If you’re a PC gamer, you’ll definitely remember the Alienware Graphics Amplifier was first launched in 2014. It was Alienware’s take on the Gaming eGPU (external Graphics Processing Unit) which was hugely popular at that time. The Alienware Graphics Amplifier helps gaming laptops to push its graphics performance to a whole new level and was highly praised by the gaming community.
As years goes by, Alienware has recently revealed Concept Polaris, the latest iteration of the company’s Gaming eGPU, at CES 2022. It 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.
To power the new Concept Polaris, 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-Tech 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.
Concept Polaris can be connected 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.
The Concept Polaris does ticked many boxes for a gamer who really wants to upgrade their gaming laptop’s graphic performance as more games are demanding more performance. Also, the trend for slim gaming laptop is increasing, having a eGPU will help gamers to elevate their gaming experience. At the moment, Alienware only stated that the Concept Polaris is just a concept designs and not available for purchase. This certainly made us want one even more and hopefully Alienware could launch it in the near future.