News Bits: ATI External Graphics Card For Notebooks, Intel Gets Fined, Samsung 15.6-inch Displays,

AMD announces external PCI Express 2.0 graphics card technology

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COMPUTEX - AMD announced ATI XGP (External Graphics Platform), designed to offer true upgradeability for notebook graphics cards. It uses PCI Express 2.0 to connect an externally cooled and powered enthusiast-class graphics card. Up to 4GB/s of bandwidth is available in both directions.

Matt Skynner, vice president of Marketing in the Products Group at AMD, said in a statement: "With ATI XGP Technology, notebooks can switch between everyday computing and hard-core gaming with a simple plug-in that's also portable enough to bring powerful 3D performance on-the-go. This technology allows users to choose notebooks with slim, lightweight and elegant designs, yet enjoy the full performance of a traditional desktop gaming rig wherever it's convenient."

The ATI XGP connects to the notebook via a specially-designed, self-latching, and easy to connect PCI-e 2.0 cable. The cable also includes USB support and can provide additional functionality. The ATI XGP is externally cooled and powered. It supports multiple monitors and Blu-ray playback.

ATI XGP information page

17.3-inch, 16:9 notebook panels on the horizon

LCD panel makers are developing 17.3-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio panels for notebooks. The move is designed to increase production efficiency.

Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, and Toshiba should be introducing 17.3-inch notebooks. AU Optronics and LG Display are two companies currently developing the displays; Samsung has no plans to at the moment.

16:9 aspect ratio panels are likely to become a mainstream standard, and LCD panel makers continue to introduce larger sizes.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

Samsung producing 15.6-inch displays

Samsung has decided to start producing 15.6-inch notebook panels and will begin mass production in November. 15.6-inch 16:9 aspect ratio displays are likely to replace 15.4-inch panels in the mainstream.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

Intel SSDs to go in sub-notebooks

Intel has made its new solid state disks (SSDs) in a 1.8-inch size so they are small enough to fit in sub-notebooks. The company's new Z-P230 SSDs will initially come in 4GB and 8GB sizes, with a 16GB version arriving at the end of this year.

The drives have a 40-pin parallel ATA interface and weigh 10 grams. They will only draw 1.65mW at idle and 314mW during operation.

Full Story (ChannelRegister.co.uk)

Intel fined $25 million by South Korea for trade violations

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission said yesterday it would fine Intel $25.4 million for violating fair trade rules. The country's FTC said it was fining Intel because it offered rebates to South Korean computer companies such as Samsung and undercut competitor AMD. Intel disagrees with the findings and is considering an appeal.

Full Story (NYTimes.com)

 

Doesn't this news of an external gpu solution basically mean that my laptop is futureproofed already? I just have to buy this thingamabob whenever the gpu in my (hopefully) t61p starts getting too old...right?

Also, any release date on this external gpu thing and/or review dates?

Finally, is this supposed to work with both Intel and AMD? I see no reason why it wouldn't, but I just thought I'd ask.

 

You need laptops equipped with specific interface. I believe it will be only available for upcoming laptops with new ATI chipsets.

 

Chaz,can u explain this part,please?

 

Yea, what exactly is this interface for plugging in the external graphics module?

 

ach! thiss is very annnoyyyingggggg!!!! grrr! why not stick with the 16:10, if you want 16:9; why not do it from the start! this is just the computer/screen industry trying to rip us off; the 16:10 wide screen computer monitor is just getting popular; now they change; after 16:9 whats next?

 

Haha Intel got = Owned by South Korea lol

It is true that Intel has been practicing illegal monopoly tactics and it needs to stop.

 

The big deal is that it is cheaper for the LCD manufacturers. But are those savings going to be passed onto consumers? No.

 

if Intel hadn't under cut AMD I really thing that AMD would not be in the trouble they are right now, they would have a much bigger base. they of course would have still lost market share in the last few months, but they would have had significantly more to begin with than they did, making it a little easier for them to come out of the hole they are in.

Once AMD is gone, we the consumer will hate intel like we do microsoft, and AMD will yell from it's grave "I told you so!!!"

 

QFT man... QFT ! Healthy competition is always a great thing (like with ISPs in a country)... and trust me, it seriously sucks when there's a monopoly!

 

So buying a t61p now...would not be able to use the external graphics cards?

Nuts.

