GPGPU Technology and the ATI Radeon 4670 Comes to the Studio XPS 16

One of today's top entertainment laptops, the Studio XPS 16, just got better. We've recently added a new graphics option, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 1GB ($100), one of the best mobile graphics solutions out there before you enter the high end gaming graphics realm. 

Today's laptop PC has expanded it horizons beyond a road warrior's badge of honor, keeping them productive in airport terminals and hotel rooms. They've become the primary PC in a lot of homes, and more importantly a primary consumer electronic device.  Whether its watching movies, downloading, storing and listening to their music library, catching up on missed episodes of favorite TV shows(in HD), creating YouTube masterpieces, or even standing in as a Blu-Ray player connected to an HDTV, the laptop has become the home entertainment command center.

Graphics solutions play a large part in how all of these entertainment tasks are handled. And in the future, with the transition to Windows 7, graphics processors, (GPUs) will have the opportunity to shoulder even more of the performance load with GPGPU (thanks Giz Explains!) technology. This new technology enables specially written software to repurpose the GPU to perform other parallel processing tasks traditionally handled by the CPU. What does that mean? It means you can do more stuff at the same time. In other words, you can still use your laptop to update your Facebook status  or tweet, or work on a Word doc while GPGPU technology cranks away on other processor-intensive activities like:

  • Media: Encoding, Transcoding, Upscaling, real time quality enhancements, etc.
  • Gaming: Physics effects, game play enhancements, Advanced AI Processing
  • Natural Interface: gesturing, enhanced facial recognition 

I do need to mention that right now, there's only a small number of GPGPU apps out there, but there will be more on the way soon.

Bottom line, to quote Emeril, we've taken it up a notch on the Studio XPS 16, which already includes a impressive collection of standard cutting-edge features and technologies, including:

  • Premium 7-watt speakers and integrated subwoofer with 5.1 Dolby Digital output
  • Edge-to-edge 16:9 HD (720p) WLED display, with 8 millisecond response time for crisp, clear resolution
  • The optional full HD (1080p) RGB-LED LCD with 100% color gamut has been recognized as a unique stand out feature.
  • Back-lit keyboard and touchpad buttons, capacitive touch multimedia buttons
  • 2.0 megapixel webcam with dual digital array microphones
  • Plethora of ports including 1394a, HDMI, DisplayPort, 2 USB, 1 USB / eSATA combo with PowerShare

About the Author: Anne Camden