External graphics card.

AlmightyCushion

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/06/amd_launches_xgp/

Computex AMD used the Computex show in Taipei this week to propose XGP - eXternal Graphics Platform, a slimline box you connect your GPU-lite laptop to when you need more graphics horsepower.
Fujitsu Siemens (FSC) was on hand to demo the concept with its Amilo GraphicBooster, an AppleTV-like unit with an AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU built in and hooked up to 512MB of GDDR 3 memory. The box can drive four displays simultaneously, the company claimed.
AMD's XGP reference box: it's a graphics card, don't you know

AMD's pitch is that users will be able to connect their slim'n'light laptops to an XGP, which will supply the level of graphical grunt that they don't need when they're on the move and, more importantly, running on battery power.
XGPs are designed to be hot-pluggable, the driver knowing about and enabling the use of the discrete GPU as soon as it's connected to the host.
With that multi-monitor support, XGP will undoubtedly also be pitched at businesses who want to give their laptop-equipped workers multi-display desktops.
Of course, this is the same notion companies like DisplayLink are peddling, but they're delivering multi-screen support over USB using the host system's GPU. AMD's approach - since it's in the business of selling more graphics chips - is to add a second GPU to the system.
That said, Fujistu Siemens has its eye on the consumer market - we understand it's pitching the technology to Dixons and other big retailers - as a way to allow ordinary punters to effectively upgrade their older laptops' graphics capabilities. The technology doesn't require an external monitor - the XGP can render images on the host laptop's own screen.
Yet another video connector for your laptop

And XGP has its own connector, which although based on PCI Express 2.0 technology, does require the laptop to have a special XGP slot on the side. AMD has two connectors, one for eight PCIe lanes, the other for 16. At this stage it's unclear whether you can connect, say, an XGP with a 16-lane cable, using an adaptor, to a notebook with an 8-lane port.


And that's the real problem. FSC may be able to promote its GraphicBooster to buyers of the one laptop it's going to produce, for now, with an XGP connector, but unless it and other vendors adopt the technology en masse, it's hard to see XGP becoming anything more than an accessory for a handful of notebooks.
It'll be like all those docking connectors: not proprietary, true, but so rarely used it might as well be.
Much will depend on the extent to which AMD pushes XGP as part of its 'Puma' notebook platform, and engages with bodies like the PCI SIG to turn XGP into a true standard. At that point, we might see all those Intel-based laptops taking on the technology.

This looks a lot better than the thing asus showed off a year or so ago.

Advavntages: More bandwidth than the asus box, uses the laptop screen instead of an external monitor

Disadvantages: The laptop needs to have this xgp port.

I really hope amd push this and it gets adopted. I'd love the idea of having a 13" or 12" laptop and being able to plug in a serious graphics card for when I need to play games.

Sqaull20

What laptops have this port, only brand new Amd models?

Would be a dream if Dell included this port on its cheap vostro range..

How much are we talking?

HD3870 will be dated when this comes out.

AlmightyCushion

Sqaull20 wrote: »

What laptops have this port, only brand new Amd models?

Would be a dream if Dell included this port on its cheap vostro range..

Well no laptop has it now. I really hope amd allow intel to use this. I imagine it will only be on relatively high end laptops at least for a while. I would love for this to be on cheaper models like the vostro as well.

Sqaull20 wrote: »

How much are we talking?

God only knows, I'm trying to find more info on it. I'd say it'll be pricey though. Hopefully the actual xgp port won't add much to the price of the laptop as this would be one of the things that would kill it.

Sqaull20 wrote: »

HD3870 will be dated when this comes out.

Yeah but I'd say they'll release versions with newer cards or even a version that just have the box and you could stick in your own card.

Edit: More info on the amd site.

http://ati.amd.com/technology/xgp/index.html

coldfire1x

Very interesting, it will make battery life great on laptops, switch if off when you dont need it

TerrorFirmer

Looks good. Has full bandwidth unlike the Asus 1x link.....what ever happened to that anyway?

AlmightyCushion

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Looks good. Has full bandwidth unlike the Asus 1x link.....what ever happened to that anyway?

Still haven't heard anything about that. Just found out that this still has to use an external monitor for the first year or so.

Overheal

I think I came a little reading that news and then oh so suddenly had my heart broken by the damn xgp port

AlmightyCushion

Overheal wrote: »

I think I came a little reading that news and then oh so suddenly had my heart broken by the damn xgp port

In fairness is has to be done. The only other solution would be to use the express card slot like the asus xg station but it has feck all bandwidth and would bottleneck the graphics card to the point of making it next to useless. If asus manage to get a load of laptop makers on their side (Fujitsu siemens are releasing ones soon and I've heard hp, asus, toshiba and dell are soon to follow) and push this then it should be more or less a standard feature on mid to high end laptops.

Scruff

like the sound of the XGP. biggest draw back to buying a laptop imo is graphics cards are always much less powerful than desktops and by and large not upgradable. Like the idea of being able to plug in an external graphics card to give it more umph!