One of the problems with trying to game on a laptop or small-form-factor system is that there just isn't the room to fit a high-powered graphics cards. You need a big chip, with a big cooler and lots of memory if you want top-tier performance and traditionally for that, you need lots of space in the system itself. One way to get around that though that's becoming increasingly popular, is using an external graphics card. For that though, you need a decent enclosure. Zotac wants its new AMP box to be the choice for external GPUs in the future.
What's exciting about the AMP box is that it comes in two different guises. The standard AMP Box can pack in high powered graphics cards and comes with plenty of space for cooling. It can handle a graphics card up to 250watts, which effectively lets you put in anything up to an Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti without difficulty. With a Thunderbolt 3 port to connect it up to your system, it won't mean losing much of that GPU power or add much latency either.
The Amp Box mini is much more compact and can only fit in dual-slot cards which are up to 200mm in length, so is designed to handle more mainstream cards and offer mid-tier performance. It can only take graphics cards up to 150w too, so there is less headroom for expansion. It too offers Thunderbolt 3 connectivity though, so you can expect full transfer of that GPU's power to your main system, as per Anandtech.
These new external GPU cases will also support laptop charging, USB charging and if you want, the option for SSD installation if you have the additional space after the GPU has been added, thereby acting as an external enclosure for storage too.
Both drives will be released at some point in 2018 with a price that is as yet to be announced.
