Back in 2015, AMD showed off a beautiful, futuristic-looking SFF (small form factor) PC called “Project Quantum.” The secretive project never led to a commercial release, but _rogame has spotted a new patent filing that suggests AMD may be revisiting the concept following its innovations in the CPU and GPU space.
The filing includes multiple drawings that line up with AMD’s abandoned project, which was advertised as a new PC form factor. Resembling a futuristic gaming console, Project Quantum boasted an innovative split design that comprised a liquid-cooling system at the top and powerful (for the time, at least) hardware at the bottom: two Radeon R9 “Fiji” GPUs for around 17 TFLOPS of processing power, an Intel Core i7-4790K “Devil’s Canyon” CPU, and an AMD-branded SSD. It could supposedly run games in 4K at frame rates of up to 90 FPS.
“The incredibly compact design of AMD Radeon R9 Fury X GPU opens the door for new and exciting PC form factors, with more design flexibility for modders, DIYers and System Integrators than ever before,” AMD wrote at the time. “The AMD Innovation Lab’s recently unveiled Project Quantum prototype PC illustrates the point, making use of Radeon R9 Fury X GPUs to reinvent desktop computing for the VR era, enabling form factors never imagined before.”
While the filing for Project Quantum doesn’t necessarily confirm it’s coming to market, it does suggest that AMD is thinking about competing more heavily with Intel’s NUCs and other SFF PCs on the market.
Interestingly, AMD’s Project Quantum made a surprise appearance in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. As one user on AMD’s official forum pointed out, the prototype can be seen on a desk in Adam Jensen’s apartment by an (AM4?) motherboard.
It's alive !!!
— _rogame (@_rogame) October 11, 2020
AMD Project Quantum
Date of Patent : Sep 15 2020https://t.co/j5Jjr2nxf5 https://t.co/okEhavbbK0 pic.twitter.com/YCyEpdUk4r