcomed by many, it is unlikely to happen any time soon. Still, notebook builders have to be excited about having a standard at all, even if only utilized by one industry leader.
We have been talking about this level of notebook upgradeability becoming the standard for years now. NVIDIA’s MXM can certainly bring a new level of enthusiast and gamer products to market. Even if you never did use the upgrade feature of MXM, it is one of those things that make purchasing a product of this nature so much more of a comfortable experience. From a gaming outlook, it is a great thing to know that you will not be using that expensive notebook for a bookend next year.
The other features that allow a speedier product to market, trimmed down design costs, and cross-platform compatibility can bring the bridled video performance of the past up to the near-desktop performance levels of today.
Bottom Line: NVIDIA is moving in the right direction with their MXM Graphics Module platform. The approach will have some stumbling blocks along the way but most worthwhile things do. Make no mistake about it though, NVIDIA MXM is a quantum leap beyond where we have been in the mobile performance market. If notebook builders implement MXM and reap profits, they can certainly facilitate end users easily upgrading their own Ram and CPUs. NVIDIA’s MXM can be considered the first real triumph for computer hardware enthusiasts in the notebook realm.
You will be able to find much more in-depth information about MXM at NVIDIA’s website today.