Alienware Explores the Evolution of eGPUs with Concept Polaris
The Alienware community may remember when the Alienware Graphics Amplifier was first launched in 2014. This was Alienware’s take on the Gaming eGPU (external Graphics Processing Unit). It was praised for its performance enhancing feature set and helped gamers take their laptop’s graphics performance to previously unreachable levels.
As the needs of the gaming community evolve and change, Alienware constantly looks at how to bring unique experiences and take performance to the next level. This can lead to net new innovations and the exploration of different product categories, or it can even rewrite the definition of an existing solution. Concept Polaris is the latter. Concepts like this are just one of the many ways Alienware develops, tests and refines features and solutions. It’s how the brand pushes the boundaries for the performance-driven enthusiast as we think about the future.
Concept Polaris takes everything Alienware has learned about the Alienware Graphics Amplifier from its teams, customers and community to improve upon that past innovation. When designing this concept, Alienware first defined who it was being built for: the core Alienware customer. A performance-driven enthusiast. There are a lot of cross functionality for gaming creators that would benefit from desktop level graphics in their mobile gaming solutions. And finally, Alienware was conscious of where and how people are gaming now, knowing that working from home has transformed the real estate of the battle station setup.
On the outside, this iteration of Concept Polaris has the futuristic Alienware Legend 2.0 ID with its soft rounded edges, meaningful cable routing and the Alien FX loop lighting. It can be oriented both vertically and horizontally, making it ideal for those with limited desk space.
For power, the built-in power supply was removed and power is now provided through dual AC adapter solutions. One iteration of Concept Polaris delivers power through two 330w AC adapters and, in another variant, two 425w AC adapters. This allows Alienware to deliver the dedicated power needed for desktop gaming graphics, while reducing the occupied internal space.
The inside is just as beautiful as the outside. The dimensions of this concept allows for off-the-shelf, full-size 16-inch desktop gaming graphics cards. This is liquid cooled with Alienware’s 240mm Cryo-TechTM cooling solution including its thermal interface material, Element 31. With that kind of cooling architecture, overclocking the GPU natively with Alienware Command Center to reach its unrealised potential could never be easier.
Accessibility to this experience is something to consider as well. Unlike the earlier Alienware Graphics Amplifier, which was designed for Alienware products, Concept Polaris could provide connectivity through Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 and USB-4, giving it the ability to open up desktop gaming graphics performance to a broad range of laptops. It doesn’t stop there either, Concept Polaris features USB-A, USB-C and 2.5Gb ethernet ports – which could arm users with a central hub to expand their ecosystem further.
Concept Polaris is one of the most recent takes on how Alienware could reimagine delivering even more performance options to gamers and potentially expand the gaming ecosystem. It’s a device that brings the inspiring design of Legend 2.0 in a small form factor – considerate of your limited desktop real estate.
It’s a device that enhances your laptop’s performance above expectations – providing desktop-level graphical strength thanks to GPU overlocking and Element-31 cooling.
It’s a device that provides the versatility to connect your gaming weaponry – whether it’s just a keyboard or mouse, or the full network capability needed for those looking to make their mark as a gaming influencer.
Of course, it is a concept and many of these features and ambitions will evolve and change and, perhaps, even the purpose of the device will be redefined.