AMD announces Eyefinity multi-display technology
I'm sure we've all seen dual monitor displays running on modern graphics boards, and some of you might even remember Matrox's triple headed offerings which supported three monitors.آ Well, forget all that, because this week AMD has been showing press around the world one particular piece of functionality which will become part of their next-generation graphics products - Eyefinity, a multi-display technology that allows for the seamless use of up to six monitors from a single graphics board.آ We're still waiting to get a final copy of the slide decks and the like so that we can put together a proper article about Eyefinity technology here at Elite Bastards, but until then a number of US sides have launched articles to explain what it's all about.
The OEMs asked AMD for six possible outputs for DisplayPort from their notebook GPUs: up to two internally for notebook panels, up to two externally for conncetors on the side of the notebook and up to two for use via a docking station. In order to fulfill these needs AMD had to build in 6 lanes of DisplayPort outputs into its GPUs, driven by a single display engine. A single display engine could drive any two outputs, similar to how graphics cards work today.
Eventually someone looked at all of the outputs and realized that without too much effort you could drive six displays off of a single card - you just needed more display engines on the chip. AMD's DX11 GPU family does just that.
I know you are wondering if Eyefinity will be something you can use with your current monitors. The simple answer is yes if you have DVI LCD panels. Triple monitor configurations on the first-released cards will require a single DisplayPort adapter and the specifics on that are being worked out now. If you are feeing adventurous and want to go to a six monitor configuration, you will have to wait a couple months and require more than a few adapters if you want to use DVI connected panels. The optimum solution would be to use native DisplayPort panels however. Looking forward Eyefinity will be leveraging mini-DisplayPort in a big way.
Eyefinity is enabled through a combination of hardware and software being developed by AMD. On the hardware front, AMD's upcoming Radeons will sport between 3 and 6 display outputs of various types, DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, etc. And those outputs will be managed by software currently dubbed SLS, or Single Large Surface. Using the SLS tool, users are able to configure a group of monitors to work with Eyefinity and essentially act as a single, large display.
That's six Dell 30" monitors, each at a resolution of 2560x1600, showing Dead Space at over 24 megapixels. The game ran fluidly, and as you can see, your character on screen is pretty much life-sized, if not a little larger.
I didn't snap a picture of it, but I checked the back of the PC accomplishing this feat, and all six of the DisplayPort connections were plugged into a single expansion slot. Not only did games like Left 4 Dead and World of Warcraft play smoothly, but DiRT 2, a DirectX 11 game, ran at more or less acceptable frame rates and looked stunning doing it, as well.
If you want a couple of quick photographic examples of Eyefinity in action while gaming, check out the shots we grabbed during the London launch event of AMD's next-generation hardware playing DiRT 2 on three 30" Dell screens, and H.A.W.X. in action on six 23" Samsung monitors.
All in all, this looked like a very impressive technology when we saw it in action earlier this week, particularly when coupled with some next-generation hardware, although of course I think it's fair to say that the kind of configurations you can see above are very much for a tiny niche market at present.
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AMD launches new notebook platform with 45nm CPUs
As well as discussing certain other products this week, AMD have also launched a new notebook platform, comprising a number of 45 nanometre CPUs at its heart.
The tiger is out of its cage. AMD has pulled the curtain off a new mainstream notebook platform, which it code-named Tigris and now stamps with the Vision Technology badge. This platform brings with it eight processors based on 45-nm process technology—AMD's first in the mobile space—alongside a new RS880M integrated graphics chipset.
The full list of processors being launched, and more on the platform as a whole, can be found at The Tech Report.
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