Hexus have just posted up some exclusive content in relation to an external graphics card solution being worked on by AMD/ATI for notebook PCs. They call it the "Lasso", and it will allow one to make use of not just one PCIe based graphics card with their notebook, but several in fact.

Portable computers can compete quite well against desktops in terms of performance, even at the high end, if you like your laptop heavy, but one area where they slip behind is graphics. Not any more, if ATI's Lasso can deliver what we think it can.

Fitting one, let alone two high end graphics cards into a laptop, and then powering them is, well... a bit of a bugger. What would be really cool is if the GPUs could be housed externally, interfacing with the laptop rather than residing within it. "But wait Steve, we've already seen such a solution" you shout, yes? Indeed the ASUS XG station strives to do that for lappies with ExpressCard slots. ATI's working on a little something of its own, however.

This isnt all too disimilar to that of the ASUS XG station, first shown off in prototype format at CES recently. The DailyTech actually have a fresh article up which goes into a lot more detail about the device, as it nears its official OEM launch next month.

Notebook users rejoice: ASUS is set to produce its XG Station external graphics card for notebooks. ASUS previously pulled the wraps off the XG Station at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. The XG Station will not have retail availability, however, ASUS plans to ship the XG Station to OEMs and channel partners.

ASUS will not sell the XG Station as a barebones external graphics card enclosure. Instead, ASUS will bundle the XG Station with ASUS PCIe graphics cards. Pricing on XG Stations will vary depending on the bundled graphics card.