AMD External GFX goes PCI-E 2.0

dmacfour posted this in the hardware and aftermarket upgrades thread, but I think it needs another look here, since the application is very gaming related.

Check out his original post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=257053


DailyTech's article on the subject

 

I still don't see how that's not going to be a memory bottleneck with those specs.

 

Another XS asus sollution?
Does anybody really buy this?

 

how fast is PCI express 2.0?

 

4gb/s each direction is the same as x16 PCI express. This means we will possibly see desktop-like video card performance in laptops? I excited, I might not buy a dedicated GFX card in my next laptop.

 

Full x16 PCI express. This solution should COMPLETELY eliminate the bandwidth issues.

 

4gb/s? my 8800m gtx is like 60GB/s

 

4gb/s is the bandwidth limit of the bus itself.. ur 8800gtx shouldn't be able to do more than that.

 

Yeah me too. Full 16x really rocks. I see this killing the high end laptop market if it works well though

 

It may make a large dent in the market, but there is still a market for people who want everything in one package.

 

This is superior to the Asus solution because it uses an 16x PCIe bus and I think the Asus XG will only utilize a 1x bus

Personally, I'm very excited and impressed about what ATI has managed to do in the graphics department. Seems like they're definitely recovering after the buyout/merger with AMD, and this summer will be very interesting in the desktop graphics world.

 

Pricing should be interesting also, Fujitsu is doing something similar too.

 

I didn't see it in the quote but maybe I just missed it, will it work with the laptops display or just with an external monitor? Only thing I read was "The XGP also allows the attachment of multiple displays as well."

 

How would this device connect to a laptop? Via USB or express card slot? I don't understand. Can someone please explain?

 

From what I understand, the new AMD Puma platform (Turion X2 Ultra) will have a special PCIe port on the side of the laptop that this connects to. And the actual XGP box that houses the graphics cards will also have additional USB ports connected through the PCIe interface. It seems kind of like a random feature to add, but I guess they could.

Judging from the picture in the original article, the game will work with an external monitor. The picture showed three monitors hooked up, 2 to the external graphics and 1 to the laptop, but one of the monitors on the XGP was playing a game. So, I'm just guessing that the external graphics can only output to an external monitor.

 

The picture I saw shows the laptops display in use, so I'd assume you can set it as primary and game on it. I'm hoping it catches on and well see similar systems on intel machines.

 

He wanted to know whether it works with the laptop lcd or not.
e.g, Asus XG station, only works with external monitor, you wont get any boost for your laptop lcd.
Given the possibility, you should get the boost without having an external lcd. Would be stupid to hug around another LCD just for the external GPU box.

I wanted to know the answer as well, but till now, nobody have answered.

Edit: Oh.. dmac4 answered...

 

Ah, ok. It seems much more appealing if it works with your internal laptop display.

Unfortunately, yes. But the special port was probably the best way for them to do it without bandwidth becoming a problem.

 

Just found this "Right now XGP can only be used with external displays, with a total of up to four simultaneous displays being possible, including the notebook display. However, sometime early next year a new version of XGP should arrive which will allow the notebook display to be used with the external graphics box."

Link http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7703&Itemid=1

 

It's gonna be a killer if it'll work with internal display!

 

AMD came out with a PCI Xpress port on their laptops to hook up an external HD3800 graphics card to, and as new cards come out you can get the new ones. Its externally powered and cooled so just like desktop version.

they also have the ones for in the laptops, but probably just 17".

The new AMD based notebooks are out next week from HP, Turion Ultra CPUs.

The laptops themselves have the greatest integrated graphics, and support up to 8GB of DDR2-800 RAM at a "FSB" of 4400Mt/s, compaerd to Intel's 800 right now. So you can get light and small AMD laptop with good battery life, and have monster graphics when you get home, or bring it with you.

 

you are little late, there are at least 3 threads talking about it already.

 

couple of threads down

 

Any hopes of getting an external graphics solution for dell computers?

 

Oh, absolutely. I, for one, think it's a big enough feature to overshadow the Turion being weaker than the Core2.

 

Even supports SLI check out the site. http://ati.amd.com/technology/xgp/features.html

 

you mean crossfire

thats dope, too bad mine doesnt have it then it would never get out of date, in that sense

 

So pretty much everyone on Notebookreview forums are screwed for getting a laptop that came out so far for the lack of that port...

 

Yeah everyone is, but if they implement this into all future AMD based laptops you could just pick up a budget one and still have a killer gaming set-up.

 

I doubt it. We do not have any "special" ports other then Expresscard which is PCI-E 1x

 

Well there isn't ever a time you can buy a laptop or any computer without getting "screwed" out of newer technology. It's just progress.

 

I might sound like a fool (it happens, all the time). Even though this freaking awesome. I just cannot see myself buying a AMD based laptop.

We will see though. I once saw a monkey fly out of someones "Oh shut your mouth" Shaft! Damn right.

 

Thanks for posting the info, TommyBoy.

I put your thread together with another thread about it so it can be discussed in one thread.

