We anticipated exactly a week ago that AMD would express interest in developing a kind of new standard to provide fertile ground for external graphics cards, combining their power with the enormous flexibility of current laptops. However, AMD's vision does not point to hardware; it is a new module for its Radeon Crimson drivers called XConnect, which will greatly simplify the installation and configuration of external cards under compatible systems.
We are slowly entering what will become a new battlefield for graphics cards. Their presence among high-performance computers is unquestionable, but manufacturers are eyeing the impressive number of laptops that currently receive consumer favor. The dilemma is easy to understand: Gaming laptops are large, heavy, expensive, and have very limited battery life. On the other side, ultraportables sacrifice advanced features and performance to optimize portability. Unless the user decides to have two computers, what is needed is a bridge that allows joining the best of both worlds. External graphics cards are emerging as the ideal solution, but they require a viable software platform behind... and that's when AMD's XConnect system intervenes.
In essence, what XConnect does is drastically simplify the process of connecting and installing an external card enclosure, with version 16.2.2 of the new Radeon Crimson drivers that AMD delivers with its high-end products. According to AMD spokespeople, connecting a card and a compatible enclosure with XConnect is on par with plugging in a USB stick, but this is also possible thanks to the intervention of Thunderbolt 3. This point in particular is presented as the most striking of the entire announcement: Apparently there is a healthy degree of collaboration between Intel and AMD, which will benefit not only both companies, but also all OEMs interested in implementing this technology.
At the same time, Razer's products, the Razer Blade Stealth laptop and its Razer Core module serve as a ’showcase’ to get to know XConnect’s benefits up close, although the Razer Core still has to enter its pre-sale phase, and the laptop costs a thousand dollars in its minimum configuration. Of course, not all that glitters is gold. AMD XConnect carries some limitations, starting with a compatibility restriction on its Radeon R9 cards (from the 285 model to the Nano and Fury), and Windows 10 (build 10586 or higher) as the only supported operating system. I imagine that in the future AMD will manage to expand this list, and I admit that I look forward to enclosures from other manufacturers.
