AMD has announced the ATI Radeon E4690, a new GPU for embedded systems which it says will triple the performance of its embedded predecessor, the E2400, and more than double that of the celebrated HD3200 integrated chip. It's not likely that the E4690 will be integrated into a northbridge from AMD any time soon, if ever, but there are reasons to hope it will happen.



The E4690 isn't intended for the consumer market; AMD's PR material mentions arcade systems, digital signage products, and casino games like slot machines and video poker. These applications, AMD hopes, will be compelled enough by a high-performance embedded GPU to use it in their machines. Although AMD-powered one-armed bandits may soon be robbing people all over the country, as a PC-gaming, digital signage-shunning, gambling-is-bad-for-you prude, I am unsatisfied. I want the E4690, or something very similar, in a northbridge.

Here's why: HTPC. The E4690 scores 2669 in 3DMark 2006, with a TDP of 25W, while the HD3200 GPU in the 780G northbridge scores only 1183 with a TDP of 15W. The 780G, itself the most powerful onboard GPU ever, and in its own class compared with Intel's offerings, is a lightweight next to this new embedded chip. In fact, the E4690's score is only 25 percent lower than the HD3850. And still, a lower-clocked E4690 can draw as little as 8W. So, the E4690 can game way better than the 780G or any other onboard GPU.

It can also decode HD video streams, two simultaneous streams of 1080p H.264, in fact, with no intervention by the processor. This means that, for HTPC applications, it won't really matter what the processor is. Atom or Nano should be enough. And, even for beefier HTPCs, the opportunity to go with an onboard GPU, even a relatively expensive one, would be most welcome.

The success of the 780G has shown that a relatively high-performing onboard GPU can be a selling point. Packaged at some decent price, with hybrid crossfire and a PCIe slot, the E4690 could cut the knees out from the budget discrete GPU segment, and funnel those sales straight into AMD's pocket. As an ever-larger component of the discrete graphics market is overtaken by the performance of onboard GPUs, AMD can keep itself on the forefront, maintaining the distinctive product niche that 780G created.