V-Tech Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The MacBook Air's integrated graphics all but rule it out as a serious gaming machine. However, Larry Gadea at the Tech Inferno forums has found a way to make the Air a powerhouse through an ad hoc external GPU. His design mates a PCI Express video card to the Mac's Thunderbolt port through a combination of two adapters, a Boot Camp installation of Windows 7 and third-party software. The performance improvement is appropriately dramatic, leading to frame rates up to seven times faster than what Intel's HD 5000 can manage. Just don't expect to buy a pre-assembled version anytime soon -- the peripheral needs a desktop-class power supply just to run, and Intel won't issue the licenses needed to commercialize Thunderbolt GPUs. If you're absolutely determined to get a Crysis-worthy ultraportable, though, you'll find Gadea's instructions at the source link. http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/31/macbook-air-home-built-external-gpu/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorndori Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Why would Intel not want thunderbolt GPUs? It would drive more OEMs to include Thunderbolt on laptops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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