PLX PCI Express Switch Enables Blinding Speed on New ATI Radeon Flagship Graphics Card

The ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card, supported by the PLX PEX 8647, exemplifies top performance for today's extreme computer games, said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD. AMD chose the PLX chip for its industry-leading features, allowing very high-speed communication between our two powerful, next-generation Radeon graphics processors. The PEX 8647 switch has provided enhanced flexibility and performance in our HD 5970 design and enables AMD, and its partners, to provide customers the fastest graphics solutions on the planet.

High-end graphics controllers and cards need high-end IO so their data can move from chip to chip, card, system, and screen, said Shane Rau, PC semiconductor research director at IDC. PCI Express 2.0 is now the leading-edge IO standard for all high-end graphics cards in the PC market and compatibility with it is essential for market leadership.

The PLX ExpressLane PEX 8647 switch is specifically designed for the cutting-edge graphics industry. The PEX 8647 is a 48-lane, three-port, PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s)-compliant switch featuring large packet memory, low power and cut-thru architecture for low latency. The PEX 8647 offers three x16 ports to allow for the optimal configuration of graphics applications and includes PLX's unique array of performance-maximizing features such as Dual Cast™, which provides simultaneous copying of data from one ingress port to two egress ports. A special PLX software development kit enables designers to enhance and analyze their systems performance thus accelerating the engineering design process.