Modable graphics cards

[superklye]

I was thinking about this tonight and I think it would just be awesome if graphics cards got to a point like motherboards are, where you can buy them as a "barebones" kit with minimal memory and a core, and can add on.

Say, the 8800GTX is a 256MB card, but is expandable to 1GB (buying rated GDDR3 modules of RAM) and has a core that could be updated should nVIDIA (and they would, with this new system) release revised cores with faster performance or on a small fab (65nm instead of 110 or 90), that OC better.

Why don't we already have cards like this? You could buy another 256MB stick of memory for like $120 and BAM, you've got a 512MB 8800GTX. Then, a few months later, when a revised core comes out, you coudl sell the old one and upgrade. Or, if an X2-graphics equivalent chip came out, move up to that.


That would be so awesome! And cards would have MUCH longer life cycles.

[Toss3]

I was thinking about this tonight and I think it would just be awesome if graphics cards got to a point like motherboards are, where you can buy them as a "barebones" kit with minimal memory and a core, and can add on.

Say, the 8800GTX is a 256MB card, but is expandable to 1GB (buying rated GDDR3 modules of RAM) and has a core that could be updated should nVIDIA (and they would, with this new system) release revised cores with faster performance or on a small fab (65nm instead of 110 or 90), that OC better.

Why don't we already have cards like this? You could buy another 256MB stick of memory for like $120 and BAM, you've got a 512MB 8800GTX. Then, a few months later, when a revised core comes out, you coudl sell the old one and upgrade. Or, if an X2-graphics equivalent chip came out, move up to that.


That would be so awesome! And cards would have MUCH longer life cycles.


Yeah, I've have had the same idea for a long time already, but so have probably many others! :rolleyes: The only problem about this would be that a graphicscard would have to be much bigger, would be alot more expensive and they would have to have some very weird cooling solution...
This is like asking why consoles aren't upgradeable.. People just don't know that much about computers so they wouldn't want to bother buying new parts for their graphicscards and for the rest of the computer!
But it's a good idea if someone really could make a nice design that wouldn't be so clumsy and big....

[msxyz]

Early 3D cards had sockets to expand the RAM, and so did a few high end professional boards that used common SDRAM DIMM

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/4221/dscn05509ke.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn05509ke.jpg)

But as memory got faster the challenge to provide a reliable socket working without too many interferences in the 300+ MHz range (maybe even DDR) became a major obstacle. Also, modern 3D graphic chips requires multilayered PCBs (up to 9) with very complex routing.