ATI presents technology to let GPUs act as sound cards

The demo just demonstrated a simplistic equalizer, which does not require a lot of power or specific features from a processor, however, ATI has shown that it was looking in the direction; just like the company indicated it was looking at physics computing on the GPU slightly more than half a year ago.

Theoretically, audio capabilities on the GPU could allow graphics cards makers to multiplex audio signals into HDMI or DisplayPort outputs. On the other hand, currently computer mainboards are already equipped with built-in audio, which means, there is hardly any need in additional GPU audio capabilities. Still, theoretically, in certain game cases, when graphics, physics and audio are tightly combined, computing on a single device may offer some advantages.