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AMD's XConnect Brings Native Driver Support For Thunderbolt 3 Graphics Cards

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the we-want-better-external-GPU-in-laptops dept.

AnandTech writes about AMD's XConnect technology: Last night AMD issued a driver update that brought support for a new technology, XConnect. In a nutshell, XConnect is AMD's trade name for running external video cards via Thunderbolt 3, a long-awaited development that Thunderbolt owner Intel is finally getting behind and allowing. [...] AMD is also laying out the technical requirements for supporting XConnect. Not just any laptop/desktop with Thunderbolt 3 can support an external GPU, as there are specific hardware and software requirements, which is why the Blade Stealth is the first qualified laptop. In particular, laptops need to support what is being called the Thunderbolt 3 external graphics standard, or eGFX for short.

1 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why not work on real pci-e ext cables / buses by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why not work on real pci-e ext cables / buses that does not need bios or bridge chips and is not capped at pci-e 3.0 X4 (at best)

    1. Thunderbolt does not have a chicken-and-egg problem. There are plenty of Thunderbolt displays already available.
    2. Thunderbolt is "good enough". It can daisy chain multiple hi-res displays.