 

Who hates Microsoft? Hate is such a strong word. Besides, Microsoft *has* competition, MacOS and a gazillion versions of Linux. If any of them could produce an OS as capable as Windows, that's what the market would be using. Mac won't drop the whole notion of trendy exclusivity and Linux is still falling short in the ease of use and compatability areas. Granted, the industry is geared for Windows right now, but there is a reason for that, and it's not necessarily some big conspiracy for monopolization.

 

No, right now it's not about "big conspiracy for monopolization" because is WAS about that in the 80's and 90's where Microsoft used its monopoly to either crush or undermine all of its competitors. Also, you can't just yell "conspiracy" and expect that to take down the other argument. There's no question that there was a huge concerted effort by Microsoft to destroy every other competitor. Call it conspiracy or something else, but it was still there.

As for the 16:9 displays, I just hope they all go 1080p. We need that vertical resolution to make up for the vertical shrinkage all this is causing.

 

hehe with such external videocards it becomes much less attractive to buy a expansive 5000$ uber game laptop with sli 8800GTX simply buy a external adapter with a real video card (3870 X2) en you have way better peformance

 

yes but right now? All though Microsoft isn't doing all they could to open up windows to developers, Windows is the best operating system on the market right now that strikes a good balance of ease of use, performance and availability. And OSX won't be a real competitor until Apple make it more open and allow people to install it on normal hardware, because however much you hate microsoft for not opening up their OS. Apple is doing the same thing and getting praised for it.

I don't see why Intel needed to offer rebates though, they do control the processor market right now not because of this, but because they brought out a brilliant product with the core 2 duo, and although these business practices shouldn't happen, I can't see why AMD deserves our money until they bring out some good competitive processors again.

 

These external cards will probably be made for future platforms,not notebooks we already have...
You end up having a 2 part laptop,1 for mobility and an attachment for gaming.
Sounds like a portable+desktop to me either way.

 

^agree,i bet it ll be slower then integrated one

 

Oh no, 16:10 screen will become history

16:10 is the best balance between 4:3 and 16:9.

We buy and use laptop for multipurpose works not just specifically to watch 16:9 movies.

 

Seems like a rather backwards decision. Why not use SATA?

 

Oh please, $25 million is nothing to Intel.

And it's proof of nothing. The US Federal Trade Commision declined AMD's whine attempt to investigate Intel, but of course it's only this story that gets the press. US FTC = much more important than South Korea's equivalent.

 

Yeah healthy competition is always good. I would love to see AMD actually give Intel a run for their money. I mean I have loved all of my CD/C2D chips the past 2 or so years but I do miss having a choice.

 

I agree, 25 million, big wow.

Uhh, they all are, that's why they dominate the server market.
Its just people are used to Windows, and all your windows apps wont run on linux/os x.

 

humm yer the external gfx card options seem pritty rad.. i guess there is some unknowns still this new ATI one sounds like u can put desktop cards in the case.?.

at the end of the day if your gaming any thing intensive u will be running off mains... how much of a big deal is a portable hard drive sized box that lets u use any desktop card..


one hell of a big/good deal.

 

This is my interpretation of the external box.

Either our laptops will have two pci-e 2.0 slots, one for an internal card, and one routed to an external port, or just one and it will be routed to an external port

We go home, set up our notebook, plug in keyboard mouse, plug a big cable into the side of our laptop where this external PCI-express 2.0 port is and that works just like a slot in a desktop computer, it brings it to the pci express 2.0 slot in the magical box from ati, and the graphics card processes the info and outputs it via dvi on the back.

 

I don't see how this affects anyone negatively. It's barely different from the current widescreen but will have the benefit of reducing overall costs of manufacturing. Hopefully some of those cost-savings trickle down to us. I see standardization of specifications as a good thing, not bad. This solves the problem for those of us who use our laptops and desktops as the primary multimedia source in the home - no more conflicts between aspect ratios, and no more black bars at the tops and bottoms of our screens. My PS3 welcomes it!!!

 

I don't want 16:9, because as it is right now, 16:10 gives just enough room for things like playback controls within the existing black bars. If your screen is 16:9, then what are you supposed to do with them? Put them on top of the movie?

 

Will Nvidia come up with an equivalent system for external graphics?

 

Must have something to do with form factor with the smaller 1.8" drives. I know the Macbook Air is PATA too.

 

Exactly. I can grab a 12.1" ultraportable with a decent Core 2 Duo and integrated graphics for awesome battery life on the road (like the new Dell Latitude E later this summer) and get top notch gaming performance when at home.

