ATI FirePro RG220 Shares GPU on Networks

By Kevin Parrish
published

IT admins reduce the need for hardware by installing this card in a data center and allowing workers to use the GPU across the network.

Tuesday AMD said that its new ATI FirePro RG220 is an ideal solution for IT administrators looking to reduce local power consumption and cooling costs per workstation. This is accomplished by installing the graphics card in a datacenter, and allowing users to connect to the ATI GPU across the network thanks to the FirePro's built-in PCoIP (PC-over-IP) technology.

The card itself consumes a maximum of 35 watts thanks to a passive cooling design, and measures just half the length of a standard PCI card and uses only one slot. The enterprise-based graphics card also sports a meager 512 MB of on-board memory, support for DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 2.1, and Parallels Workstation Extreme.

“The ATI FirePro RG220 is an extremely compelling solution that combines AMD’s graphics innovation and Teradici’s PC-over-IP remoting protocol to deliver a rich, uncompromised user experience for today’s most demanding graphics applications,” said Dan Cordingley, president and CEO, Teradici Corporation. “This integrated GPU and PCoIP host card provides customers with a simple and efficient solution to help ensure data security and to provide a high performance remote experience.”

AMD also said that the ATI FirePro RG220 is part of a secure solution that stores user data behind the firewall and within the confines of the data center, "helping to ensure that customer or corporate information is protected." To see this card in action, check out AMD's YouTube video shown below.

Kevin Parrish
29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dman3k
    Why am I not surprised that AMD is leading the industry in graphics?
    Reply
  • Gin Fushicho
    Okay now that's AWESOME.
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    Looks good, but how well does it work with GPU intensive work?
    Reply
  • Trueno07
    Would you like some graphics card with your heat sink sir?
    Reply
  • kelfen
    neat concept!
    Reply
  • Pyroflea
    That's amazing. This could completely revolutionize how large-scale businesses operate.

    It'd be a cool service to offer to have "server farms" with these cards, and you pay for access to said farms.
    Reply
  • idisarmu
    Trueno07Would you like some graphics card with your heat sink sir?
    *facepalm*

    It's passively cooled. What do you expect?
    Reply
  • nforce4max
    Interesting fits into the cloud computing concept would be of great service to less powerful devices.
    Reply
  • Mathos
    Very cool concept. Would allow very easy evolution to cloud computing. It allows workstations only need an igp based solution for local video, while having the render cards in a massive server farm. This would also allow remote access very likely through VPN networking I'm guessing so you'd be able to do your rendering work from a home based pc if needed.
    Reply
  • tpi2007
    Trueno07Would you like some graphics card with your heat sink sir?
    idisarmu*facepalm* It's passively cooled. What do you expect?
    facepalm to you sir, he obviously meant it as a joke, given that the heatsink covers practically all the PCB, the joke makes perfect sense.
    Reply