AMD has unveiled XGP (eXternal Graphics Platform) technology which uses the same concept as the XG Station from ASUSTeK, or in other words, an external docking station for graphic cards relayed to the laptop in PCI Express.
There is a difference in size with the solution from the Taiwanese manufacturer. This time there is a PCI-E 2.0 lane that can transfer up to 4 GB /s in both directions and thus is equivalent to a x8. Say goodbye to the bottleneck due to the 250 MB/s of the PCI-E 1.1 x1 lane and now you can fully take advantage of one or even two of the latest generation graphic cards as CrossFireX compatibility is assured.
The XGP requires an external power supply to function but enables hot plugging to the integrated external PCI-E for notebooks. In order to achieve these results, ATI worked with the Japanese company JAE Electronics for the connection and additionally integrated an USB 2.0 controller to relay supplementary peripherals. Fujitsu-Siemens was the first to announce a product based on the XGP, the AMILO GraphicsBooster which has a Mobility Radeon HD 3870 and functions with the AMILO Sa 3650, an ultra mobile laptop.
AMD has therefore seemed to have realized that if its CPUs have trouble rivaling Intel’s in laptops, there are other means to attract gamers. This is a group that often has no other choice but to break the piggy bank if they want something other than a GeForce 8600M...