 

If this is true, it wont be a big deal because I'm sure that other companies will develop external graphic cards compatible with Nvidia chipsets. Isn't Asus also making an external gpu? I'm just loving the idea of playing top-of-the-line games four, maybe even five years from now when i get my laptop this fall

 

Well, you wanted it, now here it is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/t...ssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

 

I like the ATI solution. But does it only work with ATI cards?

 

the media buttons have always auto hidden themselves, and personally I hate those black bars at the top and bottom of every movie I watch on my laptop since it just looks wrong.

16:9 is good in my opinion it means manufacturers can drive down their manufacturing costs and hopefully some of those could be passed onto the consumer.

 

I wonder what's with all these non-standard, odd 15.6 screens. When did they come up with the decision that there absolutely is a market niche between 15 and 17" for something like that, justifying the production cost?

 

The windows vista only allows one video driver to be running, so for these things to be hot swappable they need to match the igp and the external gpu driver that is why they will only work with ati cards.

 

It's actually a new standard to go forward with. All screens will now be 16:9 shape - both laptops and TVs.

Going from the legacy 16:10 15.4" screens, they added a bit of width rather than subtract a bit of height. Hence, 15.6".

 

I'm liking the news about 16:9 screens.

It seems like only yesterday that people were crying foul about the current 16:10 widescreen format.

 

16:10 is non standard, widescreen TV's have been 16:9 since their inception, so movies and such are made for those resolutions. It also means manufacturers need separate lines producing computer and TV screens, using 16:9 on both means they can combine production lines and hopefully lower costs. And make laptops and computers much more media orientated, since we'll be able to watch movies without those god awful black bars.

 

well intel is about to get a 2,6 euro billion fine (4 billion dollars) in europe because of the same

 

finally some external gfx solution lovin'....

lets hope nvidia's/asus solution is the new fandangle 'pci-e 2.0' aswell / and expressbus (for current ultra portable notebooks)... more so pci-e as the way of the future...

only good for consumers if there's one standard...

 

From www.techreport.com

http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/14863

 

Any news on how much this ATI card will really cost?

 

I still don't really see how going 16:9 saves cost. Granted 16:9 is the form factor for TVs, but aren't TV screens generally a lot bigger than laptop screens anyways? I don't think they can really get savings in bulk production if they end up having to produce different sizes anyways. Plus, I thought LCDs used in computers tend to have a lower response time than TVs anyways so even if they look the same they are still designed differently.

 

Well, they use less screen material so for every 9th screen they can make a new one

 

I think you guys are totally missing the point here.

Yes, 25 million dollars is quite minuscule, and Korea FTC could have easily demanded much bigger fine, but Korea FTC didn't want Intel's cash. The point is though, country like Korea's, a major superpower in semiconductor industry decided to fine Intel of illegal monopoly. And guess when a country like Korea fines Intel for illegal monopoly tactics? The world tends to follows with it or at least take closer look at it (well, maybe not the whole world, but Countries like Japan, Taiwan, Europe and North America definitely takes closer look at it) and couple of articles like this up in the media, and Intel won't even squeak of illegal tactics again. I think I would give a hands to Korea for having guts to straighten with Intel. Give AMD a breath to take.

 

It shouldn't be if it is fully PCI 2.0 complaint.

There will be a PCI x16 plug in on the New AMD models I would think.

So there shouldn't be a problem.

 

Guys,

So if I get a notebook (let's say Thinkpad X200) with an integrated Intel gfx solution, that means that I would not be able to plug in the new ATI beast because I don't have an ATI card inside my computer?

 

man...so the amilo graphics booster comes from ATI..
nice!

think about inserting a radeon 4870 inside..
then you can get 30% more performance than current 9800GTX..
desktop of course

 

Anyone here know of any laptops aside from the amilo that will support XGP?

@Vizel Intel committing illegal acts is hardly news. If i do recall correctly, AMD themselves sued Intel a few years back. The case is still ongoing (actually put on hold until 2010 for some reason). kudos to south korea but i reckon they should've gone for the jugular rather than let other countries do the dirty work.

 

the XGP units require a external power source... and uses conventional PCIe cards. suddenly im not remotely interested in them.. While it would be nice if u need to save desk space ill just stick to a Desktop + a powerful laptop..

I think this unit will be alot bigger than what people expect.. Cool nun the less. But Not for me.

2Pc's > 1 at the end of the day.