AMD helps big City dim bright lights

Chip maker AMD has invented products that will reduce the carbon footprint of City traders.
The move is being marketed as a green initiative, aimed at lowering emissions of financial traders everywhere and creating a market for upgrades.

The vendor has claimed its latest graphics card technology can dramatically lower the electricity consumed by a trading floor. It claimed the new ATI FireMV 2260 graphics card is energy efficient and lasts longer, while cutting cooling costs.
AMD also claimed the ATI FireMV workstation and desktop accelerator card could enhance trader density in financial institutions, which would be a big selling point in environments where workspace is at a premium and power consumption is increasingly expensive.

Mark Andrews, AMD’s UK business development manager, said the increasing amount of power being used in the City was putting a strain on the national grid.

“The electricity bill is one thing ­ the strain on the national grid is another. There is pressure on firms to be more green. This is all driving demand for these products,” he said.

The products use less electricity because they have greater heat sink capacity, meaning that processors can be cooled by heat dissipation, rather than using electric fans.
Janet Matsuda, senior director of professional graphics at AMD, said the firm has a reputation for innovation in financial
services circles.

Gene Peters, director of Information Services at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, added: “Traders see increasing amounts of financial and stock data that need to be accessed and analysed in real-time.

“This calls for multiple large displays that have to be crammed into tight desk spaces. The result is heated claustrophobia, which becomes very expensive.

“We need graphics solutions that address density issues. If energy efficient graphics cards allow for more powerful and smaller systems, we can fit more people and more systems in the same space, while keeping down heating and cooling costs.”