Sandra Prior

Puma Unveiled

Desktop GPU grunt on a notebook.

A long with the recently announced PUMA line-up of notebooks, AMD dropped a bomb with the aptly termed XGP (External Graphics Platform).

Notebook users can make use of the XGP to up the graphics processing power of their AMD notebooks without causing a major drain on their power consumption. It involves a proprietary PCI-E 2.0 connector, enabling a CrossfireX setup on a laptop or notebook using a Radeon 3800 card or better. The technology is hot-swappable, allowing plug-in or pull-out-and-go functionality for the next generation notebooks.

It will now be possible to switch from low power Solitaire and PowerPoint mode to fully fledged gaming without the limitations of internal GPUs. Thanks to CrossfireX, the external card will be used in conjunction with the notebooks built-in GPU although it will be independently housed, cooled and powered.

The boost given by this setup allows an upstream and downstream bandwidth of 4GBs between the notebook and external GPU. Looking more like an external HDD bay than anything else, the ATI XGP has been demonstrated running demos on three displays simultaneously with little or no lag between them. The HDMI and multi-display options combined with the USB ports that are part and parcel of the external GPU will fit almost anything up to and including an external Blu-Ray player.

One of the first models in production is from electronics manufacturer Fujitsu. It is powered by a Radeon Mobility 3870 512MB DDR3 GPU which can be added to the PUMA based AMILO notebooks to beef up their graphics power.

The technology may take some getting used to housing a Graphics Processing Unit outside a case or chassis though. As other distributors pick up the XGP for manufacture, there may be some evolution in what is already an evolutionary concept. In fact a few producers to the local AMD team reveled that one developer is working on an external PCI-E slot like the one you would find on a PC motherboard so you can hook up any ATI card to your laptop. Now that’s what you call progress.

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