 

And what do you know of the Turion Ultra performance? If you knew why Core 2 outperformed Turion then you might think that maybe this new Turion Ultra will be just as quick as the same clocked core 2 duo.

The benchamarks will show us soon, but since AMD relies on the RAM interface heavily thier HyperTransport of 4400Mt/s over the previous 1600Mt/s and having the DDR2-800 controller in the CPU is going to make it a lot better than the previous Turion X2s.

Intel relies on their cache to act as a fast buffer to the RAM, because their FSB is really weak compared to AMD's. That is why Intel throwing on gobs of cache helps them. AMD doesn't benefit nearly as much from loads of cache, so only have 2MB is not a problem. AMD just hadn't updated their platform, and now they have.

They have also implemented more power saving changes in controlling voltages and frequencies of not only each core independently but the chipset as well.

This platform should be great for value minded professionals, needing lots of cheap DDR2-800 RAM compared to DDR3 and that run RAM intensive programs with a really fast "FSB".

And not only have they provided a means to upgrade laptop GPUs easily, but they are providing the greatest integrated graphics of anyone. And if you have a discrete card with it, you can crossfire with the integrated to even give you a little boost over the same kind of card in an Intel laptop.

 

When I wrote that, I completely forgot about the fact that they were using newer CPU's as well. Bit of a dumb moment on my part. I have read about the improvements that the Turion Ultra brings, though
(But I will admit, the fact that it's still based on K8 doesn't leave me with much hope that it will beat C2 when it comes to raw performance, but I do think the power improvements for the platform as a whole will make up for that)

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't bashing AMD at all. I said in another thread that I'm actually very impressed with what ATi is accomplishing in the graphics department lately, and I'm already planning on picking up a 4870 as well as anxiously waiting to upgrade my CPU when Shanghai/K10.5 is released.

 

Cant ignore AMD's reliance on fast memory communication and it is now going from 1600 Mt/s on DDR2-667 RAM to DDR2-800 at 4400Mt/s.

When a cpu is rated at a certain speed it means it can crunch numbers just as fast as another one rated at that speed, which is why Turion X2s ofter do fine in superpi or wprime benchmarks, but not in real world. The difference in cpus is how efficiently you can feed those problems from different software programs to the cpu to best utilize its capability. Well the previous memory controller and chipset was old and inefficient, and now we have a 55nm brand new chipset and brand new memory controller in the cpu. Should perk it up, I cant wait to see benchmarks. I put off buying for a month to see this Puma.

 

With the addition of external graphics, this opens up a whole new world for laptops does it not?


Now we can incorporate more desktop CPUs into laptops because if the gpu is outside the laptop the gpu will save power and genereate less heat? And maybe we can use FASTER ram and BETTER motherboards. and maybe we can CREATE more SELF-LEARNING parts. we can let them LEARN and THINK on their own. COMPUTERS will become SELF-AWARE. WE will DESTROY ourselves. MANKIND is DOOMED. THE END IS NEAR.

 

+ rep. That is all.

 

I rather not die due to my laptop going mad with power, granting my other computers, much less other machines including the toaster.

This is rather interesting though.

 

This is a very promising way that the notebook graphic is heading. I hope the price for such an equipment is not too expensive.

A new Cheap AMD laptop + the XGP + a high end desktop graphics = still costs alot.

However, you do get the benefit of having a great upgradability. I also wonder how big the powerbrick for the XGP is going to be, I imagine it would be monstrously large.

 

Featured ATI Mobility Radeon™ Premium Graphics Cards4

Is not a desktop part is the mobile version card. That's why it looks slimmer and sexier than ASUS XG Station. It would also help A LOT with not needing a huge-azz powerbrick.

Edit: An AMD benchmark had the mobile HD 3870 at a 8000 3dmark2006.

 

I'm REALLY tempted to get a Puma laptop now))))

 

When are the laptops equipped with the port coming out? I'm in the market now.

 

Actually, no, Fujitsu is using ATi's solution to make theirs;
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/home/products/notebooks/amilo_sa_3650.html
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/home/products/notebooks/amilo_graphic_booster.html

I'd be tempted, but need to see the performance of the new Turion Ultras first.

 

Starting next week I think HP will be offering some models, and then over the next month several more will be available from Asus, Toshiba, Acer and eventually Dell.

 

wait so are the external devices going to use desktop graphics or mobile grahpics

 

Mobile at the moment. I don't imagine it would be a whole lot of work to eventually develop a similar system but for desktop graphics.

 

This looks really promissing. I'm abit worried though that it will take a year before the internal laptop lcd will work. I mean, do i need to uppgrade the pci-e port even again (meaning, buying a new notebook) to make this work?

If they can settle this now i really would appreciate it.

 

A good condensation of information including layout at Xbit Labs;
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile...ance_with_External_Graphics_Accelerators.html

Two possible methods for Xfire from that, the Hybrid Xfire with IGP and External, plus the 2 chips in the external box like in diagram 4.

The external side of the equation sounds like the true Lasso solution, and this is the 'son of Lasso' , but still, a step forward.