AMD hints at standard for external graphics cards

AMD wants to standardize the platform for external video cards, so that video cards can easily be connected to laptops, which then get more graphics processing power. This is apparent from statements by an AMD marketing employee.

There is tremendous growth potential for external video cards for laptops, according to Robert Hallock, chief of technical marketing at AMD. According to him, no one dares to take gaming laptops everywhere with them, but there is a great need for thin laptops with which you can play games. “I bet there are gamers who, as they get into their thirties or forties, wouldn’t mind using a single device for all their computing tasks,” Hallock said. Users would even give up a mitx system if a laptop could do the same.

According to the marketing chief, external video cards are the solution. “External GPUs with standardized connections, cables, drivers, plug ‘n’ play, OS support, and so on,” he writes. During CES it was already noticed that many manufacturers demonstrated external video cards that could be connected to laptops. For example, Razer had the Core with a Radeon R9 Nano, Asus had the ROG XG Station 2 and Acer its Graphics Dock. Previously, it was MSI that combined its GS30 Shadow with the Gaming Dock and Dell Alienware that released its Graphics Amplifier. Sony also paired its Vaio Z with a graphics docking station, with a Radeon HD 6650M.

Alienware and MSI accessories used a proprietary PCI-e connector, Thunderbolt’s other systems. Combining a standard connector with an open specification, including driver support, for example, can benefit the adoption of external graphics cards. However, it is not the first time AMD has tried this. In the past, the company tried to tap into this market with its ATi XGP, or ATI eXternal Graphics Platform. That platform from 2008 was initially limited to the use of a mobile HD 3870 and later to the HD 5870 via pci-e 2.0, but was not widely adopted by laptop manufacturers.