Asus, ATI Unveil External Mobile Graphics Modules

LAPTOP GAMERS dissatisfied with the performance of mobile graphics cards will soon have a new option thanks to Asus and ATI: external units that house one or more graphics cards and that can be plugged into a notebook.
ATI's solution is called XGP (short for External Graphics Platform), and consists of a thin case that will initially ship with a card from ATI's recently announced Mobility Radeon 3800 series. XGP features a proprietary PCI Express 2.0 connector an d a cable, so it will only work on laptops with a similar connector, which is available solely on notebooks utilizing AMD's new PUMA mobile platform. The card found in the XGP unit can work in tandem with a laptop's onboard graphics card in CrossFire mode. It also features a USB port that can be used to attach a TV tuner card or a Blu-ray drive, and it offers DVI and HDMI outputs. It can be used to power up to four displays.
Asus has created a similar solution with its ROG XG Station, which uses a card based on nVidia's GeForce 8600GT desktop GPU and connects to a laptop via an Express Card connector. It also pack audio features from Dolby Laboratories including Dolby Virtual Speaker, which simulates surraound-sound audio from a laptop's pair of build-in speakers. The ROG XG Station comes with four USB ports and a built-in LED display to let you monitor the graphics card's clock speed, temperature, and fan speed.
At press time, pricing and availability of XGP products had not been announced, though Fujitsu-Siemens plans to use the technology in its Amilo GraphicsBooster product. Asus has also not yet announced the ROG XG Station's price and releae date.

source: Computer Shopper August, 2008.
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