AMD unveils XGP external graphics card

AMD has released ATI XGP (External Graphics Platform) technology for notebooks. This external graphics card features a Mobility Radeon HD 3870 and supports up to four displays. To use this XGP graphics card you need a notebook with an external PCI Express 2.0 connector, according to the press release Fujitsu-Siemens will equip their new ultra mobile AMILO Sa 3650 notebook with this technology but it's not known if other notebook makers will follow.

ATI XGP is an exclusive technology that capitalizes on PCIe 2.0 to deliver enthusiast-class graphics via a connected cable to an externally powered and cooled device. This unique innovation delivers up to 4.0 Gbyte/s in each direction in bandwidth communication between the notebook and external graphics, whereas previous consumer level external solutions were limited in graphics bandwidth. ATI XGP is fully optimized for new AMD Turion X2 Ultra notebook platforms, also announced today.

ATI XGP Technology is being first launched with the newly announced ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series for eye-catching HD graphics. As an industry first for notebooks, ATI XGP Technology delivers multi-GPU capabilities of scalable performance with ATI CrossFireX technology. The additional high bandwidth of the included USB 2.0 connectivity allows users to connect to a wide variety of USB-based devices, including external TV tuners, external Blu-ray players, and much more.

Björn Fehrm, head of Strategy and Innovation Consumer, EMEA, Fujitsu-Siemens Corp., said: “Powered by ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 in an external AMILO GraphicsBooster, the ultra mobile AMILO Sa 3650, with ATI XPG technology, takes on two very different but equally compelling personalities. Use it for your daily computing with the internal graphics for outstanding mobility and battery life. Dock it to your AMILO GraphicsBooster when coming home, in a hotel room or at a LAN event and now your gaming and multimedia performance is in another world.”

ATI XGP Technology is contained in an external chassis connected to the notebook via a specially designed self-latching, easy-connecting PCIe 2.0 cable from Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited, a leading provider of electronic devices and connectors. Based on AMD’s dedicated research and development, the cable also provides USB 2.0 connectivity directly to the notebook allowing for additional USB functionality. Independently cooled and powered, ATI XGP Technology offers the potential for higher performance than traditional entry-level graphics solutions. Notebook users can take advantage of the varied usage scenarios including multiple monitor support, high performance gaming, Blu-ray video playback, and increased graphics performance for video editing.

he initial offering of ATI XGP Technology features the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 series graphics solution giving notebook users a variety of additional functionality:

PCI Express® 2.0 offers more than enough horsepower for the most demanding professional graphics applications by boosting 3D graphics performance while providing fast throughput resulting in an excellent overall system performance

ATI Avivo™ HD Technology that delivers smooth video playback and photos in high-definition format with brilliant colors and sharp images

ATI Avivo HD technology features an enhanced version of AMD’s Unified Video Decoder (UVD) offering full hardware acceleration of video decode for smooth playback of full 1080p content from Blu-ray movies4

Integrated Digital Outputs enable viewing standard and high-definition content on a variety of devices including HDMI with integrated audio and DVI5