Akitio today unveiled their new Thunderbolt™ 3 external graphics box, the Akitio Node, a low cost expansion chassis designed to house an external graphics card or other full-length PCIe cards. Connected to the computer via Thunderbolt 3, the additional GPU power instantly upgrades a regular laptop or a mini PC and makes it possible to do things that would normally require a high-end workstation or gaming computer. For video editors and colorists, the dedicated GPU reduces the time it takes to render the footage, a computer that was not powerful enough for a VR headset is now potentially VR ready and for those that like to play games, these can now run at much higher frame rates than before.

“The Node was designed primarily for fun and gaming but it can also be used with a multitude of other PCIe cards to help improve the productivity of creative professionals”, said Richard Wright, VP of Sales & Marketing for Akitio. “We believe in the future of VR here at Akitio and we believe that the time has come for an affordable external graphics solution and we want to be a part of it.”

The Akitio Node was designed for use with Thunderbolt 3-equipped computers such as the Intel NUC. “Connecting the Node to our new Skull Canyon NUC has great possibilities for gaming, virtual reality and others who work with video files. The combination of the NUC and the Node can greatly improve the user experience.” Said John Deatherage, Marketing Director of Intel.

Akitio Node Features

• Thunderbolt™ 3 for lighting fast transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps
• 1 PCIe (x16) slot supporting full-length, full-height, double-width cards
• Spacious enclosure for use with standard and large sized graphics cards
• Built-in 400W SFX power supply to provide extra power to GPU
• PCIe x16 slot supplying up to 75W of power
• 4 lane PCI Express 3.0 compliant interface
• Removable back panel for double-width cards

Pricing and Availability

The Akitio Node will be available in December 2016 for $299.99. For more information on the entire lineup of Akitio Thunderbolt 3 products please visit Akitio.com.