Today was launch day for the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 9000 series GPU, and in my write-up of the technology I expressed some concerns over how vendors would implement Eyefinity if at all (read it here).

Some of these concerns were laid to rest earlier today when AMD showcased an Acer Ferrari netbook running Eyefinity using an XGP, or External Graphics Platform (see here for more details) during CES 2010. The XGP featured a AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPU, connected to the notebook via a cable, and the XGP providing three Display Ports, 1 DVI, and 1 HDMI output for proper Eyefinity gaming. The XGP requires its own power supply. (Please visit BSN for the article covering the XGP).

CES 2010: AMD Shows us Eyefinity on a Netbook - Mobile 3CES 2010: AMD Shows us Eyefinity on a Netbook - Mobile 4
Credit: Theo Valich, BSN.

While this is definitely a good implementation of Eyefinity, I’m still not satisfied (just call me cranky):
  1. The XGP is cumbersome – not something a mobile user will carry around often. Perhaps more portable units will be released, but still requires carrying extra bulk.
  2. The XGP was featured on a high-end / boutique product which could also imply a high-end / boutique price tag?
  3. The Mobility Radeon HD 5870 was not integrated with the laptop, thus we have yet to see Eyefinity on a notebook with and integrated HD 5870.
If you have seen a good example of Eyefinity on a mobile system capable of driving 2 or 3 displays, please let me know.

Thanks to Randal for sending me the tip. Thanks to BSN for the coverage.