Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Akitio's Node is a Thunderbolt 3 external GPU dock for mobile gaming

Mark Coppock
By

akitio node external gpu dock announced size1 highres
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In that past, if you wanted to game on the go then your options were limited. You could drag around a desktop gaming rig, with all of the accompanying hassle. You could also buy a gaming notebook that was likely relatively underpowered, was bulky, and offered poor battery life — or all three.

Today, the advent of the impressively fast Thunderbolt 3 specification has changed the landscape a bit. Now, you can buy a more reasonably sized notebook with reasonable specs, and connect it via Thunderbolt 3 port to an external chassis that houses a real, desktop-grade PCIe (x16) GPU. Peripheral maker Akitio has introduced a version of such an external GPU dock, the Node, according to Techreport.

Recommended Videos

The Akitio Node is similar to predecessors such as the Razer Core and the Powercooler Devil Box. However, whereas those two docks retailed at $499 and $379, respectively, the Akitio Node will start out at a more palatable $299 when it ships in December 2016.

Related

The Node is relatively inexpensive because it eschews gaudy extras like flashing lights and even some more practical add-ons such as additional USB Type-C or DisplayPort connections. Instead, the Node provides a utilitarian design that focuses on efficient specs like a 400W industry-standard power supply and two 8-pin PCE power connectors.

akitio-node-sideopen-highres
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Cooling is provided by a 120mm fan at the enclosure’s front, with rear and side vents to allow air to enter and circulate throughout the enclosure. There’s also an aluminum handle to let gamers drag the enclosure along with them to gaming parties.

The Node can accept cards up to 12 inches long, 6.7 inches tall, and 1.73 inches wide, and the PCIe 3.0 x4 Thunderbolt 3 connectivity at up to 40Gb/s should provide support for a good selection of GPUs. The Node supports Windows 10 PCs with a Thunderbolt 3 connection, and the PC itself must support external GPUs.

You can right-click on the Thunderbolt icon in your system’s taskbar, select Settings, and then Details to see if your machine can support external GPU docks like Akitio’s Node. The number of machines that currently support external GPUs is limited, but should grow over time as Thunderbolt 3 connections become more prominent.

external-gpu-support
Akitio
Akitio

Akitio will be selling the Node for $299 without GPU starting on December 1. There’s no Mac support, though Akitio offers a 2-year limited warranty for the Node.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock
Computing Writer
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
With E3 2023 gone, other gaming events need to step up
A purple E3 logo floats in the air.

Despite how inevitable the complete downfall of E3 felt over the past several years, E3 2023’s official cancellation still strings as it’s a significant loss for the game industry. For gamers, press, and developers, the show served multiple purposes that digital livestreams and scattered publisher-specific events don't currently replicate. In lieu of E3’s cancelation this year, and potentially forever, it’s time for other gaming events to step up and help push the video game industry forward.
Why we lost E3
I’m lucky enough to have the experience of attending three E3 shows across 2017, 2018, and 2019 and many publisher-run events focused on specific games or tighter game lineups. In its final years, E3 felt like the perfect middle ground to the gamer-focused PAX and industry-focused GDC, where people from all walks and sides of the video game industry could come together, see what’s coming in the future, and share their love for games.

It also felt more freeing than publisher-run events, as I discovered and experienced games of all sizes that I may not have otherwise and got to meet many people from every angle of the game industry. Apparently, the Entertainment Software Association struggled to convince enough people that this style of expo was important four years after the last physical event.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Entertainment Software Association president Stanley Pierre-Louis blamed E3 2023’s cancellation on the Covid-19 pandemic, “economic headwinds” due to the current recession that impacted marketing budgets, and the fact that “companies are starting to experiment with how to find the right balance between in-person events and digital marketing opportunities.”
The first two are understandable and have impacted a lot of physical events over the past couple of years. Still, the last reason speaks to a bit more worrying of a shift for those looking to network, get attention from the press, get a broader look at the industry’s future, or even pitch a game.
What we lose
Events are a great way for indies to get unexpected and much-needed attention from players and the press; look at the chance encounter that got one of our team’s freelancers hooked on Homeseek at PAX East. Now, indies will have to hope to gain attention at those more indie-focused events like PAX or be cherry-picked to be featured in a more prominent company’s showcasing. There’s also the networking and pitch factor to it.

Read more
This mobile fitness game will turn your daily walk into an RPG
Run Legends key art shows runners running towards monsters.

If you have a hard time finding the motivation to exercise, you might want to keep your eye on upcoming mobile game Run Legends. The project turns your daily walk into a series of RPG battles that you can play without even looking at your phone screen.

Run Legends Open Beta Trailer | iOS and Android Fitness Battle Game

Read more
CES 2023: AMD is bringing RDNA 3 graphics to some Ryzen 7000 laptop CPUs
The Navi 31 GPU.

AMD's CES keynote address contained lots of exciting details for new mobile graphics, but alongside dedicated RDNA3 mobile GPUs, AMD also has a range of onboard graphics options to tempt new laptop buyers. Throughout its new line of Ryzen 7000 mobile processors, AMD is leveraging all of its recent graphics architectures, including Vega and RDNA 2, with some of the top chips even getting access to as many as 12 RDNA 3 cores, for some incredibly efficient mobile gaming.

AMD is complicating its mobile CPU naming scheme this generation, so it needed a detailed slide to break it down during the CES 2023 keynote. This gave us a key look at the GPU technologies at play, highlighting that while Vega is still sticking around in Ryzen 7030 series processors -- paired with a Zen 3 CPU core design -- RDNA 2 will be much more prevalent. In the Ryzen 7040 series, RDNA 3 will also be available, alongside AMD's much-teased AI engine, which may come in handy for FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 3.0 in the future. Its more immediate use is in AI-driven noise cancellation, webcam video improvements, and additional layers of system security.

Read more