Zotac is the latest PC hardware company set to launch an external graphics dock that allows you to add a desktop-class graphics card to just about any laptop or desktop computer that has a Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C port.
The company plans to showcase the device at the Consumer Electronics Show, where Zotac will also reveal new ZBOX mini PCs.
There aren’t a lot of details about Zotac’s new products yet, but the new mini PCs are expected to include Intel Kaby Lake processors, Thunderbolt 3 ports, and some models may support Intel vPro features and/or NVIDIA GeForce graphics.
Zotac’s new graphics dock is basically an external case for a graphics card. There’s a PCIE 3.0 slot, a 400 watt power supply, three normal USB 3.0 ports, and one more USB 3.0 port that also supports Quick Charge 3.0 for rapidly charging a phone, tablet, or other devices.
Insert an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card in the PCIe slot, plug the dock into your computer, and you’ve got discrete graphics.
Acer, Asus, Razer, and Dell/Alienware have already released similar graphics docks, although Dell’s model uses a proprietary connector rather than Thunderbolt 3, so it only works with select Alienware systems.
