Utilising Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 eGPU standard, a robust driver suite and external GPU enclosure, AMD aims to make external graphics on laptops easy.
Utilising Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 eGPU standard, a robust driver suite and external GPU enclosure, AMD aims to make external graphics on laptops easy.
Since the dawn of the gaming laptop enthusiasts have been drawn up in a classic dilemma: whether to opt for large and weighty ‘desktop-replacement’ designs, or instead choose a sleek and lightweight notebook with limited gaming capability. Even attempts by GPU manufacturers to integrate desktop-class graphics into laptop designs by leveraging improved power efficiency haven’t eliminated the underlying issue, but a new technology designed by AMD in partnership with Intel and Razer may finally start to provide gamers with much-needed power and flexibility. That technology is AMD XConnect, a solution for integrating external high-performance AMD GPUs into the laptop ecosystem.
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External GPUs are nothing new. All the way back in 2008 ATI debuted ATIXGP, a highly complex PCI-Express-based eGPU solution with wide-ranging capabilities that unfortunately failed due to its proprietary nature – it could only operate with ATI GPUs and a small sub-set of hardware-compatible laptops. More recently MSI demonstrated the GS30 Shadow, a combination ultra-slim laptop with bulky docking station that doubled as a GPU, storage and auxiliary I/O enclosure. Although novel designs, their impact on the market is limited.
AMD XConnect aims to be different. Compatible with AMD’s 300- and Fury-series GPUs, the new capability builds upon Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 eGPU standard and substantial development time AMD have put into improving their driver stack. Not only does it allow software to make use of eGPU resources, it also provides a more robust underlying driver architecture for the operation of detachable graphics hardware. As a result XConnect offers plug’n’play functionality, per-application allocation of GPU resources, and elegant handling of exceptions when the GPU is disabled.
The Intel Thunderbolt 3.0 standard makes use of the USB 3.0 Type-C connector, and XConnect is compatible with enclosures connected via these simple/reversible Thunderbolt connectors. Thunderbolt 3 makes available four PCIe 3.0 lanes to the external enclosure, with a full 40Gbps of bandwidth; whilst this may seem limited when you consider that desktop GPUs typically have 16 lanes available, the performance impact is unlikely to be as substantial as you might think.
XConnect Requirements
QUALIFIED RADEON™ GRAPHICS CARDS:
– AMD Radeon™ R9 Fury
– AMD Radeon™ R9 Nano
– AMD Radeon™ R9 300 Series
– AMD Radeon™ R9 290X
– AMD Radeon™ R9 290
– AMD Radeon™ R9 280
– Mobile derivatives of these ASICs
– PLANNED: Radeon™ dGPU products based on the Polaris architecture
VALIDATED THUNDERBOLT™ 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
– Radeon Software 16.2.2 (or later)
– 1x Thunderbolt™ 3 port
– 40Gbps Thunderbolt™ 3 cable
– Windows® 10 build 10586 (or later)
– System BIOS ACPI extensions for Thunderbolt™ eGFX (check with vendor)
– Thunderbolt™ firmware (NVM) v.16 (or higher)
– Pass Thunderbolt™ certification
– AMD Radeon™ R9 Fury
– AMD Radeon™ R9 Nano
– AMD Radeon™ R9 300 Series
– AMD Radeon™ R9 290X
– AMD Radeon™ R9 290
– AMD Radeon™ R9 280
– Mobile derivatives of these ASICs
– PLANNED: Radeon™ dGPU products based on the Polaris architecture
VALIDATED THUNDERBOLT™ 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
– Radeon Software 16.2.2 (or later)
– 1x Thunderbolt™ 3 port
– 40Gbps Thunderbolt™ 3 cable
– Windows® 10 build 10586 (or later)
– System BIOS ACPI extensions for Thunderbolt™ eGFX (check with vendor)
– Thunderbolt™ firmware (NVM) v.16 (or higher)
– Pass Thunderbolt™ certification
Unfortunately not all Thunderbolt 3 laptops are created equal – support for Intel’s Thunderbolt eGFX standard requires ACPI extensions built into the System BIOS. Currently only the Razer Blade Stealth laptop and Razer Core enclosure are validated for XConnect, but AMD should be curating a list of compatible products as they’re introduced at AMD.com/XConnect.
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Presupposing that the driver stack is truly as robust as AMD believe it to be, the potential for XConnect when it comes to gaming is highly significant. Razer’s Core enclosure is compatible with GPUs up to 375W TDP, which includes the formidable Fury X and petite R9 Nano GPUs. Both are far more capable than current AMD mobile GPU solutions, and offer >60FPS gaming at Ultra Quality in a wide selection of modern titles even when connected via the new standard.
Although AMD XConnect is AMD’s particular implementation, the technologies underpinning eGPU are not restricted to any one GPU or Notebook manufacturer. By sharing their understanding of the potential and limitations of Validated Thunderbolt 3 eGPU hardware and software, other manufacturers who put in the hard yards should also be able to create similar solutions that benefit gamers.
