ATI Readies Ultra High-End R680 Graphics Solution

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ATI Readies Ultra High-End "R680" Graphics Solution – Presentation Slide

AMD’s Graphics Product Group Prepares $799 Graphics Solution

If an image that resembles a slide from a presentation by Advanced Micro Devices’ graphics product group ATI that was found over a web-site is real, then the company has not given up to conquer the very high end of graphics card market and plans to sell its code-named ATI R680 graphics product for enthusiasts at $799 price-point.

There have been a lot of rumours regarding code-named ATI R680 graphics processor that contradicted each other in the last few months. Some sources indicated that the R680 had been cancelled and AMD will concentrate on popularizing its CrossFire multi-GPU solutions to attract customers who seek extreme performance to its products. Other sources claimed that ATI R680 is a dual-chip graphics card based on two ATI RV670 graphics processing units (GPUs). Meanwhile, some said that ATI R680 is a single-chip high-end graphics card due to be out in Q1 2008.

According to the slide published at Tweaktown web-site, ATI R680 is indeed a high-end product for $799, but which is projected to be available already in Q4 2008. Technical details about the new graphics card are unclear, however, it is rumoured that the new high-end GPU from ATI/AMD will support DirectX 10.1, PCI Express 2.0, Avivo HD video engine with universal video decoder (UVD) as well as all the features currently available on ATI Radeon HD 2000-series GPUs.



AMD's graphics product group crucially needs to return to the market of expensive graphics accelerators with a competitive product as those customers, who buy high-end graphics boards usually influence decisions of others, who acquire something more affordable. Moreover, quite a lot of end-users buy performance-mainstream graphics cards after figuring out the leader in the high-end space and even do not pay attention to performance of the product they acutlly get. It should also be noted that high-end graphics cards have considerably higher profit margins compared to boards that are aimed at mainstream and performance-mainstream markets. High margins is just what the doctor ordered to the struggling graphics division that lost a substantial part of its market share after AMD executives got control over former ATI Technologies.

It should be noted that the slide published by Tweaktown web-site does not resemble typical slides from Advanced Micro Devices' roadmap and generally looks like a slide from one of the add-in card manufacturers. Moreover, the slide positions Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT below the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB, whereas in reality the new model offers higher performance than the 8800 GTS 320MB.

fonte: X-bit Labs

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AMD Considers New High-End Graphics Product Announcement at CES

ATI R680 Set for Retail After Consumer Electronics Show, Not in 2007

Sources familiar with the plans of ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, said this week that the company does have plans to conquer the market of high-end graphics cards again with the product code-named R680. Unfortunately, the new graphics board will not be released shortly from now and will also have a number of drawbacks.

The rumoured code-named ATI R680 graphics product does exist in the roadmap, sources confirmed. However, the R680 is not a high-performance single-chip graphics solution, but a dual-chip graphics board akin to Nvidia’s GeForce 7950 GX2 or ATI’s Rage Fury Maxx. One ATI R680 graphics card will carry two ATI RV670 graphics processing units (GPUs) with dedicated memory and connected using ATI CrossFire interface for multi-GPU solutions. Actual specifications are currently under consideration by both AMD and its partners among graphics cards makers.

Even though two of ATI R680 boards may provide the power of four ATI RV670 graphics processing engines to enthusiasts without budget constraints, one of such graphics cards may not become the best solution for those demanding high performance, but not willing to pay enormous sums. Performance of all multi-GPU solutions depends on drivers and in case the driver does not recognize an application, performance of a dual-, tripe- or quad-GPU graphics solution may be similar to a single-chip graphics card. Theoretically, ATI Catalyst driver developers may force so-called alternate frame rendering (AFR) multi-GPU rendering technology for all unknown applications for CrossFire configurations, but this may add lag effects in numerous games.

The code-named ATI R680 graphics card is currently set for introduction at Consumer Electronics Show in January, 2008. Since availability timeframe of the final product is currently unknown, AMD may reconsider announcement dates too. Actual product name is unclear as well.

Based on what is known about the code-named RV670 product, the new GPU features DirectX 10.1 capabilities, PCI Express 2.0, DisplayPort and double-precision floating point calculations. ATI RV670 is projected to deliver “R600 performance, better thermal & power”, according to AMD’s own documents. If the information is correct, two of such chips will deliver similar performance to ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics cards in CrossFire mode. Even though in a number of cases two of such chips outperform Nvidia’s GeForce 8800 Ultra, which retails for $849, in many cases the high-performance single-chip product leaves the CrossFire tandem considerably behind, based on a review by X-bit labs.

fonte: X-bit Labs