In January of last year, Asus announced an external graphics card solution for notebooks. It was an exciting idea, because if successful it could finally bridge the gap between desktops and laptops for gaming. But nothing ever came of it. Now AMD has announced a similar product. Can they succeed where Asus failed?

It’s called the ATI XGP (eXternal Graphics Platform) and it is an external graphics solution for notebook PCs. It should be noted that leaked slides of an upcoming Fujitsu Siemens product gave us some of this information about two weeks ago.

How’s it work? There’s an external device that is connected to a specially designed notebook using the external PCI Express 2.0 connector designed and developed by ATI with JAE Electronics, Inc. Once the device is plugged in ATI XGP technology is activated.

So, there’s a downside between this and the Asus XG Station I mentioned earlier - you need a special connector and a special notebook.

And the video card inside the device as launched isn’t all that exciting: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870. I mean, what I want to see is some sort of external box that can handle two NVIDIA top-of-the-line cards in SLI. Now we’re talking.

In the case of the Fujitsu Siemens laptop, it makes sense, as according to the emailed press release, it’s an ultra mobile notebook or netbook.

“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,” said Matt Skynner, vice president of Marketing, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “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.”

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.”

While I can see the practical aspects for ULCPCs or netbooks, the gamer in me is disappointed. So, at least for now, this ain’t as good as the Asus XG Station might have been. ATI, give me something like that, and we can talk again.

TAKEN FROM technologyexpert.blogspot.com



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